And stuff like this is going to keep Romney in it:

Maybe some enterprising main-stream media type will ask if John Kline, Erik Paulsen, Michele Bachmann & Chip Cravaack are in with Mitt on this scheme to screw veterans for corporate gain?

(cross posted at MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)

Today State Rep Steve Simon endorsed Brian Barnes to defeat Erik Paulsen for Congress in Minnesota’s 3rd District. This is a BIG endorsement for several reasons – and one has to do with equal rights/equality under the law, which is why I started this post reminding about that House Party hosted by Brian a week ago.

Steve Simon made national news for his comments about the GOP’s bigoted constitutional amendment – the YouTube of those comments is currently over 540,000 views. Let’s look!!

Erik Paulsen tries to avoid news about where he stands on the issues – especially this one. But he’s not afraid to go behind closed doors to take a “Friend of the Family” “award” not too long ago from Jack Abramoff’s old pal, Ralph Reed.

Let’s be clear on where Paulsen stands — he’s a “friend” of SOME families, and NOT those families with LBGT family members.

The contrast cannot be clearer: Brian Barnes and Steve Simon standing for ALL families; Erik Paulsen and Ralph Reed standing for SOME families.

Compete text of Rep Steve Simon’s endorsement letter follows:

# # #

Dear Friends,

It’s a great honor for me to write to you today about my friend Brian Barnes, who’s running for Congress against Republican Erik Paulsen.

Brian’s a great Democrat. He’s someone I’ve always been able to count on and he’s always been there for our party. In good times and bad, Brian has stood with Democrats throughout the West Metro.

He’s also a great progressive. While Washington Republicans do their best to roll back half a century of progress, Brian hasn’t backed away from standing up for the values that make America great.

You can trust Brian to stand up for the Middle Class, for marriage equality, and for a tax code that rewards hard work instead of those who can afford the best accountants.

Brian’s running a great campaign based on the issues that matter most.

He’s the best choice among the candidates running in the 3rd Congressional District.

Please visit Brian’s website today to find out how you can help.

Thanks for all you do. Together, Democrats will win in 2012.

Sincerely,

State Rep. Steve Simon

Donate Now

# # #

(cross posted at MnProgressiveProject; comments welcome there)

H/T to Eric Black at MinnPost!

Eric writes (in part):

Romney is gifted in a few of the categories. He exudes intelligence when he speaks. He is the current king of electability in the current Repub crop. But one of the keys to his electability — that he comes across as less of a right-winger than the others — is a serious problem as he seeks the nomination from a party dominated by its right wing. Romney actually currently has the currently acceptable conservative position on almost every issue. It’s just that some of those positions contradict positions he has held previously in his public career. Abortion is one of the big ones. Romney could not have been elected governor of Massachusetts if he had been an anti-abortion stalwart. And he wasn’t. And now he couldn’t hope to get the Repub nomination for prez unless he declares himself to be categorically “pro-life.” And he does. This is a potential killer problem as far as appealing to the social conservatives. And if he does get the nomination, it’s virtually an established fact that Pres. Obama will run against him as a candidate lacking core beliefs, willing to adopt whatever positions will appeal in the moment.

The YouTube in Eric’s post is from an interview Romney had with Seacoast Media Group, a Fox subsidiary. Romney is asked about his serial inconsistencies. Let’s watch Romney answer!!!

“I’ve been as consistent as human beings can be”??!?

No, “I’ve been as consistent as REPUBLICANS can be”!!!

Which, of course, is consistently INCONSISTENT.

(cross posted at MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)

A little background:

I went K through 12 in the Eden Prairie School District; one kid did the same – but one did not. We made the choice to put one in a private school. Eden Prairie, like so many other schools, has been under attack by “constitutional conservatives” that believe in the constitution (except when they don’t). The constitution referred to here, is Minnesota’s Constitution, which declares (and I quote):

Article 8

Section 1. The stability of a republican form of government depending mainly upon the intelligence of the people, it is the duty of the legislature to establish a general and uniform system of public schools. The legislature shall make such provisions by taxation or otherwise as will secure a thorough and efficient system of public schools throughout the state.

To make a long story short, it’s not a real “uniform” system in Eden Prairie – nor is it throughout the entire state, where nearly 1 in 3 school districts have a referendum on the ballot – they are going to the local taxpayers to pay for what the Republicans in St. Paul won’t. So we put a kid in private school, to meet her needs that public education in Eden Prairie couldn’t (because GOPers don’t want to PAY for what it takes for a constitutional educational system).

To be fair, the other kid excelled – I mean really, Really, REALLY excelled – in Eden Prairie. At her college’s “Parent Orientation/Freshman Class Registration” it literally went: “You took that class at EP, you don’t have to take this class here.” For several classes.

So I’ve been aware for a long time about the problems with a school system that tries to do the best it can with the limited resources it has. Resources, on the other hand, have nothing to do with the poor communications coming from the District’s administration; a district that threatened to trespass the local Sun newspaper. I could go on; suffice it to say the district’s communications guru – isn’t.

Anyway, back in January I read on that Facebook page that the Koch Brothers “American Majority” was holding a training session for City Council and School Board candidates. On that link, you’ll read a comment by Sheila Kihne, noted GOPer activist in CD3 and a resident in Eden Prairie:

Sheila Kihne said, I posted this up on the Eden Prairie School Board Accountability web page- we need conservative leadership here!

So I went. And they made no bones about it, this training was about getting conservatives elected at the local level so they could move ‘em up the political ladder.

There was one guy there from Eden Prairie that wanted to be a candidate; he’s not now on the ballot for November 8th. And another guy there for training as a staffer; not sure if he’s working on anyone on the ballot or not. But one has to wonder. And it kind of blows a hole in that Facebook’s claim that they want to keep politics out of the school board election.

I hadn’t gone back to that Facebook page, for months and Months and MONTHS – until just the other day, when I got a phone call that said they were trashing me on it. So I went and looked – and to be quite honest, it was pretty tame ‘n lame – local GOPers have done and said MUCH worse. But what got me very quickly was how quickly I noticed that in that barnyard, some animals were more equal than others. Some folk there think is just swell to rip other people and candidates, but – BUT – they turned out to have a real thin-skin when the ol’ TwoPutter took issue with what they wrote and commenced to ripping them.

Which, by the way, is the classic definition of a bully – can dish it, but slinks and whines when what they done did, is done unto them.

So, how did they handle ol’ TwoPutter pointing out the hypcrisy, in addition to encouraging blatant lawless electioneering for their favored candidates?

Let’s look!

Yep – that’s a screen shot of their Facebook page; you’ll note that the ol’ TwoPutter has done been kicked out.

The Braxton Bullies, in a nutshell? “We can’t HEAR you!!!”

Well, that’s ok – others will.

They’ve endorsed Karla Bratrud and Dave Espe and John Estall and Holly Parker – the so-called “B.E.E.P” ticket. If you’re eligible to vote on November 8th, a question you may want to ask is how they’re going to deal with these bullies if they get elected.

And bullies they are; they’ve already bullied one local establishment into cancelling a public reading Jeff Strate was going to do.

Why?

Because Jeff Strate (along with Doug Lind) has the audacity to do a public reading of the exact words these bullies have used in the past.

And Lord knows, there’s nothing a conservative and/or bully hates more, than being accurately quoted…..

(cross posted on MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)

To help ensure the defeat of Paulsen, who claims he’s a moderate but acts like a teabagger, the DFL’s 3rd CD is hosting a fundraiser & Silent Auction tomorrow, Saturday, in Wayzata! Hey – just $35 gets you in the door – where you can bid on some fabulous items!

Personally, Im going to be bidding on a breakfast with DFL Party Chair Ken Martin.

This is a great chance to meet the candidates and help with that essential campaign resource: money.

If you can’t make it, but want to help, you can donate directly to the candidates via ActBlue. Click here for Sharon Sund and/or click here for Brian Barnes.

Both Sharon and Brian are great people with compelling stories; it’s going to be interesting to see who builds the best campaign.

Visit their campaign websites for more info: SharonSund.com and Barnes.mn.

And hopefully, I’ll see you tomorrow night!

(graphic via the amazing Tild!)

(cross posted at MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)

Do poor people cheat? Of course – just look at Denny Hecker, Tom Petters, Frank Vennes – the last two, noted pals of Michele Bachmann (well, Norm “Smokescreen” Coleman, too). People on welfare? Not so much pals of Bachmann (nor Norm), but yes, some of them have been known to cheat. And the State has been diligent in finding ways to prevent cheating, such as going from actual paper “stamps” in the “food stamp” program to using plastic “debit cards” – EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) Cards. Diligent as the State is, cheaters are equally diligent in finding ways to beat the system – which is why, for instance, that years ago the State quit allowing cash deductions from EBT cards at casinos.

I bring this up, because I saw this tweet:

It has to do with this map, that the GOPers hauled out at the State House yesterday:

That map shows that of almost $500,000,000 in assistance, about $10,000,000 was spent outside of Minnesota – with about half of that in neighboring states.

That map allegedly “supports” a bill introduced yesterday by Kurt Daudt, GOP=GreedOverPrinciples that is, in essence a solution in search of a problem. In other words, a waste of time. GOPers want to pass a law that money in an EBT account can only be spent in Minnesota – even though Federal Law says, for instance, that Food Stamp money, even in an EBT account, can be spent anywhere.

“Tentherism” ring a bell, here?

The amount of money that could – and should – be tightened up out of that $10 million is only about $3 million, according to federal law. My point is that the time to take time and tighten that $3 million up, is AFTER the GOP has put their budget plan forward AND put their plan to put Minnesotans back to work.

It’s about priorities – and so far this session, the GOP priorities have been anything but putting a budget plan forward and planning to put Minnesotans back to work.

We are staring at a budget deficit of about $6 Billion, and these GOPer Tenthers are wasting time with a $3 million stunt like they did yesterday. But hey, why work on the big problems, when you can trot out the ol’ “welfare cadillac” canard?

Which is why I have to say, once again: Republicans run on the platform “Government doesn’t work!” – and once elected, they prove it.

(cross posted to MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)

(direct link to YouTube)

Democratic Visions ON CABLE
Comcast Channel 15 – Hopkins, Minnetonka, Edina, Richfield and Eden Prairie Sundays at 9 p.m. and Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m.

Bloomington Cable Channel 16 – on Tuesdays at 2:00 p.m. & 10:00 p.m., Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m.

MTN Channel 17- Minneapolis Sundays at 7 p.m. When MTN’s webmaster gets around to it, repeats will be posted in “TV Guide” at http://www.mtn.org/.

Democratic Visions has become Minnesota’s best and most supportive broadcast/video venue for Progressives and Democrats. The program is produced by Minnetonka, Eden Prairie and Edina volunteers for DFL Senate District 42.

(segment cross posted from MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)

Mark Dayton started the speechtacular off; followed by Al Franken, Tim Walz, Keith Ellison, Jim Hightower (dressed appropriately in Texan garb complete with what had to be at least a 50 gallon hat), down through newly elected State Rep Rena Moran.

All told a progressive/populist story, all told of stories that didn’t get told – all talked of how the messaging didn’t get out. Because it’s a good message; Senator Franken decimated the “government can’t creat jobs!” TeaBagger argument. Just killed it. But, if a tree falls in a forest, and nobody hears it, did it make a sound?

Afterwards, I asked a lot of attendees what they were walking away with; virtually all were talking about a re-dedication to “getting the messaging out.” When asked how to do just that, they all talked about door-knocking, phone banking, one-on-one conversations, yada yada yada to tell the progressive story. None seemed to see that that’s all good and well; (indeed, the story can’t be told without it); but that and that alone simply isn’t enough.

No one seemed to realize how the GOP has taken technology and social media by storm to propagate the “Obama is a Muslim” and “Obama was born in Kenya” and “Get your gov’t hands off my Medicare” and “Norm Coleman was robbed” and “Mark Ritchie rigged the last one for Al and is going to do it again for Mark Dayton ” and…. well, Gentle Readers, you should get the point.

Here’s my point: in the seven days since the election, everyone seems to be talking about the fact that there is a messaging problem; no one seems to be talking about how to fix the messaging distribution infrastructure so the message gets out.

I’ll be very clear: the GOP looks at social media as a tool; on our side, social media is looked at as a social disease.

Hey – everyone knows social media is NOT the end-all; NOT the be-all. Social Media is simply a link in the chain.

It’s a link the GOP is exploiting, because from my vantage point, it’s the progressive’s weakest link.

There’s a problem here, Gentle Readers, and it needs to be fixed.

(cross posted from MnProgressiveProject.com; comments welcome there)

Yesterday, The Big E wrote an Open letter to the DFL State Central Committee.

In the comments, one particularly caught my eye:

We lost. It was a wave year. No one is as good as they look when they ride a wave, and no one is as bad as they look on the low end of a wave. Let’s settle down and analyze what worked and what didn’t after emotions have passed.

While it was a wave year nationally, it didn’t have to be a wave year here.

And I agree that we need to settle down and analyze what worked and what didn’t – as a veteran, I’m going to take a minute of your time, Gentle Readers, and explain why.

In the military, back in the day when I was in, after each and every mission, immediately afterwards was a non-personal, cold, detached and hard look at what went right, what went wrong, and what needs to be changed so what went wrong doesn’t happen again. Iit was called an “After Action Report” (AAR) – and it was mandatory. It still is.

This report was mandatory, because people’s lives were at stake – the soldiers, and surrounding civilians.

This is what should have been happening over on Plato Blvd – but hasn’t. Things have not changed; the national wave wasn’t avoided.

It should have been happening because people’s lives are at stake – the homeless, the poor, the middle class and their jobs and their homes and the education of their children, our elderly….need I go on?

People’s lives are at stake.

And if we don’t take a cold hard look at what went right, what went wrong, and fix what needs to be fixed those lives are still at stake.

What I see happening with regards to Plato is not – NOT – a “circular firing squad” — I see a “circling the wagons” by people that have refused to recognize mistakes and making the necessary corrective actions.

Because the problems that haven’t been fixed have been talked about, over and Over and OVER.

One lesson of insanity is doing the same thing over and Over and OVER and expecting different results.

People can be part of the problem and ignore what went wrong and blame “tidal waves” and “tsunamis” and whatever else they want to call the avoidance of accountability.

I’m not into that; I’m into a non-personal, cold, detached and hard look at what went right, what went wrong, and what needs to be changed so what went wrong doesn’t happen again.

(Cross posted from Mn Progressive Project; comments welcome there)

Thom Hartmann, of course, is talking about the messaging war. And we lost a big battle in that messaging war – BIG TIME – here in Minnesota; a battle we actually could have competed in.

Which battle is that, you ask? Check out the picture below, taken at the State GOP Convention last spring:

“Anyone know what this is? Class? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone seen this before?”

(cross posted from Mn Progressive Project; comments welcome there)