Shot in the Dark

Tag: common cause

  • The Suspense Is Killing Mildly Agitating Me

    From “Common Cause Minnesota”‘s Twitter account yesterday afternoon: Common Cause, ACLU, and League of Women Voters plan big announcement tomorrow on voter ID amendment. Stay tuned ‪#stribpol‬ Let me guess – a lawsuit by a couple of astroturf DFL fronts to try to use the courts to block the will of the elected legislature?

  • Redistricting: The DFL Got Its Money’s Worth

    Was it the money the DFL spent over the past twenty-odd years pushing for the appointment of left-leaning judges? Was it the money they spent pressuring largely DFL and moderate GOP-controlled legislatures to confirm DFL-friendly judges? Or was in the money the national left poured into astroturf pressure groups like “Draw The Line” and “Common…

  • Reality Is Conservative

    Every once in a while, when I drop some factoid or another into a “debate” with a lib, I’ll wrap it with a bit of a verbal end-zone happy dance; “Sometimes”, I’ll say, “reality is just plain conservative”. With that in mind – the five-member Judicial Redistricting Panel has ruled on the rules to be used…

  • Draw The Line’s Redistricting Commission: A Fair Trial Followed By A Swift Execution

    We’ve been talking for quite a while now about the activities of “Draw The Line Minnesota“, part of a chain of astroturf pressure groups being established across the Midwest to put pressure on the redistricting process. My prediction a few months back, when “Draw The Line” started pitching its game to the usual fawning suspects…

  • The Potemkin Commission, Part III: In The Bag

    Yesterday, we talked about the main body of Kent Kaiser’s long, scathing letter (provided in its entirety below the jump) to the judicial redistricting panel.   In the first part, I covered his commentary about the map that “Draw The Line” and its “Citizens Commission” released. Today – Kaiser’s comments about the commission, and about…

  • The Potemkin Commission, Part II: Transparency Is For Peasants

    A few weeks ago, I noted that “Draw The Line Minnesota” – a liberal astroturf group floated by fellow liberal astroturf groups Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, Take Action Minnesota and the Minnesota Council of Non-Profits, but which nonetheless protests that it is “non-partisan”- had convened a “Citizens Commission” to take public testimony…

  • Is Lori Sturdevant Considered An Independent Expenditure?

    Just curious: how is last Saturday’s column by Lori Sturdevant anything but a campaign donation to the DFL? I’m not going to fisk the whole thing.  Fisking Sturdevant has become a bit like fisking Nick Coleman; after a few years, you start to feel like you’re writing the same bit over and over again. It’s got…

  • The Later Debate

    Why, yes – I did spend a bit of time talking redistricting over the weekend, now that you mention it. On the NARN, it was my pleasure to interview MNGOP Chair Tony Sutton and his deputy, Michael Brodkorb (punctuated by a surprise appearance by Wisconsin governor Scott Walker; I’ll be posting the podcast link as…

  • While Up And About Tonight

    I’ll be on The Late Debate with Jack and Ben at 10PM. I’ll be appearing with Gary Gross of Let Freedom Ring, Mike Dean of “progressive” astro-turf group Common Cause MN, and Kent Kaiser of the “Citizen’s Commission on Redistricting“.

  • I Heard It On The NARN

    Many thanks to Chairman Sutton, Deputy Chair Brodkorb, and our special surprise guest, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Lady Logician has written about redistricting here and here. Gary Gross has dialled in “Common Cause’s” map proposal, and dug into “Draw The Line’s” background, not to mention their identity-politics orientation. The Examiner here, here and here.

  • Working For The Weekend (Plural)

    It’s going to be a big couple of weekends on the Northern Alliance Radio Network. For starters:  tomorrow’s show will be huge.  We’ll be talking with Tony Sutton and Michael Brodkorb about the redistricting effort, the avalanche of outside money that is pouring in to Minnesota to support the DFL’s effort to shanghai our redistricting…

  • DrawTheLine MN: Giving “Potemkin” A Bad Name

    According to Russian legend, Catherine the Great’s consort, minister and general, Grigory Potemkin, built fake villages, just shells and faςades and a few serfs going through happy-serf-like motions (see also SEIU – Ed.) along the banks of the Dniepr river – which he’d just seized from the Ottomans in a costly war he’d advocated and led, to…

  • Common Cause, Lying Again (Part IV)

    The Twitter account for “Common Cause MN” – the stealth-progressive astroturf group that campaigns for speech rationing and higher taxes – commented on the Iowa GOP caucus on Saturday: Did you know that people have to pay to vote in Ames Straw Poll? That’s messed up! #stribpol Promptly, other Twin Cities lefties added “it’s like…

  • Common Cause Minnesota: Lying Again, Lying Always

    So on Wednesday, the day after the Wisconsin recall election, “Common Cause MN” – the stealth progressive astroturf group – tweeted: RNC fundraising email credits voter ID law in WI victories. Even they agree that it is designed to suppress voter turnout. #stribpol That sounded serious!  There’s nothing quite as low-rent as trying to keep…

  • “Stop Sending Racy Photos!” Yelled Rep. Weiner

    When I saw the headline on the Minnesota Birkeydependent – “Backers of gay marriage ban seek to prevent disclosure about campaign spending, donors” is how it reads – my spidey-sense just knew it would be in there. What, you ask? That little thing that’s there whenever any talk of campaign finance disclosure – by Republicans…

  • Chanting Points Memo: How Are They Bogus? Let Us Count The Ways

    You remember the old lawyer’s bromide; “if the facts are against you, argue law; if the law is against you, argue facts; if both are against you, argue like hell”. The DFL is arguing like hell. The Dayton Administration and the various DFL cauci  have been claiming that the GOP’s budget proposal is a billion…

  • Common Tools

    Common Cause has a newly-discovered sense of The Principles over filibuster “reform”: In 2005, Common Cause vigorously defended the filibuster when some Republicans proposed invoking the “nuclear option” to end the filibuster of judicial nominees. From a 2005 press release: Common Cause strongly opposes any effort by Senate leaders to outlaw filibusters of judicial nominees…

  • Common Cause: “Transparent” As Mud, But Not As Truthful

    Common Cause Minnesota  (CCM) is a “non-partisan” PAC that exists, in its entirety, to advance liberal causes and, when they can’t manage that, to retard conservative ones. Oh, they tart the message up like a twenty-dollar hooker:  “Common Cause Minnesota is a nonprofit, nonpartisan citizen’s lobby dedicated to improving the way state government operates. We have helped…

  • Foxes: “Relax, Hens”

    According to the Strib, Voter ID is just not needed… …according to a survey of people who’d have to work harder if it were implemented… …conducted by two groups that benefit from inflated vote counts. Minnesota does not need a law requiring photo identification at the polls because there have been relatively few cases of…

  • Hey, Wait!

    Hasn’t the Twin Cities media – especially the “alternative”, liberal version – been barbering for years about how Rep. Michele Bachmann just doesn’t do “mainstream” media? Why, yes – they have!  But – did I hear Michele Bachmann doing an extended interview with Cathy Wurzer on MPR’s Morning Edition this morning? Why, yes I did!…

  • Follow The Bouncing Money

    Remember a few weeks ago, when “Common Cause Minnesota” – a “non-partisan” organization that seeks “transparency” in campaigning (also speech rationing) – filed a complaint against the pro-business PAC “Minnesota’s Future” because it got a contribution from the Republican Governor’s Association. To help illustrate the financial trail behind Citizens For A Better Minnesota’s complaint, I’ve…

  • I’m Not A Reporter

    But if I were, I’d have a bunch of questions of Mark Dayton, his campaign, and the maze of PACs and organizations that are bankrolling his campaign. Let’s start at the top: Settle Me This: So how much did you pay in your settlement to Brad Hanson? Since you were employed by the Senate, is…

  • Buyer’s Remorse

    The DFL – and their national benefactors – went all-in on Tarryl Clark against their bete noir, Michele Bachmann. Clark is getting clobbered. Hammered. Beaten like a cheap steak. She’s going to lose by 10 points, and I actually starting to think I’m being conservative. And the regional left is starting to have second thoughts…

  • Open Letter To Common Cause Minnesota

    [I just sent the following to Mark Dean, director of Common Cause MN, which just filed a complaint against conservative PAC “Minnesota’s Future” for doing exactly what “Alliance For A Better Minnesota”, “Win Minnesota” and “The 2010 Fund” have been doing – or about 10% of what they’re doing, anyway…] Mr. Dean, I’m Mitch Berg,…

  • Common Shills

    Common Cause Minnesota is a “non-profit, non-partisan” organization whose every initiative is, mirabile dictu, exactly in sync with the “progressive” wing of the Minnesota DFL. No huge shock there. Speech rationing – “campaign finance reform” – has long been one of their main initiatives.  Read for yourself.  They want – so they claim – transparency in politics.…