Americans said they approved of Mr. Obama's handling of the economy, foreign policy, Iraq and Afghanistan; fully two-thirds said they approved of his overall job performance. By contrast, just 31 percent of respondents said they had a favorable view of the Republican Party, the lowest in the 25 years the question has been asked in New
York Times/CBS News polls.
In her latest blog, Esme Murphy calls out former Senator Norm Coleman and Gov. Tim Pawlenty for holding Minnesota's voice in the Senate hostage by allowing Minnesota to go without a second senator for 85 days.
The Coleman-Franken Senate race is already the longest period that any statewide office has remained up in the air, but Emse has thrown down a new gauntlet.
I am old enough to remember the Iranian Hostage crisis. (The three other desk mates in my little pod in the newsroom were all born after it ended.) Every night during the crisis, Ted Koppel of ABC News would anchor a report at 10:30 p.m. (Central time) beginning with the line "America Held Hostage: Day (fill in the number)." The show eventually became Nightline.
So I have decided to start my own version. This is the 85th day Minnesota's voice in the U.S. Senate race has been held hostage. I am beginning my count on Jan. 6, the day Minnesota's Senator would have been sworn in.
Esme doesn't call on Norm to put an end to his legal circus, say he has a right to wage a legal challenge under state law. But she does want to see Minnesotans fully represented in Congress.
..I do think it's time that Minnesota join the majority of states in allowing for a temporary election certificate, to allow the candidate that the state canvassing board has certified has the most votes be seated until the legal appeals are exhausted. On Jan. 5, the state canvassing board certified that Al Franken had received 225 votes more than Coleman. Under a temporary election certificate he would have been sworn in the next day.
National Republicans have been threatening "World War III" if Al Franken is seated before Norm Coleman's legal challenges end, something they say may take "years."
The Iranian Hostage crisis lasted 444 days. Let's hope Minnesota doesn't go that long without a full voice in the Senate.
For 85 days, former Senator Norm Coleman and Gov. Tim Pawlenty have stood in the way of the change Minnesotans voted for last November. As the U.S. Senate begins to take up the issues of health care reform, ending America's dependence on foreign oil, and fixing our broken economy, Minnesotans can't afford to have their voices held hostage for another day.
Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has been getting a lot of attention recently. As TPM put it, "When [Bachmann] talks, people listen -- even if they're not entirely sure what they're hearing."
Bachmann’s apparent attitude makeovers have fooled the media before. Following her suggestion that Barack Obama was “anti-American,” The New York Times noted her “entirely different tone” on its front page just after Election Day last fall, when she announced she was “extremely grateful that we have an African-American who has won this year.”
Bachmann's currency conspiracy shouldn't have come as a surprise. She's been known to say some pretty ridiculous things on the radio. Like, back in 2004 when she went on KMMS-AM and said Minnesota would have gay marriage in 2004, forcing "little children ... to learn that homosexuality is normal ... and perhaps they should try it."
In all likelihood an activist judge will strike down our Defense of Marriage Act... this year. And an in all likelihood, we will have gay marriage in 2004 in Minnesota.
This is an earthquake issue. This will change our state forever. Because the immediate consequence if gay marriage goes through is that K-12 little children will be forced to learn that homosexuality is normal and natural and that perhaps they should try it.
This will take away the civil rights of little children to be protected in their innocence. This is a very serious matter. Because it's our children that is the prize for this community.
While President Obama was answering tough questions on economic recovery, foreign policy, and health care reform, House Republicans were just 12 blocks away, dining on crab and red pepper glazed tenderloin.
As President Obama prepared to hold his second prime time news conference, more than 1,200 Republicans gathered 12 blocks away to break bread at a multi- million dollar fundraiser and discuss the road back to power in the nation’s capital.
Attendees dined on red pepper glazed tenderloin and crab, while listening to House Minority Leader John Boehner, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal speak about the GOP’s future.
The NRCC, the campaign arm for House Republicans, raised million at the event.
If you didn't get a chance to catch the President Obama's press conference, you can watch it below--hopefully you have a better excuse than the Republicans.
While Governor Pawlenty continues to propose drastic cuts to health care, a study by the Center for American Progress Action Fund found that because of our broken health care system, American families are paying on average 8% more in health care premiums (about $ 1,100 a year).
This is because health care providers "shift" the costs for health care from the uninsured who cannot afford to pay to those who can--raising health care premiums for individuals and families who can (sometimes barely) afford coverage. This cost-shift is a hidden tax resulting from our failure to provide coverage for all Americans.
In Minnesota, the cost-shift markup on an average individual health care plan is $ 150 and about $ 400 for families--amounting to a 3% markup on health care premiums.
Later today, President Obama will meet with clean energy entrepreneurs and leaders to discuss strategies for building a clean energy economy to help create the jobs of the future.
Minnesota is a leader on the new clean energy front, one of the reasons the Middle Class Task force picked St. Cloud for its second meeting.
Minnesota's leadership in the new energy sector began in 2007, when Minnesota adopted what was, at the time, the strongest renewable energy standard in the country, requiring Minnesota utilities to generate 25% of their power from renewable sources by the year 2025.
This past summer, I had a chance to tour one of the facilities at the forefront of clean energy research here in Minnesota:
UM-Morris is a leader in renewable energy initiatives, both in Minnesota and America, and is home to the first large-scale wind research turbine ever constructed in the United States, which produces 5.6 million kilowatt hours of power each year--more than half of the campus' annual energy requirements.
The wind turbine and biomass gasification facility are an example of what can be done to secure our energy future, and it's going to require far more than the same old Washington gimmicks proposed by John McCain and Sarah Palin. It will require a sustained and shared effort by government, businesses, education and research facilities, and the American people. With the clean tech research being done at UM-Morris, Minnesota proves that, with clarity of direction and adequate resources, Americans poses the insight, courage, and determination to build a new economy.
The Biomass Gasification Facility is a testament to the potential of partnerships between communities, universities, and state and local governments, as Senator Obama calls for. What started with the Minnesota Legislature's appropriation of funds to build the facility in 2005, is on track to reach its goal of energy self-sufficiency on the UM-Morris campus by 2010.
Biomass technology allows crops such as corn stover and other fibrous plants to be used as fuel sources, sources which don't produce greenhouse gases and emit fewer pollutants than coal, oil, and wood.
The facility at UM-Morris generates steam to meet 80% of the campus heating and cooling needs--proof that, with proper investment, Americans can rise to the energy challenge and transform our energy economy.
The Obama administration has taken the first step to securing our energy future, including billion in energy investments and billion in tax incentives for clean energy in the economic recovery package. This is the money that will end up back in the pockets of Minnesota's families and funding the important research being done at Minnesota's universities.
The combination of public spending and tax benefits is important, because the research shows that every dollar of tax benefit stimulates as much as an additional dollar of private research and development spending, increasing the economic benefits derived from the President's plan.
Chris Coleman is mayor of St. Paul. Wayne Wolden is mayor of Wadena, Minn., and is president of the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities.
Mayors Coleman and Wolden wrote the following op-ed in the Star Tribune:
Whether you live in St. Paul, Wadena or any other corner of the state, you've heard the news: People are losing their jobs. Even companies in Minnesota long considered safe -- Target, Best Buy, IBM -- are feeling the crunch and laying off hundreds of workers.
The country is in a recession. We all can agree that protecting middle-class jobs -- and even encouraging companies to grow new jobs -- is an essential tool for digging out of this economic hole.
Unfortunately, Gov. Tim Pawlenty's proposed cuts to Local Government Aid (LGA) will do exactly the opposite. In 2009, cities would lose $78 million under the governor's proposal, in addition to the $54 million already lost through the governor's unallotment at the end of 2008. Cities are out of options when it comes to making up these vanishing funds. Levies for 2009 have already been set. Reserves have been drained. Services, and thousands of workers who provide them, will have to be cut, and property taxes will skyrocket in the years to come.
Although the governor lauds several business-tax incentives included in his budget proposal, these perks will fall flat when it comes to attracting new jobs. Cuts in LGA will trigger unaffordable property-tax increases that businesses won't be able to bear, making our cities less competitive with those in other states.
For the economy to thrive again, the viability of our cities must be a priority for the state. Businesses are looking for cities that will attract creative, skilled workers, who in turn expect livable communities at an affordable price. Libraries, parks, recreation centers, cleared roads in the winter, and police and fire protection at a moment's notice are all part of what makes a community strong. But just as important is a commitment the state made years ago when it launched the LGA program -- that no matter what corner of the state you live in, you have a right to these services at a fair price.
It's time for the state to fulfill this commitment, not shrink from it. Cutting LGA is a backhanded property-tax increase from a no- new-taxes governor, and a city's ability to support job growth will suffer as a result. Weakened cities can't balance the state's budget deficit on their backs. With the help of LGA, strong cities can attract and retain jobs, which is what the state needs now more than ever.
The Pioneer Press is reporting that Tim Pawlenty's recent proposal to cut the health care benefits of as many as 113,000 Minnesotans may threaten some of the economic recovery aid from the federal government.
The $819 billion stimulus package passed by the U.S. House has a big carrot for Minnesota lawmakers worried about the rising costs of the state's health care plans: nearly $2 billion in emergency aid that would flow directly into those programs.
But it also has a big stick: a provision barring states that accept the money from changing who is or isn't eligible for health care benefits.
According to some estimates, Minnesota will be allocated $8.85 billion by the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act, 12.14% of that which is set aside to help the state balance the budget.
Mike Lee of Albert Lea writes that "everything must be on the table" when it comes to the budget, because it's the only way Minnesota will get a comprehensive solution to its financial crisis:
I listened to Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s State of State speech last week and I will agree that Minnesota is looking at historic challenges in finding ways to balance a $4.8 billion budget deficit. But what I heard from the governor was just saying more of the same old rhetoric that we have been always hearing from this governor.
The governor asked in his speech please don’t raise taxes. We have been hearing this for over six years now. By not raising taxes, the governor has gotten his way and has spent all of the state’s reserves and rainy-day funds to balance past budgets. The governor used an example of sitting at a kitchen table. Governor, the kitchen cupboard is bare! You in your shortsightedness, only looking at the present, have failed to prepare Minnesota for the future.
The governor stated that he wants to cut Minnesota’s business tax rate in half. This means he wants a $50 million package of tax credits that he says will create over $100 million in new investments. He is proposing a 25 percent refundable tax credit for small business owners. He is asking for a capital gains exemption for qualifying investments in small Minnesota businesses. He wants to give a 100 percent exemption from the sales tax to companies right away! So when companies buy equipment, instead of businesses depreciate this equipment over years, the governor would let them deduct the whole cost right away.
But my question is how does the governor plan to pay for this? Remember, Gov. Pawlenty, you have a $4.8 billion deficit on the books.
I am sure that he will be looking at cutting funding to LGA for city’s and counties; this has always been one of Pawlenty favorites. That way he can make the local officials do his dirty work on raising taxes. That’s our Teflon governor for you.
We all know that the governor will be targeting both the health and human services budget.
Rep. Robin Brown wrote in the Albert Lea Tribune:
“I have grave concerns about additional cuts to health care. Many families can’t take their kids to the doctor, seniors can’t afford prescriptions, rural hospitals already are bogged down by the high cost of unreimbursed care, and dozens of nursing homes have closed in the last few years. Some of the governor’s proposals could mean the end of programs like Meals on Wheels and others that help our seniors stay in their homes longer.”
I agree with Rep. Brown. We need to keep funding programs that helps to keep our elderly out of nursing homes. It’s far cheaper for the state to provide a couple hours of care for an elderly living in their own homes than to have to pay the cost of residing in a nursing home. Likewise, let’s not forget that Human Services provides care for those with mental illnesses. Without this care, many would be living on the street — without medicine. Think of the repercussions of cutting Human Services!
These are tough times and the legislature and the governor will have to make some hard decisions, but everything needs to be on the table. Don’t give tax breaks by passing programs that will put us deeper in debt — then pay for these programs by cutting other programs that are saving us money.
In her 
Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has been getting a lot of attention recently. As TPM put it, "When [Bachmann] talks, people listen -- even if they're not entirely sure what they're hearing."
While President Obama was answering tough questions on 
Later today, President Obama will meet with clean energy entrepreneurs and leaders to discuss strategies for building a clean energy economy to help create the jobs of the future.
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