Politics
Rep. Milroy tackled at the Capitol
Rep. Nick Milroy of Superior was tackled to the ground as he entered the Capitol building in Madison to retrieve some clothing from his office. Apparently he showed his ID to an officer, but the officer didn’t give him clearance to get in.
(This post originally contained an embedded video that was later removed from YouTube.)
Our man in Washington
I note that the first piece of legislation that Raymond Cravaack saw fit to propose involved defunding the U.S. Institute of Peace, a $46.5 million budgetary rounding error responsible for useless projects like the Iraq Study Group.
[The USIP is currently raising money to complete a relatively fancy headquarters on the Mall, but has for years been located on the second floor of the National Restaurant Association’s palatial headquarters in DC.]
This concludes today’s object lesson in the fact that Elections Matter.
How many U.S. presidents visited Duluth?
Do any history buffs out in cyberland know which U.S. presidents visited Duluth and when? Does anyone have some old photos?
Superior 2011 Primary Election Results
Superior Mayor
Bruce Hagen — 2,099 | 69%
Kevin Peterson — 710 | 23%
Don Raihala — 120 | 4%
Gilbert Davidson — 113 | 4%
Bruce Hagen and Kevin Peterson advance to the General Election on April 5.
Really? And I had my hopes up …
I found out someone in my neighborhood is looking to run for mayor of Superior. I was excited! The mayor living so close to my house? He’s just a regular dude wanting to better this town? That sounds awesome! But then I got this flier in my door over the weekend. There are just so many issues — spelling, grammar, weirdness … I’ll let you judge for yourself:
Town Hall in Duluth
Duluth area legislators: Sen. Roger Reinert, Rep. Mary Murphy, Rep. Tom Huntley, and Rep. Kerry Gauthier are holding the first of three Town Halls, on Saturday, Feb. 12, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Asbury United Methodist Church at 6822 Grand Ave.
The Town Hall will focus on the state budget deficit. All are welcome to attend.
Michele Bachmann’s Tea Party response to the State of the Union Address, take two
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann gives the Tea Party’s State of the Union response another try.
25 Influential Minnesotans in Washington
I just heard an interesting interview on MPR with Michael S. Berman, the UMD graduate who founded the Duberstein Group, a DC campaign consulting organization.
Let’s Discuss Social Security
Someone recently wondered why there had not been a PDD post regarding Social Security being “bankrupt.” Here goes:
Social Security currently has a 2.5 trillion dollar surplus. This is partly due to Ronald Reagan raising SS taxes on working people. Then he started to raid the fund to make it look like he could cut taxes on the rich and corporations, bloat the military, and still “balance” the budget. Well, he still wound up turning a surplus into a massive deficit, but I digress.
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Tim Pawlenty on The Daily Show
[This post originally contained an embedded video that is no longer available at its source.]
The complete, unedited interview from last night.
Who’s running for mayor in Superior?
Dave Ross is out after two terms as Superior mayor. He’s taking a job as secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing.
Candidates must file the required number of signatures by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 4 to get on the ballot for mayor in Superior. (more…)
Respect Your Elders. Namely Mark Dayton.
At age 63, Mark Dayton is the oldest person to be elected governor of Minnesota. A few weeks after he’s sworn in, he’ll be 64.
From the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library:
Challenged Ballots in the Minnesota Governor’s Race — Duluth Edition
Now that the challenged ballots from St. Louis County are available online, here’s a look at the nine from Duluth.
The first one is from precinct 3 (Lakeside) and the next two are from precinct 7 (Hunters Park).
In the next set, the first is from precinct 11 (Kenwood) and the next two are from precinct 19 (Downtown).
In the last set, the first is from precinct 24 (Duluth Heights), the second is from precinct 27 (Piedmont Heights) and the third is from precinct 34 (West Duluth).
Someone explain why this is so fun.
Oberstar/Cravaack, Chapter 17
I still have one nagging question that came up during the campaign: “Can you get good Malaysian food anywhere near Duluth?”
Anyone have an answer?
Challenged Ballots in Minnesota
Here’s an afternoon killer: Take a look at the challenged ballots in the Minnesota governor’s race recount.
(The three above are from Aitkin County.)
McCain praises Feingold
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAVAk61JVDg&feature=player_embedded
“I can’t do justice in these remarks to all of Russ’ many qualities or express completely how much I think this institution benefited from his service here and how much I benefited from knowing him. I lack the eloquence. I don’t think he is replaceable. We would all do well to keep his example in our minds as we serve our constituents and country and convictions.”
Is Duluth’s fake-reefer madness over?
With the DEA’s emergency ban on the synthetic marijuana compounds used in K2 and other brands, is the local battle between the Duluth City Council and the Last Place on Earth and others over? Should it ever have started?
It was torture to have the City Council’s attention and efforts focused on what was clearly a federal or state issue. With all the money we dump into federal regulatory agencies, we can be certain that if there is something to regulate, they will get around to it. Synthetic reefer had no real special interest or political support. So what were the local yocals we elected spending all their crusade power on? Did they really need to focus their efforts on what chemicals to ban? The last time I checked (about an hour ago) we still had a high rate of unemployment and many people in need. Didn’t we elect council members to improve our local economy and quality of life.
The DEA ban goes into full effect on the Dec. 24. All I want for Christmas is local government that does some real work to make Duluth more perfecter.
Rod Grams’ revenge
Chip Cravaack news release:
NORTH BRANCH – The week after edging out Minnesota’s longest-serving Congressperson in state history, Congressman-elect Chip Cravaack has named Senator Rod Grams as his interim chief of staff.
“Senator Grams brings a wealth of knowledge expertise on Washington D.C. and the 8th District to our team,” Cravaack said. “His previous experience serving the state of Minnesota will be invaluable as we prepare to hit the ground running on behalf of all the residents of our district.”
Senator Rod Grams was elected to Congress in 1992 and then to the Senate in 1994.
Cravaack also announced that campaign consultant Tony Post will oversee the transition. Campaign communications director Kyler Nerison will continue in that position during the transition.
What part of a district should an elected official live in?
I’ve seen several references to Cravaack living in an outer ring suburb, and the implication that this is inappropriate. It appears he lives in Chisago City, which, while perhaps being a Cities outer ring suburb, still falls into the 8th Congressional district. If, indeed, this is in the district, then what’s the point, really, of implying he is inappropriate to be the district’s rep?
I suppose it’s been conventional that the rep comes from Duluth or the Range but from the geographic perspective, any resident of a district should be eligible to be elected as long as they meet other legal requirements, no?
To imply that someone who lives on the outer edges of a legally defined district should not be its elected rep seems specious to me. That’d be like saying a person who comes from Maine or Washington State or some such location distant from the geographic or population centers of our country should not be able to be elected president.
This is why it is important to pay attention to who gets to draw the legislative districts–there is real power in being able to carve up districts to benefit your party, especially given the information that is available via databases about demographics, voting patterns, income, etc.
I’m not a partisan of Cravaack and did not vote for him, so I am neither defending nor attacking him–just wonder if the PDD community has any thoughts on the idea that a representative should come from a particular part of district to represent it.
Secretary Oberstar?
From Star Tribune/Hot Dish Politics:
[T]he president called at breakfast Wednesday morning … Staffers who were gathered with Oberstar at the Duluth Holiday Inn heard Oberstar tell Obama, “Mr. President, I want you to know that while my service in Congress has ended, my commitment to public service has not, and I’m ready to assist your administration in any way.”
To which, the president reportedly replied, “Let’s let the dust settle and talk again.”
Straw Poll: Who Shocked the World More?
I woke up today with an otherworldly, twilight zone-like feeling similar to the one I had in November of 1998, like where I had to check multiple news sources to see if I was understanding the election results correctly and then check back again to make sure. Shocked I tell you. Shocked.
My question to the PDD brain trust: What was more shocking Jesse’s win or Chip’s? And you can do a “where were you” personal memory or two if you want for color and flavor.
Love, Wild Goose
Duluth 2010 General Election Results
With all precincts reporting, here are the statewide numbers for Minnesota races related to Duluth and St. Louis County. (more…)