Capitol Notepad, May 27, 2009

Today seems another low-key one for Minnesota politics. The MinnPost coverage of Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak’s commercially-oriented visit to China, from Adam Minter, is probably the most interesting item of the day. In particular, the Mayor’s Chinese business card is nifty. (Plus, a MinnPost commenter notes the Mayor’s self-deprecatingly mismatched socks in the lead photo.)

Dan Heilman at Minnesota Lawyer’s blog noted Robins Kaplan partner B. Todd Jones is “the leading candidate” for the Minnesota U.S. Attorney slot — but will Republicans tangle with DoJ nominations?

PolitiFact.com knocked down U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s (R-MN6) various exciting claims about the ACORN network of organizations, as Cynthia Dizikes notes. For a laugh check out City Pages, which has several pages from a new anti-Bachmann comic coming out soon (with plenty of jabs at local press that have avoided highlighting her most exciting remarks over the years). It’ll also be online at BiasedLiberalMedia.com. It’s been edited by the Dump Bachmann blog’s Bill Prendergast and inked by Lupi. More here. [Here's Bachmann's latest notes on the Supreme Court process.]

The Department of Public Safety has asked the FBI to help clean up the surprisingly bad situation at the Metro Gang Strike Force. Now the imminent question seems to be whether all the previously seized money will get accounted for (and according to one unconfirmed rumor we heard, whether the feds will lay claim to some of it, for apparently exciting reasons). There are quite a few people out there who never got receipts for their seized property; who’s going to deal with that? [Check out the Legislative Auditor's report that kicked this off.]

The prospective unallotment actions have decreased the predictability of annual planning for localities, as Lauren Radomski at the Fergus Falls Journal notes. Mayor Hal Leland asked the City Council there to separate “special projects” from expenses essential to the city’s operation, but as the article notes, how do you quantify things like library projects?

(On the upside, as Don Reeder from the League of Minnesota Cities notes @donreeder, Coon Rapids is getting $562,700 for energy efficiency and conservation, and various projects that would cut ongoing expenses are getting considered. Seems a wise investment.) Also, Finance & Commerce’s Bob Geiger reports Fergus Falls’ Otter Tail Power Co. is angling for federal stimulus help with a nearly 50-megawatt wind farm.

Over at Harper’s, Ken Silverstein is checking out an odd, dormant Minnesota non-profit called “Step Into World Peace,” includes notable Norm Coleman supporters Nasser Kazeminy and John B. Goodman on its board. (It’s duly noted by MnIndy, as well.)

With a debate in Plymouth tomorrow, the heat is kicking up in the Minnesota GOP’s leadership race; Gary Gross at the LFR blog gave a positive review of Dave Thompson, who’s the challenger to the generally favored Tony Sutton (Carrie Ruud is also in the race). Here’s Thompson’s home page, Sutton’s page, and Ruud’s.

The latest liberal video to check is “Drinking Liberally: Autopsy Edition” featuring Dane Smith from Growth & Justice, Liz Doyle from Take Action Minnesota, and Xavier Lopez-Ayala from Alliance for a Better Minnesota. It’s hosted by the Cucking Stool blog (whose contributors are always friendly drinking partners at the event, in this writer’s experience).

Speculation from DFLer Dusty Trice on who might run as Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s GOP successor in 2010 made a fun read, with notes on various top GOPers from different circles (for example, Pat Anderson, “The Libertarian Cross-Over,” and Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Delano), rendered with a funny icon.)

Speaking of Emmer, who, as Trice notes, appeared on the Glenn Beck show to comment on Minnesota’s infant DNA testing policies, more about the DNA programs came out today as attorney Nathan Hansen posted a few documents he pried loose from the Department of Health. Hansen includes a video questioning Larry Gostin, who’s advocating “global health governance” authority via the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. On the video, Hansen gets Gostin to admit that the IMF and World Bank austerity policies damaged health care in developing nations, and thus, as Hansen puts it, perhaps global governance is really not a good solution at all. (Gostin’s globalist optimism looked quite dented by the end!)

It was rumored Joe Soucheray was just going to rag on Twitter today, but his column about obsolete text technologies from the days of yore was a fun read.

David Brauer notes that Star Tribune drivers are moving closer to a walkout, and according to a a memo from publisher Chris Harte, the drivers voted Tuesday to authorize a strike if U.S. bankruptcy judge Robert Drain lets the Strib throw out their contract.

The hot label for connecting new technology with governance is “Government 2.0.” A piece by Mark Drapeau, “Geeks Invade Government With Audacious Goals” on O’Reilly Radar was a fun read about the ascendancy of geeks, who, it’s suggested, might displace wonks and nerds in the more substantive end of the talking-head universe. See the Government 2.0 Club for more events.

On the ever-popular Beltway earmarks & projects front, U.S Rep. Tim Walz (DFL-MN1) touted nearly $3.8 million in federal grant money for regional airports.

The “Green Event of the Week” (according to LiveGreenTwinCities.com) is a free course on growing healthy foods and native plants at the Seward Coop on Saturday afternoon from Russ Henry at Giving Tree Gardens. Their site has policy and news notes, as well as a forum and, yes, many tips for greener living.

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