"I made Sen. Leahy late for a Judiciary Committee meeting," Franni Franken began. Franni is Sen. Al Franken's wife. "At Christmas during the healthcare debates and Snowmageddon, I brought in my pumpkin bread and freshly baked bread. Everybody really liked it."
Al said 'wait 'til you have her pie' so I recently brought a few in," she continued. "They were all so focused on eating they forgot about the time and they were all late for the Judiciary Committee meeting."
"I'm curious, I can't wait to see it," Franni replied. "I've heard that they've done other comics of politicians, a lot of them. I will say that they never consulted me. I hope they portray him as the hero that I see him as."
Of course, we had to talk about healthcare reform. Franni has always been confident that we'd pass something. I've never shared her faith we'd get anything, I'm way too cynical. While we both agree that we're not going to get a perfect bill, she had this to say:
"I think that once we get healthcare reform passed, everybody will see how great it is."
We agree that once we get something passed, no Republican would dare oppose it like only a few (like Bachmann) would call for repealing Social Security and Medicare.
"I'm just hoping they get it done by recess," she said. "It's the end of March covering Passover and Easter. It'll be nice to have a week off and then a week back in Minnesota."
Poor Tim Pawlenty. The DFLers won't cut him any slack and, apparently, neither will Minnesotans. A recent SurveyUSA poll shows that a majority of Minnesotans don't like the job he's doing. These are his worst numbers as Governor.
Not great news if you're running for president: A new SurveyUSA poll finds that 52% of Minnesotans disapprove of the job Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) is doing and only 42% approve, "giving him some of the lowest marks he's gotten in his seven plus years at the state's helm."
(Political Wire)
It's going to be fun as his 2012 presidential campaign "ramps up" and we Minnesotans get to tell the nation what a rotten Governor he's been. I'm trying to think of slogans for his 2012 campaign.
In challenging times like ours, it is important to step back and look at the big picture. In the Senate we wrestle with painful choices to balance the state budget. Some factors affecting the budget are outside of our control, some we can control, and others fall somewhere in-between. While most legislative work addresses things we have direct control over, we should at least understand other factors influencing the resources available.
Rep. Gregg Davids (R-Preston) is an example of the Republican who will likely be in trouble because of his GAMC flip flop. Last Friday, he joined 37 other Republicans and voted for the GAMC bill that overwhelmingly passed the House. Yesterday, he cravenly flip-flopped and voted to uphold Gov. Tim Pawlenty's GAMC veto.
What changed over the weekend?
The threat of a primary challenger. Davids is in a swing district and desperately needs his party's help to win in 2010. In Winona and in a mostly rural district like this one, a few disgruntled Teabaggers with a little help from some zealous party hacks in the Twin Cities could easily dislodge Davids from his precarious perch.
In 2006 Davids lost his seat to DFLer Ken Tschumper by 52 votes. He got it back in 2008 by a mere 407 votes.
When voters see the effects of throwing 30,000 Minnesotans off GAMC, they are not going to be happy with Rep. Davids. When voters see the real effects on poor children, veterans, the elderly and the mentally ill, they may consider voting DFL in November. When voters see the effects of Davids actions on people they know, they'll throw him out.
Especially after some organization or another spends a couple hundred thousand dollars telling everyone in his district that he cares more about Tim Pawlenty's presidential ambitions than the poor, elderly and mentally ill.
Rep. Jeremy Kalin (DFL-North Branch) announced today that he will not be seeking a third term today. His dedication and tenacity will be missed and I'm personally bummed as he's also a great guy. He released the following statement:
"Serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives is an incredible honor. I've been lucky enough to earn the trust of my neighbors all across Chisago County for two terms. I'm confident that I would have won their trust for another term, but my name won't be on the ballot in November.
"My wife and I were married during my first year in office. For 2 and a half years, we've managed the very hectic life of a State Representative from Chisago County and an ob-gyn phsyician delivering babies 45 miles away in Minneapolis. We've decided to take a break from campaigns and elected office and enjoy our lives together, while we can still call ourselves 'newlyweds.'
"Public service is in my blood. I am sure that the call to serve our great state will be present throughout my life. For now, I am focused on the task at hand in the legislative session - Minnesota's short- and long-term economic recovery. I cannot say 'Thank You' often enough to the voters of Chisago County for the chance to be their voice in the Minnesota House. It is truly a privilege in every sense of the word."
How was your convention? Mine seemed long, maybe longer because I didn't become a delegate. Or maybe because there was no available wireless connection and I was "jonesing" to liveblog. I was truly surprised that Marion Greene beat out Katie Hatt on the first ballot for Margaret Anderson-Kelliher's seat (60A) -- I thought it was going to be competitive. And that 585 people participated in the walking subcaucuses. SD60 has a ****load of activists ... we will be sending 29 delegates to Duluth.
The best line from a speech was from Hennepin County Attorny, Mike Freeman:
I'd like to thank SD60 for supporting me last time in my run for County Attorney.
Ironically, Andy Luger won endorsement in 2006 over Mike on the first ballot in SD60. Mike, of course, did a wee bit better in the 2006 general election.
Any great speeches at your convention? Funny bizniz? Awesome subcaucus names?
As we struggle to balance our state government budget, as we struggle to keep our constitutional civil rights and as we struggle to even provide basic health care and basic food to all US citizens, then we ought to remember how were got here.
How we got here?
War
More than any external threat, the United States is being hurt by the desire for war and insatiable greed. John Marty (not endorsed by me) says it best:
Cost of War is budgetary "Elephant in the Room"
by Senator John Marty
February 26, 2010.
The cost of the Iraq and Afghan wars is the budgetary "elephant in the room." It's enormous and it's right in front of us, yet we don't talk about it as we face our economic woes. We don't need to get into arguments about the wars to consider the burden war places on our economy.
President Dwight Eisenhower, one of our nation's greatest military leaders, late in life, expressed deep concern about what he called "the military industrial complex." Eisenhower stated, "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."
Should we give small business owners money in the form of tax cuts? Only if we want businesses open for a few, extra weeks. Businesses are not going to hire based on a hope that the economy will turn around. Meanwhile, we only buy goods if we perceive our own, steady cash inflow.
If timed right, tax cuts simply help buy elections as they contribute towards the downward trend.
To reverse the downward trend, Keynes concluded that government can "prime the pump." If the consumer isn't spending, the government should. Stimulus spending, especially in the form of jobs, produces slow, and steady results.
Those opposed to government spending prefer to stimulate the economy by reducing taxes to put more dollars into the hands of consumers and businesses. The fiscal impact of these two actions, spending and tax reduction, is the same: both increase the deficit all other things being equal. However, in the type of dramatic downward spiral we just experienced, tax cuts don't help much. Consumers and businesses will hoard the extra dollars and not spend due to the crisis of confidence and the trauma inflicted by the severely reduced value of homes, pension accounts and business assets.
Minnesota Effort: Government Spending, Bonding Bill: "B" for Building, Which Means "J" for "Jobs"
While Pawlenty's bill calls for $685 million in general obligation bonding, he said the budget forecast will allow for $725 million, perhaps setting a ceiling on far he's willing to go....Pawlenty also requested $96 million to expand sex offender facilities at Moose Lake. "we need sufficient capacity to detain serious and menacing sex offenders in our state ... That project was also not funded by Legislature."
Hopefully Minnesota will see this job creation effort come to fruition. The bill was retracted before it was vetoed. There will be a motion to bring it back to the floor, first in the Senate, at 11:00 AM today, Thursday February 25, 2010. Whereas Minnesota's legislators used to say "That won't pass and so why even try," they are now publicly fighting back and forth with Tim Pawlenty.
Federal Efforts With Minnesota Ties: MN Senator Franken's Cash for Jobs Bill
Senator Franken's "Cash for Jobs" bill is in committee. The 10 billion dollar bill would reallocate TARP funds and provide $5 billion for wage subsidies to incentivize hiring in the private sector and the additional $5 billion would be dispursed as direct grants to states, local governments, and tribes to create green jobs. Franken's plan is based on a former, successful Minnesota program:
Sen. Franken's 'Cash for Jobs' plan is based on a successful 1983-1987 Minnesota program, the Minnesota Emergency Employment Development program, that got 7,400 workers back on the job in its first six months.
(Bumping this one again; will be referring to it on the radio tonight! - promoted by TwoPuttTommy)
{I'm bumping this back up to the top -- please call today. The Big E]
The MN House and Senate passed a bill to reprieve the poor, elderly and mentally ill from absentee Governor Tim Pawlenty's unallotment of the healthcare they receive through General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC). This bill passed the House 125-9. 38 Republicans voted on Friday to protect the poorest and those least able to take care of themselves.
Of course, Pawlenty faxed in his veto from out of town (CPAC convention in Washington, DC). Now, these 38 are being pressured to hold Governor Teabags veto as his presidential ambitions are more important than Minnesota's poor, elderly and mentally ill.
The most interesting members of this list are Governor candidate Marty Seifert, MN State Auditor candidate former Secretary of State and current State Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer, and House Minority Leader Kurt Zellers. Jim Abeler bucked Governor Gutshot and was one of the Override Six, so this wouldn't be his first time standing up for what's best for Minnesota.
Here's the complete list of Republicans who voted for the GAMC deal that passed the House on Friday. Just click on their name, I've linked to their House pages. Please call these legislator and urge them to support overriding Pawlenty's GAMC veto.
Rather than governor in the state where he was elected, Tim Pawlenty went to Washington, DC last week and through this weekend to attend and speak at the Conservative Political Action Convention (CPAC). This was an opportunity for him to push his viability as a not-crazy, not-disgraced 2012 presidential candidate. And, boy, did he whelm them. The DNC was kind enough to compile the conservative pundits' reactions to his speech and email it out ...
Jim Geraghty (National Review via Twitter): Tim Pawlenty seemed like a decent, very vanilla guy; his Woods comment today suggests brief demonic possession and/or trying too hard.
Reid Wilson (National Journal Hotline): Pawlenty fell short of the overwhelming ovations other speakers won. On Thursday, ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney and ex-FL House Speaker Marco Rubio won bigger applause from attendees, while Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) earned more ovations than Pawlenty on Friday.
Ben Smith (Politico): Tim Pawlenty spoke to a drowsy morning crowd in a two-thirds full ballroom at the Conservative Political Action Conference, taking a while to wake up the crowd with a series of folksy jokes.... Pawlenty was at pains to differentiate himself from Romney, referring to his blue-collar roots and to "elites" who eat brie and drink Chablis "at parties in San Francisco."
Mike Memoli (White House Reporter, Real Clear Politics): Well, the good news for Pawlenty is he still has two years to hone a stump speech.
Yup. Governor Teabag did not impress the knuckle-dragging mouth-breathers who dozed through his remarks. You can read more of their reactions here.
It gets worse for Governor Gutshot, though ... cuz they did a poll of attendees ...
In addition to writing here, I volunteer for the Uptake doing videos, for now over a year. I have always been gracious and have been always treated graciously by the Republican Party in my coverage. My friend Craig Stellmacher is even more neutral and open in his questions, yet at the Kline town forum, Craig was told
Media does not get to ask questions!
Craig Stellmacher said:
The start of a heated discussion with Rep. John Kline's media liaison Troy Young, Friday at John Kline's forum in Fairbault MN. After earlier he'd refused for us to stream, Troy explains why not only TheUptake, but ANY media isn't allowed to ask questions to John Kline.
My friend Craig Stellmacher, collected the other side of history on at "Rally for History" Day in the Capital Rotunda. This is a day set aside to celebrate Minnesota's history. For the Dakota people, the history of Minnesota involves loss, hunger and pain. Dakota activists are asking that $6.7 million that is requested to preserve Fort Snelling be rejected. The current Fort Snelling is actually a replica, so the money does not even fund a real historical site. The Minnesota Historical Society seems intent on ignoring this other part of history.
My campaign manager recently drafted a letter to discuss my electability. Recently, we had a strong showing at the precinct caucuses, surprising the pundits who said we didn't have a chance.
As the Chief Author of the Minnesota Health Plan, I've picked up over 70 co-authors on the bill. As Minnesota's next Governor, I will push for real change. I am committed to passing the Minnesota Health Plan.
I look forward to hearing any questions or comments on this matter.
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE PASSES THE MINNESOTA HEALTH PLAN!
~The Minnesota Health Plan passed on a voice vote in the Senate Judiciary committee Thursday, February 11th. The hearing focused on issues of data-privacy, legislative audits, investigations of fraud and abuse and other matters under the jurisdiction of the committee. The bill passes next to the Senate State and Local Government Operations and Oversight Committee.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE AND CHAIR OF HEALTH POLICY COMMITTEE SIGN AS CO-AUTHORS OF THE MINNESOTA HEALTH PLAN
~Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher and Rep. Paul Thissen, Chair of the Health and Human Services Policy Committee, signed on as co-authors of the Minnesota Health Plan (HF 135/ HF2256) at the start of the legislative session. Both are DFL candidates for Governor. There are now 73 co-authors on the bill, House and Senate combined, well over 1/3 of the legislature.
LET'S KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING
~Grow the movement by helping to organize events in your or a neighboring district. The MUHCC - http://www.muhcc.org - Community Organizing Committee is looking for enthusiastic volunteers to join our efforts.
Rep. Gregg Davids (R-Preston) is an example of the Republican who will likely be in trouble because of his GAMC flip flop. Last Friday, he joined 37 other Republicans and voted for the GAMC bill that overwhelmingly passed the House. Yesterday, he cravenly flip-flopped and voted to uphold Gov. Tim Pawlenty's GAMC veto.
