Government Spending

Surly responds to proposed beer tax increases

On Tuesday the folks over at Surly Brewing Co. took the time to issue their response to the proposed tax increase on Minnesota-made alcohol. In a lengthy blog post that details their multiple issues with the proposed excise tax increase, Surly makes it clear that this legislation can only hurt Minne ... More >>

Michele Bachmann says she cares about the poor, gets another "Four Pinocchios" rating [VIDEO]

During a floor speech last Friday, Michele Bachmann mangled an attempt at a Shakespeare quote (She said "Thou protesteth too much" -- the actual quote is "The lady doth protest too much"). But that's not significant here.SEE ALSO: Michele Bachmann's 'I do not do political speech' line draws loud lau ... More >>

Minnesota Senate fights over clothing tax

The DFL-controlled Senate will take up its $1.9 billion tax plan this afternoon in what we expect will be a grueling debate that could last well into the evening. Among the most contentious proposals: repealing the state's tax exemption on clothing.

House DFLers propose 7-cent tax increase on beer pints, 84-cent hike on 12ers

Today, House DFLers unveiled their proposed tax bill, and it's bad news for those of you who like to drink.SEE ALSO: The "I hate the Pedal Pub" Facebook page is hilarious [IMAGES]House DFLers are proposing the first increase in the state's liquor tax in years. It'd add roughly seven cents to the cos ... More >>

MNGOP blames DFL for wasteful spending approved by MNGOP

Yesterday, the MNGOP's official House caucus Twitter account wanted you to ponder this thought as you tried to stay warm while April snow fell outside:ICYMI: While you sit inside today, remember $840k in taxpayer $ went to overseas trips for artists. on.fb.me/XutxBD#DFLWaste #mnleg-- MN House Republ ... More >>

DFL Rep. Karen Clark wants to raise taxes on barrels of beer from $4.60 to $16.17

Rep. Karen Clark, D-Minneapolis, is one half of the tandem leading the push for marriage equality. She's also leading the push to increase taxes on beer, wine, and liquor.SEE ALSO: Sunday liquor sales seem to be dead on arrival yet againYesterday, Clark's proposal to increase taxes on 31-gallon barr ... More >>

Minnesota budget forecast shows slimmer deficit

Minnesota's budget deficit is looking about $463 million slimmer than estimated last fall, according to a new forecast. SEE ALSO: Minnesota will be one of the states least affected by sequestration, but it's still going to suck

Steve White

Gov. Dayton's deputy chief of staff wants Mary Franson to read the damn budget proposal

Today, Gov. Dayton unveiled his state budget proposal for the next biennium. SEE ALSO: Mary Franson wins recount in belated MNGOP election night success storyIt's a complicated, multifaceted document. But you won't be surprised to learn that before Dayton's budget press conference had even concluded ... More >>

President Obama offers Michele Bachmann a raise she doesn't want

When he signed an executive order calling for an end to a longstanding pay freeze for members of Congress and other federal employees last Thursday, President Obama essentially offered Michele Bachmann a $900-a-year raise. But Bachmann and a majority of her colleagues in the GOP-controlled House wan ... More >>

Allen Quist ignores facts, alleges food stamp program discriminates against married couples

SEE ALSO:-- Allen Quist flip-flops about his research in a Mankato "anonymous sodomy" adult bookstore-- Allen Quist under renewed fire for 'men are genetically predisposed to lead family' remarkWith his gaffe-fest primary against Mike Parry in the rear-view mirror, you might've expected Republican U ... More >>

Target Field generated nearly three times more tax revenue last year than Dome did in 2009

Figures supplied by both the Twins and the public ballpark authority and a separate analysis by the Department of Revenue indicate Target Field has has significantly increased the amount of sales and use taxes generated by the Twins.The numbers show that the ballpark generated $17 million in tax rev ... More >>

MNGOP, $2 million in debt, decries Obama's "out of control spending"

​Pot, meet kettle. Late last year, figures released by the MNGOP's own Internal Finance Review revealed that the party is about $2 million in debt. Review committee chair Jeff Johnson characterized the MNGOP's balance sheets as containing "some ugly stuff."Yesterday, President Obama released his p ... More >>

Supervalu focusing on record number of food stamp recipients

Food stamps account for 40 percent of sales at Supervalu's Save-A-Lot stores.​Eden Prairie-based Supervalu is one of a handful of grocery chains changing the way it operates to accommodate the record number of food stamp recipients. From opening supermarkets at midnight, when government benefits a ... More >>

Moody's downgrades Minnesota to negative

Wikipedia Thanks, a lot guys -- now our credit's screwed.​To get a state budget passed, Minnesota used a bit of tricky accounting -- a lot of borrowing here, a lot of delayed payments there -- to make the numbers work on paper. The tricks didn't fool Moody's Investor Service, the premiere credit r ... More >>

Minnesotans support taxing smokers to close budget gap

More than half the survey respondents would support increased cigarette prices.​If the stress from thinking about Minnesota's budget deficit makes you think about lighting up a smoke, think again. Nearly 60 percent of Minnesotans would support increasing cigarette state taxes on tobacco to help so ... More >>

Countdown to government shutdown: Who's to blame?

Minnesota lawmakers have until July 1 to get it together.​As of today, the Minnesota Legislature is two-and-a-half weeks tardy in solving the state's $5 billion budget deficit. Unfortunately for everyone, there doesn't appear to be a budget deal in sight. If no agreement is made by July 1st, ... More >>

Bill Kling conquered Minnesota radio, but can he save NPR?

Republicans suggest government can't afford nonprofit radio

Dayton vetoes all nine Republican budget bills

Dayton is Dr. No.​Wasting no time after the Legislature adjourned without reaching a compromise with him over the state's fiscal mess, Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed all nine Republican budget bills passed in the waning hours of the session. In doing so, he reminded GOP leaders that he too had the b ... More >>

Feds signing over $478 million in Central Corridor funds today

Federal funds grease the rails.​So it turns out the $478 million check really was in the mail. We were a little leery last week when St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman used his State of the City address to declare federal funding had been approved to cover half the cost of the Central Corridor ligh ... More >>

Insights Design Series: Kevin Quealy

Mark Dayton vetoes $900 million GOP budget-cutting bill

Dayton issues his first veto.​The Republican-controlled Legislature sent DFL Gov. Mark Dayton a $900 million budget-cutting bill today, after no public hearings and with no Democratic support, and he wasted no time in striking it down with his veto pen. He lambasted it as an effort to protect ... More >>

Mark Dayton jettisons Tim Pawlenty's health insurance stands [UPDATE, VIDEO]

Mark Dayton meets the press today.​Congress passed health care reform. But in Minnesota, former Gov. Tim Pawlenty said we couldn't have it. Today, making good on campaign promises, Mark Dayton said that we can. And his two executive orders can't be stopped by the new Republican-controlled Legisl ... More >>

Mark Dayton sworn in as governor today [UPDATE]

Mark Dayton will be the next governor of Minnesota.​Be careful what you wish for, the old saying goes. Mark Dayton took the oath of office as Minnesota's governor at noon, the first Democrat to hold that office in decades.

Michele Bachmann lives in the real world: Video of the day

​The president hates America. We live in a socialist state. Shutting down the government isn't shutting down the government. That's reality for Rep. Michele Bachmann. Everything else is just fantasy, she told Harry Smith on "Face the Nation" yesterday.

Michele Bachmann: "Porking has gotten way out of control"

Like her Muslim friends, Bachmann has no pork on her fork.​Michele Bachmann has a message for America this afternoon: "Recently, porking has gotten way out of control."It's a provocative statement, and one that certainly lends itself to interpretation. But based on context, our best guess is t ... More >>

Chip Cravaack sees pork, Duluth News Tribune suddenly sees red

Cravaack beat Oberstar.​Back in October, the editorial page of the Duluth News Tribune gave Republican Chip Cravaack a big wet kiss of an endorsement in his run against Democrat Jim Oberstar in Minnesota's 8th congressional district. Now that Cravaack has vanquished Oberstar and is headed fo ... More >>

Michele Bachmann likes earmarks. Just call them something else

This woman wants a bridge.​Tim Pawlenty got away with not raising taxes by redefining a "tax" as a "user fee." Now Michele Bachmann supports a redefinition of earmarks she likes, because those earmarks aren't really earmarks. They're, well, something else.

Tim Pawlenty spouts "bull" on healthcare, Dave Durenberger says

Tim Pawlenty, health care expert.​Tim Pawlenty, sorta-kinda running for president maybe, has been working hard on his Fox News soundbites. "I think Obamacare is one of the worst pieces of legislation passed in the modern history of the country," he told the fair and balanced network last week ... More >>

Michele Bachmann repeats debunked economics

​To borrow a phrase from Ronald Reagan: There she goes again. Preaching to the converted at yesterday's downtown Minneapolis GOP money-grubbing love-in with Sarah Palin -- check out our slideshow -- Michele Bachmann told a bunch of whoppers. Her call for nuking cyberattackers was an especial ... More >>

Michele Bachmann fisked by CBS News after "Face the Nation" appearance

The congresswoman keeps insisting that the federal government now controls 51 percent of the U.S. economy.

Minnesota shortchanged by federal funding for disease and injury prevention programs

Minnesota ranked 41st out of 50 states in the amount of federal funding it received from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Court, Congress deal blows to Bachmann's ACORN agenda

A vote in the House and a decision by a U.S. District Court judge in Brooklyn suggest she's lost a couple of rounds.

Pawlenty's a no-show for his own rally; Bachmann takes stage

The Republican faithful come to praise the governor' proposed constitutional amendment, but he's nowhere in sight.

Franken's first amendment passes Senate

The amendment stops defense contractors from receiving federal funding if they use mandatory arbitration clauses that prevent victims of assault from going to court.

Pawlenty calls out Chris Matthews's 'Man-Crush' on Obama

But does the MSNBC host have Hardballs for 44?

Bachmann: The DCCC is after me again!

Bachmann responded today with a fundraising email of her own to counter the Democrats. Are we back in election season or what?

Pawlenty raiding the stimulus plan buffet

Don't worry Minnesotans. Pawlenty can't resist grabbing for the stimulus plan's "meandering buffet".

Bush's parting gift: no morning-after pill for you!

Midtown Bike Center makes "most outrageous federal spending" list

Eat lead, robots!

Military recruiters and Minneapolis schools

West Wing and a prayer

10/6 Morning Communiqué

The Billion Dollar Bash

Minneapolis moves toward a final 2006 city budget

One Hand Washes the Other

Are the state GOP and an antiabortion group conspiring against runoff voting?

Austerity Forever

Health care took the most visible hits at the Legislature this year, and the future only looks bleaker: Linda Berglin, the only DFLer who stood and fought Pawlenty's cuts.

Prison Math

Thanks to census counts, inmates are bringing big money to small towns

Payback Time

Minnesota's success in providing health care to children is about to cost the state millions in federal funds

Under Fire