Politics

The real R.T. Rybak

Up close and personal with the Minneapolis mayor

Susan Allen is first Native American woman elected to Minnesota legislature

Allen is the first Native woman and the second open lesbian to serve in the legislature.​Yesterday, Susan Allen won a special election for the House District 61B seat, making her the first Native American woman elected to serve in the Minnesota legislature. Allen prevailed over Nate Blumenshine, a ... More >>

Vikes stadium: Dayton asks city, Ramsey County to play hurry-up

Minneapolis leaders are mounting a last-minute drive to keep the Vikings in town. ​Governor Dayton wants Minneapolis and Ramsey County to deploy hurry-up offenses in hopes of bringing closure to the Vikings' stadium drive.Today, he sent the Ramsey County board and Mayor R.T. Rybak letters setting ... More >>

Michele Bachmann bombs in Iowa caucus, finishes in sixth place [UPDATED]

Michele Bachmann did not get the miracle she was praying for in Iowa Tuesday night. With 99 percent of votes tallied in the Iowa caucus, Bachmann has officially finished in a distant sixth place, losing to every candidate but John Huntsman, who didn't even campaign for the event. Former Pennsylv ... More >>

Michele Bachmann quits presidential race

Michele Bachmann has officially quit the 2012 presidential race. After a dismal sixth place finish in the Iowa caucus last night, Bachmann has finally read the enormous writing on the wall and effectively ended her ill-fated campaign. "Last night, the people of Iowa spoke with a very clear voice ... More >>

Michele Bachmann channels Sarah Palin, accuses CNN of "Gotcha!" journalism [VIDEO]

In an interview on CNN's Starting Point this morning, Michele Bachmann quickly turned defensive after host Soledad O'Brien recited some of the candidate's comments about homosexuality. Bachmann accused Soledad of "Gotcha!" journalism, dismissing the question as simply "bizarre." The interview con ... More >>

Bachmann not pulling punches as Iowa Caucus nears

​With the Iowa Caucuses less than a week away, the 2012 Presidential campaign's preseason is not for long, and Michele Bachmann is far behind Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Ron Paul in the polls. Republican candidates will begin to drop like punch-drunk boxers as the primary process moves from Iowa ... More >>

Kent Sorenson betrayed Bachmann for 30 silver shekels, she claims

​Michele Bachmann's hopes for an improbable late rally in Iowa received the unkindest cut of all.  Yesterday, apparently just hours removed from campaigning with Bachmann, her Iowa campaign co-chairman pulled a Brutus and publicly threw his support behind Ron Paul.Et tu, Kent Sorenson? 

Occupy protesters take over K Street [PHOTOS]

Minnesotans took over K Street today​Protesters from around the country occupied K Street this afternoon, including dozens of Minnesotans. The demonstration was the combined effort of numerous groups joining up with OccupyDC to send a message against corporate money in politics. K Street is h ... More >>

Gov. Scott Walker: Recall election is likely

It's been little more than two weeks since foes of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker began petitioning for a recall, and they've already surpassed 300,000 signatures -- more than half of the 540,000 needed by the January 17 deadline. If they keep progressing at this pace, a recall election will be inevit ... More >>

Everyone in Wisconsin wants to walk around with a gun

Wisconsin is preparing to star in a big-budget Western. ​This morning, Wisconsin began taking applications for the state's brand new concealed carry gun law. By this afternoon, every single person in Wisconsin will be armed to the teeth. Shoulder holster, one at the hip, little one down by the ank ... More >>

Rick Santorum and Bradlee Dean talked about gay sex last weekend

Bradlee Dean, Rick Santorum: Track suit, empty suit.​Rick Santorum, the former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, announces that he's running for president every few days, waiting for someone to finally notice. With Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, and Herman Cain (Herman Cain!) vacuuming all the oxygen from ... More >>

Michele Bachmann, congresswoman, spotted at U.S. Capitol

Michele Bachmann: "Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can someone help me find my office?"​Michele Bachmann used to be a United States Congresslady, at least that's what her official presidential biography claims. In fact, if you invoke the ancient rules of the House of Representatives, Bachmann is technical ... More >>

Ronald Melius arrested after comparing Fergus Falls city officials to Moammar Gadhafi

Ronald Melius has some peculiar ideas of what a dictatorship looks like.​Moammar Qaddafi is the recently deposed Libyan autocrat accused of causing the deaths of thousands of his own citizens during the civil uprising against him. Hal Leland is the mayor of Fergus Falls and the manager of the West ... More >>

Minnesota GOP fined $170,000 for FEC violations

The state GOP failed to report nearly $1 million in debt.​The worst time to owe someone money is when you're in debt. That's the case with the  Republican Party of Minnesota, which is already in debt, but now owes the Federal Election Commission $170,000 for campaign finance violations. Funny ... More >>

Michele Bachmann: Tell Joe Biden I'm not a "terrorist"

Not only is Michele not a terrorist, she's a charity case.​Michele Bachmann is not a terrorist, and she needs your money. Bachmann sent out a fundraising e-mail yesterday attempting to raise money off of Joe Biden's reported comment that Tea Party Republicans "acted like terrorists" in the run-up ... More >>

Michele Bachmann's congressional record

C-SPANMichele Bachmann: Representation without legislation.​With so much written about the wild things Michele Bachmann says, City Pages thought we'd take a look at what she has actually accomplished in Congress. Despite Bachmann's early success in the presidential polls, her congressional record ... More >>

Betty McCollum wins military band spending battle

McCollum says the Pentagon doesn't need anymore band aid.​Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum looks at the $324 million requested by the Pentagon to fund its 5,000 professional musicians in 154 military bands, and she sees the possibility of saving the taxpayers some money. And the Republicans in ... More >>

Leroy Schaffer resigns from St. Francis city council

Leroy's off the council, but at least he's still got that green jacket.​St. Francis's long local nightmare is over.This afternoon, councilman Leroy Schaffer signed papers to resign from the city council, effective immediately. Schaffer, who has a long history of sexual harassment allegations, was ... More >>

Minnesotans blame Legislature, Dayton equally for shut down

​Throwing cold water on claims of popular support by both the Republicans running the Legislature, and DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, Minnesotans in a new poll are blaming both sides equally for the budget battle that may force a state government shutdown. They also largely disapprove of the job the L ... More >>

Sen. Gretchen Hoffman apologizes for Twitter snafu, deletes entire account

Gretchen Hoffman throws the baby out with the bathwater.​After using Twitter to twist the words of DFL state Sen. Barb Goodwin beyond their meaning, and getting spanked by the Senate Ethics Committee as a result, GOP Sen. Gretchen Hoffman has now apologized. "I am certainly sorry for my own m ... 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 >>

Sen. Ann Rest files ethics complaint against Sen. Gretchen Hoffman for false Tweet

Gretchen Hoffman is now the target of an official ethics complaint.​When state GOP Sen. Gretchen Hoffman hacked up and tweeted a speech by her DFL colleague Barb Goodwin to make it look as though Goodwin was calling mentally ill people "idiots and imbeciles," Goodwin threatened an ethics compl ... More >>

Cory Merrifield, SaveTheVikes.org leader, boosts new stadium plans

Courtesy Savethevikes.org.Vikings superfan Cory Merrifiled, right, has been lobbying for a new stadium since 2009. ​On Tuesday, a lot of Vikings fans celebrated a victory when team owners struck a deal with Ramsey County to build a new stadium in Arden Hills. But even with a location suppose ... More >>

Is Michele Bachmann smarter than a high school sophomore?

Let Amy debate! Let Amy debate!​Michele Bachmann is famously reluctant to put herself in positions where she might have to talk to someone who disagrees with her. But Jesus God do we hope she makes an exception in this instance. Amy Myers, a high school sophomore from Cherry Valley, New Jers ... More >>

"Please ID Me" lawsuit tossed out "with prejudice"

A judge dismisses a "Please ID Me" lawsuit "With Prejudice"​You can't go to the polls in Minnesota on Election Day festooned in political messages, whether they're on shirts, hats, buttons or whatever. It's against the law. But the "Please ID Me" people, who urged vigilantes to run after gran ... More >>

Scott Walker wins: Wisconsin Republicans through union-busting bill [UPDATE]

Sue Peacock/FlickrLet the recall efforts begin.​Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly finally dropped all pretenses about Gov. Scott Walker's union-busting bill having anything to do with balancing the state's budget. Wednesday night, with 14 Democrats still on the lam trying to block a vote, the ... More >>

Scott Walker defends union busting, gutting public school spending

Walker defends his budget.​Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker stood before Wisconsin lawmakers yesterday, defended his union busting tactics against public workers, and then announced he wanted to gouge $1.5 billion out of the state's public school and local government aid spending. If he keeps this ... More >>

Michele Bachmann fails again on campaign finance reports

Who's watching the books?​For a budget hawk and a former tax pro, Rep. Michele Bachmann sure seems to have an issue with math. Maybe it's because she's got more money than she knows what to do with. The Federal Election Commission has informed her--again--that her year-end campaign finance repo ... More >>

Al Franken rips into FCC approval of Comcast-NBC merger

Al Franken loses the Comcast-NBC merger fight.​The Comcast-NBC Universal merger got an official green light today from the Federal Communications Commission, paving the way on a 4-1 vote for another major consolidation in the telecom industry. It's a merger that Al Franken has battled from th ... More >>

Return to Sender

What Would Comprehensive Immigration Reform Look Like If the Feds Got Off Their Duffs?

Fair-y Tales

Tom Emmer's team now waits on Minnesota Supremes

And now we wait on the Supremes.​Tom Emmer's legal team got its shot before the Minnesota Supreme Court today to argue that election judges didn't follow the law when they counted up voters and votes on Election Day.

Emmer petitions MN Supreme Court over ballots. [UPDATES]

Every vote should count, right?​Tom Emmer's legal eagles are taking another shot at helping their candidate beat Mark Dayton in court. They have petitioned the Minnesota Supreme Court to order every election judge across the state to prove that the number of voters and the number of votes ca ... More >>

Michele Bachmann caught spreading tax lies on "Good Morning America"

Bachmann vs. Stephanopoulos: No contest.​Never letting the facts get in the way of a good soundbite, Michele Bachmann's been caught with her pants on fire by PolitiFact again. George Stephanopoulos, on "Good Morning America," asked her why it was okay for the wealthy to get tax breaks, but no ... More >>

Minnesota Majority poll watchers accuse themselves of voter fraud

Election Integrity Watch got its wires crossed.​It was a relatively peaceful day of poll-watching by a conservative group that appointed itself Election Day big brother...aside from a few hilarious blips. All that the volunteers of Election Integrity Watch wanted was to make sure that voting sta ... More >>

Minnesota Majority urges volunteers to flout the law

Watch out for people wearing buttons--they're breaking the law. ​Minnesota Majority is urging supporters to commit civil disobedience by wearing their "Please ID Me" buttons at the polls today. A federal judge banned the buttons Monday, but the conservative group told followers to go ahead and ... More >>

Operation Streamline: An immigration boondoggle

Project Costs Millions, Tramples the Constitution, Treats Migrants Like Cattle, and Doesn't Work

Michele Bachmann was for the stimulus while she was against it

Bachmann: Saddling our kids with the fedeal debt is OK when she does it.​Remember the Fox News gabfests, the D.C. rallies and the campaign ads where Michele Bachmann brags about voting against President Barack Obama's stimulus bill? Too much federal spending, she says. Turns out she had her h ... More >>

Mark Dayton leads Tom Emmer but Tom Horner surges in new poll

Mark Dayton leads the governor's race, but not by much.​Democrat Mark Dayton has the edge over Republican Tom Emmer in the latest statewide poll conducted ahead of the November election for governor. But his margin is narrow. And Independence Party candidate Tom Horner gained a lot of ground ... More >>

Seized: Inside the brutal world of America's kidnapping capital

Part of the Amongst Us series

Michele Bachmann dodges tea party smackdown with sick day

Graphic: Matt BardinsTea partiers in Missouri were spoiling for a fight with Michele Bachmann​So much for the smackdown with Missouri tea partiers: Michele Bachmann called in sick. Instead of showing up in the Show Me state in a dialing-for-votes effort with Rep. Roy Blunt, she went home after ... More >>

Keith Ellison says, yep, there's "extreme racists" in the tea party

Photo: cometstarmoonKeven LawWhat about racism at tea parties?​The Republicans, led by Michele Bachmann, are trying to figure out how to co-opt tea partiers, and the Democrats said yesterday they're happy to let the Republicans do it. You want to stand with folks determined to end Medicare, pr ... More >>

Norm Coleman rumored for Michael Steele's job, but can he match the flubs?

Steele is always ready with a colorful quote. We review some of the best blips of Steele's short career:

Bachmann: I'm the "receptacle" of the Tea Party

Michele Bachmann is queen of the Tea Party.​Michele Bachmann's crazy Tea Party Caucus press conference surpassed all expectations and was even loonier than we could have imagined.The first thing the Tea Party did was trot out their new Uncle Toms. Apparently stung by the accusation that they're a ... More >>

Satveer Chaudhary stripped of DFL backing over fishy vote

Photo: Minnesota SenateThe senator won special fishing protections for a lake at which he owns a cabin​So state Sen. Satveer Chaudhary gets language inserted into an omnibus game and fish bill in the waning days of the legislative session in St. Paul; he wants additional measures to protect th ... More >>

Shooting Straight: Letters to the Editor

Testing Minnesota's gun show loophole

How easy is it to buy a firearm in the Twin Cities?