On the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s horrendous Citizens United ruling, Al Franken took to the Senate floor to lambaste the decision and urge legislative action to overturn it. Below is video of Franken’s statement, as well as a few excerpts.

Two years ago, the Supreme Court handed down the landmark decision, Citizens United, and with it, they gave corporations a blank check to utterly destroy our political system.  I’d like to take a few minutes this afternoon to tell you about the practical impact of this decision, how it threatens our democracy, and why we need to do something about it….

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Barack Obama has clearly warmed to the fight over taxes and income inequality, which is wonderful to see. At a campaign event yesterday, he responded with derision to Romney’s accusations that his policies were based on envy of the rich. He archly suggested that Warren Buffett and Bill Gates aren’t motivated by class envy. Mockingly, he reassured Americans that he, Buffett, and Gates would survive if their taxes went up.

Romney’s argument is so simplistic, and reeks so strongly of a wealthy plutocrat lording it over those he sees as his inferiors, that it’s worthy of Obama’s scorn. But Obama also made some serious points. He’s 

This has nothing to do with envy. It has everything to do with math. We’ve got to make choices. Americans understand — if I get a tax break I don’t need, and a tax break the country can’t afford, then one of two things are gonna happen: either it’s going to add to our deficit, or somebody else is going to have to make up the difference…. [Emphasis added]

As Greg Sargent points out, Obama has also embraced the argument that the rich should pay higher taxes to ensure the continued functioning of the system that led to their own success:

Each of us is only here because somebody, somewhere, felt a responsibility to each other and to our country and helped to create all this incredible opportunity that we call the United States of America. Now it’s our turn to be responsible. And it’s our turn to leave an America built to last for the next generation.

I’m so glad that Democrats are finally embracing this message. Plenty of liberals, myself included, have been saying this for years, of course. But we owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Elizabeth Warren for bringing it into the mainstream.

Obama has a legitimate argument for why soaring inequality is harmful to our nation, and why we should increase taxes on the rich. Mitt Romney has name calling, and adamant demands that nobody ever discuss income inequality except in “quiet rooms.” His “arguments,” such as they are, deserve every bit of scorn Obama heaped on them.

For a bit more context on just how inadequate the House GOP’s proposed $500 million bonding bill is, here’s a bit of historical context. The chart below shows bonding since 1994, expressed in terms of 2011 dollars:

(Source [PDF])

As you can see, and as I mentioned earlier, the Governor’s proposal is right in line with previous years. The House GOP’s proposal, on the other hand, would be the lowest in two decades.

It makes absolutely no sense to propose the smallest bonding bill in two decades at a time when we’re trying to recover from a recession. The GOP will try to pretend this is somehow about fiscal responsibility, but that’s nonsense. First of all, they’ve already proven that they don’t care about fiscal responsibly. Second, the Governor’s plan would reduce our debt-service payments. There’s simply no legitimate reason to hold back our economy.

Mark Dayton and the DFL are proposing a $775 million bonding bill this session, which is smaller than they should have; $1 billion would be much better. But despite the GOP’s professed commitment to jobs — a commitment we’ve never seen any evidence of — they’re planning a woefully inadequate bonding bill:

[House Capital Investment Committee Chair Larry] Howes says he thinks the maxiumum size for a bonding bill this year in the House is about $500 million.

Sorry, but that’s nowhere near good enough. Not only is it an insufficient job creator, it’s fiscally irresponsible. Interest rates are still historically low. Nobody can deny that our roads, bridges, and schools have been underfunded lately; why not improve them now before interest rates increase?

In fact, the Governor’s bonding proposal would reduce our debt service payments. According to Minnesota Management and Budget [PDF], the ten-year average for bonds is — wait for it — $775 million. That’s exactly what the Governor is proposing for this year, but in a year with very low interest rates. The effect will be to slightly reduce our debt service payments.

Given that the Governor’s proposal would reduce our debt-service payments, I can’t possibly think of a good reason to spend $300 million less and kill thousands of jobs.

You all know I’m against public money for a new Vikings stadium. But momentum continues to grow, so let’s forget about that for a moment and talk about the merits of the plan that’s coming together in the wake of Mark Dayton’s declaration that the Metrodome site is the only viable option.

I opposed public financing for a Twins stadium, too, but as long as we were building it I thought its Warehouse District location was fantastic. The Vikings stadium, on the other hand, doesn’t belong in the city.

Baseball (and to a lesser extent hockey and basketball) is a great amenity to have downtown. It brings 30 to 40 thousand people downtown, and it brings them often — at least 81 days a year. And while it brings a lot of folks downtown, it’s not so many that parking is a disaster. How much good it does for the local economy is debatable, but all things considered, baseball is good for the city.

Football, on the other hand, not so much. It brings 60 to 70 thousand people, most of whom want to tailgate. As a result, it requires vast parking lots. Those parking lots sit unused nearly all the time, as there are only 8 games a year. Most days, the Metrodome site is overwhelmed by empty parking lots. I can’t understand why Minneapolis would want to keep a stadium on that site.

Now that the Metrodome site is The Site, it’s too late. But Minneapolis shouldn’t have gotten into the stadium bidding in the first place. They should have been happy to see the Vikings go to Arden Hills.

Well, we had been wondering what Michele Bachmann would do; now we have our answer.

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann announced Wednesday she will seek a fourth term in the U.S. House following her failed presidential bid.

Bachmann declared her plans in an interview with The Associated Press. The Republican congresswoman had been mum on her plans since folding her presidential campaign after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses earlier this month.

It’s probably the best choice for her. The polls make it clear that nobody can take on Klobuchar, and it appears a Fox News gig is not in the offing for Bachmann. If she has her sights set on something bigger and better, she can always throw her hat into the ring to face Al Franken in 2014.

This seems like a good time to make a plea to Democrats. Please, please, please let’s not spend millions of dollars trying to defeat Bachmann again. I know she’s a crazy right-wing extremist. But unless CD6 becomes significantly less conservative after redistricting, she’s proven by now that she’s not easily dislodged.

The fact is, there are better ways we can spend our money. We have to take back the legislature and defeat multiple constitutional amendments. Please don’t be distracted; let’s leave CD6 alone for a while and focus our efforts on more useful pursuits.

Under Amy Koch’s failed leadership, the Minnesota Senate acquired a significant deficit of $2.6 million that had to be addressed at the beginning of this session. So the Senate GOP immediately acted to reduce the deficit — by slashing the DFL caucus’s budget.

Republicans voted to reduce DFL staff at the Senate by more than $400,000 — meaning the DFL will have to lay off 12 to 14 people of its 43 person staff. Republicans will not reduce their staff of 73 people at all. 

This is really outrageous. The lack of accountability or even basic decency is just astounding. But I don’t know why things like this still shock me. This is the GOP’s typical method for handling budgets — first they screw it up, then they force someone else to pay. 

You can see video highlights of the committee meeting below, courtesy of The UpTake:

Tonight’s State of the Union address was President Obama’s first speech of the 2012 campaign. As such, I was very interested in what sort of tone he would strike. Would he be closer to the post-partisan uniter of 2008, a tone he clung to even in the face of unprecedented GOP obstruction, or the anti-inequality populist he needs to be to win in 2012?

Overall, I think Obama is making progress in the right direction. When dealing with the topics of inequality and fair taxation, I think he makes a strong, clear case for why reducing inequality is all about American values:

We can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well, while a growing number of Americans barely get by. Or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules. [From prepared remarks, via the LA Times]

Here’s another one:

We don’t begrudge financial success in this country.  We admire it. When Americans talk about folks like me paying my fair share of taxes, it’s not because they envy the rich.  It’s because they understand that when I get tax breaks I don’t need and the country can’t afford, it either adds to the deficit, or somebody else has to make up the difference – like a senior on a fixed income; or a student trying to get through school; or a family trying to make ends meet. That’s not right.  Americans know it’s not right.

The problem I had, though, was with Obama’s continuing effort to prove he’s the grownup in the room, and the way he takes pains to validate certain Republican ideas. Some say he was “co-opting their language” for the 2012 campaign. I think he was ceding intellectual ground to them.

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