One of my favorite economists who writes about rural issues is Richard Levins, a professor emeritus of applied economics at the University of Minnesota. I first heard Levins speak to a group of farmers in Litchfield, Minnesota, a guest the producers had secured via the [...]
First, we all owe Norm Coleman our thanks for sparing us six years of Walter Mondale and six months of Al Franken in the U.S. Senate. He was mostly a good Senator, always strong on defense, and points for that. And points for conceding gracefully now, something Al Franken never [...]

Photo: whitehouse.gov
Vice President Joe Biden has been booked for Al Franken’s swearing-in as a U.S. Senator, and Franken says he will be accompanied at the ceremony by former Vice President Walter Mondale and Sen. Amy Klobuchar. It “looks like” it will happen next Tuesday, he said [...]

A Democratic opposition-research firm has taken up the challenge of answering the 2010 U.S. Census questions that Rep. Michele Bachmann has vowed to leave blank: everything except the number of people living at her house. Third Coast Research tapped public sources to find most of [...]
My urban progressive friend Grace Kelly penned a post for the Minnesota Progressive Project that is bullish on legendary Iron Range State Rep. Tom Rukavina's chances if he runs for governor. This post is worth a read, but you should especially check the video of [...] 



Photos: Chris Steller, Andy Birkey/MnIndy
What was that all about? We shook the last two 24-hour news cycles’ worth of media mumbo-jumbo on the Norm Coleman-Al Franken fracas, and this is what fell out.
Franken won by being very, very quiet: Everyone seems to agree on [...]
I thought I'd take a moment to remind you to try to squeeze in the Taxpayer Tea Party on Saturday, July 4, at the State Capitol grounds.
The press release explains it all:
In keeping with the tone of the Tax Day Tea Parties, We the people are' [...]
I have never been to Yosemite or Yellowstone. Rather, my family loaded into the car each summer and traveled to the standard sojourn of any resident of the Twin Cities: up North. Split Rock Lighthouse, Itasca State Park with the headwaters of the Mississippi River, and a smattering of other [...]
“Senator-elect Al Franken won’t start his life in the nation’s most deliberative body with the love of the nation, according to a new poll.
The Rasmussen poll of voters across the United States found that 44 percent of those surveyed had an unfavorable view of Minnesota’s newest Senator and 34 percent [...]
It would be [...]
We now have an ACORN elected Senator in Al Franken. Is anyone aware of the fact that Mark Ritchie, our Secretary of State was put in place by the George Soros movement of placing Secretary of State left wing thinkers into power? All pushed via ACORN, the fraudulent voters organization [...]
Just discovered this post was gobbled before it made it to the blog. Too busy to reconstruct my part of it, but here's the quote from Bill Lindeke that prompted some musings about adaptive reuse of our dying malls, foreclosed subdivisions and abandoned car dealerships.
Suburban growth seems like a [...]Minnesota legislators will visit Hennepin County Medical Center Friday to discuss the facility's potential loss of $43 million to $109 million with Gov. Tim Pawlenty's elimination of general assistance medical care, which provides health care for more than 30,000 Minnesotans.
"I want to be clear: The decision to drop health care for [...]

U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum’s failure to support legislation that would establish a universal, single-payer health-care system has drawn criticism from some liberal activists. In fact, there’s a fledgling campaign to gin up an opponent to run against her in a Democratic primary in the St. Paul-based [...]

Communities around the state are struggling to deal with the budget cuts imposed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s unallotment authority. Pawlenty signed into law $2.7 billion in cuts to local government aid, human services grants, higher education and medical assistance for the poor. Many parts of the state [...]
According to a report published by Trust for America’s Health, Minnesota’s has the lowest rate of overweight and obese kids in America, but our numbers warrant no triumph over a growing epidemic.
While our low rates of kids with unhealthy weights can partly be attributed to our active lifestyle, involved parents and communities, [...]
Please bear with Minnesota Democrats Exposed as we will be revamping and making some technical changes this weekend.
We will also be going to comment registration on Sunday night.
I hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday weekend.
[...]
Photo: MnIndy
A new poll suggests Sen.-elect Al Franken would have trouble following President Barack Obama’s vault from a single Senate-election victory to the White House. Beyond that, it’s not clear why it matters that 44 percent of voters across the country have an unfavorable view of the [...]
Franken teared up when he talked about people’s concerns that the protracted Senate race was taking an emotional toil on him and his family.
“What we’ve been through is just nothing, especially when [...]

