Rick Perry

Medicare fraudsters swindle millions from the feds

Hospitals, doctors, and drug dealers have made Medicare the nation's sweetest crime, but the feds are trying to shutter the door

Eric Kaler backs up U of M professor against stem cell company

​About a week and a half after lawyers for an adult stem-cell company demanded that U of M President Eric Kaler do something to shut up one of his associate professors, the company has its answer. "Professor [Leigh] Turner's February 21, 2012, letter to the FDA," the reply says, "is fully covered ... More >>

Stem cell company demands U of M bioethicist take back FDA investigation request

​Late last week, a letter from a Washington D.C. law firm arrived in U of M President Eric Kaler's inbox. In it, attorneys representing an adult-stem cell company named Celltex demanded to know who authorized a bioethicist named Leigh Turner to request an official investigation of Celltex by the F ... More >>

Bemidji public TV upset about profanity in Newsweek

​Newsweek's decision to include more profanity in the magazine is creating a bit of a shit-show. In recent years, public broadcasters have helped the beleaguered magazine increase its circulation by offering subscriptions in exchange for donations. But some broadcasters are now rethinking their re ... 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 falls from grace

From top GOP contender to bottom of the barrel

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? 

Politico: Pawlenty made one of worst political blunders of 2011

​Tim Pawlenty's ill-fated decision to pin the fortunes of his Presidential bid on the Ames straw poll was one of the top ten political blunders of this year, according to Alexander Burns of Politico."Pawlenty advisers now reflect with some frustration that if they had treated the Ames contest for ... More >>

Critics' Picks: Foster the People, Wilco, Beirut, and more

Kinky Friedman

Michele Bachmann assails conservative opponents in new ad

Michele Bachmann: Consistently crazy. ​Michele Bachmann's campaign ads have continued to be a mind-boggling facet of this presidential race. A couple months ago, she released four minutes of what looked like a bad Power Point presentation that made us think her campaign was running on fumes. ... More >>

Michele Bachmann, other Republican candidates won't say the word "Minnesota"

Michele Bachmann won't talk about us. Is it something we said?​Michele Bachmann will never forget where she came from. Wait, she's from Iowa, right?A new analysis of the last handful of Republican debates shows that certain states keep coming up as a topic of conversation. Among the nine major Rep ... More >>

Top 5 best Halloween costumes for foodies

www.newegg.comHalloween costumes good enough to eat​Halloween may have candy and pumpkins, but it isn't known as a food holiday the way Thanksgiving, say, or even Valentine's Day are. But food lovers who generally have one thing on their mind every other day of the year don't make an exception ... More >>

Michele Bachmann's campaign is literally mailing it in these days

Michele Bachmann is running for U.S. Postmaster General.​Michele Bachmann, despite any scurrilous reports to the contrary, is very much interested in winning the New Hampshire primary.Though she'd prefer to go the easy way. If there's any way she could win in New Hampshire without leaving the stat ... 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's New Hampshire staffers all quit [UPDATE]

Michele Bachmann: Wait, come back! I'm going to win!​Michele Bachmann's paid campaign staffers in New Hampshire just quit. And boom, as they say, goes the dynamite.The bad, bad news of exodus was broken first by New Hampshire political reporter James Pindell, and has since exploded on Politico. Ge ... More >>

Ron Paul announces campaign event in St. Cloud

Ron Paul is coming to Michele Bachmann's backyard, but not for a BBQ.​Ron Paul is making noise in the Republican presidential nomination game, at least compared to his previously inaudible runs for the White House.Paul is sitting fourth in the most recent Gallup Poll, just outside mainstreamers Mi ... More >>

Rick Perry's "Texas miracle" is a fantasy

The GOP presidential candidate's claims don't hold up

Michele Bachmann's five most regrettable expenses

​Michele Bachmann's campaign is fading fast. If you squint, it disappears completely.That's partly because Bachmann's poll numbers have moved from the basement to the underground bunker. And it doesn't help that her staffers are beginning to pack up and move away for greener, saner pastures. But, ... More >>

Michele Bachmann's campaign is broke

​Michele Bachmann has a new e-mail blast out, and a new campaign "ad" on Youtube, both of which make it pretty clear that her campaign is totally, absolutely, utterly out of money. Over the last few weeks, Bachmann's fundraising e-mails have grown more desperate, and her videos are about the cheap ... More >>

Michele Bachmann is the least popular person in Florida

Michele Bachmann didn't win the Florida Straw Poll... nor did she finish seventh.​Michele Bachmann shocked the political world with her win in the Ames Straw Poll, using her Iowa roots to seemingly wrest control of the race for the Republican presidential nomination from Mitt Romney. Since then, T ... More >>

Tim Pawlenty rejected by Fox News for support of Mitt Romney

Tim Pawlenty, Roger Ailes: Not seeing eye to... jowls.​Tim Pawlenty wanted to be the latest in a slew of former, current, and future Republican presidential candidates to join the crew as an analyst at Fox News. But there was a complication. Pawlenty had already decided to throw his support behind ... More >>

Perrycare: Michele Bachmann's new word for using a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer

Michele Bachmann has a new word on her mind, and a fake plant over her shoulder.​Michele Bachmann finally figured out the public's problem with her opposition to the HPV vaccine: Not enough branding!So, in the tradition of "Obamacare," her favorite word for Barack Obama's health care overhaul, Mic ... More >>

Michele Bachmann admits she has "no idea" if HPV vaccine causes retardation

Michele Bachmann admits that she is not a doctor or scientist.​Michele Bachmann has come full circle on the HPV vaccine, and for the first time since... well, ever, she's admitted total ignorance.Let's track the arc of Bachmann's wild statements about this vaccine, which "medical doctors" say prev ... More >>

Michele Bachmann bravely stands up in favor of cervical cancer

Michele Bachmann is running on the "pro-cancer" ticket.​Michele Bachmann has made her first last stand in the race for the Republican nomination for president, and it is this: Getting cervical cancer is your constitutional right.Ever since the Texas Texan, Rick Perry, of Texas, joined the race, he ... More >>

Michele Bachmann claims HPV vaccine made woman's daughter mentally retarded [VIDEO]

Michele Bachmann, retardation expert.​Michele Bachmann has given America one more reason why she opposes the HPV vaccine. According to Bachmann, the HPV vaccine causes mental retardation.Bachmann made the bizarre assertion on the "Today Show" this morning, after Matt Lauer asked her about her poin ... More >>

Michele Bachmann ignored during, after Republican debate

Michele Bachmann debated, but did anyone listen?​Breathe deep. It looks like it might all be passing now.At last night's Republican presidential debate, Michele Bachmann, once a centerpiece of the campaign and media darling, finally started receding from front-and-center and blending into the curt ... More >>

Tim Pawlenty: How to get rich by running for president for three months

Tim Pawlenty: Sad, but rich.​Anyone feeling bad for Tim Pawlenty in the days since he pulled out of the presidential race -- well, don't.Pawlenty turned his bid for the Republican nomination into a pretty lucrative side gig for the first half of 2011, according to financial disclosure forms releas ... More >>

Bachmann running fourth in New Hampshire

Romney has three and a half times the support of Bachmann in New Hampshire.​Take a deep breath, everyone. Michele Bachmann's wave of momentum seems to have crested, if not collapsed altogether. According to a just-released poll by the New Hampshire Journal, Ol' Crazy Eyes is running fourth in that ... More >>

Michele Bachmann wins Ames, Iowa straw poll

Michele Bachmann in the White House just got one step closer to reality.​Michele Bachmann won today's straw poll in Ames, Iowa, edging out Ron Paul by just 150 votes as well as former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, who finished in third.Bachmann's win grants her instant political legitimacy and ... More >>

Bachmann first in Rasmussen poll with 22%, Pawlenty gets half that

Michele Bachmann's got twice as many voters as Pawlenty... and a lot more money.​Michele Bachmann has a narrow lead among Iowa Republicans heading into this weekend's Ames Straw Poll, according to Rasmussen Reports.Bachmann came in with 22 percent of Iowans, barely ahead of Mitt Romney's 21 percen ... More >>

Michele Bachmann second in Gallup poll

Bachmann's in second, and gaining rapidly.​Michele Bachmann is in second place to Mitt Romney in a new national Gallup poll.Bachmann trails Romney  27-18, and she's gaining on him rapidly. But the Bachmann campaign shouldn't start celebrating just yet. In a separate piece of the poll, when G ... More >>

Everybody hates Nick Ayers

If you hate this man, you are not alone.​Nick Ayers, the super-flack wunderkind running Tim Pawlenty's campaign, is making enemies fast. Ayers was rumored to be leaving the Pawlenty campaign in favor of Texas haircut Rick Perry, if Perry announced he was in the race. Pawlenty's spokesman Alex Cona ... More >>

Bachmann, Pawlenty leading in Iowa, according to laughable poll

Bachmann is first in a lot of polls, and Pawlenty's rooting for fifth.​That Michele Bachmann has made a swift, terrifying rise to the top of the Republican candidate pool is not in dispute. But Tim Pawlenty finishing second in a new poll of Iowa voters should be stunning to everyone, including his ... More >>

Michele Bachmann takes the lead in national poll

Bachmann's ahead of Romney when Palin's not in the game.​Oh, God, it's really happening. Michele Bachmann is the leading Republican presidential candidate, according to a poll released this morning by Public Policy Polling.  Bachmann took a tiny lead -- 21 percent to 20 percent -- over Mitt R ... More >>

Tim Pawlenty eighth in new GOP presidential poll

Pawlenty appeared on "The Daily Show" last week.​Tim Pawlenty spent a week-long media blitz in support of his new book and presidential ambitions, chatting up everyone from Jon Stewart to Bryan Fischer. But it's hard to get the attention of the Republican base when you're facing off against a ... More >>

Asylum Denied

Only a fraction of Mexicans get U.S. asylum

Tim Pawlenty hits near bottom in Iowa poll

​A new poll by an Iowa website that calls itself a place for news about Republicans, by Republicans, finds Tim Pawlenty so low in the standings of presidential hopefuls that, to go any lower, his popularity would have to be described in terms of fractions.

Al Franken says Arizona immigration law "goes way to far"

Another Minnesota pol joins the backlash against Arizona​Count U.S. Sen. Al Franken in as the latest member of Minnesota's congressional delegation to come out against Arizona's heavily criticized new anti-immigration law. "I think that it's bad for public safety. It goes way too far," he tol ... More >>

Keith Ellison rips "fascist, racist" Arizona immigration law

​Add Rep. Keith Ellison's voice to the critics in Minnesota of Arizona's breathing-while-Mexican anti-immigration law. The fifth district congressman called the Arizona measure fascist and racist in a brief and passionate appearance during a protest over the weekend in Loring Park. "We must ... More >>

Art Garfunkel

Kill the Vultures, AIDS Wolf, and more

Kinky Friedman considering second run thanks to Franken

Another reason to be thankful for Al Franken: He inspires loser celebs they can barely win elected office too.

Donor Fatigue

Is Norm Coleman truly tired of Washington lobbyists?

Fatalities mount prior to Rita reaching land

6/23: Morning Communique

6/8/2005: Morning Communique

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