Author Archives: Joe Loveland

About Joe Loveland

I've worked for politicians, a PR firm, corporations, nonprofits, and state and federal government. Since 2000, I've run a PR and marketing sole proprietorship. I think politics is important, maddening, humorous and good fodder for a spirited conversation. So, I hang out here when I need a break from life.

Franken Opponent Wish List

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Minnesota Senator Al Franken doesn’t have a high profile challenger yet in the 2014 U.S. Senate race.  People don’t seem to be flocking to run against Franken at a time when a January 2013 Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey is finding that Senator Franken is leading former U.S. Senator Norm Coleman by 6 points, Congressman John Kline by 8 points, Congressman Erik Paulsen by 11 points and Congresswoman Michele Bachman by 14 points.

Despite these findings, 45% of Minnesota Republicans want to nominate Bachmann to oppose Franken. I would be in Blogger Heaven if a Franken-Bachmann race came to be, but I find it difficult to imagine that I, or Franken, could possibly be so lucky.

Given that the conventional candidates like Coleman looks to be taking a pass at the Senate race, maybe it’s time for the Minnesota GOP brain trust to get unconventional.  These are some of the match-ups that I personally day dream about: Continue reading →

The Five Best Things About Dayton’s Budget

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Governor Mark Dayton went big and bold this week.  He took on the most powerful special interests in order to fix Minnesota’s chronic structural budget deficit problem.  Recent Minnesota Governors haven’t had the guts to do that.  This governor did.

The nitpickers are busily picking nits in Dayton’s proposal, and it’s not a perfect proposal.  But when you focus on the big picture, there is much to admire: Continue reading →

Bachmann Vindicated: Industrialized Nations Continue Rush To Replicate U.S. Health Care System

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Oslo, Norway — The Storting, the supreme legislature of Norway, today enacted sweeping health care reforms that will make the land of the midnight sun the latest industrialized nation to scrap its government-run health care systems in favor of an American-style private sector-based health care system.

“As I’ve often said, the United States enjoys the world’s finest health care,” said U.S. Rep. Michele Bachman (R-MN).  “And the ultimate proof of that fact is that so many other industrialized nations with government-run health care are copying America’s proven private sector approach.”

While Bachmann and other advocates of the American health care system tout the efficiency of the United States’ private sector health insurance companies and health care providers, a 2012 analysis by the non-profit Commonwealth Fund notes that the the United States spends more on health care than 12 other industrialized countries, nearly $8,000 per person.  For instance, the analysis finds that the U.S. spends 12 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on health care, while Japan spends just 9 percent. Continue reading →

Governor’s Dayton’s Budget: The Pre-Game Show

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Tomorrow, Minnesota Governor Dayton will be releasing his budget proposal, the first since his DFL Party regained control of the Legislature after the 2012 election.  And then, as always, there will be strongly worded interest group reactions.  Oh yes, there WILL be reactions.

Rather than have to wait another moment for the reactions, Wry Wing’s political prophesier has drunk the special brew that allows him to see the future.  Here is what Professor Prophesier sees in the mist: Continue reading →

The Battle of the Bachmanniacs: Mercenaries versus Missionaries

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The Star Tribune’s Kevin Diaz is covering an interesting story about an ugly battle happening inside Congresswoman Michele Bachmann’s 2012 presidential campaign circles.  The coverage details allegations made by an evangelical leader named Peter Waldron who worked as a national field coordinator for the Bachmann-for-President staff.

Mr. Waldron is accusing Bachmann of several things, including complex and serious violations of Federal Election Commission (FEC) spending laws.  But at the visceral core of Waldron’s allegations, he is also blowing the whistle on the fact that Bachmann refused to pay Waldron and his campaign allies, at the same time she was paying a lot of money to a political consultant, Guy Short, and an Iowa Republican party official, Kent Sorenson.  This as much about the IOU as the FEC. Continue reading →

Will There Be Payback for the Bakk Brodkorb Broadside?

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WCCO-TV’s Pat Kessler tweets that Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk (DFL-Virginia) wants to reduce Republican payrolls because of the over $200,000 in legal expenses associated with the contested firing of  Senate staffer Michael Brodkorb after Brodkorb had an affair with Bakk’s predecessor, then Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch.

 This raises Golden Ruley questions, such as: Continue reading →

MN Senate Republicans Propose Improvements To Social Studies Standards

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Saint Paul, MN — Minnesota Senate Republicans today detailed a series of suggested improvements for the new social studies standards originally proposed by the Dayton Administration’s Minnesota Department of Education.

 In a letter to the Department, Senate Republicans suggested a number of “pro-America reforms,” including:

  • Replace the term “social studies” with “Exceptional America Studies”
  • Substitute President’s Day observances with Reagan Day observances Continue reading →

Can Norm Coleman Recover From His Recent Tea Party Cheerleading Role?

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So, Norm Coleman won’t rule out a run for Minnesota Governor.  Well, let’s see, what has Norm been doing to ingratiate himself with Minnesota voters since he lost to Al Franken in 2008?  He:

1)   Moved out of Minnesota at the first opportunity.

2)   Became a Super PAC (Congressional Leadership Fund) political hit man doing the dirty work for a group of Tea Party-controlled House members sporting a 9% approval rating, an all-time historic low.

Continue reading →

Job One for New Legislature: Ban Donny Dancing

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Minnesota local government leaders have a perennial beef with the Legislature about “unfunded mandates,” onerous requirements imposed on local governments by the state government.

But sometimes state mandates are very, very necessary.

Ladies and gentlemen of the State Legislature, I beg of you, for the good of all Minnesotans, for all that is good and right in the world, for THE CHILDREN, please ban city mayors like Duluth’s Don Ness from ever, ever, EVER, making another “dance” video like this… Continue reading →

A Kinda Sorta Retraction on Constitutional Amendments

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A while back, a communications strategist for the Minnesota House Republicans took umbrage with my assertion that the 2012 GOP-controlled Legislature had a historically low approval rating of 17% in part because Republican legislators were:

“Wasting all their time on constitutional amendments to limit Minnesotans’ freedoms to marry and vote.”

He took exception with my use of the word “all.”  To his credit, the Umbrage Taker was wielding supportive data, which earned him extra credit in my book.  I have no reason to dispute the data, and found them interesting, so I am happy to share them to hereby clear the record:

Continue reading →

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Go Mansionless

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I’m not a fan of the political cheap shot, the arguments that score populist points with voters but aren’t supported with good evidence.

For instance, elected and unelected demagogues love to hammer funny sounding research projects.  While it’s great political theater to rant about spending tax dollars on “studying the sex life of a screwworm,” if you actually do your homework you will see that the public interest is indeed served by the knowledge such research generates.

Likewise, at first blush “why are we spending millions on the Minnesota Governor’s Mansion” looks to be one of those cheap shots.  In the wake of a Star Tribune news report that millions are being spent to renovate the Chief Executive’s bachelor pad, that argument  probably will be prevalent on talk radio in coming weeks.  But presumably, if you do your homework, you will learn that the Governor’s Mansion, or “The Residence” as earnest communications professionals have branded it, is a critically important public asset that deserves to be preserved, right? Continue reading →

Packers-Vikings Border Battle: Wanna Bet?

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In case you haven’t heard, there is a Vikings-Packers game happening this Sunday that has playoff implications.  A couple people seem to be interested in it.  It’s reportedly an even bigger deal than the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

So, of course, now is the time when rival state politicians customarily make a sporting bet over who will win, to prove to the commoners that they are just regular Joes obsessing about football like everyone else.

Usually the bet is pretty predictable.  If Minnesota wins, Green Bay pays in cheese.  If Green Bay wins, Minnesota pays in pork, or whatever industry the politician wants to court.  Hilarity ensues.  We all can’t get enough of it.  It’s one of the most hackneyed and enduring rituals in American politics.

But how about we spice things up with some more culturally appropriate gifts? Continue reading →

Dayton’s Backbone To Get Even Stronger

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Then presidential candidate Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN) famously flapped her titanium jaw bone about having a “titanium spine” that would never bend under pressure from those she labels “anti-America.”

Well, Governor Mark Dayton proved he had a strong spine when he stood up to Republicans pushing draconian spending cuts on the most vulnerable Minnesotans in their all-cuts budget.

He proved he had a bipartisan backbone when he built a bipartisan coalition to get the Vikings stadium deal done where other Governors had failed for a decade. Continue reading →

How The DFL Can Avoid The “Overstep” Label on Gay Marriage

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A popular post mortem for Minnesota Republicans being drummed out of office in 2012 is that “they overstepped on social issues, especially spending all their time trying to ban gay marriage, instead of focusing on the bread-and-butter issues.”

 Is the DFL Now Overstepping Too?

So, are DFLers now doing the exact same thing by pursuing legislation legalizing gay marriage?

The situations are not entirely analogous.  There are important differences between what the Republicans did on gay marriage, and what the DFL is doing: Continue reading →

Tea Party Proposes Mileage-Based Electoral College Reform

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Gun Barrel City, TX — Tea Party activists announced today a sweeping proposal to reform America’s much criticized Electoral College presidential section process.

“When you look at a 2012 election map that reports results by county, it’s clear who really won the presidential election,” said Bud Remington, President of Tea Party Battalion.  “Don’t get confused by the junk science pushed by the east coast liberal elite, because anyone with common sense can tell by a glance of the map that the election was stolen in a treasonous act.”

Continue reading →

Readin’, Writin’, and Revolvers?

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Minnesota Representative Tony Cornish (R-Good Thunder) has an idea.  Let’s put guns in schools, so that we can defend our kids from armed attacks.

I don’t doubt that Representative Cornish’s intentions are pure.  I really don’t.   We all want to come up with ways to prevent future Newtown-like tragedies, and the answers aren’t easy.

But when emotions are running high, it’s always important to beware of the Law of Unintended Consequences. Continue reading →

The Anti-Amendment Amendment Lives

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A little less than a year ago, I blogged at The Same Rowdy Crowd about One Minnesota Ballot Initiative I Could Support.

In said blog, Captain Obvious pointed out that Minnesota is supposed to have a representative democracy, where we elect leaders to make decisions for us, rather than a direct democracy, where elected officials pass the decision-making buck back to the voters who elected them to make decisions.

My specific complaint was about Minnesota conservatives’ rush toward a rash of constitutional amendments as a means of bypassing the normal two-branch lawmaking process, which includes a liberal Governor in possession of a veto pen.

I then proposed, somewhat cheekily, that: Continue reading →

Want A Better Legislature, Minnesota? Start By Paying For It

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“You get what you pay for.”  It’s a well worn cliché in capitalistic societies, for a very good reason.  It is usually true.

If you hire a cheap lawyer, mechanic or tattoo artist, they are disproportionately likely to do a worse job than a more expensive lawyer, mechanic or tattoo artist.  Not always, but often.

Therefore, what are we to make of this:  The median annual income of someone over 25 years old who has a bachelor’s degree and a full-time job is $56,078 per year, but duly elected members of the Minnesota legislature are paid only $31,141 per year. Continue reading →

Former MN Senate Minority Leader On The Role of the Minority Party

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By Duane Benson (Guest Commentary)

I have a confession to make.  I am actually glad that elected representatives do not always “do what the people want.” If they did, we would have government from floor to ceiling, and no taxes. Yummy, but ultimately bankrupting.

The idea of representative democracy really is to give the public what is collectively realistic, not everything that we want.  What is collectively realistic is best delivered if there are a lot of bipartisan fingerprints on the final product.  No one lawmaker, or one party, is suppose to “sweep the table.”

Whether we’re talking about the congessional “fiscal cliff” negotiations or the new Legislature’s budget, we need people coming at problems from more political angles to shape the final rascal. We should care little if the parties to the negotiation get along.  But we should care that the product gets legitimately checked and balanced by both the House and the Senate, and all political perspectives. Pucker your lips and say it with me now:  “Bipartisan.” Continue reading →