Minnesota
Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL)
Vote them OUT! Pawlenty, Coleman, Kline
| Tim
Pawlenty |
Norm
Coleman |
John
Kline |
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Other Resources to check:
Congressional Records: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/r109query.html
Progressive Scorecard
Records:
http://www.progressivepunch.org/members.jsp?state=MN&district=2
Gambling with
Minnesota's future!
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"It's not a proper
function of
government,
to be running and
owning
and profiting from
gambling operations.
That's not really
part of our
Constitution, or
the vision that our
founding
fathers had for
our state."
-Governor Tim Pawlenty
MPR Interview
May, 2003
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suggested messages for protest signs:
- Stop Passing the Buck, Start Leading!
- Stop cutting our classrooms: our children
deserve stronger leadership!
- Stop Raising My Property Taxes, Start Investing
in Minnesotans
- Focus on Minnesota, Not Your Run for President
- Governor Pawlenty’s True Pledge: “No New
Investments in Minnesotans”
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GOVERNOR
PAWLENTY SHOULD STOP GAMBLING WITH LAS VEGAS-STYLE CASINOS, START
SUPPORTING MINNESOTA VALUES.
“Governor
Pawlenty should stop gambling with Las Vegas-style casinos and start
supporting Minnesota values," said DFL Party Chair Mike
Erlandson. “Our schools, our health care, and our roads and
bridges need real leadership; instead, we’re getting a Governor who
wants to throw the dice and gamble with our budget and our families'
future.”
Governor
Pawlenty Should Stop Gambling with Las Vegas-Style Casinos, and Start
Supporting Minnesota Values:
-
Tim Pawlenty is the
first Governor in Minnesota history to cut funding to Minnesota
classrooms – cutting education by more than $185 million in his first
two years.
-
As a result of Tim
Pawlenty’s lack of leadership on health care, more than 80,000
Minnesotans have lost their health insurance since 2003.
-
Minnesota has lost
15,000 manufacturing jobs] since 2002, a decline of 4.3%.[Department of
Employment and Economic Development]
The
State Highway Fund, which funds Minnesota’s highways, is in the red for
the first time ever - and by $161 million. [Legislative Budget Analysis] |
- “Now I seem to remember last fall and the last
several
years a lot of
discussion about values, a lot of discussions about morality. I
seem
to remember a whole election evolving around those kinds of
concerns.
All of a sudden I’m not hearing a discussion on values, when it comes
to gambling. Gambling is not a core value. Minnesotans do
not run
around preaching gambling as a value to their children. The Bible
is
being used as the basis of so much of the social agenda. But I can’t
find anything in the Bible that finds gambling a virtue, as a matter of
fact, quite the opposite.” – Former Governor Arne Carlson.
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- "This may shock some people, but I'd rather see
a tax
increase than the state get into the gaming business," said David
Strom, president of the
Taxpayers League of Minnesota. "Taxation is the
appropriate way for government to fund itself," Strom.
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- "Conservatives are people of principle and
believe that
government should be promoting what's good, what builds families,
industry and integrity. Gambling is antithetical to all those things." GOP lawmaker and
candidate for governor Allen Quist
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- "He loves the abortion issue. He loves the
homosexuality
issue," said Johnson, DFL-Willmar."I'd say gambling has caused as much
distress, heartbreak and anger as anything else over the years. I'm not
sure which church you go to that gives you a free pass on this one." Dean Johnson
DFL-Willmar
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“REVISED” PAWLENTY BIO -- NEW USER-FRIENDLY FORMAT, UPDATED
INFORMATION WILL CLARIFY PAWLENTY RECORD.
The
Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party issued a “revised” biography
for Governor Tim Pawlenty after discovering errors in the biography
issued at different times by Pawlenty and his former public relations
consultants. The DFL hopes the revised Pawlenty biography, which
uses bullets instead of prose and includes updated information, will be
more user-friendly and will help to clarify any confusion over Tim
Pawlenty’s true record.
“Many other high-profile folks have had to revise their biographies
upon discovering errors; that is all we’re doing today in issuing the
revised Tim Pawlenty bio,” said DFL Party Chair Mike Erlandson.
“We simply want to make sure Minnesotans can all work off the same page
with regards to the Governor’s record,” said DFL Party Chair Mike
Erlandson.
Excerpts from his previous biography accompanied by the revision, can
be found below.
CLASSROOMS
Previous Bio: “Tim Pawlenty will give our children the tools they
need to succeed.” [2002, Pawlenty for Governor Campaign Literature]
Revised Bio: Pawlenty’s Decisions to Pass-the-Buck on Education
Hurt Classrooms, Increase Costs to Taxpayers.
-
Tim Pawlenty is the
first Governor in Minnesota history to cut funding to Minnesota
classrooms – cutting education by more than $185 million in his first
two years.
-
Tim Pawlenty’s
supposed “increases” in education in his most recent budget do not even
match inflation (which legislative estimates put at $683 million for FY
’06 – ‘07) and fall far short of what he cut over the past two years.
-
The Association of
Metropolitan School Districts estimates that 26 school districts will
make more than $88 million in cuts next year (05-06). In three
years, members of the association have eliminated the jobs of more than
2,800 employees, including 2,000 teachers. [The Association of
Metropolitan School Districts, Press Release, 12/7/04]
-
Tim Pawlenty
continues to rely on his pass-the-buck leadership on education
financing, forcing local property taxes to increase. Minnesotans
will pay an additional $350 million in property taxes for 2004; under
Pawlenty’s most recent budget proposal, property taxes in Minnesota
would increase 9.2% in FY06, over FY05 levels.
-
Pawlenty’s
pass-the-buck education policies mean teachers are being laid off, kids
are in classes with as many as 40 students, teachers don’t have the
supplies they need, and districts are having a hard time even paying
their heat and electrical bills.
HEALTH
CARE
Previous Bio: “Pawlenty Administration
officials say the governor’s proposals would maintain core health and
support services for the neediest while keeping rising health care
costs to the taxpayers in check.”
Revised Bio: Pawlenty’s Decision to Pass-the-Buck on Health Care
Increases
Health Care Costs for Taxpayers.
-
The Governor plans
to cut an additional $258 million to health care -- over 31,000
additional working Minnesotans will lose their health care
coverage.
-
As a result of Tim
Pawlenty’s wrong choices on health care, nearly 80,000 Minnesotans have
lost their health insurance since 2003.
-
More Minnesotans
are ending up in emergency rooms due to no health insurance, costing
all Minnesotans more than $329 million in 2004 alone -- in higher
property taxes, increased hospital costs and even higher insurance
premiums.
-
The average
Minnesotan already pays $11,000 per year for health care. This
amount will double to $22,000 by 2010 if current trends persist.
[Source: Minnesota Citizens Forum on Health Care Costs; Executive
Summary, 2/23/04]
-
Over
half of personal bankruptcies are due to health care bills.
[Associated Press, 2/2/05] Personal bankruptcy is up 21% since
2000. Bankruptcieswent from 3.96 per 1,000 Minnesota adults in
the 3rd Quarter of 2000 to 4.8 per 1,000 in the 2nd Quarter of 2004.
[Source: Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota,
11/28/04].
JOBS
Previous Bio: “Tim Pawlenty knows the next Governor needs to be much
more
effected in job creation and economic development.” [2002
Pawlenty
for Governor Campaign Literature]
Revised Bio: Pawlenty’s Decision to Pass-the-Buck on Jobs Lead to
Lower-Paying
Jobs, Slower-than-Nation Job Restoration.
-
Minnesota
has lost 15,000 manufacturing jobs since 2002, a decline of 4.3%.
[Department of Employment and Economic Development]
-
Governor
Pawlenty is proposing to cut $13.6 million in job training and
retraining programs.
-
The
Governor is recommending major cuts to programs that help
businesses. The Governor’s own staff estimates that the Minnesota
Investment Fund would have created 10 projects, 480 jobs, and leveraged
$15 million in private investment during the next budget cycle.
-
Household
income in the state has fallen over the past few years. [8/1/04, Star
Tribune]
-
Minnesota
job growth has fallen behind the national pace. [Source:
Department of Employment and Economic Development].
TRANSPORTATION
Previous Bio: “Tim Pawlenty understands that the lack of adequate roads
and bridges in parts of Greater Minnesota and the congestion in the
metro areas
is an embarrassment.” [2002 Pawlenty for Governor Campaign Literature]
Revised: Pawlenty’s Decisions to Pass-the-Buck on Transportation Means
He Relies on Budget Gimmicks, Bankrupts Minnesota Roads and Highways.
-
The
State Highway Fund, which funds Minnesota’s highways, is in the red for
the first time ever – and by $161 million. [Legislative Budget Analysis]
-
Pawlenty’s
transportation loan will cost Minnesota taxpayers $7.15 billion – with
1/3 of the costs going just to pay off the interest on the loan!
[Legislative Budget Analysis]
-
Pawlenty’s
transportation plan will force Minnesotans to pay off his debt for the
next 28 years -- until 2032! [Legislative Budget Analysis]
Pawlenty’s
borrowing-spree would compromise the state’s bond rating, making it
more expensive to borrow money – for anything – in the future.
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Why
Pawlenty is behind the times...even for a GOP Governor!
GOP governors fight budget lids
T.R. Reid
Washington Post
DENVER
- Gov. Bill Owens has been crisscrossing the country for years
promoting the virtues of this state's strict constitutional limits on
government spending. He has repeatedly urged other states to adopt
restrictions of their own, based on Colorado's "Taxpayer Bill of
Rights" amendment, known as TABOR.
But this summer, Owens, a
Republican, says he'll be traversing his own mountainous state pushing
the opposite message. Midway through his second term, Owens is working
to persuade Coloradoans to suspend the limits he championed and let the
state government spend $3 billion more in tax money than TABOR would
allow.
Owens thus becomes another low-tax, limited-government
advocate who has found those principles hard to hold on to amid a
sluggish economy and a sharply diminished flow of federal money to the
states.
In the past two years, Republican governors, including
Nevada's Kenny Guinn, Idaho's Dirk Kempthorne, Georgia's Sonny Perdue
and Ohio's Bob Taft have dumped no-new-taxes pledges to push for major
new revenue and increased state spending.
Perhaps the
most-stinging reversal for tax-limitation groups in Washington was the
quick conversion of Mitchell Daniels Jr., who was President Bush's
first budget director and an outspoken advocate of lower taxes, until
he was elected governor of Indiana in November. In his first state
budget, Daniels, a Republican, proposed a 29 percent increase in the
income tax, targeted at the upper brackets. Daniels cited a $250
million revenue shortfall and said spending cuts of that size were
untenable.
All of these tax-raising Republicans offer the same
basic reasons for their change of heart. "I have done something that is
absolutely not part of my fiber," Kempthorne said when he proposed
Idaho tax increases in 2003. "But I'm not going to dismantle
this state, and I'm not going to jeopardize our bond rating, and I'm
not going to reduce my emphasis on education."
Guinn provided a similar explanation after he pushed through the
biggest tax increase in Nevada history. "Some
people say that makes me a bad Republican," the former banker and
corporate executive said. "Well, I would be a worse Republican, and a
worse grandfather, and a worse citizen, if I didn't find enough money
to educate our children and fund our Medicaid program and provide
decent prenatal care."
****
During the [economic] boom
years of the 1990s, with population and personal income soaring, the
[TABOR] limits worked well. But the economic downturn and the reduction
in federal support during the first Bush term proved disastrous for
Colorado's finances. The state put off building roads and maintaining
infrastructure. It reduced services and raised fees. Spending on higher
education fell so sharply that the president of the University of
Colorado declared the flagship state school a "private enterprise."
Voters
grew increasingly angry and demanded changes from Owens and the
Republican-controlled Legislature. But GOP leaders refused to act. "So
long as I am governor, we will not raise taxes," Owens said in 2003.
Last
fall, the Democratic Party launched a statewide campaign against the
TABOR limits, and scored a huge victory at the polls. While Bush was
easily carrying the state, Democrats took control of the state House
and Senate.
****
On St. Patrick's Day, [Owens] agreed to
a plan designed largely by Democrats that would [allow] the state to
spend $3.1 billion that otherwise would have been refunded to
taxpayers.... Owens says he will campaign with Democrats to win voter
approval of the anti-limits plan. "This will put Colorado back on
track," he said. |
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Which is it?
Flip Then: 1996 and 1997 - Voted twice for amendments that
would have established a Minnesota death penalty. In 2004 advocated
again for a Minnesota death penalty.
Flop Now: January
22, 2005 "A truly just society respects life".
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On using Minnesota
tax money for his personal campaign.
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March 22, 2005 - Using
State Resources for his campaign?
When you click on www.pawlentyforgovernor.com
or www.pawlenty2006.com websites,
you are directly connected to
the State of Minnesota, Governor's website. So in essences, Governor
Tim Pawlenty is misusing Minnesota's resources (taxpayer's money) for
his own political ends. He needs to act ethically and responsibly by
not using State of Minnesota tax money for his personal campaign.
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Standing on both
sides of the fence?
Flip Then: 2002 Ad "John Kline will
protect
Social Security. No cuts in benefits. No change in the retirement age,
period."
Flop Now: 2004 "I
very much agree that for young
workers, some system of
personal accounts, so they can build a personal nest egg, is a central
component to make sure that Social Security is there for our kids and
grandparents,"
Kline caught on
tape!
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 Kline caught on tape!
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Children's
Defense Fund Give Kennedy and Kline scores of ZERO on legislation
benefiting kids!
Minnesota
Politicians - Report Card
Except for election day, our elected officials
don't often get a mid-term
report card on their work. That's why the Children's Defense Fund
Action
Council Congressional Scorecard is so important.
It looks at how politicians vote on children's
issues, like pre-school
funding, health care, school lunches, and a wide variety of similar
issues that
can have a dramatic impact on the success or failure of our children's
preparation for adulthood.
The Scorecard is also an indication of who
influences our elected
officials... special interests and corporate interests... or WE THE
PEOPLE...
we the voters... we the taxpayers.
The State of Minnesota
ranked 47th on the
list of states, below West Virginia,
below Arkansas, even below South Dakota.
Who were the leaders and the
losers on children's issues for Minnesota?
The higher the score, the more votes for
children's interests... the
lower the score, the more votes against children
92% Senator Mark Dayton (D)
92% Congressman Martin Sabo (D)
92% Congresswoman Betty McCullom (D)
85% Congressman James Oberstar (D)
46% Congressman Collin Peterson (D)
38% Senator Norm
Coleman (R)
23% Congressman Jim Ramstad (R)
0% Congressman Mark Kennedy (R)
0% Congressman John Kline (R)
0% Congressman Gil Gutneckt (R)
For more information see
the Children's Defense Fund
website at www.cdfactioncouncil.org
http://www.childrensdefense.org/pressreleases/050323.aspx
Children's Denfense Fund
Action Council Scorecard Ranks Lawmakers on How Well They Protect
Children
-- March 23 -- The Children's Defense Fund Action
Council today released its annual nonpartisan rankings of
Representatives and Senators based on their votes in Congress in 2004
on legislation affecting the lives of children. Individual members and
state delegations in Congress were evaluated. The Action Council ranked
Hawaii's congressional delegation No. 1, with a 94 percent rating,
while Wyoming was worst with a score of 5 percent.
"This is a dangerous time for children in
America and we need to know which of our leaders are voting to protect
children and which are voting to leave children behind," said CDF
Action Council President Marian Wright Edelman. "We should not
be persuaded merely by compassionate words -- we need to look at
actions and votes, far too many of which are profoundly unjust to
children, who are the poorest age group of Americans."In the
United States, 13 million children live in poverty, and 9 million
children lack health insurance. More than 6 million children are left
home alone after school each day. Almost 900,000 children each year are
victims of abuse or neglect. Nearly one American child or teen is
killed by gunfire every three hours
."At a time when the gap between rich and poor is
at its highest point in recorded history, when child poverty rates have
increased for three consecutive years, when the infant mortality rate
has risen for the first time in 44 years, when the number of uninsured
Americans is increasing and the federal deficit is soaring, members of
Congress need to make more just and sensible choices that protect, not
hurt, children," Edelman said. "Congress has the power and duty to
ensure every child in America a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair
Start and a Safe Start in life right now."
To read more go here.
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JOHN KLINE PADS HIS CAMPAIGN
COFFERS WITH BIG PHARMACEUTICAL CASH.
A new report shows that health care costs for
families went up 3% in Minnesota just last year, as Republicans like
Tim Pawlenty, Mark Kennedy and John Kline continue to ignore the health
care crisis in Minnesota.
Kline has taken $185,050 from big insurance and prescription drug
companies over the course of his career, while health insurance
premiums have increased by $650 for the average Minnesota family last
year. [www.opensecrets.org]
This week FamiliesUSA, a non-partisan organization focused on family
issues, released a report detailing the spiraling cost of health
care. Since Republicans have controlled Congress, they have done
nothing to bring down or control health care costs. Meanwhile,
Kline has taken $180,050 from prescription drug and insurance
companies. The cost of inaction by John Kline and the Republican
Congress is hurting Minnesota families and businesses every day.
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Kline gets failing grade for the Arts!
On October 18th, Americans for the Arts
released its 2004 Congressional Arts Report Card for the entire U.S.
House of Representatives. Each Member of Congress was assigned a letter
grade and numerical score based on his or her record on numerous arts
and arts education policy issues. In addition, each state and region
received an average score for it's delegation's support for the arts.. Minnesota
received an overall grade of "B", for a total ranking score of 64 out
of 100
possible points. The Congressional Arts Report Card ranks Minnesota
19th in terms of it's delegation's overall support
for the arts. The Congressional Arts Report Card also includes a
detailed voting record on the arts for each member. Please visit the
MCA
website www.mtn.org/mca
for more
about your Congressperson's individual grade and ranking score.Here is
how Kline
scored:Congressional District 2: John Kline: Grade
D, Score 5 out of 100 |
Just
how tangled up in Tom DeLay's House of Scandal is John Kline?
John Kline has taken $30,000 from Tom
DeLay's AEMPAC. No
surprise that Kline voted with Tom DeLay 96% of the time between
January 1, 2004 and March 31, 2005.
Is this the kind of government-for-hire
that working families deserve?
John Kline voted to weaken the
ethics rules in a move that many say served only to protect Tom
DeLay.
Does the integrity of the House mean so
little that John Kline would sacrifice it to defend Tom DeLay?
When Democrats offered a solution to clean up the House by
strengthening ethics rules, John Kline voted to make sure it never
even came to an up or down vote. So instead of a bipartisan
effort to get government working for Americans, John Kline stood for
cronyism and partisan politics.
John Kline voted to allow DeLay to continue serving as Leader even
if he is indicted.
Need more
sleezy connectionss between Tom DeLay and Kline?
Both use the same advertizing and marketing firm, Stevens Reed Curcio
& Potholmm one of the rethug's media consulting firms. In case the
name doesn't ring a bell, let me help you out...they also did the
'Swift Boat Veterans for Truth TV ad "Ravaged".
This was the first ad in the series that gained national attention,
highlighting the power of lies and distorations regardubg John Kerry's
service in Vietnam.
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to top
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'Us' and 'Them" Kline...
I couldn't have made up what Kline said below at a town meeting in
Apple Valley.
Kline
reports on Iraq
No draft, but recruits needed in the war against terror
Posted: 3/11/05
by Laura Adelmann
Thisweek Newspapers
U.S. Rep.
John Kline’s first town meeting discussing his trip to Iraq drew a crowd of about 85 in Apple Valley,
Feb. 24.
Kline
repeatedly called the enemy smart and tough, noting they adapt their
tactics.
While most
soldiers in Iraq
are not engaged in battle, solders on patrol, he said, are “in some
pretty tough country.”
America is winning the
many battles, Kline said, although the Pentagon’s decision against
reporting
body counts has tainted news reports.
“The
decision not to do that, I think, was the right one — the bad part of
that is
when we look at the news, we see when an American is wounded or killed.
We
don’t ever see that we’re fighting back, though we are. And … we’re getting a lot more of them than
they’re getting of us.”
Is it any wonder then...
Kline's Major
backers are Alcohol and Defense
Rep.
John Kline
(R- MN 2nd District) is apparently a little more secure in his position
this year. He's
raised a little more than half
of what he raised by this time in 2003. ($117,075 vs. $218,787) But the
sources for Kline's contributions remain the same. Alcohol (National
Beer Wholesalers Association - $5,000) and defense contractors (Aliant,
Lockheed Martin, US Defense PAC and others). Perhaps he
isn't expecting much of a fight in the 2nd Congressional District in
2006. In 2004 he raised and mostly spent $1.5 million on the campaign.
His opponent Theresa Daly raised and spent about $1.1 million . She's
apparently running again having already raised about $50,000.
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Congressman
Kline votes for our
demise!
by Greg Skog
What type of
future for our children do our citizens and elected officials want? If
the
focus is on jobs, education, and health care, great. All these values
have costs
associated to them, as do different values some of our representatives
are
backing. Our congressman John Kline from CD2, who is known for being a
fiscal
conservative recently voted to preserve $27 million for studies of the
high-yield Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator and $9 million for
research
into other modified and new thermonuclear weapons. The initial 3-year
study was
to cost $45 million, but the Administration proposed spending in the
next five
years totals nearly $500 million.
The RNEP weapon would
have the explosive power up to
70 times that of the Hiroshima
bomb. Most Democrats and all the true fiscal conservatives Republicans
including one of Kline’s Midwest
colleagues,
Rep. David Hobson, who says, “The weapons are not needed,” oppose
funding for
these weapons of mass destruction and their research.
RNEP supporters say it’s
a clean nuclear weapon because it penetrates
the earth before detonating. In reality, if detonated in a city, tens
of
thousands of people could receive a fatal dose of radiation. Many more
would
also be killed or injured by the extreme pressures of the blast and
thermal
injuries. Even more would die from fires and collapsing buildings from
the
seismic shock. All American troops involved with the weapons use,
search and
rescue missions, or reconstruction efforts could be exposed to the
lethal
effects of the radiation.
Do we
really want our elected officials to spend our money for programs that
promote
escalation of another arms race and that increase the chances of long
term
human and environmental devastation? If we want we can elect new
officials that promote policies that help people. We can elect
officials that
will support spending programs that invest in our future for our
children.
Leaders who will invest in policies and programs that build bridges
within our
communities, country, and world, instead of policies that blow them up.
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Have we made mistakes? Absolutely.
There's no question where John Kline stands on the
war in Iraq. He's been an enthusiastic supporter since day one, hardly
questioning the president's policies even as the insurgency-and the
American body count-has swelled. "Assumptions were made in wartime and
some of them were wrong," Kline admits during a phone interview from
his office in Washington. He acknowledges that Iraq did not have
weapons of mass destruction and that the insurgency has proven much
more resilient than anticipated. Yet he still insists that the
administration's actions in Iraq have been justified and effective:
"Have we made mistakes? Absolutely. And are we going to make some more?
Yep, we are."
Kline's support for Bush does
not end with the Iraq war. He's a staunch Republican who
voted with his party some 98 percent of the time over the last two
years, a loyalty rate higher than that of any other member of the
Minnesota congressional delegation.
Has he made mistakes? Yep...but there's one sure
way to stop him from making more mistakes that cost the lives of our
children and the security of retirement, VOTE HIM OUT!
Open
Secrets for 2004
Top
Contributors to Kline
| 1 |
Voyager
Financial Services |
$14,500 |
| 2 |
Eli
Lilly & Co |
$14,000 |
| 2 |
United
Parcel Service |
$14,000 |
| 4 |
Hubbard
Broadcasting |
$13,000 |
| 5 |
3M Co |
$11,228 |
| 6 |
General
Dynamics |
$11,000 |
| 7 |
Freedom
Project |
$10,046 |
| 8 |
Aircraft
Owners & Pilots Assn |
$10,000 |
| 8 |
American
Medical Assn |
$10,000 |
| 8 |
Americans
for a Republican Majority |
$10,000 |
| 8 |
Associated
Builders & Contractors |
$10,000 |
| 8 |
Freedom
Club of America |
$10,000 |
| 8 |
Freshmen
PAC |
$10,000 |
| 8 |
Keep
Our Majority PAC |
$10,000 |
| 8 |
Koch
Industries |
$10,000 |
| 8 |
National
Assn of Home Builders |
$10,000 |
| 8 |
National
Auto Dealers Assn |
$10,000 |
| 8 |
National
Beer Wholesalers Assn |
$10,000 |
| 8 |
Northstar
Leadership PAC |
$10,000 |
| 8 |
Promoting
Republicans You Can Elect |
$10,000 |
| 8 |
Southern
Minn Beet Sugar Co-op |
$10,000 |
| 8 |
Volunteer
PAC |
$10,000 |
|
By far the largest contribution by sector shows that
Ideology/Single-Issue PAC's have brought and paid for Kline,
instead of the voters in CD2.
Open
Secrets for 2004
Contributions
by Sector
| Sector |
Total |
PACs |
Indivs |
| Agribusiness |
$80,797 |
$65,897 |
$14,900 |
| Communic/Electronics |
$82,866 |
$26,825 |
$56,041 |
| Construction |
$64,650 |
$34,500 |
$30,150 |
| Defense |
$56,200 |
$51,000 |
$5,200 |
| Energy/Nat
Resource |
$36,375 |
$30,500 |
$5,875 |
| Finance/Insur/RealEst |
$160,725 |
$59,000 |
$101,725 |
| Health |
$73,550 |
$59,500 |
$14,050 |
| Lawyers
& Lobbyists |
$56,141 |
$4,750 |
$51,391 |
| Transportation |
$82,900 |
$59,000 |
$23,900 |
| Misc
Business |
$158,653 |
$58,978 |
$99,675 |
| Labor |
($500) |
($500) |
$0 |
| Ideology/Single-Issue |
$253,587 |
$228,687 |
$24,900 |
| Other |
$95,050 |
$2,000 |
$93,050 |
|
 Smilin'
Norm Coleman |
Aug 2005
Norm Coleman Spotted In The
Hamptons
The DFL just sent out this
hilarious
release highlightning Norm Coleman's participation at a tennis
tournament in East Hampton, Long Island. Can't blame him, though; when
you've got a thousand
dollar smile you have to show it off somewhere:
The New York Post reported today in their gossip column
that Senator Norm Coleman recently played in a tennis tournament at a
private tennis club in East Hampton, Long Island, New York. State DFL
Chair Brian Melendez chastised Coleman for his continuing habit of
overlooking the needs of Minnesotans while supposedly representing them
in the Senate.
“It’s disappointing - but not surprising - that Senator
Coleman, who has virtually forgotten the interests of regular Minnesota
families during his time in Washington, got lost on his way ‘home’ to
Minnesota for the Congressional recess,” said Melendez. “While most
Members of Congress are in their home states meeting with their
constituents and hearing about their concerns over the Iraq war, health
care, schools, and the economy, Senator Coleman is missing.”
Senator
Coleman has been repeatedly criticized in the past for his frequent
forays around ! the country for political and fundraising events, and
his lack of attention to Minnesota. Coleman has been one of President
Bush’s top Senate loyalists, voting with him over 95 percent of the
time.
Melendez continued, “I’m
glad that Senator Coleman is getting some rest and relaxation with his
tennis partners in the Hamptons. He must be exhausted after his
tireless defenses of the faltering Bush administration.”
Looks like Norm Coleman isn't
the only Minnesota Republican having trouble remembering who he
represents. |
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Norman Coleman had some ugly ass teeth before he
got what probably
was a free fix up from a local dentist. The dentist posted before and
after  pictures on his
business website for advertizement. If
you want to see what Senator
Coleman was making such a fuss over, the actual page has been removed.
However, we that are Internet Smart know that the .swf can be found here..
WCCO article is here.
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Norm Coleman -
Poster Child for flip flopping!
Norm Coleman, the junior and Republican
senator from Minnesota, lead the GOP "Truth Squad" that touted itself
as keeping an eye on the scary
Democrats at the Democratic National Convention.
Coleman says he
will focus on Kerry's "flip-flops." I guess it makes sense that
Coleman who could easily be the 'poster child' of flip floppers, should
be awarded such a task. What's really interesting is why Sen. Coleman
is not talking about
George Bush's record on jobs, the economy, health care or clean air and
water...er...well, I guess we all know where this is leading.
Here's the biggest flip:
Coleman was a
Democratic...now he's a republican
Then...Bill
Clinton
Norm Coleman was the head
of Bill Clinton's reelection campaign in Minnesota.
Then....Paul
Wellstone
At the 1996 DFL convention, then democratic mayor
Norm said..."Paul Wellstone is a Democrat, and I am
a Democrat, but I stand before you today much like the 20 to 30 percent
of this convention's delegates who call themselves pro-life, or
pro-business, pro-jobs, pro-economic growth, to proudly proclaim my
support for President Bill Clinton and Sen. Paul Wellstone."
Then...Prescription
Drugs
Coleman promising to support the importation or prescription drugs and
then voted against importation.
Then...Homeland
SecuritySenator Norm Coleman was going to vote against Michael
Chertoff's
nomination as Homeland Security chief in order to protest the fact that
Saint Paul didn't get Homeland Security funding. Chertoff has some
issues other than this that deserve careful scrutiny, but at least this
was something. However, Coleman recently decided that this issue had
been resolved to his satisfaction, and he voted for his confirmation.
Did
Saint Paul get more money? Did Chertoff promise to move funds from,
say, Wyoming, to a more populous state? No. Instead, the problem was
"solved," according to Coleman, by allowing Saint Paul to share money
with Minneapolis and Hennepin County. No more money will be allocated,
of course; they will just have to share the pot, which is itself
decreasing.
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Erring
on the side of of the GOP
Coleman supported the clearly unconstitutional
interference with
a private family
decision: "Terri Schiavo has been given what amounts to an unjust and
undeserved court-ordered death, and the Senate's position is we cannot
stand by and watch it happen." I encourage every Minnesotan to file his
or her living will, advance directive, or durable power of attorney for
health care with Smilin' Norm as soon as possible. It's not enough if
your spouse knows your views and wishes. It's not enough if your spouse
can prove your wishes in court. You've gotta be able to prove it to
Minnesota's gleamingest son.
Is there any doubt that this isn't about a living will? These 'too far
gone to the right' don't support any type of directive but their own,
which they will tell you is G*d's law and therefore highter than State
or Federal. Mr Coleman has never met with Teri (before or after) and he
doesn't personally know her family, yet he wants to make this
decision for their best interests of their family.
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Norm gets oiled!
Tues.May17: MN Sen. Norm Coleman
questioned Scottish MP George Galloway about 'oil for food' program.
Galloway is a good role
model for the Democrats on what STANDING UP to the smears and LIES of
the Repiublicans and neo-cons looks like.
*Galloway v the US
Senate: transcript of statement*
TimesonLine (London) - May 18, 2005
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1616578,00.html
By Times Online
George Galloway, Respect MP for Bethnal Green and
Bow, delivered this statement to US Senators today who have accused him
of corruption
"Senator, I am not now, nor have I ever been, an oil
trader. and neither has anyone on my behalf. I have never seen a barrel
of oil, owned one, bought one, sold one - and neither has anyone on my
behalf.
"Now I know that standards have slipped in the last
few years in Washington, but for a lawyer you are remarkably cavalier
with any idea of justice. I am here today but last week you already
found me guilty. You traduced my name around the world without ever
having asked me a single question, without ever having contacted me,
without ever written to me or telephoned me, without any attempt to
contact me whatsoever. And you call that justice.
"Now I want to deal with the pages that relate to me
in this dossier and I want to point out areas where there are - let's
be charitable and say errors. Then I want to put this in the context
where I believe it ought to be. On the very first page of your document
about me you assert that I have had 'many meetings' with Saddam
Hussein. This is false.
"I have had two meetings with Saddam Hussein, once
in 1994 and once in August of 2002. By no stretch of the English
language can that be described as "many meetings" with Saddam Hussein.
"As a matter of fact, I have met Saddam Hussein
exactly the same number of times as Donald Rumsfeld met him. The
difference is Donald Rumsfeld met him to sell him guns and to give him
maps the better to target those guns. I met him to try and bring about
an end to sanctions, suffering and war, and on the second of the two
occasions, I met him to try and persuade him to let Dr Hans Blix and
the United Nations weapons inspectors back into the country - a rather
better use of two meetings with Saddam Hussein than your own Secretary
of State for Defence made of his.
"I was an opponent of Saddam Hussein when British
and Americans governments and businessmen were selling him guns and
gas. I used to demonstrate outside the Iraqi embassy when British and
American officials were going in and doing commerce.
"You will see from the official parliamentary
record, Hansard, from the 15th March 1990 onwards, voluminous evidence
that I have a rather better record of opposition to Saddam Hussein than
you do and than any other member of the British or American governments
do.
"Now you say in this document, you quote a source,
you have the gall to quote a source, without ever having asked me
whether the allegation from the source is true, that I am 'the owner of
a company which has made substantial profits from trading in Iraqi oil'.
"Senator, I do not own any companies, beyond a small
company whose entire purpose, whose sole purpose, is to receive the
income from my journalistic earnings from my employer, Associated
Newspapers, in London. I do not own a company that's been trading in
Iraqi oil. And you have no business to carry a quotation, utterly
unsubstantiated and false, implying otherwise.
"Now you have nothing on me, Senator, except my name
on lists of names from Iraq, many of which have been drawn up after the
installation of your puppet government in Baghdad. If you had any of
the letters against me that you had against Zhirinovsky, and even
Pasqua, they would have been up there in your slideshow for the members
of your committee today.
"You have my name on lists provided to you by the
Duelfer inquiry, provided to him by the convicted bank robber, and
fraudster and conman Ahmed Chalabi who many people to their credit in
your country now realise played a decisive role in leading your country
into the disaster in Iraq.
"There were 270 names on that list originally.
That's somehow been filleted down to the names you chose to deal with
in this committee. Some of the names on that committee included the
former secretary to his Holiness Pope John Paul II, the former head of
the African National Congress Presidential office and many others who
had one defining characteristic in common: they all stood against the
policy of sanctions and war which you vociferously prosecuted and which
has led us to this disaster.
"You quote Mr Dahar Yassein Ramadan. Well, you have
something on me, I've never met Mr Dahar Yassein Ramadan. Your
sub-committee apparently has. But I do know that he's your prisoner, I
believe he's in Abu Ghraib prison. I believe he is facing war crimes
charges, punishable by death. In these circumstances, knowing what the
world knows about how you treat prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison, in
Bagram Airbase, in Guantanamo Bay, including I may say, British
citizens being held in those places.
"I'm not sure how much credibility anyone would put
on anything you manage to get from a prisoner in those circumstances.
But you quote 13 words from Dahar Yassein Ramadan whom I have never
met. If he said what he said, then he is wrong.
"And if you had any evidence that I had ever engaged
in any actual oil transaction, if you had any evidence that anybody
ever gave me any money, it would be before the public and before this
committee today because I agreed with your Mr Greenblatt [Mark
Greenblatt, legal counsel on the committee].
"Your Mr Greenblatt was absolutely correct. What
counts is not the names on the paper, what counts is where's the money.
Senator? Who paid me hundreds of thousands of dollars of money? The
answer to that is nobody. And if you had anybody who ever paid me a
penny, you would have produced them today.
"Now you refer at length to a company names in these
documents as Aredio Petroleum. I say to you under oath here today: I
have never heard of this company, I have never met anyone from this
company. This company has never paid a penny to me and I'll tell you
something else: I can assure you that Aredio Petroleum has never paid a
single penny to the Mariam Appeal Campaign. Not a thin dime. I don't
know who Aredio Petroleum are, but I daresay if you were to ask them
they would confirm that they have never met me or ever paid me a penny.
"Whilst I'm on that subject, who is this senior
former regime official that you spoke to yesterday? Don't you think I
have a right to know? Don't you think the Committee and the public have
a right to know who this senior former regime official you were quoting
against me interviewed yesterday actually is?
"Now, one of the most serious of the mistakes you
have made in this set of documents is, to be frank, such a schoolboy
howler as to make a fool of the efforts that you have made. You assert
on page 19, not once but twice, that the documents that you are
referring to cover a different period in time from the documents
covered by The Daily Telegraph which were a subject of a libel action
won by me in the High Court in England late last year.
"You state that The Daily Telegraph article cited
documents from 1992 and 1993 whilst you are dealing with documents
dating from 2001. Senator, The Daily Telegraph's documents date
identically to the documents that you were dealing with in your report
here. None of The Daily Telegraph's documents dealt with a period of
1992, 1993. I had never set foot in Iraq until late in 1993 - never in
my life. There could possibly be no documents relating to Oil-for-Food
matters in 1992, 1993, for the Oil-for-Food scheme did not exist at
that time.
"And yet you've allocated a full section of this
document to claiming that your documents are from a different era to
the Daily Telegraph documents when the opposite is true. Your documents
and the Daily Telegraph documents deal with exactly the same period.
"But perhaps you were confusing the Daily Telegraph
action with the Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science
Monitor did indeed publish on its front pages a set of allegations
against me very similar to the ones that your committee have made. They
did indeed rely on documents which started in 1992, 1993. These
documents were unmasked by the Christian Science Monitor themselves as
forgeries.
"Now, the neo-con websites and newspapers in which
you're such a hero, senator, were all absolutely cock- a-hoop at the
publication of the Christian Science Monitor documents, they were all
absolutely convinced of their authenticity. They were all absolutely
convinced that these documents showed me receiving $10 million from the
Saddam regime. And they were all lies.
"In the same week as the Daily Telegraph published
their documents against me, the Christian Science Monitor published
theirs which turned out to be forgeries and the British newspaper, Mail
on Sunday, purchased a third set of documents which also upon forensic
examination turned out to be forgeries. So there's nothing fanciful
about this. Nothing at all fanciful about it.
"The existence of forged documents implicating me in
commercial activities with the Iraqi regime is a proven fact. It's a
proven fact that these forged documents existed and were being
circulated amongst right-wing newspapers in Baghdad and around the
world in the immediate aftermath of the fall of the Iraqi regime.
"Now, Senator, I gave my heart and soul to oppose
the policy that you promoted. I gave my political life's blood to try
to stop the mass killing of Iraqis by the sanctions on Iraq which
killed one million Iraqis, most of them children, most of them died
before they even knew that they were Iraqis, but they died for no other
reason other than that they were Iraqis with the misfortune to born at
that time. I gave my heart and soul to stop you committing the disaster
that you did commit in invading Iraq. And I told the world that your
case for the war was a pack of lies.
Ū told the world that Iraq, contrary to
your claims did not have weapons of mass destruction. I told the world,
contrary to your claims, that Iraq had no connection to al-Qaeda. I
told the world, contrary to your claims, that Iraq had no connection to
the atrocity on 9/11 2001. I told the world, contrary to your claims,
that the Iraqi people would resist a British and American invasion of
their country and that the fall of Baghdad would not be the beginning
of the end, but merely the end of the beginning.
"Senator, in everything I said about Iraq, I turned
out to be right and you turned out to be wrong and 100,000 people paid
with their lives; 1600 of them American soldiers sent to their deaths
on a pack of lies; 15,000 of them wounded, many of them disabled
forever on a pack of lies.
If the world had listened to Kofi Annan, whose
dismissal you demanded, if the world had listened to President Chirac
who you want to paint as some kind of corrupt traitor, if the world had
listened to me and the anti-war movement in Britain, we would not be in
the disaster that we are in today. Senator, this is the mother of all
smokescreens. You are trying to divert attention from the crimes that
you supported, from the theft of billions of dollars of Iraq's wealth.
"Have a look at the real Oil-for-Food scandal. Have
a look at the 14 months you were in charge of Baghdad, the first 14
months when $8.8 billion of Iraq's wealth went missing on your watch.
Have a look at Haliburton and other American corporations that stole
not only Iraq's money, but the money of the American taxpayer.
"Have a look at the oil that you didn't even meter,
that you were shipping out of the country and selling, the proceeds of
which went who knows where? Have a look at the $800 million you gave to
American military commanders to hand out around the country without
even counting it or weighing it.
"Have a look at the real scandal breaking in the
newspapers today, revealed in the earlier testimony in this committee.
That the biggest sanctions busters were not me or Russian politicians
or French politicians. The real sanctions busters were your own
companies with the connivance of your own Government."
=====
Here's the most dynamic four minutes of British MP
James Galloway's testimony before the US Senate.
Worth
watching and spreading.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8866.htm |
When
empty suits try to lead
Norm gave the keynote address at a
copyright law forum. He said:
"Solutions do not lie in more laws or legislation. Solutions lie in the
common ground between all players in the debate. Congress will be eager
to hear these solutions, but don't come knocking until you're done
talking."
Norm Coleman-- a true leader at every turn. Eager
to pass legislation, so long as he doesn't have to participate in its
formulation. It's so much easier just to vote for the bills after the
industry has finished writing them.
The Kansas
City Star reported:
For
two years, Democrats have criticized Republican Sen. Norm Coleman for
voting too much in lockstep with his party and the Bush administration.
But Coleman, a former Democrat, may have rediscovered his roots in
recent weeks. ...
Schier said Coleman is probably acting out of a
combination of motives.
"There's political calculation, happenstance and
serious conviction all mixed up in these things," he said.
In
2002, Coleman ran as a bridge-builder who would work across party
lines, but he disappointed some centrists by what they considered his
partisan voting record and comments in 2003 and 2004.
In an interview, Coleman said that he had to be
more of a team player last year, to help get President Bush re-elected.
Norm will take whatever crazy-ass right-wing position
necessary to support his party. But, of course, he only does that when
the party really needs his that trademark smile. Which, as it turns
out, is quite often. That's why Bob
Novak calls Norm the "the normally reliable Norm Coleman".
For a complete update go here
|
NAACP
Rates Coleman at 'F'
With the exception of Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, members of Congress
who represent the Northland won high marks from the NAACP, the Duluth
branch announced in a statement today.
Minnesota Sen. Mark Dayton, with 100 percent;
Wisconsin Sen. Herb
Kohl, with 97 percent; Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold, with 97 percent;
and Minnesota Rep. James Oberstar, with 90 percent; received A's.
Wisconsin Rep. David Obey received a B with 83 percent.
Coleman received an F with 21 percent, according
to the NAACP statement.
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Coleman kicks sand
into the wind.
Coleman had time to release a report on the banking
activities
of former Chilean Dictator Augusto Pinochet, but still
doesn't have time to investigate Halliburton's war profiteering. But
neither time nor vascular
dementia will stop Coleman from investigating the crimes in another
hemisphere from a previous century. And now that we're on this same
vain...whatever happen to ENRON!
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There is no
Distinction, just Dishonesty.
Privatization = Personal
Personal = Privatization
Coleman said he was attacked during
his 2002 campaign
for favoring privatization. "I countered it by being very clear that I
supported personal accounts and opposed privatization," he said.
(http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/02/20/national/w100331S59.DTL)
It is a distinction Sununu sought
to make in
2002, and one Republicans have been told they will have to make
successfully in 2006 if they are to be successful."We win if the issue
is defined as
personal
accounts. We lose if it is defined as privatization," pollster David
Winston wrote recently in a presentation for Senate Republicans.
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