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.
An fun story of local interest from the Politico’s reporting on the Washington Press Club Foundation’s dinner, which invites veteran and freshman politicos alike to toast and roast each other. Last year, then Congressman Rahm Emanual hit the ball out of the park and no one thought his efforts would be topped, but I guess they just hadn’t met Senator Amy Klobuchar yet:
Matthew,
“A funny story” not An funny story. Did you learn nothing in my class?
Mrs. Ducher
She can be very funny - I think she inherited a humor gene from her dad.
Amy Klobuchar: One Democrat Comedian Senator who I CAN tolerate.
Dan
There is only one. You are exposing your inherent prejudice.
Amy for SCOTUS!!
There are better female choices for SCOTUS.
A good time to mention that the Amy Klobuchar for President 2016 effort has started. Join up folks!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=40612542758
Transcript at the Political Animal
Did Senator Klobochar really say this?:
“It’s like being from Illinois, Rahm Emmanuel and being placed on Ethics.”
Rahm Emmanuel has an ethics problem? Maybe she meant Blagojevich?
… and the President is from Illinois.
I’m not laughing.
“An” funny story? You make your 7th grade English teacher cry or drink excessively.
I’m with you on that, Ken. Although I think she’s top notch.
For President? She’s going to need a suit of armor super thick. Does she have it? Maybe that is what this comedic venture tells us.
The Big E: wow. What about that. Must be some kind of inside joke or something.
Shecky Klobuchar, here all week, try the veal.
Yep, pretty good material.
Best line….
“So I’m up here telling the jokes and Al Franken is going to be the senator. What’s wrong with that picture? ”
A lot. A whollllllllllllllllllllllle lot.
Did she make a joke about her vote on the FISA bill? Didn’t think so. Haha. She’s so funny.
Did she make a joke about her vote on the FISA bill? Didn’t think so. Haha. She’s so funny.
Klobuchar talked during tonight’s debate about the relationship between Medicare requests and unemployment rates. Something like for every 1% increase in unemployment, 1,000,000 additional people request medicare.
MN Senate Litigation: The Universe of Reconsiderable Absentee Ballots
People can get pissy about anything here, can’t they?
The event was funny. She supposedly wrote a lot of it herself.
Seems that is all this thread is about.
Sociapathic Minnesota Republican Blogger Really?
“A lot. A whollllllllllllllllllllllle lot.”
Like what?
Put your opinions on display for us, again.
Now I admit, this is a big night for me.
So I called Sarah Palin and asked her what to wear.
As many of you remember, she burst on the national stage in my home state of Minnesota.
And that’s when I learned what RNC stands for:
Really New Clothes.
Amy Klobuchar is very similar to Michele Bachmann in one respect - she avoids public town hall meetings in the urban areas like the plague. The 87 county tours she does is a smokescreen to avoid representing 1/4 of the state (which lives in Hennepin County).
Amy Klobuchar is also similar to Michele Bachmann in another respect - her fervent support of Minnesota Teen Challenge - which believes that Harry Potter books are a gateway to drug abuse, and promotes “pray away the gay” ministries. Amy Klobuchar pushed for a 500,000 earmark for Minnesota Teen Challenge. Klobuchar defends this by stating Keith Ellison was also supporting this earmark. When I talked to Ellison, he had no recollection of supporting it, but is going to double check.
Nitro,
Here, I will type slowly so you will understand it…….
Like Al should go back to being a non-funny humorless failed talk-show host telling bad jokes, and Amy should step up a be a Senator for all of Minnesota, especially the ones paying most of the taxes.
Let me repeat if for you since I am sure you had trouble the first time through.
Like Al should go back to being a non-funny humorless failed talk-show host telling bad jokes, and Amy should step up a be a Senator for all of Minnesota, especially the ones paying most of the taxes.
I wonder if Amy would take a no earmerks pledge and a no tax increase pledge. HaHAHa, I crack myself up.
especially the ones paying most of the taxes.
You said it twice so we can rule out typo or some such thing. “especially the ones paying most of the taxes.” is a very revealing phrase. What if the interests of those paying the most of the taxes runs counter to the welfare of the entire population? That phrase reveals the GOP’er mindset. Since I’m rich, I’m entitled to special treatment. Laws are for the working class, not for me. I am entitled to access, and am entitled to treatment reserved only for the privileged. Yes, that’s quite the interesting turn of phrase.
Really?:
“Like Al should go back to being a non-funny humorless failed talk-show host telling bad jokes, and Amy should step up a be a Senator for all of Minnesota, especially the ones paying most of the taxes.”
Wow so proud of your statement that you posted it twice, just like a sociopath would, don’t you Really? As if it was something original.
So, you believe that your opinion of Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar is an accurate one?
Are you sure about that?
You know, Really?, you suck at blogging because you say NOTHING we all haven’t heard hundreds of times already, and present it in a manner as if you are “teaching us all a lesson”. You say nothing different on Wednesday that we didn’t hear on Monday, no matter what happens on Tuesday.
I think your a delusional sociopath.
Richard,
I did not use “espacially for those paying nmost of the taxes” lightly. I did it on purpose to tweak you, Nitro, and lojasmo. You amuse me when you get your liberal dander up. And, I said it for none of the reasons you posited (look it up).
And Nitro, I posted it twice so that you could comprehend it. I guess I needed to post it a third time, eh?
But think about it, Richard. 50% of the people pay 97% of the income taxes. 2% pay around 50%. Why is it that Amy continually votes for higher taxes that penalize one half of the population at the expense of the other half, and especially of 10% and most ceertainly 2%?
Amy is fighting for the rights of gays. There are fewer gays than there are higher income earners. Why is she championing the rights of 1% of the population yet ignoring (or even trampling on) the rights of the 2% or the 25% or the 50%? It show her bias against those who made the right choices (no unwed pregnancies, got married, stayed off drugs, did not commit crimes), invested in education, risked money in investments that created jobs, and spent their money within their means.
Amy needs to step up and stop the class warfare, just like she wamts tp stop discrimination against gays.
Richard, since you are a dedicated footsoldier in the class warfare army, I doubt that you would ever understand. Why is it that you would deny me and my children the fruits of my hard labor? Is it greed or envy?
And, by the way, I probably give more to to charity in a year than you pay in taxes. Heck, probably even more than you earn from your parent’s basement. That does not make me better than you. But it does show that “those evil Republicans” care about people. “Red” states give more to charity per capita than do “Blue” states. We just wish you dems would allow us to give freely, rather than have it taken away at the point of a gun.
2% pay around 50%
Nice little talking point. Trouble is it’s been largely debunked. As a matter of fact, the top 2% owns 90% of the wealth so that 50% number means they’re getting one hell of a deal. How’s about 2% pays 90% of the tax bill?
Really?
“We just wish you dems would allow us to give freely, rather than have it taken away at the point of a gun.”
Take it up with the framers of the constitution. They’re dead. Perhaps you could meet them in the afterlife, and hash it out.
Really?
“We just wish you dems would allow us to give freely, rather than have it taken away at the point of a gun.”
Take it up with President Taft (republican) He’s dead. Perhaps you could meet him in the afterlife, and hash it out. Perhaps you could ask him why he, a good god-fearing christian republican, would propose and amendment to the constitution which allows the government to impose an income tax.
I failed at failing. This forum software sucks. Seriously though, Really? Taft proposed the sixteenth amendment. You have no leg to stand on blaming the democrats for income taxation.
lojasmo you can’t be right. No way did Republican Taft have anything to do with income taxes. After all Really? is brilliant, rich, educated, gives more to charity than you and I make in a year and always knows more than the poor liberals on this forum. He only deigns to post in an effort to educate us. He would never be ignorant of basic US history like that.
/sarcasm
lojasmo,
I did not blame Dems for the income tax. Nice failed try.
I blame the Dems for the high rates, constant clamoring for higher rates, the use of the money for wealth redistribution and not basic constitutional services (defend the country, foreign relations, etc), and especially for their attitude that since I make more I owe a higher percentage than some who makes less. Let me pay the same percentage as everyone else, which means I will still pay more.
Don’t penalize me for investing in education, making the right life choices, making wise investments, and spending wisely. Is it envy or greed that makes you tear down the successful to a lower level (yours?).
Really? I guess I should be penalized for making the bad choice of choosing to be a teacher and getting that stupid master’s degree - I deserve to be losing more ground year after year. If I’m dumb enough to work for such bad boss (the state of Minnesota and it’s tax slashing citizens), I guess I deserve to take a bigger hit than those who chose the noble career of being born rich. Firefighters, police officers, nursing home workers - we all deserve to be broke.
And as far as let’s all the pay the same percentage, if that happens you are correct in that the wealthy will pay more. When you factor in all taxes and fees, the lower middle class pays the highest percentage of their wealth to the government (I learned that from the Minnesota Department of Revenue).
It used to be known as your tax obligation, since the criminal Reagan, it became known as tax burden. I’m very curious about why it is the wealthy don’t feel a patriotic duty to pay taxes. Are the wealthy less patriotic because they’re rich or are they rich because they’re less patriotic. GOP’ers love to wrap themselves in the flag. The trouble is they don’t want to pay for that flag.
Jen,
Thank you for choosing to be a teacher. You traded a potentially higher salary for summers off, no payment towards healthcare, and a retirement plan more generous than most anything in the private sector (data from my teacher wife, based on a local state, not MN). Remember, it was your choice. No one forced you.
Firefighters , policeman, nursing aids, etc, are compensated on the open market for the value taxpayers and elected officials places on their efforts. Don’t blame me.
I guees you missed the part of my post where I said the first 50K was exempt. Takes your lower middle income (not class) argument out of the picture.
Remember that Amy Klobuchar was embarrassed to be associated with a 2007 gay conference at the University of Minnesota - and refused to send a welcome letter:
http://www.mndaily.com/2007/02/20/staffs-snub-soup-event
So it’s not surprising she’d be pushing an earmark for a “Pray away the gay” group like Minnesota Teen Challenge.
Eva, was there consensus about what to do: re use the courts or legislation to get what the Minneapolis gay community might want? And what did the meeting attendees say they wanted?
Perhaps legislators can get on board if there is a unified, clear, message. Maybe that is impossible, though…
Legislators often try to act on behalf of the majority.
Wow Realy?, are you sure you’re not a delusional sociopath?
Your comments sure are full of the same crap we’ve all been hearing for 25 years from people like you.
This is an economic crisis CREATED by your beliefs.
But why would a member of the right wing cult ever see anything any differently when their ideology miserably fails?
More of the same, that is your solution, Really. Unfortunately more of the same is not as popular as Republican cultists might think.
Nitro,
What are you specifically addressing in my comments? Your rant leaves out details, as usual. But it sure does use all of theose names. Really man, didn’t your mother teach you that if you can’t soeak nicely of someone, to shut the hell up?
Methinks the sociopath here is the one posting under the nom-de-plum of NITRO. If not a sociopath, than definitely a stalker.
HC: Eva, was there consensus about what to do: re use the courts or legislation to get what the Minneapolis gay community might want? And what did the meeting attendees say they wanted?
Holly - what does that have to do with Amy Klobuchar pushing for tax money to support a group that promotes “pray away the gay”? People criticize Michele Bachmann (rightly) for her efforts to push this - Amy Klobuchar should also be criticized for the same thing.
And why did Klobuchar treat the U of MN campus gay group as if they had cooties?
Neither of these issues have anything to do with including gays in the institution of marriage.
Doug Benson’s group - Marry Minnesota - is pushing a court case - and Benson and Strand (Marriage Equality Minnesota), are also pushing a marriage equality bill in the legislature. A two pronged approach on this issue makes perfect sense - especially since DOMA was passed by being attached to a non-related bill. It should be thrown out for that reason alone. Then let the legislature pass the legislation again if they want - on an up or down vote.
HC: “Perhaps legislators can get on board if there is a unified, clear, message. Maybe that is impossible, though…
Legislators often try to act on behalf of the majority.”
EY: Actually, due to the excellent lobbying effort by David Strand and Doug Benson, there are quite a number of people on the marriage equality bill - both on the Senate and House version. I understand that Margaret Anderson Kelliher is busily doing what she can to stop the bill from getting to the floor. She needs to get calls from people in her district. Outfront Minnesota has also signed onto the Marriage Equality bill, though they have a 3-5 year goal on the bill, and Project 515 is promoting a more incremental approach.
Gays have a variety of opinions on strategy. Assuming that all gays think alike is a bit presumptuous.
Really?
“And, by the way, I probably give more to to charity in a year than you pay in taxes.”
I didn’t know NAMBLA was considered a charity.
Eva, I think you know what I was getting at as we’ve discussed it in other spots. Money to sway legislators will end up with the wrong result… new legislators that bring you farther from what you want. The majority will have its say… and I suppose you can’t hear me on that. So we’ll end up with legislators being ousted out of office over gay marriage.
Gay unions! Ask for that! And quit twisting our legislator’s arms because that will mean no health care reform, less help for hardworking families, and less regulation.
Two pronged approach should be rethought. One prong approach. Courts! Look back at our history and major social reform.
Again, I’m tired of losing on election night.
Really? - A couple of corrections about Minnesota teachers’ compensation: No districts have full family healthcare coverage (in fact, they are quite pricey), not all even have full single, and a few have dropped health insurance for educators all together. As far as pensions, Minnesota teachers’ pensions rank dead bottom of the 36 or so states that have pensions based on social security timelines and lag behind many retirement options in the private sector. And summers off, study after study shows that teachers put in as many (or more) hours in their 9-1/2 to 10 months as those in the private sector put in over a full year. Also, our average pay has dropped from being in the top ten states nationally to somewhere around 27th currently while our workload and accountability has continued to rise.
As far as it being our choice to go into teaching (I’m a teacher too), if we continue undervaluing the education profession, we will see increasing shortages. Currently, almost a third of Minnesota teachers starting out today will quit the profession within five years (the national average is 50% out in five). That kind of attrition would be alarming in the private sector and most assuredly cause an increase in pay to stop it. Or, we would lower our expectations of teacher quality. The market for teachers is small, the quality is high (Minnesota is tops nationally and highly competitive internationally). In business, you get what you pay for - why shouldn’t that be the same for teaching?
It always fascinates me when people try to apply a business model to every part of education except teacher pay.
“Don’t penalize me for investing in education, making the right life choices, making wise investments, and spending wisely. Is it envy or greed that makes you tear down the successful to a lower level (yours?).”
@ really: I’m not going to get in a pissing match with you about education and wages. I’ll just say this: I am a professional, and am in the top 5% of wage earners nationally.
I would gladly pay more to provide services for the good of the nation.
Knock yourself out, though, you stingy f***.
“I would gladly pay more to provide services for the good of the nation.”
lojasmo — I think we just hit on something here. Do you need a pen?
CMan,
“I think we just hit on something here. Do you need a pen?”
Could you explain that further? Are you suggesting that lojasmo is all talk?
That sounds like a rather….um….trollish comment. Maybe you could clarify.
I know I don’t mind paying taxes. Maybe I am not materialistic. Maybe all I believe i need to to do is have a happy little house with a happy wife and pay all my bills, buy a thing or two and that’s enough.
Is the importance of the bottom line perhaps a bit overblown, CMan?
One criticism I hear quite a bit from people overseas is that America is too materialistic. Could this be true?
I am only suggesting that the treasury would gladly take a check that he donates to the good of the nation. I prefer to pay my fair share and to do as I see fit with the rest. All of you on the left that want to pay more, what’s stopping you?
Cman-
It’s called taxation, and it is the only way to properly fund our nation’s activities. My personal donations won’t do a bit of good by themselves. I make a bit of change, but not enough to fund even one/one billionth of any significant federal program. My personal donations are irrelevant to the discussion.