Monthly Archive for July, 2008

DCCC Slams Paulsen and Bachmann for their Stripper Money

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on July 31, 2008 at 6:38 pm
, filed in CD3 and CD6
. 34 Comments

Earlier today, we noted the emerging scandal surrounding an R rated fundraiser in Las Vegas and how the money it generated trickled down to Erik Paulsen and Michele Bachmann. The DCCC has gotten into the act, sending out a release slamming Paulsen and Bachmann for their hyprocrisy.

“Michele Bachmann and Erik Paulsen have spent their entire careers pushing an extreme right-wing agenda that has been out-of-touch with the views of everyday Minnesotans. Yet at the same time as they say they are pro-family, they take money raised from Casino owners partying at a strip club,” said Carrie James, regional press secretary at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “The hypocrisy of this is astounding– a do as I say, not as I do approach to leadership.”

If Paulsen and Bachmann keep their stripper money, it will seriously undermine their credibility for the rest of the campaign.

Is this thing on…?

by
Matt Martin
Published on July 31, 2008 at 4:35 pm
, filed in General
. 9 Comments

Alright, it’s a couple days after we launched diaries and we still only have 3 diaires up (1 of which is mine).  I wasn’t sure when we launched these how often they’d actually be used, but I thought, either way, it was worth the experiment.  But with this kind of showing I’m starting to wonder if they’re even working!

So, what is it?  Are people having difficulties with the diaries system?  Is there simply not much interest?  Are there those out there that would like to use it but just haven’t had the time lately?

Also, while we’re at it: it’s been a bit over a month since the new site launched.  Are there any lingering problems people are having in general.  It’s bug squashing time people!

Bought By Big Oil

by
Aaron Landry
Published on July 31, 2008 at 2:45 pm
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 13 Comments

While Exxon Mobil posts a record $11.68 billion profit in a single quarter, the highest quarterly profit ever for any American company, the DSCC launched a new site following the money: Bought By Big Oil. It features our bought-out Senator from Minnesota, Norm Coleman:

Coleman Has Taken Over $244,000 From The Oil And Gas Industry.  Since running for Senate in 2002, Coleman has taken $244,900 from the oil and gas industry. 

Coleman Voted for $5 Billion Tax Break for Big Oil. In May 2006, Coleman voted to provide $5 billion in tax breaks to big oil companies over five years. This money could have been used to provide tax cuts to the middle class that were instead eliminated. [Vote 118, 5/11/06; Washington Post, 4/26/06; Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 5/11/06; New York Times,12/9/05]

Also from Bought By Big Oil, gas prices since Norm Coleman’s term began:


Dirty Sexy Money

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on July 31, 2008 at 2:39 pm
, filed in CD3 and CD6
. 11 Comments

Boy, Minnesota Republicans are taking money from all sorts of shady characters.  First you have Norm Coleman and the Stevens/VECO stuff (Aaron has been all over that story).  Now, it turns out that Erik Paulsen and Michele Bachmann have taken thousands of dollars in contributions linked to…wait for it…a strip club.

The story starts with Texas Congressman Pete Sessions.  Dump Michele Bachmann has the details:

Pete Sessions (R) from Texas and his leadership PAC, People for Enterprise, Trade, & Economic Growth (PETEPAC) held a little party at a Las Vegas “Club” back in March of this year…

This is how the club’s owner, Ivan Kane, describes his brand of burlesque.

Ivan Kane: The key component would be to have girls who were dancers taking their clothes off, not just girls taking their clothes off.

Classy.

PETEPAC has contributed $5,000 to Erik Paulsen and $2,500 to Michele Bachmann. As DMB points out, the hypocrisy here is rather striking. Minnesota Republicans make a big stink about some jokes Al Franken told and then they go out and actually exploit women to raise money. Way to go guys.

Franken on Prescription Drug Reforms

by
Aaron Landry
Published on July 31, 2008 at 10:07 am
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 3 Comments

With this week’s abundant press about Coleman trying to run away from Stevens’ taint (and me catching up on the latest latest cat news) I’m late to the game writing about Franken’s push for drug reform.

Star Tribune: “Franken urges U.S. to arrange lower drug prices for seniors”:

U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken called Wednesday for the federal government to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for seniors and to ban advertising that he says leads to unnecessary spending on medication.

…

Franken said Coleman was “rewarded handsomely” with big contributions from drug companies for his support of the Medicare program, known as Part D. Coleman received $204,000 in contributions from the pharmaceutical and health products industry in this election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Pioneer Press: “Franken pushes senior drug reforms”:

When the Medicare prescription drug program was created in 2003, the legislation allowed private insurers to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies over prices but didn’t allow the federal government to negotiate for the entire group of eligible seniors.

If Medicare were able to get the negotiated prices Medic-aid secured in 2006 and 2007, Medicare insurers would have saved $3.7 billion on the top 100 prescribed drugs, according to a recent report from the U.S. House oversight committee.

Coleman votes for making it illegal for Medicare to negotiate prices with drug companies in 2003 and in 2005 votes against an amendment that would have granted that right. Coleman gets hundreds of thousands of dollars from Health Care and Big Pharma and taxpayers flip the bill on the $3.7 billion more we pay for drugs.

Franken proposed yesterday repealing the law Coleman voted for so we can negotiate drug costs, calling for allowing for the importation of pharmaceuticals from Canada and banning direct-to-consumer drug advertising. These are things that should have been done in the last six years to protect the interests of Minnesotans, not screw them over.

Oil-Stained PAC Money: How Much is Coleman Really Giving Away?

by
Aaron Landry
Published on July 30, 2008 at 5:28 pm
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 19 Comments

Regarding the money Coleman received from Ted Stevens’ PAC and VECO, Coleman said he wasn’t going to give away any of it. Then he changed his mind, for political reasons. He was going to give away $10,000 of it. (AP corrected themselves) Then aAn ad came out about it and now he’s giving away it’s $20,000.

What about the rest? Coleman received at least $10,000 more from the previous cycle from Ted Stevens’ PAC. He also got at least $6,000 from VECO executives, who are the criminals directly involved with this scandal. Is the $20,000 dirty but the other $16,000 not?

I’m really bothered by a couple other things about this story but one really sticks out for me: the reason Norm Coleman gave for donating this money. It wasn’t about Stevens’ corruption, it wasn’t about how strongly it’s tied to oil, and it wasn’t about denouncing his deep connections with Stevens’ and VECO. It was about:

The Senator believes firmly in a presumption of innocence.  But it is clear our political opponents will attempt to use this issue as a distraction…

So Coleman is donating some of the money because it’s radioactive for him politically, not because he denounces the corruption. Sick.

UPDATE: Thanks to Michael B. Brodkorb for pointing out that the AP article was updated from saying $10,000 to $20,000.

Awfully Fishy

by
Aaron Landry
Published on July 30, 2008 at 4:17 pm
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 4 Comments

A new state-wide radio spot points out Coleman’s corruption with indicted Ted Stevens and Veco. Listen to it here:

Awfully Fishy

It sticks to the facts and gets straight to the point. A solid, timely radio spot.

Sean Broom, who was writing a post about this at the same time adds:

The Coleman campaign and their Research and Online Media Director Michael Brodkorb have shown that they don’t have any interest in addressing the issues, supporting Norm Coleman’s stances on the issues, or promoting Norm Coleman’s experience in the Senate, and I was concerned that the Franken campaign wasn’t being aggressive enough in response. The amazing turnaround on this ad (overnight) and their tone over the last few weeks have put those concerns to bed. It’s game time.

The script after the jump.
Continue reading ‘Awfully Fishy’

Coleman Changes His Mind on Stevens’ Money

by
Aaron Landry
Published on July 30, 2008 at 3:19 pm
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 13 Comments

Only after many of his colleagues did, and only after calls from his constituents to do so, Norm Coleman changed his mind about money he received from Stevens’ PAC:

The campaign will be donating any funds received in this cycle from the Northern Lights PAC to childhood cancer research. The Senator believes firmly in a presumption of innocence.  But it is clear our political opponents will attempt to use this issue as a distraction…

…and then they ironically talk about distractions.

I don’t think it’s a distraction at all. Minnesotans deserve to know about the kinds of groups Coleman gets his money from, especially when it’s upwards of $20,000 and it comes from another Senator’s PAC, especially when that senator is arm and arm with companies that want to drill in the ANWR. Coleman’s still keeping the money from Veco executives such as CEO Bill Allen and VP Rick Smith though. This donation, of course, doesn’t include money before this cycle which totals at least $10,000.

I wonder what really caused him to change his mind? Remember that the first statement, less than 24 hours ago was:

Coleman called the indictment “a very, very serious matter,” but added, “Under our system of justice, people are presumed innocent until proven guilty. I look at that principle before making any decisions about returning any contributions.”

Perhaps he’s trying to get off the hook.

UPDATE: How Much is Coleman Really Giving Away?

Steve Sarvi Picks Up IP Endorsement

by
Sean Broom
Published on July 30, 2008 at 1:26 pm
, filed in General
. 10 Comments

Fresh off of his race being upgraded by CQ politics (which we were remiss in not mentioning), the Second District Independence Party announced their endorsement of Steve Sarvi.

From the release:

“As I have gotten to know the members of the Independence Party, it has become clear to me that if anyone wants a change in course, it’s them,” said Steve Sarvi. “They want real fiscal responsibility – not politicians who run up our deficits and spend endlessly in Iraq while talking about fiscal responsibility. They want government that represents everyone – not just members of one party or donors with powerful corporate interests. They represent one special interest: making sure we leave a better world for our children and grandchildren. That’s what I want, and it’s what my supporters want. I’m proud to have this endorsement, and I look forward to having the Independence Party as an integral part of our team working for victory.”

Steve Sarvi is probably my favorite candidate in the state of Minnesota right now, and the closing of this race is due to people like you, who donated to Steve a few weeks ago.  Sarvi obviously is picking up momentum but that can’t go on forever — you need to help Steve, give him some dough here, or sign up to volunteer for him here.

How Honest Is Coleman’s Latest Ad?

by
Aaron Landry
Published on July 30, 2008 at 10:40 am
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 28 Comments

As Coleman shifted from negative attacks to a weeping mother thanking Coleman, WCCO’s Esme Murphy points out some facts:

The ad is so effective it could have lost the following line from Kris Rech. “We attended a meeting for CureSearch, and within two hours of being in the meeting, we knew that there was no funding for childhood cancer.” Well that is not true. In 2004 (when Rech first met with Coleman) the White House released this press release saying the President was going to increase cancer research funding by $629 million. The release pegs the total research investment throughout the NIH at $5 billion. (While the release doesn’t break down the percentage going to childhood cancer, it is obvious a chunk is)

Rachel E. Stassen-Berger with the Pioneer Press continues to look further:

Murphy found that the White House was celebrating cancer research funding in 2004 but the oops gets a little bigger. According to this press release CureSearch got $2.75 million in 2006 — and it was the third year of the organization getting such federal cash. That means in 2004 CureSearch itself got funding for childhood cancer research.

EDIT: Fixed grammatical error in first line.

NOTE: This was before MDE decided to give me my own thread about it. I’m glad he’s trying so hard to distract from the content of this post.

Precinct by precinct: CD7 (promoted diary)

by
Jeff Rosenberg
Published on July 30, 2008 at 8:58 am
, filed in Misc. Local Politics
. 2 Comments

Editor’s Note: This diary has been promoted from MNpublius’s new Diaries page where anyone can write a post. If you missed Jeff’s analysis of CD8, make sure to check it out here.

In this edition of the Daily Liberal Mapping Project, we look at the 7th Congressional District. CD7, home to Democratic Representative Collin Peterson, tends to be quite moderate. Peterson turned the district bluer with his election in 1990, and was a founding member of the Blue Dog Democrats, a moderate group which describes itself as:

a policy-oriented group to give moderate and conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives a common sense, bridge-building voice within the institution.

The district voted largely Democratic in 2006. Approximately half of the precincts voted over 60% Democratic, but about one third voted Republican.

However, nothing is guaranteed in the 7th, where voters are far more likely to split their tickets than the typical Minnesotan. Volatility is a measure of variation across races, and precincts with high volatility are those that see a lot of ticket-splitters.

The volatility map (below, at left) below shows that almost the entire district is full of voters willing to cross party lines. In 2006, the district voted 56% for Amy Klobuchar, but 54% for Tim Pawlenty. This has long been a safe seat for Peterson; the question will be how Al Franken fares with the volatile CD7 voters. In the more socially-conservative 7th, Franken must persuade voters to focus on his fiscal policies. CD7 readers, what do you think: will the 7th swing for Franken or against him?

Continue reading ‘Precinct by precinct: CD7 (promoted diary)’

DIARIES!

by
Matt Martin
Published on July 29, 2008 at 11:03 pm
, filed in General
. 0 Comments

When we launched Publius 4.0 a month ago we promised that this would be more than aesthetics, it would be a platform for the evolution of this site.  We’ve been working out the kinks, we’ve added a new author (Aaron Landry, our Senate correspondent) and now we’re announcing the launch of a new open community forum: MNpublius Diaries.

Starting right now, anyone has the ability to launch an online conversation about anything!  We, of course, won’t allow spam or lies, but liberal, conservative, mundane, or surreal, it may find a home on MNpublius Diaries.  Just as we’ve refused to censor comments, we will not censor content on the basis of our own opinions, but instead embrace a truly open forum for a discussion of Minnesota politics.  Now, we also may promote some especially intelligent diaries to the frontpage, but that will be a thoroughly subjective decision (hey, we’re opening up the diary page, but we still reign on the frontpage!).

So, get at it!  If you already have an account here you’re 90% of the way there, just click on the green button at the top of the right sidebar to write a diary (you’ll have to login again the first time, we apologize for the small bug) and you’re ready to go.  Otherwise, just register an account and start writing! If you need any instructions click here to find out more.  Otherwise, start writing, or start reading!

Coleman Keeps Stevens’ Dirty Money

by
Aaron Landry
Published on July 29, 2008 at 8:56 pm
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 12 Comments

While Senator Elizabeth Dole, Senator John Sununu, and Senator Gordon Smith are the first to give the money received from the recently indicted Ted Stevens to chairty, Norm Coleman is the first I’ve heard to actually go on the record saying he’s keeping it:

Coleman called the indictment “a very, very serious matter,” but added, “Under our system of justice, people are presumed innocent until proven guilty. I look at that principle before making any decisions about returning any contributions.”

That’s funny. Remember when Larry Craig was toilet tap dancing? From the AP, August 29, 2007:

Two Senate Republican colleagues, including John McCain, called Wednesday for Sen. Larry Craig to resign. The White House, too, expressed disappointment in the case of the Idaho Republican caught in a men’s room undercover police operation.

Arizona Sen. McCain and Norm Coleman of Minnesota, the state where Craig was arrested, became the first senators to join Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., urging Craig’s resignation.

Coleman was also the first member of congress to, well:

Sen. Norm Coleman will be donating a $2,500 contribution he received from Sen. Larry Craig’s political action committee to charity.

Coleman’s campaign manager, Cullen Sheehan, says that the Minnesota Republican senator will donate the contribution he received two months ago from Craig’s “Alliance for the West” PAC.

The other main player here, VECO, already pleaded guilty:

VECO was once the dominant force in Alaska’s oil services industry. Its founder, Allen, and vice president, Rick Smith, have pleaded guilty to bribing state lawmakers to push legislation to help the company. That initial investigation into VECO spawned the Stevens probe.

Allen agreed to cooperate with the FBI as part of a plea deal for a lesser penalty. That cooperation included letting the FBI tape his phone calls with Stevens, though those calls do not appear as part of the indictment.

Coleman received money from both Allen and Smith as well.

So what makes this situation with Ted Stevens so different? Is it too much to just give away to charity? Why would Dole, Sununu and Smith have a different opinion?

Maybe this has something to do with it.

Elizabeth Dole Dumps Indicted Stevens’ Money. What About Coleman?

by
Aaron Landry
Published on July 29, 2008 at 4:45 pm
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 1 Comment

From TPM:

Now that Senator Ted Stevens has gotten indicted, one big question is this: Will all the GOP Senators and Senate candidates dump the contributions he’s given them?

We now have the first reported case of a Republican Senator getting rid of such money: Sen. Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, who is facing a well-funded challenge from Democrat Kay Hagan.

Campaign spokesman Hogan Gidley just told Election Central that the campaign has written a $10,000 check — the amount Dole has received this cycle from Stevens’ leadership PAC — to the Society of St. Andrew.

Iit seems that Norm Coleman received double that, just in the 2008 election cycle alone. I still haven’t heard any word from the Coleman campaign on what they’re going to do with all the dirty money they’ve received from Veco and Stevens.

UPDATE: Sununu dumped the money too:

“Team Sununu will be donating to charity the $10,000 received during this 2008 campaign cycle from Northern Lights PAC. The campaign had previously donated to charity contributions received from VECO employees who pled guilty to wrongdoing,” said Sununu’s campaign manager Paul Collins in a statement.

Norm Coleman: Will you donate the $20,000 received as well as the contributions received from Veco employees?

Alaska!

by
Aaron Landry
Published on July 29, 2008 at 2:20 pm
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 0 Comments

I wonder how long it’ll be before Norm Coleman’s Facebook page is scrubbed from its Alaskan junket photos? There’s no glaciers in Minnesota, Norm!

Also, Marc Ambinder chimes in:

Much of the territory has been hashed out, but his indictment on charges stemming from his alleged lies to federal investigators will almost certainly add a Senate seat to the Democratic column.  It will almost certainly demoralize Republicans in Alaska and excite Democrats. It means that the Obama campaign will put more resources into flipping the state. It means that any senator who got Vecco money — Norm Coleman? — will be called to account.