Monthly Archive for July, 2008

Coleman Buddy Sen. Ted Stevens Indicted

by
Aaron Landry
Published on July 29, 2008 at 1:34 pm
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 1 Comment

From CNN:

In a 28-page indictment from a federal grand jury, Stevens was charged with seven counts of making false statements on his Senate financial disclosure forms.

The indictment says Stevens “schemed to conceal” the fact that Alaska’s Veco Energy paid for hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of work on his home.

FBI and Internal Revenue Service agents searched Stevens’ Alaska home in July 2007 in connection with the probe, which has already snared two oil-company executives and a state lobbyist.

This is really bad news for Coleman. Coleman received large contribution from Stevens’ PAC. Coleman’s been a “special guest” at Stevens’ exclusive “Kenai River Classic” in 2003, 2004 and 2005, which are invite-only events for politicians to meet up with lobbyists, oil executives and defense contractors at $6,000 a couple. He received gifts from Veco excutives such as CEO Bill Allen and VP Rick Smith. When Veco was under investigation by the FBI, Coleman refused to return $6,000 in contributions from them, even after they pled guilty to defrauding the IRS.

Did you ever wonder how much Coleman’s ties with Stevens and Veco Energy may have influenced his stance on drilling in the ANWR? I bet there’ll be a lot more about this coming out this week on the series of tubes.

David Brauer on Pat Kessler

by
Aaron Landry
Published on July 29, 2008 at 11:25 am
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. Closed

MinnPost’s David Brauer has a fantastic piece this morning on WCCO’s Pat Kessler’s recent reporting and analysis on “Reality Check” involving the Senate race. This part really caught my eye, though: regarding presenting evidence of “Coleman giving workers the same power he now assails Franken for supporting,”:

Kessler says he had a copy of the resolution, plus supporting documentation. However, the Coleman campaign challenged the document’s veracity, he says. Opting for certainty over immediate scoop, Kessler decided not to air the info that night.

His caution left the “Liar Night” story without a “gotcha” and made it appear wimpy to the likes of me. I think WCCO should’ve reflexively referenced “Reality Check” because the reports were related. But I have a bit more sympathy for the omission given they were expecting something bigger.

Kessler went to City Hall the next day, confirmed the resolution’s authenticity, and wound up giving Coleman his lumps two days after the original Reality Check aired. This time, he didn’t shy away from his conclusion two days earlier, stating, “The bill — making it easier to organize unions — does not eliminate the secret ballot.” [emphasis mine]

The whole article illustrates the kind of journalistic integrity Kessler has but also shows the Coleman campaign’s attempt to disown or “challenge” documents that were indeed signed by Norm Coleman. Overall, it’s a good read.

It’s Just been a Great 8 Years for American Government

by
Matt Martin
Published on July 29, 2008 at 9:10 am
, filed in Misc. National Politics
. 43 Comments

As everyone here probably knows already, I’m a huge Obama fan but I eagerly await the end of Bush’s term if only because I know that either candidate, even as dead-set as McCain appears to be to continue Bush’s policies in substantive areas, can’t help but bring more competance to the management of the executive branch.  It seems like every day we’re reminded of how thoroughly botched every facet of this Administration has been and today’s no exception as the NYTimes reports on the mismanagement of the Justice Department under Gonzales:

Senior aides to former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales broke Civil Service laws by using politics to guide their hiring decisions, picking less-qualified applicants for important nonpolitical positions, slowing the hiring process at critical times and damaging the department’s credibility, an internal report concluded on Monday.

A longtime prosecutor who drew rave reviews from his supervisors was passed over for an important counterterrorism slot because his wife was active in Democratic politics, and a much-less-experienced lawyer with Republican leanings got the job, the report said.

Another prosecutor was rejected for a job in part because she was thought to be a lesbian. And a Republican lawyer received high marks at his job interview because he was found to be sufficiently conservative on the core issues of “god, guns + gays.”

Wow, makes me feel like I’m in good hands!

I’m always timid saying things like this because extreme statements are usually sanctuaries for the ignorant and idiotic, but I really believe that Bush will go down as one of the top 5 worst Presidents of all time…

MNGOP/Coleman/MDE on Franken’s Gas Plan

by
Aaron Landry
Published on July 28, 2008 at 11:27 pm
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 6 Comments

The only thing that the MNGOP/Coleman/MDE machine can muster in response is to lie about Franken and to accuse him for not wanting to drill anywhere and everywhere immediately. They want you to forget everything he said about lowering the price at the pump and tell you the opposite of Franken’s actual stance on a federal gas tax. In Franken’s words:

We can’t afford to raise the federal gas tax. Last year, in the wake of the 35W bridge collapse, I said that I wouldn’t take a small increase in the federal gas tax off the table if it would help to pay for needed infrastructure improvements. But that was when gas cost around $2.70 a gallon. Since then, it’s increased by nearly 50%, and Minnesotans are feeling the squeeze. So we need to take that option off the table and find another way to fund our infrastructure: I’ll vote against any increase in the federal gas tax.

Who are you going to believe about Franken’s position on the issue? Either way, the MNGOP/Coleman/MDE machine are trying to creating distraction from what the story is actually about. Instead of comparing how Franken’s plan helps Minnesotans versus Coleman’s six years of screwing over Minnesotans, they want you to argue about Franken’s position even though it is written out clearly on his website and repeated in today’s press event.

Coleman’s last six years of helping Bush and the people that helped him get into office isn’t much of a record to stand behind, so why not argue about how Franken decided to take a better position to represent Minnesotans? The Coleman folks are desperate.

Were you distracted? This is where Al Franken stands.

The Media on Franken’s Gas Plan

by
Aaron Landry
Published on July 28, 2008 at 11:16 pm
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. Closed

All of these are good reads:

Star Tribune: “To lower gas prices, Franken proposes selling oil from reserves”:

Franken said that he supports renewable energy but that oil prices have risen to a crisis level, warranting a release from the reserve. Previous sell-offs under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton lowered prices by as much as a third, he said.

MPR: “Franken outlines plan to cut energy costs”:

Franken is also calling for a crackdown on energy trading speculation in hopes of preventing investors from driving up the cost of fuel. Franken criticized Republican Sen. Norm Coleman for voting against an anti-speculation bill last week.

Coleman said he voted no on the measure, because it did not include a provision to open more areas to off-shore drilling. Franken opposes increasing off-shore leases.

Franken said oil companies should drill in the off-shore areas where they currently hold leases.

AP: “Franken Outlines Plan To Cut Energy Costs”:

Franken also hammered Republican Sen. Norm Coleman’s recent votes to sideline a bill that would outlaw oil futures speculation that some economists blame for rising energy prices.

The Senate Democrats’ bill stalled last week because they lacked sufficient votes to close off debate. The bill would require the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to set limits on trading in oil markets by investors and speculators as well as closing other trading loopholes.

“What he says here in Minnesota isn’t always what he does in Washington,” Franken said. “Norm Coleman could have used his vote to bring down gas prices for Minnesota families, but his vote belongs to George W. Bush and the special interests.”

ECM: “DFL U.S. Senate candidate Franken calls on President Bush to release 50 million barrels of oil”:

Besides faulting U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, R-St. Paul, on a recent vote — U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar needs someone she can work with, he opined — Franken charged that Coleman was “pandering” to the voters by implying that opening the outer continental shelf to oil and gas exploration would speedily impact gas prices.

“I think it’s pandering when you’re telling people that we’re going to bring down the price of gas at the pump by opening up the those leases,” said Franken. “It’s not,” he said.

Opening the outer shelf would not impact gas prices for years, opined Franken.

“Norm Coleman’s message to the people of Minnesota is hang around for 22 years,” he said.

UPDATE: KARE 11: “Franken outlines plan to cut energy costs”:

Franken, who spoke to reporters in front of gas pumps at a service station in Saint Paul, said prices fell 60 cents per gallon the last time President Bush released oil from the reserve after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

He also called for an immediate crackdown on oil commodities speculation in stock markets, and took incumbent Republican Norm Coleman to task for voting against such a measure last Friday in Washington.

“Amy Klobuchar voted for that bill,” Franken remarked, “Norm Coleman cancelled out her vote and blocked it, thus proving once again that what he says here in Minnesota isn’t always what he does in Washington.”

Franken Delivers Three-Point Plan On Energy Crisis

by
Aaron Landry
Published on July 28, 2008 at 1:40 pm
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 37 Comments

Photo by Aaron Landry/MNpublius

I attended a press event at Super Day, an independently owned gas station in Saint Paul. The press event was in response to Norm Coleman voting against the interests of Minnesotans last Friday. Introduced by Representative Alice Hausman, Al Franken spoke on three main points to offer gas price relief to Minnesotans right away: 

  1. Making commodities trading more transparent, thereby working to eliminate the “spectulator tax.” He referenced research and and reports that confirmed that speculation has added as much as $40 per barrel to the price of oil.
  2. Increasing supply by releasing 50 millions of barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Franken referenced instances in 2000 and 2005 where Clinton and Bush both used the SPR to stabilize markets.
  3. Expanding the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP). He noted that WAP has reduced heating bills as overall household energy costs significantly.

All the major press were there so we’ll be hearing a lot more about this later today. Overall I thought Franken did quite well.

Mark Drake did an interview afterwards trying to counter what Franken said. My coworkers and I left after he started saying Franken was “consistent” about wanting to “raise the gas tax” and other things that were flat out untrue. Funny they’d try to say that after Franken just talked about tax breaks for the middle class last week and moments previous talked about lowering gas prices.

I took a bunch of photos and will add them to this post later. Here’s a few photos from the event. I’ll have a follow-up post on the media coverage.

Madia on WCCO

by
Matt Martin
Published on July 27, 2008 at 10:31 pm
, filed in CD3
. 29 Comments

In case you missed WCCO’s segment this morning interviewing both Ashwin Madia and Erik Paulsen, they now have the clips up on their website (Madia here and Paulsen here).  I thought they both did rather well, but Ashwin, in my humble opinion, did much better.  Paulsen was speaking a bit quickly and ended up sounding like a John McCain parrot.  I also thought the segment where Paulsen talks about how he’s a champion of the middle class and against rolling back the Bush taxes on the wealthiest 2% was humorous.  Either way, it’s worth the watch.  I apologize I couldn’t embed the clips directly, but WCCO doesn’t allow for that (boo).

Who’s Getting the Free Pass?

by
Matt Martin
Published on July 27, 2008 at 3:28 pm
, filed in White House '08
. 38 Comments

It’s been almost comical to watch the media overcompensate for accusations that they’re giving Obama a free pass while McCain has made gaffe after gaffe without any attention. The fact of the matter is that Obama does get more attention but it’s not because of any bias, it’s because he’s much more exciting. The media is a business just like any other: it steers itself towards where the money is. As Frank Rich pointed out in his Op-Ed today, even Access Hollywood saw a 20% spike in viewers when they put Obama on. But here’s the thing, he’s not getting a free pass. The added attention has led to more scrutiny than any other Presidential candidate has experienced and the amazing thing is that he’s held up. Over all this coverage and all this attention he has yet to really make any game-changing mistakes.

McCain on the other hand has been busy making mistakes. Rich points out a few:

Mr. McCain could also have stepped into the leadership gap left by Mr. Bush’s de facto abdication. His inability to even make a stab at doing so is troubling. While drama-queen commentators on television last week were busy building up false suspense about the Obama trip — will he make a world-class gaffe? will he have too large an audience in Germany? — few focused on the alarms that Mr. McCain’s behavior at home raise about his fitness to be president.

Once again the candidate was making factual errors about the only subject he cares about, imagining an Iraq-Pakistan border and garbling the chronology of the Anbar Awakening. Once again he displayed a tantrum-prone temperament ill-suited to a high-pressure 21st-century presidency. His grim-faced crusade to brand his opponent as a traitor who wants to “lose a war” isn’t even a competent impersonation of Joe McCarthy. Mr. McCain comes off instead like the ineffectual Mr. Wilson, the retired neighbor perpetually busting a gasket at the antics of pesky little Dennis the Menace.

The week’s most revealing incident occurred on Wednesday when the new, supposedly improved McCain campaign management finalized its grand plan to counter Mr. Obama’s Berlin speech with a “Mission Accomplished”-like helicopter landing on an oil rig off Louisiana’s coast. The announcement was posted on politico.com even as any American with a television could see that Hurricane Dolly was imminent. Needless to say, this bit of theater was almost immediately “postponed” but not before raising the question of whether a McCain administration would be just as hapless in anticipating the next Katrina as the Bush-Brownie storm watch.

Rich’s article was very good and actually not really focused on the media angle but on how Obama has come to be seen as the President in waiting. It’s definitely worth a read.

They’re Already Coming For Our Hookers!

by
Sean Broom
Published on July 25, 2008 at 2:52 pm
, filed in General
. 82 Comments

The St. Paul Police Department in a training exercise aimed at preparing for the hookertastic habits of our honored guests next month accidentally picked up a Republican early!

From the Strib:

Peter Hong, a longtime Republican operative in Minnesota, was arrested Wednesday afternoon on a charge of soliciting prostitution in St. Paul.

When asked for comment Michael St. Cyril, a low level desk jockey for the St. Paul Police Department said:

“Whoa dude, this is like catching a fish out of season — we didn’t know if we should throw him back and wait to get him in a month or what.”

Yolanda, a long time University Ave woman of the night had this to say about the arrest

“We were told to be prepared for Republicans, but we were told that it was going to be the begining of September. I dunno… maybe he was doing some advance scouting. I didn’t hear anything weird about this guy, but I know that some guy from Louisiana has already called around looking for some crazy [stuff] .”

Let this serve as a warning to all of the law abiding, God-fearing good people of Minnesota. Republicans are already among us, keep your daughters off the streets of St. Paul.

What if They Threw a Convention and Nobody Came

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on July 25, 2008 at 1:53 pm
, filed in General
. 1 Comment

Poor Minnesota Republicans, they thought they were going to see the stars of their party, but now everybody is bailing:

Nine of 12 targeted Republicans running in the most competitive Senate races this fall are either skipping the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minn., or have not decided whether to attend.

Among those who will not attend are Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, who is not close to presumptive presidential nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona, and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who is a McCain loyalist. Stevens and Collins will use the convention week to focus on their campaigns.

Also sending regrets is former Rep. Bob Schaffer of Colorado, running for the seat being vacated by retiring GOP Sen. Wayne Allard.

Six others — Sens. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, John Sununu of New Hampshire, Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina and Gordon Smith of Oregon and challengers John Kennedy of Louisiana and Rep. Steve Pearce of New Mexico are still on the fence. Their spokesman offered responses ranging from “there are no plans yet” to “no decisions have been made.”

Norm Coleman, on the other hand, has to attend because his landlord, Jeff Larson, is a convention big-wig. Wouldn’t want to anger his buddy and put his sweet-heart deal at risk.

Pollster Doesn’t Trust Own Numbers

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on July 25, 2008 at 9:23 am
, filed in General
. 10 Comments

Quinnipiac put out a poll yesterday that showed Barack Obama leading John McCain in Minnesota by only two points.  This after the same pollster reported a 17 point Obama lead in June.  I’m not sure what could possible explain such a dramatic Obama collapse, and niether is Quinnipiac.  In fact, the very pollster who administered the poll was downplaying its results in an AP article:

The poll of likely Minnesota voters conducted by Quinnipiac University has Obama up 46 to 44. It’s within the survey’s margin of sampling error, meaning the race is considered about even. Last month, the same pollsters put Obama 17-percentage points ahead of McCain.

Clay Richards, the assistant director of the Connecticut university’s polling institute, said the Obama slide probably isn’t as dramatic as the raw numbers reflect. Still, Richards said McCain is clearly stronger in the state than he was in June.

You know a poll isn’t credible if the pollster himself won’t stand behind the results.

Franken Responds, Sticks to the Issues

by
Aaron Landry
Published on July 25, 2008 at 2:59 am
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 71 Comments

Franken’s TV response to Coleman’s negative attack ad:

Smart. He addresses the “difference between what you say as a comedian and what you do as a U.S. Senator.” Then goes right back to talking about the issues that actually impact Minnesotans. It’s great to see Franken sticking to the issues against Coleman’s negative personal attacks.

I’d love to see those Coleman bowlers come back with an ad about what they think about their sons and daughters in Iraq. Perhaps those bowlers can talk about how much it cost in fuel to drive to the bowling alley. Instead, I’m sure they’ll continue to try to distract.

Coleman’s Ironic Real Estate Community Fundraiser

by
Aaron Landry
Published on July 25, 2008 at 12:06 am
, filed in MN 2008: Senate
. 1 Comment

This morning Norm Coleman is having a fundraiser with relators in Saint Paul. I emailed with the DFL and got a quick response from Frank Benenati:

How ironic that Senator Norm Coleman is raising campaign cash from realtors while still refusing to allow a single one of them into his million-dollar Washington crash pad to objectively determine its real value on the open rental market.

Perhaps the real-estate professionals from whom Coleman is collecting campaign cash will ask him the questions that Minnesotans - and the Senate Ethics Committee - are still waiting for him to answer, like: Where’s his lease? Who’s paying his utilities? And how with a straight face can he still claim that a mere $600 a month is anywhere close to market value for his million-dollar Capitol Hill digs? Maybe we’ll get some real answers, but Minnesotans shouldn’t hold their breath.

Hey, Frank, it’s a “security risk,” remember? Well, at least for job security.

My take? I wonder how Coleman will address the, um, little things like the housing market and foreclosure crisis. It might be a concern this morning with realtors.

Yeah, let’s give that guy more money.

Coleman Realtor’s Breakfast (PDF)

UPDATE: Fundraiser got rescheduled due to votes in Washington.

Barack Obama’s Speech In Berlin

by
Sean Broom
Published on July 24, 2008 at 2:02 pm
, filed in General
. 27 Comments

Shades of Reagan:

The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.

The full text after the jump.

Continue reading ‘Barack Obama’s Speech In Berlin’

DFL Files Complaint Against Lying Front Groups

by
Aaron Landry
Published on July 24, 2008 at 10:03 am
, filed in General
. 52 Comments

Brian Melendez sums it up:

Two front groups have been spreading false statements about the Employee Free Choice Act — lies that Senator Norm Coleman has gladly repeated on many occasions, even after labor leaders met with him and explained that the statements were untruthful and that the Act in fact guarantees a secret ballot. Senator Coleman desperately wants to divert attention from his record and from his intimate ties with the corporate special interests that fund his campaign, so he has resorted to telling lies about his opponent, Al Franken.

But in Minnesota, we don’t tolerate intentionally false statements in paid political advertising; in fact, such statements are a crime, and rightly so. We are therefore holding legally accountable the two groups that have knowingly and intentionally spread these false statements in Minnesota. A judge will hold those groups accountable. And Minnesotavoters will hold Norm Coleman accountable.

It’s about time. It was exposed that these ads were intentionally dishonest a long time ago. Coleman has been asked to condemn the ads. Coleman continued to trot along telling the same lie. The ads never stopped. Therefore, appropriate legal action’s being taken.

Minnesotans do not deserve this kind of foul dishonesty.

More at MyFox Twin Cities, Minnesota Independent

Reference: Minnesota Statute 211B.06