Showing posts with label Governor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Governor. Show all posts

More On That Revealing Tweet...
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7:00 AM | Posted in , ,
On Sunday I posted an interesting tweet from Representative Tom Emmer indicating that he would have Minnesota not participate in a "federal health plan". From the statement, it was unclear as to which federal health plan he was referring and I patiently await an answer to clear things up.


There is another, slightly humorous, FAIL element to this story which I conveniently left out yesterday. Very quickly after this tweet and several others by Representative Emmer were sent out and I began questioning them, they disappeared. I was able to preserve them from my tweetdeck and they are featured on the left but why did they disappear? Was there something in them that Emmer thought twice about posting?

Aside from the idea of removing us from Medicare, Medicaid, and Vet federal health plans there wasn't anything I could see which was terribly offensive or inappropriate. What then could be the reason for removing all of these messages?

After some very serious searching and exhaustive investigative measures were taken (not really, but I like to sound like I was putting a lot of time into this) I discovered that it wasn't Emmer after all. Apparently, someone named Harry Niska had hijacked the Emmer account. OK, Maybe he hadn't hijacked it but I still am wondering why he has access to the twitter account of Tom Emmer. Are Emmer's tweets not his own?
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A Revealing Tweet...
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10:13 AM | Posted in , , ,
An interesting tweet scrolled across my screen yesterday from potential Republican Gubernatorial nominee, Tom Emmer, in regards to "federal health care plans":



What is not clear from this particular tweet is to WHICH federal health care plan Mr. Emmer is referring. Is Emmer referring to Medicare which is a federal health care plan? Is Emmer referring to Medicaid which is at least partially federal? Or, is Emmer referring to the federal health care plan for veterans?

One wonders how seniors, the poor, and veterans will react to the potential of having their federal health care plans pulled out from under them by a Governor Emmer in the name of states rights. 
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The Future Governor
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10:14 PM | Posted in ,
By Jeremiah Liend

The future governor will be a creature evolved past politics. He who governs least governs most leaves us a governless people. The future will be commanded by pioneers, not by politicians. We have given them their chance and their system a fair shot, but we cannot survive without advancement. We live in a global society and in the eyes of nature we are all of us equals. The horizons will not be explored by a party member. The parties are not working.

For whatever reason, our fundamental craving for conflict has polarized us on a number of silly issues. We are being manipulated by agendas not our own. What is a Republican? What is a Democrat? Fail to sell them food and they are both of them starving. Global famine ravages the third world and I cannot imagine trying to explain the parties to the hungry.

“You see the Republicans have a modestly more conservative stance on civil liberties, and the Democrats fight, very casually, to get elected again.”

The party is going on even while we shoot people. The party is happening when you sleep. The partiers rally around the bullies in the playground and chide one another for whatever ill conceived wrong grown people can throw at one another. The American Dream is out there somewhere on the fringe. Waiting to see when the party will end. Looking at the clock and wishing everyone would go home. The party is rich men and women in expensive suits negotiating our ability to live. Who deserves to be healthy. The price we put on death. Over cocktails and sushi and steak they barter our freedoms while trying to contend with the surreal acceptance of it. The Status Quo of the party has mired us, as a people, and we need to begin electing powerful ideas, and idealists. Individuals with a Plan.

We are left to redefine the dream and resurrect it’s greatest tenants. How do you create business? America knows how to create business, it simply chooses not to. Industry has been given to the less developed nations to provide us with a variety of shoes. Our lavish existence has created a false covenant with materialism. Humanist pack rats collecting and trading things to get other things. Cast aside the wool Pepsi and Coke have placed over your eyes, blinding you as sure as diabetes one day will. How do you create business? You make things people like and then you sell it to them. The mystery is a fallacy! I have the solution!

We make factories to make factories. We harvest the only commodity that will matter in the future; Power, from natural resources and then sell it to people who need it. We will make electric car factories. Solar dirigibles. Colossal kinetic harvesting arrays. Not a series of plants building slightly different variations of last years models. Factories like we want to make things. The shipping containers will go the other way. We will ship them out of Duluth to anywhere, and by and through the grace of the global market we will be rich. I would work in an electric car factory, wouldn’t you? Get a living wage for once in your check to check existence? Wouldn’t it be nice not to worry about losing your home? Wouldn’t it be nice to provide your child with everything they need? Including a future?

The Republicans are partners to industry and the free market, and lack but ideas to lend form to their grand scheme of global financial dominance. He who governs least governs not at all. The Future Governor must lead both parties if we are to have an accord. The Democrats are champions of the people, and lack but the confidence to commit to a plan. Without the partisanship and illusory conflict between the parties we can fire into office and station an individual battling for the whole, the all, the everything. The Future Governor will Govern the Future and I will show you the way.
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Entenza Wins Ranger Straw Poll...
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5:47 PM | Posted in , ,
According to Aaron Brown of Minnesota Brown, the premier blog covering northeastern Minnesota, there was a straw poll held in Itasca County on Thursday, October 8. Given that we have two range candidates on the DFL side, you would think that one or the other would come away as the winner. You'd be wrong...

I was speaking in a different corner of the Range yesterday but heard this morning that the straw poll yielded an interesting result:

Matt Entenza won. Iron Range legislators Tom Rukavina and Tom Bakk finished second and third, respectively. Other candidates there included Susan Gaertner, Steve Kelley, Mark Dayton and Paul Thissen (though I don't know how the rest finished in the poll).


Brown adds a caveat...

Now this result is fascinating to me, but should also include an asterisk. The candidates who weren't there: Margaret Anderson Kelliher, John Marty and R.T. Rybak are all people I predict will carry some level of support in Itasca County and greater Minnesota in general (particularly Kelliher, with her farm roots, and Marty, with his support from progressive groups). Their absence affected the outcome.

While I would not necessarily disagree with Brown, it seems equally as likely that those candidates not there would have taken more votes from the other candidates and the Entenza victory would still have happened. Regardless, the support for Matt is out there. All he has to do is continue building...
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Entenza At Drinking Liberally...
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5:27 PM | Posted in , ,
While I have never been to Drinking Liberally (maybe someday), I notice that Matt Entenza stopped by last week and gave a great speech about why he is running and how we will solve a few of the problems we currently face in the state of Minnesota.



Check out his campaign site to learn more...
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Entenza For Governor
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6:00 AM | Posted in , , ,
If you had asked me this summer who I liked among the numerous DFL gubernatorial candidates and potential candidates, I would not have had a clear answer as I have been frustrated by the seeming lack of a viable out state candidate. However, there was one name in the group that I had a visceral reaction against and that was Matt Entenza. Between the stories I had read, the Entenza mythology associated with those stories, and the feeling that he was just another Twin Cities candidate, there was something there that made me count him out even more than others as someone I could support. That was until I had the chance to meet him and talk with him.

Now, to be clear, I have no preconceived notion that an endorsement from me or this blog carries any weight amongst DFL circles or even amongst the general population but I felt it necessary to speak out in favor of a man for whom I had previously negative opinions.

It was at the annual Divots for Democrats fund raiser that I was able to meet and talk with Mr. Entenza for an extended period of time. Rather than working a room filled with more important and more influential Democrats than I, Entenza stood outside the room with myself and a friend of mine to talk. We talked some politics but for the most part we just engaged in small talk. It was a comfortable conversation about home towns, my disdain for the tv show Scrubs vs. his love of that show (which still might make me vote against him), and a sprinkle of education policy. He didn't give me the fake canned talking points that so many politicians resort to when engaging in one on one interactions. I left that event with an entirely new perspective and new appreciation about who Matt Entenza is and about whether or not I could support his candidacy. The Entenza mythology that floats around out there just didn't appear to hold any water.

That isn't the only factor which has lead me to choose Entenza for 2010...

When it comes to issues there is no single issue more important to me than education. In fact, a large percentage of my vote is based upon who the best education candidate will be. Based on that criteria, Entenza immediately rose to the top of the pack even amongst DFL candidates normally known for their friendly public education stances. The think tank he founded, Minnesota 2020, is the gold standard for anyone looking to understand the reasons we need to invest in public education. I fully expect Entenza will bring this research and this policy perspective to the Governor's office.

With so many decent choices for Governor (I had a particularly enjoyable interaction with Tom Rukavina at the state fair) there really aren't any completely WRONG choices in my humble opinion. For my part though, I have decided that the best choice for education and therefore the best choice for the state, is Matt Entenza.
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Seifert Concedes Defeat...
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4:50 PM | Posted in , ,
With the ascendancy of Tony Sutton and Michael Brodkorb to the top of the Republican Party in Minnesota, the promise appeared to be one of rebuilding the party and regaining a majority in the Minnesota legislature. Just recently, Sutton proclaimed that there were "hopeful signs" for the party as it heads into the 2010 election cycle. Perhaps someone should have told Representative Marty Seifert...



During one of his gubernatorial kick off events in St. Cloud, Seifert heralded the belief that Minnesotans enjoy political balance in their government. It was for this reason, he claimed, that we needed a Republican Governor (presumably the Republican he is speaking of is himself).

While it may be true that Minnesotans like some balance within their government which many of us believe leads to better results through compromise, it is also somewhat strange for the leader of a party to openly concede that his party will not regain a majority and that their only hope is the Governor's office. So, at this point the argument set forward by Seifert is because we are not going to win the legislature back we really need to elect ME as Governor in order to provide that balance. One wonders, if the legislature were to be retaken by the Republican Party, then would Seifert still be heralding balance and the need for a Democratic Governor?

Also, does anybody wonder if Tony Sutton and Michael Brodkorb have given up on the legislature for 2010?
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Overheard At Seifert Presser...
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2:39 PM | Posted in , ,
Yesterday I ventured out to the St. Cloud Public Library in order to hear and video one of a series of Marty Seifert gubernatorial kick off events. Given that it is relatively early in the process, the attendees were a collection of conservative party activists and officials ready to hear from one of their own.

Seifert, for his part, made a point to work the room before his prepared remarks by meeting and briefly talking with nearly everyone that was in the room. What resulted from this meet and greet were a couple of rather interesting overheard conversations.


First, there was the man pictured above who suggested to Seifert that if he ultimately gained the Republican endorsement that it would be a good idea to get Governor Sarah Palin to come to the state and campaign with him. A good idea? Perhaps among the base, a bring in Palin strategy would work but given her rather low standing among Independents and the nature of the Minnesota electorate it may lose more votes than it actually gains.

Second, was the interesting back and forth with someone else in the back of the room in which Seifert mocked the artwork of Lucy Slivinski. When told that it was actually a piece of artwork, Seifert chuckled and proclaimed that he would make sure not to bring it up.




From the Great River website:

Slivinski designed the screen of the art primarily of automobile exhaust pipes and lenses from traffic signals. The entire model is used from recycled materials and the display will incorporate vines draping over the complete piece of art. Slivinski assembled the entire sculpture in her Chicago studio; she then transported the art in four separate truck loads to St. Cloud.

"My art will enhance the existing architecture," said Slivinski, "by creating fluid energy on this corner of the building and being further enhanced through the course of the seasons with a growing vine."


It's amazing what you overhear when waiting quietly for a press conference to start...
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Seifert Response To Smear Campaign
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12:04 PM | Posted in , , ,
Yesterday I noticed that potential gubernatorial candidate, Marty Seifert, would be appearing at the St. Cloud Public Library as part of the kick off for his campaign to replace Governor Pawlenty in 2010. As soon as I made it known that I would be there and hoped to ask questions of Representative Seifert, email messages and twitter messages came to me with potential questions to pose to the candidate.

One of the frequently suggested questions was about the growing story that Seifert and his allies may have been engaged in a smear campaign behind the scenes and throughout the blogs to discredit potential Republican competitor, Representative Laura Brod. For the backstory on these allegations, you can visit both Brian Falldin and Dusty Trice who have done some great work digging into this interesting series of events.

Seifert took very few questions at the event and indicated to me that my question would be next. However, on the sidelines Jim Knobloch began whispering with Steve Gottwalt and gesturing in my direction and as Seifert was about to call on me Knobloch abruptly ended the news conference and shuffled Seifert out of the room. Luckily, I was able to catch up to him out in the hall and get this response from him:



When I returned home I also learned that Representative Brod, due to health concerns, has chosen not to run for Governor. Does this only increase speculation that the smear campaign was ultimately successful or does it put this story to rest?

While I do not know Representative Brod, I wish her the best and hope for a speedy recovery...
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Tarryl Clark: TPaw Drives MN Off A Cliff
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9:22 AM | Posted in , ,
Senator Clark slams the Governor for trying to impress national conservatives at the expense of everyday Minnesotans. Without reelection hanging over his head, Pawlenty is free to make the most extreme cuts which may play well to the base of the ever shrinking Republican Party but which the average Minnesotan will probably find unacceptable.



But what are the consequences of these unallotment cuts?

  • The GAMC veto could cost upwards of 4000 jobs.
  • Hospitals could see 20 jobs lost for every $1 million in cuts.
  • An estimated 900 jobs were lost due to the line item veto of bonding projects.
  • Education will potentially see another $1.8 billion cut as Governor Pawlenty simulates a shift through unallotment.

These are but a few of the consequences of a Governor who has decided to use the state of Minnesota as his very own conservative proving grounds without regard to what the majority of Minnesotans wish out of their state government.
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The Race To Be Governor: Do We Care Yet?
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5:56 PM | Posted in , ,
With the recent announcement that Governor Pawlenty will not be running for a third term, the race is on from the right to announce or announce that you are thinking about announcing. Even before the Pawlenty news there was already a slew of candidates on the left who are running or thinking about running.

Politics in Minnesota has a handy dandy chart for you to see who is officially in, who is thinking about being officially in, and who they believe is definitely out.

Here are the names on the Left either running or thinking about running:

  • Tom Bakk
  • Chris Coleman
  • Mark Dayton
  • Matt Entenza
  • Susan Gaertner
  • Steve Kelley
  • Margaret Anderson Kelliher
  • John Marty
  • R.T. Rybak
  • Paul Thissen

Here are the names on the Right either running or thinking about running:

  • Pat Anderson
  • David Hann
  • Paul Koering
  • Paul Kohls
  • Marty Seifert
  • Charlie Weaver

Honestly, my initial thought is one of unimpressed apathy with the entire field. What are your thoughts? Do you have a dream candidate? Throughout the summer my hope is to do some more detailed profiles on the various candidates who officially announce. Stay tuned...
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Steve Kelley (DFL) At SD14
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9:47 PM | Posted in , ,
Steve Kelley (DFL) spoke to a gathering of Democrats at the monthly SD14 meeting in St. Joseph on Tuesday, May 12. He is currently seeking the DFL endorsement to run for Governor in 2010.



It is still far too early in the process for me to consider supporting anyone in this race or any race for that matter. However, I have always liked Steve Kelley...
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