Free Republic

Rep. Keith Ellison, Minnesota Democrat, said Tuesday that Republicans don’t have a mandate after a midterm election cycle in which they took back control of the Senate and picked up about a dozen seats in the House — pointing to low voter turnout and successful ballot initiatives on raising the minimum wage as evidence of a nuanced electorate. Appearing on CNN’s “New Day,” Mr. Ellison was responding to comments from Sen. Mike Lee, Utah Republican, that the American people have spoken and President Obama can listen to them on issues like immigration. “Well, you know, we had a 72-year low...

When it came time for the US Senate to vote on the Keystone XL Pipeline, Sen. Mary Landrieu’s (D-LA) “clout” did not have much of an impact on fellow Democrat senators. In fact, 35 of the senators who voted against the project were given campaign cash by Landrieu since the 2008 election cycle. Take a look here at the list of senators who don’t seem to acknowledge Landrieu’s “clout.” Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) $10,000 Sen. Richard Blumenthal (R-CT) $5,000 Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) $10,000 Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) $7,000 Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) $10,000 Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) $3,500 Sen....

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Estimates from two Washington, D.C., nonprofit organizations say there are more than 90,000 illegal immigrants living in Minnesota. The Pew Research Center's study says illegal immigrants make up 1.8 percent of Minnesota's population and 2.5 percent of its workforce. While Pew estimates the illegal immigrant count at 95,000, the Migration Policy Institute puts the number at 91,000.

Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) are squaring off over whether new net neutrality rules would hinder or help the growth of the Internet.After Cruz last week called net neutrality “ObamaCare for the Internet,” Franken over the weekend said that the Texas Republican had the issue “completely wrong.” ADVERTISEMENT The Texas senator “just doesn't understand what this issue is,” Franken said.On Monday, Cruz’s office fired back with YouTube videos and Vine clips that it said explains how tough Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules would “calcify” the Internet and prevent people from using it as a platform for innovation.Cruz...

Minnesota was one of the states where Jonathan Gruber, an economist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was involved in the creation of the federal Affordable Care Act, helped to set up a local health insurance exchange. Gruber has come under fire for comments he made a year ago about how the federal law was passed. Video that surfaced this month showed him saying that a "lack of transparency" and "the stupidity of the American voter" were key to getting the federal law passed. He was paid $330,000 for his work in Minnesota. What did he produce? Gruber, who...

A newly-elected Republican Congressman is facing criticism after hiring a same-sex "marriage" supporter as his first Chief of Staff. Congressman-elect Tom Emmer is set to replace Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-MN, when the 114th Congress convenes in January. Just days after winning the race, however, Emmer picked one of his campaign consultants, outgoing state Rep. David FitzSimmons, as his highest-ranking staffer. FitzSimmons is one of four Republicans in the Minnesota House of Representatives to vote for same-sex "marriage" last year. "The state has gone through a lot of controversy over this issue recently, and state Rep. FitzSimmons was a major player...

Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber made $4 million pimping Obamacare. ** $400,000 from Health and Human Services ** $1.6 MM from other states, and that’s just four of them. ** Another $2 milion from HHS for other work. It was a nice gig. The dude made millions because of his central role in lying to get health care passed. Video surfaced this week of Jonathan Gruber admitting the Obama administration lied to “stupid” Americans in order to get Obamacare passed. Jonathan Gruber made $400,000 from HHS. He also made an additional $3.6 million for consulting with states. Glenn Kessler at The...

Minnesota human services officials didn't verify that low income people enrolling in health plans through MNsure were eligible for benefits they got, the state legislative auditor said Wednesday. The state Department of Human Services did not check key eligibility criteria, such as Social Security numbers, citizenship, income, and household sizes for Medical Assistance (Minnesota's Medicaid program), MinnesotaCare, and Children's Health Insurance Program recipients. That screening breakdown "resulted in ineligible persons receiving public health care benefits," the auditor said in its report. "They're not getting it right," Legislative Auditor Jim Nobles said. "We design these systems to make complex eligibility determinations....

The AP story says, “Minnesota's legislative auditor says the state Department of Human Services has failed to adequately verify the eligibility of people who enroll in public health care programs through the state's health insurance exchange MNsure. In a report released Wednesday, the Office of the Legislative Auditor says it found many instances where department paid for Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare benefits for people who weren't eligible because their incomes were too high or didn't qualify for other reasons. It says the department also charged incorrect MinnesotaCare premium rates.” It’s hard to put into words how shocked I am. The...

She’s no Grinch about it, but Lynn Grewing is the principal who stole snow days. The early arrival of wintry weather in the Midwest this week gave Grewing an opening to test out a virtual class day at St. Cloud Cathedral high school in central Minnesota, having students whip out laptops or iPads and work from home. After a successful test run, Grewing declared Tuesday that students’ cherished snow days are a thing of the past—at least at Cathedral. […] Private schools like Cathedral—and, increasingly, some public school districts—across the nation are starting to use the flexibility technology provides to...

Frustrated by his own failures as a deer hunter this newly begun season, a 34-year-old central Minnesota man was caught after stealing a buck dangling from a tree at the home of a more successful marksman, authorities said Monday. The theft occurred midday Sunday from a home in Millwood Township and was reported to the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office by a group of hunters that had several deer carcasses hanging in a tree, said Chief Deputy Bruce Bechtold.

<p>Minneapolis public school officials are making dramatic changes to their discipline practices by requiring the superintendent’s office to review all suspensions of students of color.</p> <p>The change comes amid intensifying scrutiny of the way Minneapolis public schools treat minority students and in the wake of new data showing black students are 10 times more likely to be sent home than white students.</p>

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota cities have circled the wagons in a controversial property rights case that pits municipal authorities against homeowners who are challenging the constitutionality of Winona’s rental ban before the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges posing with a convicted felon while flashing a known gang sign. The man in the photo is a twice-convicted felon for drug selling and possession and illegal possession of a firearm. He is currently sentenced to five years at the St. Cloud Correctional Facility, with the prison term stayed for three years while he is under supervised probation until 2016. If he violates terms of his probation during that time, he will serve the five years behind bars. ... Retired Minneapolis police officer Michael Quinn, who also managed the department's Internal Affairs Unit, says the photo...

This map, which originated with National Journal, has been making the rounds on Twitter. It it similar to the one that was popular a few years ago that showed the United States as red or blue, by county. But this map shows the Congressional districts based on the just-completed election:

This map, which originated with National Journal, has been making the rounds on Twitter. It it similar to the one that was popular a few years ago that showed the United States as red or blue, by county. But this map shows the Congressional districts based on the just-completed election: In a sense, maps like this one are misleading because the small blue areas are basically the cities, where lots of people live. But what this map does reveal is that the Democrats are no longer competitive in rural and small-town America. It is now rare for a district dominated...

ABC News has declared Democratic Sen. Al Franken beat out Republican Mike McFadden for a seat in the U.S. Senate. Franken's big advantages in money and name recognition made him the favorite against McFadden. The former "Saturday Night Live" star was seen as a big target for Republicans after he won in 2008 by recount, but this cycle's race never appeared close and Republican-aligned groups invested their millions elsewhere.

As most of us already know, an equal salary can stretch much further in one place than in another. If you earn at least $75,000 per year, you earn a comfortable salary. At this income level, you are said to have reached the point where you really don’t need any more money to thrive. In each state, however, this $75,000 has to be adjusted to account for costs of living differences. A few states, however, like Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Nevada, Florida, and Wisconsin are right around the benchmark. That is, even when adjusting for cost of living, these states will...

A recent report on how judges sentence felons who are convicted of gun crimes in Minnesota reveals some information that is not obvious.    KSTP spent weeks analysing more than 1,800 cases involving crimes with guns and felons in possession of guns in Minnesota.   They found that in many of the situations, no jail time was added because of the gun offense.   One case is presented, which one might assume, would be one of the most egregious.   The suspect, August Fleming, was charged with second degree assault and with being a felon in possession of a firearm.    It is clear...

Printer-friendly version A new study published by the Brookings Institution reveals the rollout of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is imposing far more volatility and harm on people in Minnesota’s individual market than elsewhere. The study, by Yale economist Amanda Kowalski, takes “an early look at the impact of the ACA on the individual health insurance market.” It compares state-by-state coverage levels, insurance premiums and insurance costs in the first two quarters of 2014 to estimates of what they would have been if the ACA had not been implemented this year. These estimates are created by extending pre-ACA trends going...