The Big E Posts

Michele Bachmann's evangelical organizer in Iowa is alleging the Tea Party Congresswoman violated Iowa Senate ethics rules.

Peter Waldron, an evangelical organizer who served as Iowa field coordinator for Bachmann and helped her win the Ames straw poll said O'Donnell exercised an "unusual power over Mrs. Bachmann." Waldron and other former Bachmann staff also currently say the Congresswoman has yet to pay them for debts owned from her short-lived campaign.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) represents an R+10 district. Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District is the state's most conservative. Yet, she barely squeaked out a victory. How is that possible?

After a week's worth of horrible news, idiotic responses to the horrible news, news about horrible behavior, and etc. and etc., finally I can report something good - Newt Gingrich has issued his support for the freedom to marry.

Gov. Mark Dayton said today that he would sign a marriage equality bill if it appeared on his desk. Dayton campaigned against the anti-Marriage amendment.

The campaign to "Vote No" has become the "Yes" to equality for all Minnesotans campaign. They will do the research and polling. They aren't going to foolishly rush into pushing their bill. Marriage equality supporters will pick the best time to get the bills introduced in each House of the legislature.

Minneapolis released 2012 election turnout analysis today. In raw numbers, 7,000 more voters turned out than in 2008. In percentage of registered voters, 81 percent turned out. Absentee ballots were up a smidge from 2008, another record.

If Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak decides not to run for a fourth term, 2013 is going to be an interesting year in our fair city. Otherwise, not so much.
Yes, there are going to be competitive races in Wards Four and Ten. Jacob Frey is challenging Diane Hofstede in Ward Four which covers parts of north and northeast Minneapolis. Lisa Bender, Ken Bradley and Kendal Killian are challenging Meg Tuthill in the Tenth which encompasses Uptown and the Wedge. But al...

Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk seemed to throw cold water on the dream of the Minnesota Legislature passing a marriage equality bill. How craven.
One issue [Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk] is fighting is eliminating a law that bans gay marriage.
"We are getting some calls from some real liberal constituencies on the gay marriage issue and repealing the language in statute," Bakk said.
Such requests were expected given the fact that it has been 22 years since Democrats controlled both chambers of the Legislature and held the governor's office. But Bakk said that ...

Rep. Mary Franson (R-Alexandria) gained a vote today as her recount wrapped up. She leads by 12 votes. The result will be certified next week.

In the end, CNET got it wrong.
Sen. Patrick Leahy's bill to rework privacy protections for email passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee today. His bill requires federal law enforcement to get warrants to read our emails. The exception involving possible national security threats (via the Patriot Act) will still exist.
It won't be up for a final vote until possi...

Forming the Catfood Commission was political genius. The Commission's goal was to find ways to address the deficit. Conservatives and conservative Democrats ran the commission.
The Catfood Commission made it easier for Beltway Democrats to accept discussing drastic cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. After all, these serious people on this serious commission had introduced it as the only way to address the issue.
Except it was entirely

As the negotiations begin to heat up over the so-called "fiscal cliff", Rep. Keith Ellison (DFL-MN) and Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), co-chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, sent a letter to all Republican members of Congress today. They ask them to remember the advice of President Ronald Reagan in regards to Social Security.
"Social Security has nothing to do with the deficit. Social Security is totally funded by the Payroll Tax levied on employer and emplo...

Duluth Mayor Don Ness and President of Ventera Wind Joseph Woods held a press conference Wednesday about wind energy. Specifically, they want Congress to extend incentives to encourage the wind energy industry's further development. Currently, wind energy provides nearly 13 percent of Minnesota's power. Minnesota ranks fourth in the nation.

Yesterday, I wrote about Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R-Mazeppa) fear-mongering about efforts to protect our lakes, rivers, streams and drinking water. He's frightened that "environmental extremists" are going to destroy jobs in Minnesota. Or something. From how scared he sounded, it seemed like he might have wet himself over this.
Specifically, The Draz is frightened that...

Less than a month after big Republican losses and two months before legislative session starts
Extremist Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R-Mazeppa) is already fear-mongering about upcoming bills at the State Capitol. In this case it's about bills to protect our lakes, rivers and environment.
Drazkowski is arguably Minnesota's craziest and worst legislator. Similar to Michele Bachmann, you can count on The Draz to push the latest conservative conspiracy theory or...

that they didn't want to happen
Here in Minnesota, the anti-Marriage and Vote Restriction amendments were supposed to drive Republican turnout. In the past, this strategy worked. In 2012, it backfired.
But the unintended consequence occurred nationwide as well:
The amendment's surprising defeat has ramifications beyond Minnesota. "There's been an assumption of political will for restricting the right to vote," says McGrath. "No, there's not." The amendment backfired on the GOP. "Voter ID did not drive the conservative base to turn out in the way that Rep...

Last week I noted that Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) may have been trying to sneak an anti-privacy bill through the US Senate. Initially, CNET reported that he had altered a email privacy bill to allow federal law enforcement the ability to read our emails without getting a warrant.
Changing the bill just before a holiday and scheduling the vote right afte...

Yesterday I wrote about a sneaky move by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) pulled to try and pass a bill which would allow a wide variety of federal agencies to read our email without a warrant. Changing the bill just before the Thanksgiving holiday and then holding a hearing and trying to pass it immediately after the holiday is particularly sneaky because it doesn't allow opponents much time to organize.
Now a staffer for Leahy denies the Senator changed the bill ...

She'll likely continue to bring the Crazy to the Capitol
Rep. Mary Franson (R-Alexandria) had a much better chance of bringing her peculiar brand of crazy back to the halls of the State Capitol after the election judges randomly withdrew 35 ballots. The election has now been certified and Franson has an 11 vote lead over DFL Bob Cunniff.
In reviewing the voting rolls as part of the election certification process, election judges determined that 35 voters were given the wrong ballots. These voters were in a po...