Rukavina TV/web ad

Although I'm pretty firmly in RT Rybak's camp for the caucus next week, Tom Rukavina is without question the funniest candidate in the race. Here's his new ad.

Minnpost article on Citizens United decision

Very good analysis from Minnpost.com on the Minnesota local and statewide implications of the Citizens United decision. They also mention the impact on judicial elections (as I posted this weekend...I think that means I'm wicked smaht!).

Citizens United and the White decision

The Citizens United decision this week by the US Supreme Court is troubling enough on its face, but gets even more troubling when you think about all the different types of elections. It's bad to think about senate and congressional races being heavily influenced by un-restricted corporate money, but what about local races? What about judicial races. I read a what-if that described a city council race where one candidate wanted to approve a Wal Mart supercenter (or hog lot, or factory, or whatever)and one didn't. Wal-mart, the livestock company, the whatever can now directly spend to advertise against opposition candidates. And local, small-donation campaigns are supposed to be able to come up with the money to fight that?

Think about this, though: The White decision essentially enabled active campaigning by judicial candidates. John Grisham had one scary what-if in his book The Appeal (I read it on a beach in Mexico, so maybe I remember it more fondly because of that). How about this one, though: candidate for judge (local, state supreme court, whatever) states he'd support a law that would help Company A. Company A finances direct mail piece targeting judge that wouldn't be as friendly. Company A wins their case, essentially having bought a ruling.

Thanks, Justices Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas and Kennedy. This one's on you.

For people who say...

There's too much money in politics, this news is particularly bad. Now corporations can spend money to directly influence elections. What does it mean? Now a strong field effort and get out the vote effort is even more important.

Here's the full decision. I haven't read it yet but I'll try to post on it at some point.

Mr. President, here's my suggestion

In the wake of Scott Brown's 'stunning' (cough!) election victory in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on Tuesday, and the hand-wringing by most people in the Democratic Party since then (and by hand-wringing, I mean OHMIGODTHESKYISFALLINGWEREALLGONNADIIIIIEEEEE), here are a few suggestions/observations about how to achieve solid health care reform.

1. Be a populist. The President took a great first step toward this last week when he proposed banking reform laws. Tap into American anger (which knows no party) against large corporations. Insurance companies make record profits by denying care, kicking people off insurance for semi-arbitrary (and definitely capricious) reasons when they need it most. In other words, right when they get sick.

2. Break the health care bill up. So we won't have a public option. The 'public option' was dead when he called it a public option in the campaign (the lesson: use better language. American Option. Medicare for all. Whatever. People can't rally around policy-speak).

Breaking the health care bill up will force Republicans to show their hands. Don't tell me we can't get 60 votes for a bill that forbids insurance companies from imposing lifetime caps on coverage. Don't tell me we can't get 60 votes on eliminating recission (where insurance companies kick people off coverage because of mistakes on their application, such as not telling an insurance company you went to a dermatologist for acne or some other minor thing).

Force Republicans to show whose side they're on: the side of the people or the side of big corporations. And do it now, get them on record so when they're in their districts campaigning later this year, they have to answer for their individual votes.

Listen to Howard Fineman. Get back in touch with the people who put you in office. Play basketball in Indiana. Do town hall meetings. Tap back into the energy, enthusiasm and momentum from 2008. It's still there.

One last thing on Scott Brown/Martha Coakley. I don't want to discount anger at the way things are going (especially the economy), but the health care bill isn't the only reason Brown won. In fact, it's not even the main reason. The reason Brown won was because his campaign outworked Coakley's. Plain. And. Simple. Elections are won on the ground, by volunteers, activists and voters. Jeff Blodgett, who has forgotten more about campaigns than I'll ever know, sums it up better than I ever could.

First!

OK, first post and I have a few things to take care of background-wise.

1. The opinions expressed on this blog are my own opinions and have no reflection on the work I do professionally, particularly in the energy industry. I will make every effort to avoid commenting on issues that I have specific ties to. Enough is written about the individual projects that I work on (and I'm doing this for my own entertainment...and hopefully yours. If you want to read about what I do from 9-5, I'll point you in that direction).

2. This is going to be mainly about: Minnesota politics, some national politics, some energy stuff, and whatever else I feel like writing about. Including sports (when the mood strikes), biking, hiking, camping and stuff that I do to occupy my time.

3. If you have any suggestions, comments, critiques, criticisms or other things of that nature, please let me know.

4. How 'bout that weather, eh?