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MN Progressive Project

Recent Posts

Progress after a decade of regression

by The Big E on May 21, 2013

mn_capitolAfter ten years of Republican destruction, budget slashing and poor management and after the epic Marriage Restriction Amendment fight, the 2013 legislative session felt like a new, fresh start for Minnesota.
 
We progressives have built many, many coalitions over the years. Many didn’t succeed, some partially blocked something bad the conservatives wanted to do. The MN United campaign and the 2012 election was the culmination, the coming together of so many different parts of the activist left. From the religious to labor to peace to … suffice to say that it’s a mighty long list.
 
Overall, how did the legislature do considering the unity we all basked in after the 2012 landslide?
 
I say pretty well.
 
Marriage equality was epic.
 
Passing a budget that fully funds education and eliminates our structural deficit by making the richest 2% pay a share closer to what the rest of us pay was huge.
 
Here a few more successes …
 
…READ MORE

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Democrats Move Minnesota Closer to Fair Taxation

by Grace Kelly on May 21, 2013

Even Republicans and Libertarians agree that a flat rate income tax would be fair. Because we want out-of-state contributions (3.4%) and other goals, there will be a diversity of taxes. So Minnesota has added up all the local and state taxes and calculated the equivalent income tax for different income ranges. This study has been done for years. When Republicans were in power, the equivalent income tax went down for the richest and up for the poorest. Now the Democrats are bringing the the rate closer to a fair income tax rate. Click here for a larger image.

From the Governors Office:

The budget passed by the Governor and the majorities in the legislature creates a new 4 tier income tax bracket at 9.85% that will be paid only by the wealthiest 2% of Minnesotans. This new tax bracket will apply only to taxable income over $250,000 for married joint filers and taxable income over $150,000 for single filers.

 

$1.1 billion in New Revenue. This new tax bracket will help solve our budget deficit and invest in property tax relief for all Minnesotans,a better education system, and crucial economic development, measures to strengthen Minnesota’s middle class.

 

98% of Minnesotans Will See No Income Tax Increase.

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Climate Change, Tornadoes, and Politics

by gregladen on May 21, 2013

bachmann-screamI have a few miscellaneous but related items for you. First and I’m sure of great importance to every one on this list … the OFA has produced a database of climate science deniers in the US Congress. The following might be familiar to you:

 

“Carbon dioxide, Mister Speaker, is a natural byproduct of nature. Carbon dioxide is natural. It occurs in Earth. It is a part of the regular lifecycle of Earth. In fact, life on planet Earth can’t even exist without carbon dioxide. So necessary is it to human life, to animal life, to plant life, to the oceans, to the vegetation that’s on the Earth, to the, to the fowl that — that flies in the air, we need to have carbon dioxide as part of the fundamental lifecycle of Earth.”

 

Yeah, that’s Michele Bachmann and she’s on the list.

 

You can see the entire list HERE and drill down by state.

 

A lot of people want to know if tornadoes are going to become more common with global warming. The short answer is this: Severe storms have already become more common with global warming and this will continue to get worse, but individual categories of storms are very variable and hard to understand. For example, consider this:

 

I remember when I first moved to Minnesota. That summer we had numerous straight line wind events of the sort never seen before. Maplewood, a community near where I lived famous for it’s tree lined streets lost almost all of its trees in one storm. That same storm also took out most of the stock of most of the new car companies in that town, famous for its numerous car lots. The cars were pitted with hail stones. Every single home for about three miles along a street right near where I lived had it’s vinyl or aluminum siding drilled with hundreds of holes and dents from large hail stones being driven by a 60–100 mile per hour wind. It was one of the worst weather years in Minnesota, with insurance companies practically going bankrupt.

 

There were only a few tornadoes in the area that year.

 

The next year there were hardly any straight line wind storms of the magnitude just described. But that is the year of the Saint Peter tornado. It was one of the largest tornado events ever; It was a twister that lifted and dropped a couple of times, so ‘nato-pedants divide it into multiple events, but that’s absurd. It was an F3 and F4 event, and it tracked for 67 miles and was up to one and a half mile wide.

 

There were a lot of tornadoes that year.

 

As you can see, it is complicated. That quote is form something I just wrote on my science blog that you may be interested in: Understanding Storms and Global Warming: A Quaint Parable. That kind of goes along with two other posts, here and here.

 

I don’t mean to make this post a link farm but I thought many MnPP readers would be interested. Since Minnesotans are all about the weather and stuff.

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Record profits are because of workers getting screwed

by Dan Burns on May 21, 2013

523366_637975359561312_1313347915_nHere are a few economy-related items. First of all:
 

Profits of American corporations have become decoupled from the other indices of American economic well-being with which they’ve historically been linked. They currently comprise the largest share of the nation’s economy that they have since World War II. Yet the increase in consumer spending in the 15 quarters since the recession’s official end is lower than its increase 15 quarters after the recessions of 1982, 1991, and 2001 ended. Similarly, 15 quarters after the recession ended, the increase in GDP is lower than it was in those three preceding recessions. So spending and growth are lagging while profits soar. What gives?
 
…The answer is that profits are increasing because corporations are getting by with fewer workers than they employed before the crash of 2008, and they’re paying those workers less. Wages and compensation (that is, wages plus benefits) now make up the smallest shares of GDP that they have in 50 years, and their decline has proceeded without interruption since 2001. According to a report from JP Morgan Chase’s Chief Investment Office, two-thirds of the increase in corporate profits between the end of the dot-com bust and the collapse of 2008 is directly attributable to the decline in the wages they paid their employees. As the share going to profits has continued to increase since that report appeared, and the share going to wages has kept on decreasing, the centrality of wage suppression to profit maximization has continued to grow.
 
(American Prospect)

You might think that a lot more people would be upset about this, and change their voting preferences accordingly. Being uninformed is part of the problem, and another is that old habits, especially bad ones, are hard to break. And then there’s system justification. Few people want to face up to how they’ve been played, with their more or less unwitting aquiescence, for much of their lives.
 
…READ MORE

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Graves leading Bachmann in latest poll

by The Big E on May 20, 2013

JimGraves bachmann06

DFL challenger Jim Graves is leading embattled Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) in the latest Public Policy Polling (PPP) poll. Graves leads 47-45% with a 4.4% margin of error. This is huge for a challenger to be close let alone have a lead this early.
 
Many entities are investigating Bachmann’s failed 2012 presidential bid. The FBI, Federal Election Commission (FEC), Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) are investigating Bachmann paying senior presidential campaign staffers from her PAC, MichelePAC. A independent investigation ordered by the Iowa Supreme Court is investigating her Iowa Campaign Chair Kurt Sorensen for accepting pay when this is barred. The Iowa Senate Ethic’s panel is also investigating this. Furthermore, police in Iowa are investigating the theft of a evangelical home school organization’s email list and the woman from whom Bachmann obtained this list is suing her.
 
This is all piling up in the minds of MN06 voters:
 

The latest survey from Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling showed Democratic hotel magnate Jim Graves edging Bachmann among voters in Minnesota’ Sixth Congressional District 47 percent to 45 percent. Graves announced recently that he will challenge Bachmann once again next year after falling to the tea party champion in a close race last year.

Facing a campaign finance investigation, Bachmann has been pegged as one of the leading Democratic targets in 2014. The poll, which was reported on by Politico, was conducted May 15 using automated phone interviews with 500 voters. It has a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.

And now that the FBI is investigating Bachmann, her polling numbers will continue to worsen.
 

June 2012 48% – 43% 7% w/ 4.4% MoE
September 2012 48% – 46% 2% w/ unknown MoE
October 3-4, 2012 47% – 45% 2% w/ unknown MoE
October 15, 2012 50% – 41% 9% w/ 4.1% MoE
November 2012 50.47% – 49.25% election
May 2013 46% – 48% -2 w 4.4% MoE

 
graves-Bachmann-2013-05-chart

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FBI investigating Michele Bachmann

by The Big E on May 20, 2013

Bachmann-CaseForConvictionRep. Michele Bachmann’s pile of woe just got bigger. The FBI is joining all of the other entities investigating her 2012 presidential campaign.

 

The pile of woe includes:

 

  • Federal Election Commission investigating paying senior staffers from her PAC, MichelePAC
  • Office of Congressional Ethics investigating paying senior staffers from her PAC, MichelePAC
  • Independent Counsel appointed by the Iowa Supreme Court investigating paying Iowa Campaign Chair, Sen. Kurt Sorensen, when that is barred
  • Iowa State Senate Ethics panel investigation paying Sorensen
  • Police in Iowa investigating the theft of an email list from an evangelical home schoolers organization
  • Lawsuit by the woman from whome Bachmann’s campaign acquired the email list.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune continued their pattern of reporting every detail of her scandals. It should be noted that they continue the pattern of not covering anything else.

 

The FBI has contacted two former staffers of U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s presidential campaign, adding to the swirl of federal and state investigations looking into alleged financial improprieties by top officials in the campaign.

 

The former campaign aides with direct knowledge of the investigation have confirmed the FBI inquiries. Both spoke to the Star Tribune on condition of anonymity.

 

St. Paul attorney John Gilmore, who represents former Bachmann chief of staff Andy Parrish, also confirmed that his client is among those being interviewed by the FBI as a witness. “Andy Parrish has been contacted by the FBI for purposes of an interview,” Gilmore said. “That has been set up for next week and Mr. Parrish will cooperate fully.”
(Star Tribune)

The biggest implication of this is that these scandals will not be going away anytime soon. And probably not before the 2014 election cycle really heats up.

 

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Republicans block anti-bullying bill in Minnesota State Senate

by The Big E on May 20, 2013

bullying-stop-sign

“This failure is only a setback.” — Sen. Scott Dibble

Republicans in the Minnesota State Senate hit another low in their quest for even lower and lower depths to plumb. They promised a 10 hour filibuster against a anti-bullying bill. The State House passed the bill already.

 

The bottom line is they are bigots (except for the few who voted for marriage equality). Their main objection, though they hide it as best they can, is that the bill would protect gay and lesbian kids from bullying in schools. In their twisted minds they don’t see a problem with bullies enforcing their belief that being gay or lesbian is wrong. Most importantly, they will never ever recognize the suffering of the LGBT kids.

 
…READ MORE

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Mpls Council: Ward 5, and other stuff

by Dan Burns on May 20, 2013

minneapolisWard 5: Incumbent Don Samuels is running for mayor.
 

After five grueling hours of politicking in a north Minneapolis gymnasium, DFLers handed out no endorsement in the race to fill one of three open seats on the City Council.
 
Four candidates were vying for the party’s nod in the Fifth Ward, which covers the southern half of the city’s North Side. Attorney Ian Alexander came within less than a percentage point of the 60 percent threshold needed to win, but failed to pick up more momentum. Delegates voted to adjourn after the fifth ballot did not produce a winner…
 
All four candidates plan to continue in the race.
 
(Star Tribune)

The three not noted in the blockquote are Brett Buckner, Blong Yang, and Ken Foxworth. Ranked-choice voting was used; if that gets your attention, read the article for more.
 
…READ MORE

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The red get redder and the blue get bluer

by Eric Ferguson on May 20, 2013

That headline sums up a couple articles from Governing, one about how Democrats have fared in elections since 2004, and another taking the same look at Republicans. The author of both articles, Louis Jacobson, looked at the least competitive states for each party, and concludes that rather than making up ground, each part has gotten weaker in its weakest states. The absence of Republicans in California and Democrats in Tennessee might be extreme examples, but they’re not outliers. They’re the trend.

 

What’s particularly disheartening for supporters of Howard Dean’s “50-State Strategy”, which includes me, is Democrats bucked this trend for a while. The gains in red states and districts weren’t huge, apparently not enough to convince the skeptics who took over the DNC after Dean stepped down as national chair, but the abandonment of the strategy coincided with massive losses for the Democrats. Yes, there were other factors, but some factors, like a general political polarization, were already around was Dean was chair. The strategy wasn’t based on any assumption of a favorable trend, but on competing where competing was hard. In other words, a strategy for exactly these circumstances.

 
…READ MORE

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The short, sharp butt-hurtz for the right

by Dog Gone on May 19, 2013

Alas, for the failing, flailing GOP, their efforts at trying to inflate small quantities of political dirt into large, hot air turd balloons has resulted in nothing more than popped poop bubbles of failed scandal.

 

Yet again, Obama has proven to be the Teflon President; nothing sticks. While the popped poop appears to have fallen back onto the GOP and Tea Baggers, leaving them with dirty hands, and red  and smelly brown  feces, er, faces.

 

Despite the best and worst efforts by the right, President Obama’s approval rating on Monday, according to the Gallop Poll was at 48% Approval  / 45% Disapproval.

 

So how did he fare during the week of faux scandals?

 

On Saturday’s Gallop Poll, Obama’s Approval rating had JUMPED to 51%, and his Disapproval rating had DECLINED to 42%.

 

This is pretty much one of the better sets of polling numbers since the January start of his current term.

 

So, who feels this way, and how is this reflected broken down by party approval ratings?

 

On Jan. 27th Dems polled a 91% approval with Repubs at 11% approval; on May 12th, Dems approval polled at 84%, with Repubs polling at 15%.

 

The smart lesson to be learned from this is that like their wedge issues, dirty politics don’t work, and they can backfire badly, producing the exact opposite of intended results.  But with the ‘think tanks’ all advising the right to continue with the Turd Theater, and the past history of the right doubling down in repeating their mistakes, I think we know which is the more likely course: make up shit, and then try to smear Obama with it.

 

And in case you were wondering how much attention the GOP “poop-oop-a-dupe” had garnered, as of the May 16th poll:

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