Governor Arne Carlson's blog

Rachel E. Stassen-Berger, a Star Tribune reporter, recently wrote a column relative to the new rule imposed by House Democrats requiring that all proposed amendments to bills on the House floor be submitted 24 hours before the main bill is taken up. Supposedly, this move was done in the name of disclosure in that it would allow the public the opportunity to contact their legislators prior to public debate. That may well be the case but those who watch legislation closely tend to be lobbyists and they are quite aware of all happenings relative to their interests. I suspect this move is more about punishing the minority than serving the public. However, what the Democrats should realize is that this will hurt the quality of the legislation and that will harm their own members.

Michele Bachmann’s recent assaults against the Muslims and again suggesting that President Obama is sympathetic to Islamic extremism reminds me of the desperation of Senator Joseph McCarthy in his

The day following the unveiling of the statue of former Vice President and Senator Hubert H. Humphrey on the grounds of the State Capitol, Walter Mondale called and spoke glowingly of the Humphrey event referring to it as a “golden moment”. How true.

Over the past three decades, the Minnesota Republican Party has been evolving from one with moderate and traditional conservative wings to one that is now engaged in an open tussle between the younger Ron Paul Libertarian types and the more radical social right of Mary Kiffmeyer and Tony Sutton.