Monthly Archive for February, 2009
Page 2 of 3
Stiles is well known to the Minnesota press corps as the current Communications Director for the DFL. Before that, he did a stint with Ramsey County Commissioner Toni Carter and has been a key player in St. Paul DFL politics for years. Beecham is coming off a tour with Al Franken as Deputy Finance Director.
Stiles and Beecham join a political team that already includes heavyweights like Sara Grewing, Bob Hume, Kris Fredson and Erin Dady. That’s quite the collection of political talent. In fact, these hires will no doubt just add to the speculation that Coleman is gearing up for a gubernatorial run in 2010. I’ve always thought that Coleman would be a strong contender for the DFL nod and his ability to attract top notch staff only adds to that perception. With Tim Walz out of the race, Coleman has to be considered an early front-runner.
Every Sunday, Minnesotans pour over borders to liquor stores in North Dakota, Wisconsin and Iowa in search of alcohol.
Under proposed legislation by Rep. Tom Anzelc, DFL-Balsam Township, these Minnesotans would be able to buy alcohol at local liquor stores with the state’s share of tax revenue dedicated to funding of county children’s social services.
State revenue from sales tax on Sundays could equal up to $10 million a year, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, an industry group that supports less-restrictive liquor laws.
The state’s share of sales tax revenue would be put into a special fund for county children’s services — an area of funding threatened with cuts as lawmakers scramble to balance an almost $5 billion state deficit.
Now, 10 million is just a tiny fraction of our massive deficit, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pass this bill. Our state’s ban on alcohol purchases on Sundays is a relic of a time long since past. Blue laws like this one should be repealed, and the extra tax revenue is just a bonus.
The Minnesota Independent breaks down the court order into which rejected absentee ballots would not be considered and which ones may still be considered. As much as Team Coleman wants to overturn the election results, it’s good to see that the courts are leaning towards making sure only legally cast votes are counted. Here’s two examples of types of ballots the court may still consider:
Returned by a nonregistered voter in an absentee ballot return envelope on which no box in the proof of residence portion of the envelope is checked by the witness.
…
Cast by a nonregistered voter who was not registered to vote in the precinct encompassing the voter’s address on the absentee ballot return envelope and absentee ballot application.
It is my strong guess that most of these types of ballots listed will be found to be not legal ballots. Everyone wants every single legal ballot to be counted — that’s why we had a recount. But fighting for the counting rejected absentee ballots from non-registered voters where the witness doesn’t even fill in the proof of residence, for example, is like fighting to endanger the integrity of this election in my opinion. But, alas, those ballots will see their day in court just to quadruple-check.
“If Franken was going to vote on the stimulus package, they wouldn’t necessarily need one of the Republicans. So yeah, it matters,” said Ron Bonjean, a former top aide to several Senate Republicans who now operates his own public-relations firm. Democrats brokered a deal with three centrist Republican senators in order to end debate on the stimulus package.
“It’s better for us to have one less member,” said a top GOP leadership aide, though the aide acknowledged of Franken: “He’s got a very good shot at winning.”
Republican senators and right-leaning political action committees have poured money into Coleman’s legal effort.
I’m getting tired of Minnesota only getting half representation… and of course Republicans want to delay seating our Senator-elect as long as possible.
Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske has accepted a job in the Obama administration, most likely overseeing the nation’s drug policies, according to sources familiar with the chief’s plans.
Kerlikowske, who has led the department for more than eight years, has told the department’s top commanders he expects to leave to take a top federal position, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they aren’t officially authorized to disclose the information.
The news, which is confirmed by ABC News, means that former Representative Jim Ramstad probably won’t be joining the Obama Administration. This, of course, means that the Rammer will be free to pursue a gubernatorial run in the event that Tim Pawlenty elects not to seek a third term.
Ramstad would be a strong candidate in a general election because of his moderate ideology and the general goodwill he has built among Minnesotans (particularly in the 3rd District). I wonder, however, if he would be able to escape a GOP primary. Then again, the Republican bench is so thin in Minnesota right now, there might not be a conservative with the stature and fundraising abilities necessary to defeat Ramstad.
MN Child Support Center
PO Box 64306
Saint Paul, Minnesota 551640306GARNISHMENTS
12/19/2008
745.90
…and…
MN Child Support Center
PO Box 64306
Saint Paul, Minnesota 551640306GARNISHMENTS
12/31/2008
691.12
It’s hard to hold others to any kind of ethical standards if you’re guilty of child support evasion. Is this Ron Carey?
UPDATE: As it isn’t clear to some people, MNpublius does not know specifically who was the defendant but it is clear that the Republican Party of Minnesota is the garnishee.
UPDATE: After consulting with a few others, I now do not dispute the assessment that just because the MN GOP is a garnishee it doesn’t verifiably mean there was wrongdoing. For the sake of transparency, I have striked out some of my comments and edited the post title. At least they’re paying child support.
That said, if you work in politics, you generally do not want a court order taking part of your earnings.
The DFL press release, as well as congratulatory statements from Amy Klobuchar, Al Franken and Jim Oberstar can all be found after the jump.
Much of Republican Norm Coleman’s hope for victory in the U.S. Senate race rests on his lists of about 4,700 rejected absentee ballots.After a two-month recount, Coleman sued to overturn Democrat Al Franken’s 225-vote lead. A central claim of his case: Thousands of potentially valid absentee ballots haven’t been counted.
Inside and outside the courtroom, Coleman’s attorneys have repeatedly said they didn’t ‘cherry-pick’ the ballots. That is, the ballots made it to the list because the legal team honestly believes they are valid and should be counted.
But a Pioneer Press analysis of the counties and cities the ballots come from shows those areas overwhelmingly favor Coleman.
Source: Pioneer Press, February 9, 2008
Click here for the complete story.
‘I want to run again for office, and I want to win next time. However, for a number of reasons, I don’t think that I’ll be running for Congress in 2010. I had a good shot at it, I gave it everything I had - as did my team - and I came up short. While, in retrospect, I think I made some mistakes that I’ll correct the next time I run, I think somebody else should run against Paulsen in 2010 - and beat him.’
Despite the fact that he lost, I came away from the 2008 elections impressed with Ashwin Madia. His upset of Terri Bonoff in the endorsement race was simply stunning. Say what you will about the tactical choices his campaign made in the general election, but no one can argue that Madia didn’t work his ass off to win that race. I am glad he plans to run for office in the future. I hope he starts out a little further down the food chain next time. I think Madia would be a fantastic addition to the state legislature.
In his initial statements as party leader, however, Steele has stuck to tried-and-true themes, including invoking the GOP’s 1994 victory as a model and praising House leaders for their stimulus vote. “The goose egg that you laid on the president’s desk was just beautiful,” he told them. “You and I know that in the history of mankind and womankind, government — federal, state or local — has never created one job. It’s destroyed a lot of them.”
This will come as a shock to the hundreds of thousands of Americans currently employed by federal, state or local government.
Here’s an excerpt, but seriously, you should give the whole thing a read — as dry as the subject may sound at first blush, it really is an interesting look into the strategy that goes into a well-oiled campaign:
For years, people have been saying the Internet is a game changer. But you haven’t seen it, have you? Sure it was great for Howard Dean and Barack Obama, but their methods haven’t exactly translated down the ballot, have they?
This narrative has tied the hands of new media types when we work with professionally run campaigns, because they tend to be salted with campaign pros who experimented unsuccessfully in the past. Until now, the campaigns willing to innovate have tended to be broke and hopeless. Democrat Al Franken was different. His Senate campaign in Minnesota hired an Internet director from the corporate world, Jon David Schlough, who didn’t buy into this narrative. Freed from the same old fight, we were able to focus on developing a new media way to leverage the most tried and true tool for down- ballots: paid media.
And then Klobuchar—who told Politico that she wrote half of her own jokes—stepped up, and things got unexpectedly funny.
“I’d like to make this as short as Bill Richardson’s tenure as Commerce Secretary,” she opened. “I raised $17,000 from ex-boyfriends — true story! I know that is the record in the Senate, but in the house it’s held by Barney Frank.” Roars of laughter, even from Frank.
Then she turned to the “great reporters? in this room — all of whom got scooped on the John Edwards story by the National Enquirer.” She promised not to be too rough with them, though, since “I’m all about protecting endangered species.”
Perhaps best of all: “Typically a Republican and a Democrat speak at this — you could have saved a lot of money by asking Joe Lieberman.”
When Klobuchar finished she received a partial standing ovation, the first this reporter has seen at a WPCF dinner.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan is a nationwide effort to create jobs, jumpstart growth and transform our economy for the 21st century. Across the country, this plan will help businesses create jobs and families afford their bills while laying a foundation for future economic growth in key areas like health care, clean energy, education and a 21st century infrastructure. In Minnesota, this plan will deliver immediate, tangible impacts, including:
· Creating or saving 70,000 jobs over the next two years. Jobs created will be in a range of industries from clean energy to health care, with over 90% in the private sector. [Source: White House Estimate based on Romer and Bernstein, “The Job Impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.” January 9, 2009.]
· Providing a making work pay tax cut of up to $1,000 for 2,120,000 workers and their families. The plan will make a down payment on the President’s Making Work Pay tax cut for 95% of workers and their families, designed to pay out immediately into workers’ paychecks. [Source: White House Estimate based on IRS Statistics of Income]
· Making 41,000 families eligible for a new American Opportunity Tax Credit to make college affordable. By creating a new $2,500 partially refundable tax credit for four years of college, this plan will give 3.8 million families nationwide – and 41,000 families in Minnesota – new assistance to put college within their reach. [Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis of U.S. Census data]
· Offering an additional $100 per month in unemployment insurance benefits to 331,000 workers in Minnesota who have lost their jobs in this recession, and providing extended unemployment benefits to an additional 52,000 laid-off workers. [Source: National Employment Law Project]
· Providing funding sufficient to modernize at least 91 schools in Minnesota so our children have the labs, classrooms and libraries they need to compete in the 21st century economy. [Source: White House Estimate]
In addition to this immediate assistance for Minnesota, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan will help transform our economy by:
· Doubling renewable energy generating capacity over three years, creating enough renewable energy to power 6 million American homes.
· Computerizing every American’s health record in five years, reducing medical errors and saving billions of dollars in health care costs.
· Launching the most ambitious school modernization program on record, sufficient to upgrade 10,000 schools.
· Enacting the largest investment increase in our nation’s roads, bridges and mass transit systems since the creation of the national highway system in the 1950s.
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