Bobby Jindal - CRCC puppet

Ok I know this really has northing to do with Minnesotan's and probably nothing to do with anyone that reads this blog.... but you know what.....I really don't like Bobby Jindal. He an ultra-partisan Republican. Listen to this interview. If there is ANYTHING that isn't a CRCC talking point on the stimulus, please tell me. This is so riduculous. The State that is still recovering from Katrina and 2 other huricanes in 2006 will be turning down stimulus money because the Governor is a "rising star" in the Repulican party.

Watch this:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/29330857#29330857

Bachmann is misinformed or just lying thru her teeth

Michele Bachmann should be ashamed of herself. She spews all sorts of lies. This clip is another example of how Rep. Bachmann does care about the truth, only her partisan agenda.

here is the audio:
Some of the lies in this audio

ACORN
Bachmann: I mean, if you think, ACORN - this is a group that's under Federal indictment...

Baker: Unbelievable

Bachmann: ...for voter fraud. ACORN - they've received a total of $53 million in direct Federal Grants since 1994. Do you know how much they're getting under this (the stimulus) bill?

Baker: Like $4 billion, I've heard.

Bachmann: $5 Billion.

Baker? $5 billion?

Bachmann: For ACORN.

ACORN is not under investigation by the Justice Dept. Further, there is absolutely no money in the bill for ACORN

Jobs in Minnesota:

Bachmann claims that the stimulus drains jobs away from Republican districts and funnels them into Democratic Districts. But look

Minnesota 66,000

Congressional District 1 Minnesota 7,800
Congressional District 2 Minnesota 9,200
Congressional District 3 Minnesota 8,300
Congressional District 4 Minnesota 7,700
Congressional District 5 Minnesota 7,900
Congressional District 6 Minnesota 9,500
Congressional District 7 Minnesota 7,500
Congressional District 8 Minnesota 8,100

there ios more, can you spot them?

Republicans - Idealists or Obstructionists?

Sack


I see this as a perfect example. Republican are complaining about the stimulus as a giant pork package. Many including ll of the republican Minnesota delegation have complained that this will do nothing to help the economy and is just filled of pet projects. That being said, you don't hear anything from them about the projects this package that will be done in their districts. If there is such an idealistic opposition to the package, they should lobby MNDOT and othter state agencies to not spend money in their districts. If they really oppose this bill, then they should take stand. Instead, it looks like they will beb glad to welcome the money when it comes to benefit their constituents.


Furthermore, it seems that the stimulus will help the Minnesota Deficit. Pawlenty will be acceting money to help ofset the states budget troubles. Isn't that convenient.

MinnPost reports MN jobs in stimulus

If you have been reading my blog, you've noticed that my push on the stimulus is all about jobs, here and now. MinnPost has had excellent coverage on the stimulus and how it will affect Minnesota. Essentially, it comes down to Minnesota will be saving or creating a lot of good paying jobs. JOBS, JOBS, JOBS.... I can't emphasize how important a good paying job is to the economy. A good paying job essentially hold more economic weight. For example, a job at the Ford Ranger plant...a high skilled worker makes several retail or related jobs possible. Basically what it boils down to is if you save a well paid job, you save a lot more other jobs.

" To arrive at this number, some funding/tax cuts were reduced, others dropped.
One of the most talked about reductions was a cut of about $25 billion from a state fiscal stabilization fund. The fund had been $79 billion in the House and was lowered to $40 billion in the Senate. The compromise brought that amount back to $53.6 billion.n. ........

Negotiators also decided to cut back on spending that would have provided health insurance to the unemployed. The House version had provided a 65 percent subsidy for nine months. The Senate version reduced that to a 50 percent subsidy for 12 months. The compromise will include a 60 percent subsidy for nine months. The compromise also kept the elimination of the Medicaid option for unemployed individuals who are not eligible for COBRA, a provision that had been in the House version, but was cut out in the Senate........


Minnesota benefits
According to White House figures, here's what the compromise legislation provides Minnesota:

• 66,000 jobs created or saved over the next two years. (Under previous versions, this number was estimated at 70,000.) The jobs breakdown by Congressional is 7,100 in District 1, 8,400 in District 2, 7,600 in District 3, 7,000 in District 4, 7,200 in District 5, 8,700 in District 6, 6,800 in District 7 and 7,400 in District 8. (If you're a math person, these numbers do not equal 66,000… still.)

• A tax cut of up to $800 for 2,120,000 workers. (The cut had been $1,000 in previous legislation.)

• Makes 41,000 families eligible for a new American Opportunity Tax Credit. The credit is designed to make college affordable by creating a $2,500 partially refundable tax credit for four years of college.

• Offers an additional $100 per month in unemployment benefits to 331,000 workers in Minnesota who have lost their jobs in the recession and provides extended unemployment benefits to an additional 52,000 laid-off workers.

• Provides funding to modernize at least 91 schools in Minnesota."





Read full article here

Franken increases lead, barely

Franken picked up 24 votes today. The panel heard testimony from Franken supporters (61) and decided to grant some of them votes.

Read here

Coleman - absentee ballots are a long shot

Basically what it comes down to is that Coleman is looking to overturn the
slim lead by Franken by introducing ballots that come from skewed areas. He doesn't want to consider that there are ballots from Franken leading areas that were miscounted or wrongly rejected.


"If the 4,739 ballots Coleman wants the court to consider, 3,015 come from areas that voted for him over Franken in the Nov. 4 election. About a third of the ballots are from areas that gave Coleman more than 55 percent of their votes.

Carver County, which gave Coleman nearly 67 percent of the vote and a more lopsided victory than any other county, contributed 370 of those ballots.

Even in Hennepin County, whose already tabulated votes went nearly 60 percent to Franken, most of the absentee ballots Coleman wants reconsidered come from cities that voted for the Republican.

There are 1,385 Hennepin County ballots on Coleman's list. Just 38 percent of those, or 529 ballots, came from places that preferred Franken to Coleman. Democratic Minneapolis, the state's largest city, contributed 217 ballots to the list.

Most of the Hennepin County ballots on the list, 856 of them, come from Republican-leaning areas within the Democratic county. Plymouth, Maple Grove and Eden Prairie, all of which went for Coleman by greater than 55 percent among all counted ballots, contributed 335 ballots to Coleman's list." - Pioneer Press

I believe this is another clue that Franken will win this battle. Coleman's attempts at overturning the results are looking a bit desperate. His attempts also look more and more transparent. His motives are obvious and hopefully the judge panel sees through this attempt.

Obama Fires up Rhetoric

No more mister nice guy. Obama is now going to push this through Congress. This is a critical vote in the Senate that will probably go down today. If the vote doesn't pass, look for Obama to get even more fiery. This Stimulus is essential to the well being of our Nation and the State of Minnesota. it could provider as many as 91,000 jobs in Minnesota (more jobs than people live in Duluth) and up to a billion in infrastructure spending.
If you think that the stimulus is not a good idea just look at the numbers. Today the January jobs report came out. the numbers are now at 7.8% unemployment (not including under employment or people given up) and the lose of Jobs in January to 598,000 layoffs. That is nearly the size of 5th Congressional District (Mpls and 1st ring suburbs) or Nearly the size of the cities of Minneapolis and St Paul combined!!!!!



“I don’t care whether you’re driving a hybrid or an SUV,” he said. "If you’re headed for a cliff, you have to change direction. That’s what the American people called for in November, and that’s what we intend to deliver.” - Obama

18 Billion given for bonuses????

This is outrageous. LOOK I can't believe while I am drowning in debt with student loans, and can't get a car loan, these banks which have loaned nearly 350 billion at this point are now using it for bonuses for their star employees. Hey remember in the 4th quarter how our GDP shrank 4 percent, apparently Wall Street salaries are recession proof. This is just horrible PR for Wall Street and the Treasury Dept. Both need to get this straight quick before the outrage gets any louder!

A little instant analysis: Franken will probably win

A little excerpt on why I Think Franken will win the Election... although it will take a few more weeks (maybe 3?)

radiofiendmusic: 1st there is no precedent for overturning recounts
radiofiendmusic: 2nd the court said that Coleman would have to subpoena all of the 87 counties absentee ballots
radiofiendmusic: 3rd Coleman's arguments have been largely inconsistent through out the entire process