Pawlenty Drops Out Of Presidential Race

Third place in the Republican Iowa straw poll was apparently not good enough for former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. Today in a private conference call with supporters Pawlenty disclosed his plans to drop out of the race.

Fellow Minnesotan Michele Bachmann won the first Republican Presidential preference poll with nearly twice as many votes as Pawlenty.

As late as yesterday Pawlenty had sounded hopeful. He tweeted his congratulations to Bachmann and said he looked forward to the campaign:

“timpawlenty: Congrats to Rep. Bachmann on her win. Our campaign needed to show progress and we did. I’m eager for the campaign ahead. #iastrawpoll”

Reaction from the Democratic National Committee was swift. … Continue Reading

Bachmann Wins Iowa GOP Presidential Straw Poll

Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann narrowly won the Iowa’s Republican Presidential straw poll on Saturday over Ron Paul. Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty finished a distant third. Here are the voting results:

Michele Bachmann 4,823 (28.55%)
Ron Paul 4,671 (27.65%)
Tim Pawlenty 2,293 (13.57%)
Rick Santorum 1,657 (9.81%)
Herman Cain 1,456 (8.62%)
Rick Perry 718 (3.62%)
Mitt Romney 567 (3.36%)
Newt Gingrich 385 (2.28%)
Jon Huntsman 69 votes (0.41%)
Thad McCotter 35 votes (0.21%)

Texas Governor Rick Perry’s votes were all write-ins. He declared today that he is running for the Republican Presidential nomination.

The UpTake has followed Michele Bachmann since 2005 when she ran for congress. Videos of Michele Bachmann’s political career.

What Once Was A Fee, Now A Tax To Minnesota Republicans

During Governor Tim Pawlenty’s administration, Minnesota Republicans backed a “health impact fee” which was in fact a cigarette tax. Now that a Democrat is in the Governor’s seat, Republicans are calling a the same type of increase a tax and are rejecting it as a solution to Minnesota’s budget crisis.

The state government has mostly been shutdown since July 1st since Republican legislative leaders cannot reach a compromise budget agreement with Governor Mark Dayton.

Dayton offered a $1 a pack cigarette tax increase as an alternative to his proposal to place a temporary 2% income tax on Minnesota millionaires.

Minnesota Exports Crazy Politicians, Bachmann and Pawlenty

Does it seem like Minnesota has a penchant for exporting crazy politicians? Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said at Netroots Nation that Representative Michele Bachmann and former Governor Tim Pawlenty fall into that category.

Mayor Rybak: “This Ain’t ‘Mary Tyler Moore’-Ville Any More”

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak welcomed guests to Netrooots Nation 2011 last night. In his speech to Netroots guests, Rybak noted that Minneapolis “ain’t Mary Tyler Moore-ville any more” in a reference to the 1970s sitcom set in Minneapolis. Specifically, he noted Minneapolis’ large and expanding immigrant populations and the city’s friendliness to biking, hotel accommodations, and the GLBT population. He ended his speech with a rousing compliment towards Minneapolis’ export industry,” saying, “We take all the crazy politicians we have and we send them to the rest of the country. Welcome Michelle Bachman, welcome Tim Pawlenty. We keep the good ones here and home.”

DFL: Pawlenty Left Minnesota Holding The Bag

Video by Roger Routh

As Minnesota’s legislature struggles to solve the biggest deficit in the state’s history, its former Governor, Tim Pawlenty is in neighboring Iowa to announce he is running for President. Minnesota’s Democratic Farmer Labor Party Chair Ken Martin traveled to Des Moines today to answer questions about Pawlenty’s record. Martin had a lot to tell.

He said Pawlenty announced today he is against subsidies for ethanol, which is exactly the opposite of what he promoted in Minnesota. Martin said that Pawlenty’s budget “gimmicks” that shifted the responsibility for solving the state’s revenue problems have left Minnesotans “holding the bag” and indicated what’s in the bag is not very nice.

GOP Lawmaker Faults Pawlenty Administration For Budget Mess

Representative Keith Downey (R- Edina) and Governor Mark Dayton (DFL) may differ on many issues, but they do agree on at least one thing. Minnesota’s budget mess is the result of actions or inactions the executive branch has taken during the Tim Pawlenty administration. Representative Downey says the problem is state government has been plowing money into the status quo. Although not mentioning former Governor Pawlenty by name, He says action should have been taken by the Governor six or eight years ago. Pawlenty recently announced he is exploring running for President and is expected to run on a platform of fiscal conservatism.

MN Sen. John Marty: Minnesota Tax System Favors Wealthy

The Minnesota Department of Revenue released new data yesterday showing what progressives interpret as evidence that Minnesota’s tax system has become increasingly regressive over the past decade. The report, known as the Tax Incidence study, shows that the wealthiest Minnesotans pay a substantially smaller share of their income in state and local taxes than lower and middle-income Minnesotans.

In response to the report’s release, Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville, issued the following statement.

“Over the past eight years, the policies of the Pawlenty administration shifted our tax structure from the income tax and onto the backs of property taxpayers. This shift made Minnesota’s tax system more regressive and less fair for lower and middle-income Minnesotans. Despite his “no new taxes” rhetoric, under Gov. Pawlenty, 90 percent of Minnesotans saw their tax burden rise while the wealthiest 10 percent of Minnesotans saw their share of taxes significantly decline.

Today’s report highlights the important choice before our state: Gov. Dayton has proposed a fair budget solution that simply asks the wealthiest in our state to pay closer to their fair share of taxes. This change would help fund new investments in education, protect public safety, and move our economy forward. In contrast, the Republican majority in the Legislature want to continue the pseudo-“no new taxes” policies of Tim Pawlenty. Their budget will lead to even higher property taxes on every homeowner, renter, and business in the state. Their budget will drive tuition through the roof—denying so many young people of a chance at higher education. It will hurt public safety by forcing local governments to lay-off police officers and firefighters. Their budget will hurt the most vulnerable people in our society: the sick, people with disabilities and the elderly. In addition to failing to prevent problems, it will cost far more in the long run.”

The full Tax Incidence Study can be found here: other_supporting_content_2011_tax_incidence_study_links

MN Legislators Receive Coal Lump for Efforts to Roll Back Pollution Standards

Minnesota Legislators will receive a lump of coal for their plans to roll back pollution standards. HF72/SF86 would roll back the standards for power plants to allow coal-fired burning without mitigation for pollution. This standard was set by the 2007 Next Generation Energy Act, a bi-partisan effort signed by then Governor Tim Pawlenty.

Each member of the Minnesota Legislature will receive a lump of coal on Monday from clean energy advocates as a token of their growing concern over HF72/SF86. Following the media event, the coal will be delivered to legislators. Speaking at the press conference will be Rep. Bill Hilty (DFL- Finlayson); Sen. Ellen Anderson (DFL- St. Paul); Sen. Scott Dibble (DFL – Minneapolis); Michael Noble, Fresh Energy; Barb Freese, Union of Concerned Scientists; Bob Moffitt, American Lung Association; Alexis Illyn, Restoring Eden.

Sen. Franken Announces $1 Million in Federal Funding to Establish Health Insurance Exchange in Minnesota

Today, U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) announced that Minnesota will receive $1 million in federal funds to begin planning a statewide health insurance exchange that will allow residents to compare the benefits and costs of private health plans and choose the one that best fits their needs.

“Already, the health reform law has helped thousands of Minnesotans by making it easier for people to get coverage and reducing the cost of health care,” said Sen. Franken. “When this exchange opens for business in 2014, Minnesotans who struggle to afford coverage or whose options are far too narrow will be able to log onto a website and choose a plan that fits their budget and their health needs. This funding will begin the process of implementing a health insurance exchange and ultimately make health insurance more affordable and more effective for people all over Minnesota.”

As a result of the passage of the Affordable Care Act, each state will receive similar funding from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to create its own health insurance exchange by 2014. According to CMS, Minnesota will use the funding to implement a one-year project plan to research and assess the information technology, and the accounting and auditing procedures needed for the exchange, as well as how it will be integrated among state agencies.

In September of 2010, then-Gov. Tim Pawlenty rejected millions of dollars in federal funding for health care in Minnesota. At the same time, he declined to apply for a grant that would have allowed Minnesota to begin the process of implementing its health insurance exchange. This year, newly-elected Gov. Mark Dayton reversed that policy by applying for the grant that will allow the state to begin planning the exchange.