Heard from a reliable source that CD 6 DFL candidate Maureen Reed has reached the $100,000 plateau in fundraising.
$100,000 since May 6th? $100K in 16 days?
Impressive!
More to follow...
Donate to Reed's campaign here!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Pawlenty to go back on 2006 higher education promises
When Governor Pawlenty informed Minnesotans that he would utilize his unallotment powers to "balance" the state budget. One of the areas that will be hit hard by Governor Pawlenty's rash decision is higher education. Students and families across the state are bracing for another round of double digit tuition increases.
On the campaign trail back in 2006, Governor Pawlenty had this to say about the excessive tuition increases under his watch.
Kind of like that whole tax versus fee thing a few years ago isn't it.
And that's what ticks me off here, the shady ways of King Timothy James Pawlenty. With Pawlenty positioning himself for his political future, groups like college students will be political fodder.
During Pawlenty's first term, tuition at our state colleges rose nearly 70% and much higher at our community and technical colleges. The increases moved Minnesota from one of the most affordable states for higher education and into the Top 15 in the nation for tuition.
As recent as 2006, Minnesota earned a D when it comes to affordability of higher education.
And Governor Pawlenty wants to cut higher education?
On the campaign trail back in 2006, Governor Pawlenty had this to say about the excessive tuition increases under his watch.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty acknowledged in a major policy address Tuesday that tuition costs at Minnesota's public colleges and universities rose too fast during his first term, and he promised to hold down further increases if he is reelected.He promised to hold down further increases if he was reelected. Yet, the higher education community will face some of the steepest cuts under Pawlenty's plan.
"The tuition-level increases were too high,'' he said in a speech at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute in Minneapolis. He added an explanation: "Keep in mind that we had a budget crisis of historic magnitude in 2003. It's now 2006, and we've gotten to the point where we are adding back to higher education, and we will again.''
Source: Startribune, July 26, 2006
Kind of like that whole tax versus fee thing a few years ago isn't it.
And that's what ticks me off here, the shady ways of King Timothy James Pawlenty. With Pawlenty positioning himself for his political future, groups like college students will be political fodder.
During Pawlenty's first term, tuition at our state colleges rose nearly 70% and much higher at our community and technical colleges. The increases moved Minnesota from one of the most affordable states for higher education and into the Top 15 in the nation for tuition.
As recent as 2006, Minnesota earned a D when it comes to affordability of higher education.
And Governor Pawlenty wants to cut higher education?
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Ventura v. Hannity
More good stuff! Gotta love how he just takes it to the right wing talking heads! We could learn something from all this!
Monday, May 18, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Governor Candidates on King Pawlenty?
Just curious, but with Governor Pawlenty's remarks this past Thursday and the very real threat of unallotment, I'm surprised that we haven't heard more from DFL Gubernatorial candidates on the Governor's abuse of power.
Hmmm....
Hmmm....
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Reed for Congress: Warp Factor 5?
Hold up now...you mean to tell me there's ANOTHER person running around the 6th with a video camera?
What the hell...
Anyway...
Muse has the scoop on Dr. Reed's first big event in the 6th.
I agree with Muse's astute assessment.
Reed has zero web/technology presence other than a few of us posting on our blogs. Reed needs to harness the power of the Internet in this race. The fact that I cannot even donate to her campaign on line at this point leaves me wondering what's going on here.
No website.
No Facebook.
No Twitter.
No online presence at all.
Hopefully, Reed has people behind the scenes now getting this stuff squared away.
What the hell...
Anyway...
Muse has the scoop on Dr. Reed's first big event in the 6th.
I agree with Muse's astute assessment.
Reed has zero web/technology presence other than a few of us posting on our blogs. Reed needs to harness the power of the Internet in this race. The fact that I cannot even donate to her campaign on line at this point leaves me wondering what's going on here.
No website.
No Facebook.
No Twitter.
No online presence at all.
Hopefully, Reed has people behind the scenes now getting this stuff squared away.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Governor Ventura Volunteers to Waterboard Dick Cheney
It's been a good day for Governor Ventura.
Calls Norm Coleman a hypocrite for his continued efforts in extending his US Senate loss...
Volunteers to waterboard former VP Dick Cheney...
Calls Norm Coleman a hypocrite for his continued efforts in extending his US Senate loss...
Volunteers to waterboard former VP Dick Cheney...
KING: You were a Navy SEAL.Perhaps Governor Ventura can give Sean Hannity and Dick Cheney a BOGO deal on an evening of non-torture waterboarding? I'd watch it on Pay Per View!
VENTURA: That’s right. I was water boarded, so I know — at SERE School, Survival Escape Resistance Evasion. It was a required school you had to go to prior to going into the combat zone, which in my era was Vietnam. All of us had to go there. We were all, in essence — every one of us was water boarded. It is torture.
KING: What was it like?
VENTURA: It’s drowning. It gives you the complete sensation that you are drowning. It is no good, because you — I’ll put it to you this way, you give me a water board, Dick Cheney and one hour, and I’ll have him confess to the Sharon Tate murders.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
White House Correspondents' Dinner
Saw some footage of this...wow!
"I think Rush Limbaugh was maybe the 20th hijacker, but he was just so strung out on oxycotin, he missed his flight" - Wanda Sykes
"I think Rush Limbaugh was maybe the 20th hijacker, but he was just so strung out on oxycotin, he missed his flight" - Wanda Sykes
Friday, May 08, 2009
Join the Discussion!!
A good discussion on the 2010 CD 6 race has broken out over at Liberal in the Land of Conservative!
Taxpaying Liberal is discussing matters with Aubrey Immelman (ran against Bachmann for GOP line on ballot), and Bob Anderson, the non-IP endorsed IP candidate in CD 6.
Honestly, I respect Aubrey for what he's trying to do, but don't necessarily agree. It's not as simple as getting 20,000 Dems to vote in the GOP Primary.
We already know the 2010 Governor's race is headed towards a primary in September 2010. Getting 20,000 Dems to ignore that race to put all our seeds in the primary basket seems a bit far fetched to me.
The pragmatic thing to do is to organize around the 2010 general election.
Like TPL, I helped the IP in 2008 as well. While I felt Dean Barkley was an obvious choice for the US Senate, after my initial rants and distrust in Elwyn Tinklenberg, we supported his candidacy.
I'd like to see the DFL extend a hand to the IP in our area in an effort to defeat Bachmann. Hell, if Anderson decides to do this again, maybe I'll have to take a shot at an IP primary in 2010, I could at least effectively stump to help defeat Congresswoman Bachmann, which afterall, is our goal.
Anyway, go hit up Political Muse's home on the blogosphere, he's got an interesting discussion going on over there.
Taxpaying Liberal is discussing matters with Aubrey Immelman (ran against Bachmann for GOP line on ballot), and Bob Anderson, the non-IP endorsed IP candidate in CD 6.
Honestly, I respect Aubrey for what he's trying to do, but don't necessarily agree. It's not as simple as getting 20,000 Dems to vote in the GOP Primary.
We already know the 2010 Governor's race is headed towards a primary in September 2010. Getting 20,000 Dems to ignore that race to put all our seeds in the primary basket seems a bit far fetched to me.
The pragmatic thing to do is to organize around the 2010 general election.
Like TPL, I helped the IP in 2008 as well. While I felt Dean Barkley was an obvious choice for the US Senate, after my initial rants and distrust in Elwyn Tinklenberg, we supported his candidacy.
I'd like to see the DFL extend a hand to the IP in our area in an effort to defeat Bachmann. Hell, if Anderson decides to do this again, maybe I'll have to take a shot at an IP primary in 2010, I could at least effectively stump to help defeat Congresswoman Bachmann, which afterall, is our goal.
Anyway, go hit up Political Muse's home on the blogosphere, he's got an interesting discussion going on over there.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Tinklenberg v. Reed: More CD 6 fodder
To quote Anchorman Ron Burgundy:
And we all heard the news that Marueen Reed is challenging Bachmann as well.
Two days ago, we had no candidates...officially. Now we have two.
Yep, we were right. Elwyn's $250,000 gift to the DCCC will garner their support for his 2010 run.
My gut feeling? Tinklenberg has labor in his back pocket and a $250,000 IOU from the DCCC. There is no way Tinklenberg does not get the DFL endorsement in 2010, for another run at Michele Bachmann. Honestly, that would be a lot for Reed to overcome, not impossible though.
I'll try to keep an open mind for now. I'd like to see how Reed's initial fundraising goes, see how she performs in front of potential delegates and others.
Another big problem for Democrats out in "our parts"?
The Ron Paul Revolution is alive and well.
We've seen the stories of Bachmann cuddling up to Ron Paul for weekly economic studies. But even more interesting is that the new CD 6 GOP Chair is a big Ron Paul guy. Wright County was a big Ron Paul area, as was Meeker and McLeod Counties in the 7th.
So here's an idea...perhaps even a bold one.
So instead of posting photoshopped pictures and edited You Tube videos putting orgy and government wads together, why don't we actually work in a grassroots effort to organize our communities.
Seriously, I'm I the only one who looked at the Bachmann tax day video and noticed that orgy/government wad portion of said video was spliced together like a 3 year old playing Operation?
Mocking Michele Bachmann gets us nowhere.
Running an "anyone but Bachmann campaign" gets us nowhere.
Attacking the "soccer mom" gets us nowhere.
It only gets us 2 more years of Bachmann.
Bachmann will continue to do damage to herself in the mainstream media.
While we should ensure that her insane comments are disseminated, we have no need to doctor them to make them even more "juicy". She does that well enough.
We should talk about Bachmann's voting record and how her values are not congruent with her rhetoric.
Last but not least, leadership needs to get off its ass. I caught this wonderful quote earlier in the week.
Really? WTF?
Tinklenberg was endorsed by the IP on June 22, 2009. You mean to tell me that neither Tinklenberg nor the 6th CD DFL took the time over the remaining 4 1/2 months from the IP endorsement to stress the endorsement.
"For whatever reason...?"
Maybe if...now this is a big maybe...they hadn't spent the waning weeks of the campaign still introducing Tinklenberg to voters, they would have known he was endorsed by BOTH the DFL and the IP.
Going back through the Blueman history of Tinklenberg campaign ads, none of the ads I found had any mention of Tinklenberg's cross endorsement of the DFL and IP.
So, stop blaming the IP for Tinklenberg losing in 2008.
We lost because we gambled and lost. We ran shitty campaigns in Wright and Sherburne Counties and could not capitalize on the cash cow caused by the pandemic known as the Bachmann2008 virus.
"Boy, that escalated quickly... I mean, that really got out of hand fast!"About a week ago, we put out our vibe that Tinklenberg was definitely going to run in 2010.
And we all heard the news that Marueen Reed is challenging Bachmann as well.
Two days ago, we had no candidates...officially. Now we have two.
Yep, we were right. Elwyn's $250,000 gift to the DCCC will garner their support for his 2010 run.
My gut feeling? Tinklenberg has labor in his back pocket and a $250,000 IOU from the DCCC. There is no way Tinklenberg does not get the DFL endorsement in 2010, for another run at Michele Bachmann. Honestly, that would be a lot for Reed to overcome, not impossible though.
I'll try to keep an open mind for now. I'd like to see how Reed's initial fundraising goes, see how she performs in front of potential delegates and others.
Another big problem for Democrats out in "our parts"?
The Ron Paul Revolution is alive and well.
We've seen the stories of Bachmann cuddling up to Ron Paul for weekly economic studies. But even more interesting is that the new CD 6 GOP Chair is a big Ron Paul guy. Wright County was a big Ron Paul area, as was Meeker and McLeod Counties in the 7th.
So here's an idea...perhaps even a bold one.
So instead of posting photoshopped pictures and edited You Tube videos putting orgy and government wads together, why don't we actually work in a grassroots effort to organize our communities.
Seriously, I'm I the only one who looked at the Bachmann tax day video and noticed that orgy/government wad portion of said video was spliced together like a 3 year old playing Operation?
Mocking Michele Bachmann gets us nowhere.
Running an "anyone but Bachmann campaign" gets us nowhere.
Attacking the "soccer mom" gets us nowhere.
It only gets us 2 more years of Bachmann.
Bachmann will continue to do damage to herself in the mainstream media.
While we should ensure that her insane comments are disseminated, we have no need to doctor them to make them even more "juicy". She does that well enough.
We should talk about Bachmann's voting record and how her values are not congruent with her rhetoric.
Last but not least, leadership needs to get off its ass. I caught this wonderful quote earlier in the week.
The district is the most Republican in the state and will be an extremely difficult race for any Democrat. But Schumaker believes Tinklenberg would have won in 2008 if not for the presence of another (non-endorsed) IP candidate on the ballot, Bob Anderson, who garnered 10 percent of the vote. “For whatever reason the information was not put out there that El Tinklenberg was endorsed by both parties,” she says."For whatever reason..."
Really? WTF?
Tinklenberg was endorsed by the IP on June 22, 2009. You mean to tell me that neither Tinklenberg nor the 6th CD DFL took the time over the remaining 4 1/2 months from the IP endorsement to stress the endorsement.
"For whatever reason...?"
Maybe if...now this is a big maybe...they hadn't spent the waning weeks of the campaign still introducing Tinklenberg to voters, they would have known he was endorsed by BOTH the DFL and the IP.
Going back through the Blueman history of Tinklenberg campaign ads, none of the ads I found had any mention of Tinklenberg's cross endorsement of the DFL and IP.
So, stop blaming the IP for Tinklenberg losing in 2008.
We lost because we gambled and lost. We ran shitty campaigns in Wright and Sherburne Counties and could not capitalize on the cash cow caused by the pandemic known as the Bachmann2008 virus.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
New CD 6 GOP Chair
He's from Cokato too...
Congratulations to Mr. Fitzsimmons!
A couple of tidbits from the story.
Will DFL leadership dare to actually do something in Wright County?
Congratulations to Mr. Fitzsimmons!
A couple of tidbits from the story.
"On the path to a Republican majority in the Legislature, all our options lead through us picking up seats in this district," Fitzsimmons said. "We need to leverage our strong Republican districts and work on winning back those districts that are a toss-up or that lean toward the DFL."Before Maureen Reed's CD 6 announcement...
Fitzsimmons said he hopes to expand the party's coalition by bringing disaffected Republicans, independent, Independence Party, Constitution Party and Libertarian Party members into the fold.It will be an interesting fight in the 6th. Will new leadership in CD 6 be able to solidify Bachmann's stranglehold on Wright and Sherburne Counties?
Will DFL leadership dare to actually do something in Wright County?
Dr. Maureen Reed to run for DFL endorsement in CD 6
A few of us had been hearing these rumors for a few weeks now.
Our good friend Political Muse broke the story on this!
Dr. Reed was the IP Lt Governor candidate in 2006, a University of Minnesota Board of Regents Chair, and has a rather impressive resume.
A few quick thoughts.
1. She will need to begin raising a boatload of money immediately. She needs to show that she has this ability, otherwise, she may just be another Bob Olson.
2. Run a values based campaign. No one has been effective on hitting Bachmann on issues. Reed needs to articulate how her values are more congruent with the district than Bachmann.
3. Every moment not fundraising at this point, is spent at meet and greets throughout the 6th. We cannot afford to have a candidate introducing themselves to voters in the waning weeks again.
4. All the koom-by-ya crap is nice...you know...the stuff about bringing moderate Republicans, Democrats, and Independents together to win a race. Build your base, but ultimately, Reed is going to have to show enough backbone to take a shot at Bachmann when it's warranted. Nice is fine and dandy, but I want to see some pitbull in her too.
Honestly, I'm skeptical about party leadership in the district and their ability to bring about the necessary party and base building to pull this off.
Maybe Dr. Reed is the fresh breath we've needed for years? Or will she fall prey to the status quo and the lackadaisical district leadership?
Our good friend Political Muse broke the story on this!
Dr. Reed was the IP Lt Governor candidate in 2006, a University of Minnesota Board of Regents Chair, and has a rather impressive resume.
A few quick thoughts.
1. She will need to begin raising a boatload of money immediately. She needs to show that she has this ability, otherwise, she may just be another Bob Olson.
2. Run a values based campaign. No one has been effective on hitting Bachmann on issues. Reed needs to articulate how her values are more congruent with the district than Bachmann.
3. Every moment not fundraising at this point, is spent at meet and greets throughout the 6th. We cannot afford to have a candidate introducing themselves to voters in the waning weeks again.
4. All the koom-by-ya crap is nice...you know...the stuff about bringing moderate Republicans, Democrats, and Independents together to win a race. Build your base, but ultimately, Reed is going to have to show enough backbone to take a shot at Bachmann when it's warranted. Nice is fine and dandy, but I want to see some pitbull in her too.
Honestly, I'm skeptical about party leadership in the district and their ability to bring about the necessary party and base building to pull this off.
Maybe Dr. Reed is the fresh breath we've needed for years? Or will she fall prey to the status quo and the lackadaisical district leadership?
Monday, May 04, 2009
Oh hell no. Never.
Caught this interesting pic today.
No way in hell will I ever do this! A 1 1/2 inch slab of glass extending 4 1/2 feet off the top of hte building, only 103 stories or 1,353 feet up.
Chicago was just scratched off my list for our first anniversary. Some sorry bastard's gonna put a gin and tonic bar at the top of this thing too...
No way in hell will I ever do this! A 1 1/2 inch slab of glass extending 4 1/2 feet off the top of hte building, only 103 stories or 1,353 feet up.
Chicago was just scratched off my list for our first anniversary. Some sorry bastard's gonna put a gin and tonic bar at the top of this thing too...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)