Archive for the 'Minnesota Senate' Category

Jason Lewis: Brodkorb, Coleman, Senate Republican Caucus are “The Pinnacle of Elitism”

by
Aaron Landry
Published on August 17, 2008 at 5:04 pm
, filed in Minnesota Senate and Misc. Local Politics
. 28 Comments

The seemingly coordinated campaign by Republican operative Michael Brodkorb, Norm Coleman, the Senate Republican Caucus and others to fight against endorsed wife beater Mark Olson apparently didn’t include the people actually involved with the “grassroots” endorsement, the people in the Senate District 16 GOP and the leadership in the CD6 GOP.

From SD16’s Chris Kumpula [via]:

I find this statement to be entirely insulting to the Republicans of SD16. The folks who came to the SD16 Endorsing Convention were chosen by their neighbors to represent their neighbors’ desires and concerns at the convention.  They came to decide on who would be the better candidate to run for the vacant seat in SD16-…

Also, as Chris Kumpula comments on Brodkorb’s site:

This is disgraceful on the part of everyone having to do with this letter. Our people made their choice, we don’t need big whigs telling us we’re incompetent. We in SD16 decided Mark Olson, and the State Party and senators from OUTSIDE our district can just deal with it.

Ken Avidor recorded audio of Jason Lewis on KTLK talking with Chris and the MN CD6 GOP Chair Mark Swanson who are quite displeased with the “clear campaign to expel” Olson. Chris says:

I can’t tell you how shocked I was to see the letter from the Senate State Caucus basically insulting all the state delegates that came to our convention and made their decision. Saying “No, you people are too stupid. You’re just country hicks. You don’t know what you’re doing.”

Strangely, the the MN GOP “is not moving yet” and cannot get Ron Carey to speak one way or another on the issue. Although on Jason Lewis’ show, MN CD6 GOP Chair Mark Swanson says flat out: “We support the endorsed candidate.”

There is a huge divide between the “grassroots” efforts of the SD16 GOP and the Congressional District 6 GOP and the likes of Brodkorb, Coleman and the Senate Republican Caucus that want to tell the people of SD16 what they should and should not do.

Lewis concludes:

This is the pinnacle of elitism. A bunch of elitist, Republican party hacks have gotten together and decided to override your choice. That’s what rubs me the wrong way.

I recommend listening to the whole thing to hear all the statements as well as the context.

Continued coverage at Blue man in a Red District, Dump Mark Olson, What the Republic Can Do, Lloydletta’s Nooz and Comments.

UPDATE: A couple more posts on this at Liberal in the Land of Conservative and Rook’s Rant. Both are good reads. Also, regarding some of the attempted distractions in the comments, it is clear who Lewis is referring to. I stand behind my words.

Dave Mindeman on the Mark Olson Backstory

by
Aaron Landry
Published on August 14, 2008 at 4:30 pm
, filed in Minnesota Senate and Misc. Local Politics
. 14 Comments

Yesterday, Zack posted “Brodkorb Slams Olson,” illustrating a situation where Republican operative and consultant Michael Brodkorb decided to take the day off from lying about Democrats to shed light on the nasty situation with the MN GOP where they strongly endorsed a known wife beater. Naturally, I was very suspicious of Brodkorb pointing the gun at his own party. I was the first comment on Brodkorb’s post, speaking about Olson and his primary opponent Allison Krueger:

I was a little bit surprised by Olson’s endorsement myself but to be honest, it was only a little bit of a surprise.

Of course, my gut feeling is that you have some ties that I don’t know about regarding Allison Krueger. I’m going to put that aside and try my hardest to trust that you’re posting about this because it is the right thing to do despite the fact you’ve given me zero reason to trust you with anything else.

If the facts are as balanced as how you present them, I also hope that Allison Krueger runs and that Mark Olson never runs for public office again.

A lot of the blogs and even some media assumed Brodkorb’s post was all in good faith. Hell, I was giving him the benefit of the doubt. Then some strange things happened. Opposing the endorsement the Senate Republican Caucus then decided to support Olson’s rival and said that Olson would “not be welcomed as a member” of the Senate Republican Caucus. It takes Michael Brodkorb to be publicly “outraged” for the Senate Republican Caucus to decide a wife beater wasn’t the best choice and to go against an endorsement?

Then the most bizarro thing happened: Norm Coleman decided to chime in:

I stand firmly with the members of the Senate Republican Caucus who today announced that they will not support Mark Olson for the open Senate seat of Betsy Wergin.  His endorsement by the party is a matter that is of great concern to me. In particular, given the circumstances behind Mr. Olson’s decision to not seek re-election to the Minnesota House of Representatives – a decision that I believe was the right decision – I believe the fact that he is our party’s endorsed candidate for Senate District 16 is simply unacceptable and unsupportable.

Norm Coleman felt the need to express his ethical concerns on what happened in Minnesota Senate District 16? Huh?

mnpACT’s Dave Mindeman gives a very compelling explanation:

First, Michael Brodkorb, from MDE posts his “personal” outrage at the endorsement of a candidate with a “record”.

…

So, the Senate GOP leadership concurs. They also “respect” the endorsing process… except when they don’t. Mark Olson will not be welcome…even if elected. Pretty bold statement for a caucus outnumbered about 2 to 1.

…

Senator Coleman must have a strong moral conviction. The “loss of a Senate seat is unfortunate”….. Guess it is a small price to pay for party integrity… or is it?

I find it very hard to believe that in the course of 36 hours, most of the GOP elected leadership all respond in the same manner to the post of a blogger. 

He postulates:

This was a staged event. It was all coordinated using MDE as the focus point.

The reason? Damage control for November. The GOP has been using “moral outrage” at Franken as their only — and I mean only — campaign tactic to wage against the DFLer. Thus, Norm Coleman becomes part of the mix to re-enforce his moralistic rhetoric.

When I said in my comment that “my gut feeling is that [Brodkorb has] some ties that I don’t know about regarding Allison Krueger,” I was wrong. I failed look at the big picture (and it was 1:42 in the morning).

Brodkorb was basically the “outsider” catalyst to correct a problem that couldn’t be fixed easily with the endorsement-respecting internals of the MN GOP.

While there isn’t hard evidence to support Mindeman’s claims, I completely stand behind them. Most people forget that Michael Brodkorb isn’t just a “blogger.” He was the former Communications Director and the former Research Director for the MN GOP. He’s now a paid Republican operative and consultant that works with state-wide campaigns. Point being, Michael Brodkorb blogs “independently” about the messaging from campaigns that he had a hand in helping craft.

(Yet people compare his site with blogs such as this as if we’re two sides to the same coin.)

Mindeman ends by saying:

So, is this moral outrage or a cold political calculation? I guess that is for you to decide.

Like I said before, while there is no hard evidence, I certainly believe the latter.

Read Mindeman’s entire piece here.

He’s Baaack

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on July 22, 2008 at 8:27 am
, filed in Minnesota Senate
. 2 Comments

Just when I thought we were finally free of the loquacious tyranny of Mark Olson…

State Rep. Mark Olson, R-Big Lake, joined two other hopefuls who filed today as candidates for a Senate District 16 special election.

Primaries for the seat will be required on Sept. 9 on both the Republican and DFL sides as a result of the last day of filing.

Olson joins Baldwin Township Supervisor Jeff Holm and Big Lake resident Alison Krueger on the Republican side. Both filed last week.

Guess we’ll just have to beat him the old fashioned way.

More Tarryl Clark Buzz

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on July 7, 2008 at 10:19 am
, filed in Minnesota Senate and Misc. Local Politics
. 4 Comments

The St. Cloud Times has a pretty good-sized piece sizing up Tarryl Clark’s gubernatorial aspirations.  Bottom line: She has them.  This comes as no surprise to the Capitol crowd, who have had a front row seat to Clark’s ambitions for years now.

Clark would be a solid candidate (and geography would be to her benefit in a general election), but I think she’d have a tough time lining up against the other heavyweights in the probable-run category: Chris Coleman, Margaret Anderson Kelliher, R.T. Rybak and Tim Walz.

Speaking of R.T., rumor has it that he’ll be up for a cabinet post if Obama wins in the fall.  So far, speculation centers around HUD, Energy and Transportation (of course, there is another Minnesotan who might be a candidate for Sec. of Transportation in an Obama administration).  Here’s hoping R.T. gets a cabinet spot, and not just because we love the guy and think he’ll do great things for the country.  It’d also be nice to thin out that gubernatorial crowd a little bit.

One last note on the St. Cloud Times story.  The article notes that King Banian of St. Cloud Scholars is considering a challenge to Clark in 2010 if she seeks reelection.  Banian hosts a radio show with Michael Brodkorb each week that I’ve been a guest on a few times.  He’s a nice guy and I appreciate the invitations on the show.  I have no doubt, however, that Tarryl would eat his lunch.

“Minnesota’s Bridge to Nowhere”

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on October 22, 2007 at 7:07 pm
, filed in Minnesota Senate
. 6 Comments

If you aren’t convinced that Carol Molnau should lose her job, watch this video from the House DFL about MNDOT’s stunning record of failure with the Wakota Bridge.

I hope the Senate votes to remove Molnau on the first day of the next legislative session.

Kudos to Rep. Atkins for demanding accountability from Molnau and MNDOT.

David Hann: Disasters don’t kill people, Information does

by
Matt Martin
Published on October 18, 2007 at 9:06 pm
, filed in Minnesota Senate
. 4 Comments

42HannNormally. I wouldn’t report on the ongoing hearings in the State Senate as to the possible health risks of the herbicide atrazine. After all, Senator Marty seems to be running a pretty tight ship down there and hearing scientific experts weigh the question as to whether the most widely used agricultural herbicide might be causing nasty health risks seems like a worth while activity. But then State Senator David Hann (R-Eden Prairie) went and released this wacky press release…
It begins like this: “It has been said that there are over 20 million Americans who believe Elvis is alive and pumping gas somewhere in Tennessee.” He then continues on to talk about people who believe in UFOs. It’s a weird opening, but this all has a point: John Marty is crazy. Why, might you ask? Well, let’s go to the conclusion:

In short, the greatest damage to the people of Chernobyl was caused by bad information. Authoritatively telling people they will die, or have a certain future of cancer, deformity or pain can in itself be highly destructive to human health.

Hey, know what else might be destructive to human health? Cancer, deformity and pain; which occurred in a great deal of the population exposed to radiation after Chernobyl. But, hey, it was probably all that info that did it.

So, let’s summarize. In order to debunk the necessity of looking into the possibility that atrazine has health risks associated with it, Hann compares it to the worst nuclear disaster in history. And then notes that all the information about health risks posed a health risk in of itself. If we follow the analogy that means that atrazine is similar to a disaster of the scale that could cause mass human suffering, but we shouldn’t look into it or spread that information because, well, it would really stress everyone out.

I’m pretty sure that’s not what he’s trying to say (read the whole release here to figure that out) but, man, he needs to think through his analogies a bit more before sending these things out.

Scandal Downstream: Fischbach’s Pay to Play Scheme

by
Zack Stephenson
Published on July 20, 2007 at 5:12 pm
, filed in Minnesota Senate
. 3 Comments

I was reading the Clarion Ledger today when I stumbled across an interesting story.

Michelle Fischbach is a member of the Minnesota Senate. Her husband, Scott, is Executive Director of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life. He is also, apparently, a board member of Mississippi Right to Life. In fact, Fischbach is so involved in Mississippi Right to Life, a spokesperson said that he is “the real backbone of our organization.”

Mississippi Right to Life recently endorsed State Sen. Charlie Ross for Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi. The other candidate, Mississippi State Auditor Phil Bryant, is also pro-life. In fact, the spokesperson for Mississippi Right to Life said that:

“All three candidates are pro-life. That will be on our Web site along with the information on all the other candidates that we sent questionnaires to. Jamie Franks and Charlie Ross both have pro-life voting records for these last four years. Phil Bryant did in the past when he was in the Legislature. All three of them have been endorsed by the PAC. This makes them all equal.”

So why did Ross get the endorsement?

Mississippi Right to Life said that Ross is “the best candidate for lieutenant governor from a right-to-life stand point.”

But then there is this…

Earlier this month, the Ross campaign reported $7,261 in total payments to [Scott] Fischbach’s Coalition Productions, Inc., firm. Ross said he hired Fischbach because “he’s worked in the past for Haley Barbour, Amy Tuck, Kirk Fordice and a lot of other successful Republican candidates.”

Ross said he was not aware that Fischbach was on the board of Mississippi Right to Life when he hired him prior to getting the group’s endorsement.

Both Fischbach and Ross claim the endorsement wasn’t quid pro quo for the consulting fees.

But a March 10, 2007, memo from Fischbach to Bryant paints a different picture. In that memo, which Fischbach confirmed, he said: “This race is going to be decided in the next 120 days and I want to do my part to ensure your victory.” Bryant didn’t hire him.

Fischbach said that despite his offer to Bryant, his hiring by Ross had nothing to do with Ross getting the endorsement.

GOP CD6 Chair Makes Mark Olson’s Wikipedia Entry More Palatable

by
Matt Martin
Published on May 29, 2007 at 11:27 am
, filed in Minnesota House and Minnesota Senate
. 42 Comments

MarkolsonDump Bachmann has the dirt:

Rep. Mark Olson’s former campaign manager Mark Swanson made two revisions of the Wikipedia page for Rep. Mark Olson using the nom-de-wiki Swanny123. (I created that page).

Here’s a still of Swanson talking to Bachmann in Blaine last month from this You Tube video.

Swanson changed the heading “Domestic Assault Arrest” to “Personal Legal Notes”.

Swanson also changed “Legislative staff complained of being abused” to “It was aledged that Legislative staff complained of being abused by Mark Olson in his first term and again in 1997. There is no record of this in pertinent legislative administrative files.”

Swanson also changed “Minnesota House Republicans voted to oust Olson” to “Minnesota House Republicans voted to suspend Olson”.

So, does the GOP care about Mark Olson or not? I’m having a hard time keeping track here…

BREAKING: No Special Session, Pawlenty to Sign Most Major Bills

by
Matt Martin
Published on May 22, 2007 at 12:07 pm
, filed in Minnesota House and Minnesota Senate
. 24 Comments

KelliherGovernor Pawlenty had a press conference at the Capitol this morning where he indicated that he will sign most of the major bills that came out of the session. The one exception may be the Tax bill due the outrageous (that’s sarcasm) provision that inserts inflation into the budget projection equation. The bill is revenue neutral, however, so it wouldn’t cause a shut-down of the government and, if vetoed, would only cause a modest one day special session. So, all in all, not a big problem. Although one astute reporter noted that the tax bill includes the letter of credit for the RNC so Pawlenty may shoot his party in the foot if he vetoes the bill. Not a decision changing fact, but it does add an interesting twist.

At the end of the day I think the DFL legislature has done an amazing job of pushing out a budget on time for the first time since 1999. Yes, major compromises were made but the DFL can chalk up some major wins: increased funding for all-day kindergarten, the strongest energy standards in the country, modest property tax relief (which would have been major if not for the Governor), capped tuition increases at the state’s universities, and tens of thousands more children covered by healthcare. When the guy holding the veto pen has his eye turned to the national field, these are pretty commendable victories.

I’ll be damned, the Special Session’s in the Governor’s Hands

by
Matt Martin
Published on May 22, 2007 at 12:08 am
, filed in Minnesota House and Minnesota Senate
. 17 Comments

Well, despite what it looked like only 20 minutes ago (they really need to have play-by-play commentators on the TV live feed) the House managed to pass all of the essential bills just under the wire. The transportation lights-on bill had already been passed earlier so the lack of an override doesn’t mean a special session is necessary. So, unless the Governor vetoes one of the major bills it looks as though the legislature has avoided a special session. This is the first legislature to pass a budget on-time since 1999. That’s a feather that the DFL and the legislative leadership can put in their caps.

Yeah… Special Session, here we come

by
Matt Martin
Published on May 21, 2007 at 11:39 pm
, filed in Minnesota House and Minnesota Senate
. 2 Comments

I’m watching the State House right now and there’s pretty much no way they pass these bills before midnight. I lay a lot of blame at windbaggy republicans like Kohls and Seifert… Everyone already knows how they will vote on the damn veto-override so shut up. Oh great, now Olson is talking… yeah, special session here we come.

Sprinting Towards Compromise: Where will the Finish Line end up?

by
Matt Martin
Published on May 21, 2007 at 11:21 am
, filed in Minnesota House and Minnesota Senate
. 18 Comments

Today’s the big day: whether the work is done or not the state constitution mandates that the legislative session ends tonight at midnight. The signs coming out of the capitol lead me to be cautiously optimistic that the work actually will all be done by deadline (a notable accomplishment in of itself) but the question remains as to what the compromise will look like.

It’s pretty clear that there will be no major new revenue sources out of this session. The proposed tax increases have been scuttled due to the Governor’s unyielding devotion to the tax-payer’s league (which apparently only represents the 1% wealthiest Minnesotans because I think the average tax-payer would have loved some property tax relief). And without a new revenue source I can be pretty confident that we won’t have significant property tax relief (the DFL will get some into the budget, but not near what they wanted), no per-pupil student funding increases, no tuition caps at the state colleges, no new transportation funding, and our nursing homes won’t get the help they need. These political corpses (a long with scores of others) can be laid firmly at the Governor’s feet.

But that’s just my two cents, what does everyone think of this legislative session so far? Did we get what we bargained for when we sent overwhelming majorities to the state capitol? Did the DFLers overextend themselves when they reached for those upper-level tax increases? Or is this all just part of the regular bargain/compromise cycle that happens at the capitol?

Discuss.

Reflections on the Smoking Ban: Protecting People or Protecting Choices?

by
Matt Martin
Published on May 15, 2007 at 1:04 pm
, filed in Minnesota House and Minnesota Senate
. 31 Comments

Note: I write a column twice monthly on the first and 15th at Minnesota Monitor. This article is cross-posted at Minnesota Monitor.

While I’m sure that every Minnesotan with a set of eyes is likely to want to read more on the smoking ban about as much as they’d like to read a dissertation on ear wax growth, I humbly ask you to indulge me for a moment. Don’t worry though, this isn’t so much about the pros and cons of banning smoking in public, indoor places statewide as it is an analysis of the implications of this kind of legislature. I think that the passage of this ban demands that we reflect on the philosophy of Government that allows such a ban to be passed and how we should or should not apply that philosophy down the road. Plus, I promise not to talk about the dang thing again after I get this one last piece out!
Continue reading ‘Reflections on the Smoking Ban: Protecting People or Protecting Choices?’

Local Rep. Tom Emmer on “Climate Porn”

by
Matt Martin
Published on May 14, 2007 at 12:28 pm
, filed in Minnesota House and Minnesota Senate
. 30 Comments

State House Deputy Minority Leader Tom Emmer was on the floor of the State House last week doing his usual “there’s another side to the global warming debate” song and dance. Big surprise, right? Well, what is actually somewhat surprising is the new terminology he’s incorporated into his usual rant: “Al Gore’s Climate Porn.” Wondering how that sounds in context? Fortunately we have the very amusing clip for your viewing pleasure:

Just as a side note, when the GOP was in control of the State House they actively suppressed the discussion of global warming. So, I find it rather amusing to watch these GOPers flail as their responsible counterparts pass wide-ranging, environmentally sound legislation. But that’s just me and, at any rate, I have to return to watching this hot climate porn.

Too Funny

by
Matt Martin
Published on May 11, 2007 at 2:18 pm
, filed in Minnesota House and Minnesota Senate
. 2 Comments

A friend just forwarded this to me, so I’m not sure where it came from, but it’s too dang hilarious not to post:

BREAKFAST AT TIMOTHY’S (As sung by the House Majority Leader to the House
Minority Leader)

Marty, you say we’ve got nothing in common
No common ground to start from
And we’re falling apart
You’ll say the Dream Act came between us
The Tax Bill came between us
But I know you just don’t care

CHORUS:
And I said what about breakfast at Timothy’s?
He said, “I think I remember the eggs,
And as I recall, I think, we both kinda liked it.”
And I said, “Well, that’s the one thing we’ve got.”

Marty, we’d never try to tease you
We changed our bills to please you
I guess you’ve had your fun
So what now? It’s plain to see we’re over,
And I hate when things are over -
With so many bills undone

CHORUS:
And I said what about breakfast at Timothy’s?
He said, “I think I remember the tea,
And as I recall, I think, we both kinda liked it.”
And I said, “Well, that’s the one thing we’ve got.”

You say that we’ve got nothing in common
No common ground to start from
And we’re falling apart
You’ll say that Pogey came between us
Trial lawyers came between us
But I know you just don’t care

CHORUS:
And I said what about breakfast at Timothy’s?
He said, “I think I remember the toast,
And as I recall, I think, we both kinda liked it.”
And I said, “Well, that’s the one thing we’ve got.”