January 30, 2006 - GOP legislators urge Bush to reveal contacts with Abramoff
"Republican lawmakers said Sunday that President Bush should publicly disclose White House contacts with Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist who has pleaded guilty to felony charges in an influence-peddling case..."
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January 28, 2006 - House DFLers say Kelliher's in on-deck circle
"A leader-in-waiting was chosen Saturday by the Minnesota House DFL caucus, which elected Rep. Margaret Anderson Kelliher to succeed Minority Leader Matt Entenza if he secures the party's nod for attorney general in June..."
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January 28, 2006 - Most Americans want Bush to reveal lobbyist ties: poll
"Three in four Americans want President George W. Bush to disclose his aides' links with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a demand the White House has rejected so far, according to a poll published on Saturday..."
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January 28, 2006 - Washington State OKs Gay Civil Rights Law
"Before he died of AIDS, the state's first openly gay lawmaker asked a friend for a promise: that he would keep working on gay civil rights legislation. That was more than a decade ago. Now, the legislation Cal Anderson championed, 30 years in the making, is about to become law..."
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January 28, 2006 - Democracy's Double Standard
"THE day before Iran's ninth presidential elections last June, President Bush sent a discouraging message to potential voters..."
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January 27, 2006 - Protecting free elections for Palestinians
"Safeguarding the Palestinians' right to free and fair elections - like those Wednesday that allowed the militant Islamic party Hamas to win control of Palestinian parliamentary government - should now be an overriding goal for both Israel and the US..."
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January 27, 2006 - Lawmakers want Minnesota voters to show photo ID
"Minnesota should join seven other states in requiring voters to present a photo ID before casting a ballot, two Republican lawmakers said Thursday..."
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January 27, 2006 - Poll: Public Worried About Federal Deficit
"The public thinks the federal deficit will grow larger by the end of President Bush's second term and many people think the health care system will be weaker by then, according to a CBS-New York Times poll..."
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January 27, 2006 - Study: State fees up $446M
"The fees Minnesotans pay for state government services are now about $446 million a year higher than they were before Gov. Tim Pawlenty took office, according to a new report by nonpartisan Senate fiscal analysts..."
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January 26, 2006 - Editorial: The situation in Iraq is truly quite bleak
"Some Americans grouse quite openly that the media fail to report the good things that are happening in Iraq. Most often, the grousing is based on anecdotal experiences related by friends or relatives doing duty in Iraq. What that misses, to use a cliché, is the "big picture."..."
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January 26, 2006 - Senators in Need of a Spine
"Judge Samuel Alito Jr., whose entire history suggests that he holds extreme views about the expansive powers of the presidency and the limited role of Congress, will almost certainly be a Supreme Court justice soon..."
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January 25, 2006 - Bush the Incompetent
"Incompetence is not one of the seven deadly sins, and it's hardly the worst attribute that can be ascribed to George W. Bush. But it is this president's defining attribute."
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January 25, 2006 - Senators Say Ethics Beyond Lobbying Reform
"Members of Congress must look at their own behavior as well as lobbyists' if they are to regain the trust of the American public, senators said Wednesday..."
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January 25, 2006 - Hatch makes offer
"Attorney General Mike Hatch has asked children's safety advocate Patty Wetterling to be his running mate on the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party ticket next fall..."
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January 24, 2006 - Some activists, politicians speaking openly about impeachment
"The word "impeachment" is popping up increasingly these days and not just off the lips of liberal activists spouting predictable bumper-sticker slogans..."
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January 24, 2006 - If he's a close 2nd, Hatch would run in primary
"Long considered the 500-pound gorilla in the DFL gubernatorial contest, Attorney General Mike Hatch now says that if he doesn't win but comes "even close" to winning party endorsement for that office, he will challenge the endorsee in a September primary..."
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January 24, 2006 - Mark Dayton: The destructive decline in school funding
"The reduction in state funding for Minnesota's public schools and schoolchildren has been the biggest policy failure in my lifetime, and its consequences will hurt our state for many years to come..."
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January 24, 2006 - 2005 was warmest year on record: NASA
"Last year was the warmest recorded on Earth's surface, and it was unusually hot in the Arctic, U.S. space agency NASA said on Tuesday..."
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January 24, 2006 - Sen. Reid: Bush Should 'Come Clean'
"Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid urged President Bush Tuesday to "come clean" in next week's State of the Union speech and acknowledge "the costs of Republican corruption."
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January 24, 2006 - Replacing O'Connor puts court's protections in play
"Barring an unexpected last minute bombshell, appeals court Judge Samuel Alito is on his way to the Supreme Court, a natural political evolution but one likely to discomfort those, like us, whose priorities begin with safeguarding individual rights and limiting concentration of government power..."
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January 24, 2006 - US outsourced torture: probe
"The United States flew detainees to other countries where they would be tortured and European governments probably knew about it, the head of a European investigation into the controversy said on Tuesday..."
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January 23, 2006 - Judge Alito's Radical Views
"If Judge Samuel Alito Jr.'s confirmation hearings lacked drama, apart from his wife's bizarrely over-covered crying jag, it is because they confirmed the obvious. Judge Alito is exactly the kind of legal thinker President Bush wants on the Supreme Court. He has a radically broad view of the president's power, and a radically narrow view of Congress's power..."
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January 23, 2006 - Bush Aide Says Abramoff Photos Coincidence
"An advisor to President Bush said Monday that Bush's photographs in the company of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff amount to a coincidence and shouldn't be interpreted any more seriously than that..."
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January 23, 2006 - Four vie for GOP slot in 6th race
"In a rural Anoka County town hall, four Republican candidates struggled on a recent night to persuade 18 party activists to support their competing campaigns for Congress..."
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January 23, 2006 - More sinkholes could develop in what was Dancing Waters Lake
"What's the latest on the giant sinkhole in Woodbury, which lies beneath the now-empty Dancing Waters Lake in one of the suburb's housing developments?"
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January 22, 2006 - James Webb: Targeting of vets will hurt the GOP
"It should come as no surprise that an arch-conservative website is questioning whether Rep. John Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat who has been critical of the war in Iraq, deserved combat awards he received in Vietnam..."
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January 22, 2006 - As Elections Near, Officials Challenge Balloting Security
"As the Leon County supervisor of elections, Ion Sancho's job is to make sure voting is free of fraud. But the most brazen effort lately to manipulate election results in this Florida locality was carried out by Sancho himself..."
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January 21, 2006 - Editorial: Al Gore talks turkey, gets a gobble in reply
"Former Vice President Al Gore gave a rip-roaring speech last week attacking the Bush administration for "repeatedly and insistently" breaking federal law and "disrespecting" the U.S. Constitution..."
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January 21, 2006 - Lawmakers fight for road repair funds
"Geography ran thicker than party affiliation as several rural legislators from both parties blasted the state transportation department Friday for siphoning money that could help repair roads in their districts to repair more roads in the Twin Cities..."
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January 21, 2006 - Wetterling exits race with options open
"Patty Wetterling sounded a mysterious note as she ended her yearlong bid to become the DFL's U.S. Senate candidate Friday, refusing to say whether she would resurface in another race and taking no questions..."
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January 20, 2006 - Guilty Until Proven Innocent
"The taxpayer advocate at the Internal Revenue Service told Congress last week that since 2001, the I.R.S. has labeled as fraudulent the tax returns of 1.6 million people and has frozen their refunds without notice, although most appear to have done nothing wrong. Overwhelmingly, the taxpayers are poor and are simply applying for a break created for them..."
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January 20, 2006 - Republicans Worried About Party Faithful
"A growing number of Republican voters are frustrated by congressional spending and scandal, according to GOP leaders from across the country who worry that an "enthusiasm deficit'' could cost the party control of Congress in November..."
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January 20, 2006 - Medicare mess portends badly for new drug plan
"Geoffery Foughnor, 51, couldn't obtain his prostate-cancer medicine for a week. His 75-year-old mother, Helen Walker, had used up her last blood pressure pill, a "loaner" from a drugstore in Galveston, Texas, before state officials stepped in..."
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January 20, 2006 - Open season on the US in Canadian elections
"The default setting in Canadian politics is "anti-American," which rears its adolescent head during crises - and elections. A particularly heartbreaking example of the former happened on Dec. 26, when Jane Creba, a Toronto teenager out shopping, got caught in the crossfire of a gang shooting. She died..."
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January 19, 2006 - Top Senate Democrats oppose Alito nomination
"Three top Senate Democrats said on Thursday they would vote against U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito because they feared he would not provide an effective check on what they described as President George W. Bush's bid for expanded power..."
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January 19, 2006 - "Intelligent design" not science: Vatican paper
"The Roman Catholic Church has restated its support for evolution with an article praising a U.S. court decision that rejects the "intelligent design" theory as non-scientific..."
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January 19, 2006 - 2nd report questions spy program
"The Bush administration appears to have violated the National Security Act by limiting its briefings about a warrantless domestic eavesdropping program to congressional leaders, according to a memo released Wednesday by Congress' research arm..."
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January 19, 2006 - Governor resorts to education gimmicks
"When I met Tim Pawlenty, I thought he was a man of substance. He served as the attorney for some school districts when I served on a school board. We were later House of Representatives first-termers together..."
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January 19, 2006 - If You Give a Congressman a Cookie
"CONGRESSIONAL Republicans are suddenly taking a strong interest in lobbying reform..."
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January 19, 2006 - GOP housecleaning must be thorough
"This week, in the wake of corruption scandals that have sullied the GOP-led House of Representatives, Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois unveiled a lobbying reform package to clean up ethical lapses on the Hill. But will he also vacuum under the sofa?.."
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January 18, 2006 - Court Avoids Abortion Issue in N.H. Case
"The Supreme Court gave New Hampshire a chance to salvage its restrictions on abortion Wednesday, sidestepping for now an emotional subject that is likely to be revisited when a new justice joins the court..."
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January 18, 2006 - Politicos wait for dominoes to fall
"Republicans in Minnesota Senate District 52 are in a holding pattern this winter as they wait to see if incumbent Sen. Michele Bachmann, R-Stillwater, is endorsed by the party for a U.S. House race..."
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January 18, 2006 - Spying on Ordinary Americans
"In times of extreme fear, American leaders have sometimes scrapped civil liberties in the name of civil protection. It's only later that the country can see that the choice was a false one and that citizens' rights were sacrificed to carry out extreme measures that were at best useless and at worst counterproductive..."
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January 17, 2006 - Al Gore: The executive branch's own threat to democracy
"As we begin this new year, the executive branch of our government has been caught eavesdropping on huge numbers of American citizens and has brazenly declared that it has the unilateral right to continue without regard to the established law enacted by Congress to prevent such abuses..."
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January 17, 2006 - Supreme Court Upholds Oregon Suicide Law
"The Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked the Bush administration's attempt to punish doctors who help terminally ill patients die, protecting Oregon's one-of-a-kind assisted-suicide law..."
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January 17, 2006 - ACLU Sues to Stop Domestic Spy Program
"Civil liberties groups filed lawsuits in two cities Tuesday seeking to block President Bush's domestic eavesdropping program, arguing the electronic surveillance of American citizens was unconstitutional..."
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January 17, 2006 - President's power grab threatens rule of law
"Five years ago this week, the Bush administration came into office determined to reverse what Vice President Cheney and others regarded as undue limits on presidential power. The administration's power grab has reached such brazen heights that President Bush now claims he is above the law..."
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January 16, 2006 - The 70% solution
"Once again Gov. Tim Pawlenty has advanced a plan requiring school districts to spend at least 70 percent of their funding in the classroom. Last year, he advocated for a 65 percent classroom spending requirement, which was defeated. Once again, we oppose this idea for many reasons, but one reigns supreme: It will do nothing to improve student performance..."
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January 16, 2006 - Candidate forum may be preview of fall campaign
"In their first joint appearance of the 2006 campaign, three of the four DFL Party candidates for governor, plus a stand-in for the fourth, pledged Sunday to fight for health care for all Minnesotans, preschool education for children as young as 3 and a guarantee that abortion will remain legal and available..."
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January 15, 2006 - DeLay Losing Support in Own District
"Barely one of every five of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's constituents would vote for him if the election were held now, according to a newspaper poll released Saturday..."
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January 14, 2006 - Dems Ready Proposal on Code of Conduct
"Democrats intend to unveil a sweeping plan this week to tighten Congress' code of conduct, officials said Saturday night, including a ban on lobbyists' gifts to lawmakers and a crackdown on special interest provisions slipped into legislation in the final moments before passage..."
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January 13, 2006 - For lack of body armor, troops die. Why the delay?
"After Army and Marine Corps generals were summoned Wednesday to a closed-door briefing on Capitol Hill, the brass emerged with vows to improve body armor for all U.S. troops in Iraq.."
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January 13, 2006 - Records Show Army Ended Abuse Probe Early
"The Army closed a criminal investigation of abuse allegations by an Iraqi detainee last year, finding no reason to believe his claims, even though no Americans involved in the case were questioned, according to Pentagon records made public Thursday..."
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January 13, 2006 - Is candidacy a move toward state's moderate middle?
"The political alliance of Kelly Doran and state Sen. Sheila Kiscaden as DFL candidates for governor and lieutenant governor has the potential to change the dynamics of Minnesota's long unproductive slog toward getting its electoral politics to align more realistically with the practical centrism that seeks the common good..."
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January 13, 2006 - "Classroom expenses": Pawlenty's latest education shenanigans
"Not so very long ago, theoretically serious people were making theoretically serious remarks about Tim Pawlenty running for President. Now Minnesota's governor is on a press conference per day pace out of fear that he won't even win reelection..."
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January 12, 2006 - Saltzman to campaign for State Senate in District 56
"In announcing her campaign for the Minnesota State Senate in District 56, Kathy Saltzman of Woodbury is emphasizing her commitment to work on issues that will strengthen Minnesota’s competitive advantage and high quality of life over the next decades..."
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January 12, 2006 - Stop limiting view to what you want to see
"In recent history, Dwight Eisenhower had Sherman Adams, Richard Nixon had Watergate, Ronald Reagan had Iran-contra, Bill Clinton had Monica, and now President Bush has spying, torture, abuses of executive power and, swirling around his presidency, corruption scandals already implicating key allies like Tom DeLay..."
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January 12, 2006 - Judge Alito, in His Own Words
"Some commentators are complaining that Judge Samuel Alito Jr.'s confirmation hearings have not been exciting, but they must not have been paying attention..."
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January 12, 2006 - Sen. Biden Suggests Scrapping Hearings
"Supreme Court nominees are so mum about the major legal issues at their Senate confirmation hearings that the hearings serve little purpose and should probably be abandoned, Democratic Sen. Joe Biden said Thursday..."
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January 11, 2006 - Another crony in a vital U.S. job
"After the humiliating performance of FEMA Director Michael Brown in New Orleans last fall, most Americans assumed that President Bush had learned some lessons about appointing political cronies to consequential government jobs..."
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January 10, 2006 - Revived K-12 funding plan is still flawed
"Gov. Tim Pawlenty wants most Minnesota school districts to spend their budget dollars differently. Convinced that "there are too many steps between superintendents and students," this week he recommended that all districts be required to spend at least 70 percent of their funding on classroom instruction..."
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January 10, 2006 - More like George III than George W.
"Who would ever have thought that 230 years after we told the English king, George III, where to get off, we would find ourselves in the hands of George IV? But here we are..."
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January 10, 2006 - History reveals unsavory mix of religion, constitutional law
"A few days after Christmas other Roman Catholic pastors in Minnesota and I received a mailing from the bishops of the state. It was not a word of appreciation after one of the more demanding weekends of the year, nor was it a word of blessing for the coming year. Rather it was to inform us that we were to lead a postcard campaign in our parishes petitioning our legislators to place the issue of a "constitutional marriage amendment" on the ballot for November..."
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January 10, 2006 - Kiscaden joins Doran in DFL race
"Looking to broaden his appeal to independents and Republicans, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Kelly Doran on Monday announced as his running mate state Sen. Sheila Kiscaden of Rochester, the Legislature's lone Independence Party member..."
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January 9, 2006 - Rights at risk
"In Samuel Alito's own words, he was drawn to a career in the law because he objected to what he viewed as mistakes by the U.S. Supreme Court..."
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January 8, 2006 - Fear and loathing of freedom in White House
"Maybe then it would be easier to look the other way, give a tacit nod to the abrogation of constitutional freedoms as a wartime necessity. After all, Abraham Lincoln suspended the right of habeas corpus during the Civil War and history does not begrudge him for it, given that he faced an enemy massed almost literally within sight of the White House..."
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January 7, 2006 - Seven ways the GOP can promote reform
"I don't know what's more pathetic, Jack Abramoff's sleaze or Republican paralysis in the face of it...."
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January 7, 2006 - Bush pressures Congress on spending, tax cuts
"President George W. Bush pressed the U.S. Congress on Saturday to cut nearly $40 billion in spending and extend tax cuts, steps he said will help keep the U.S. economy on track..."
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January 7, 2006 - Democrats want sweeping House ethics investigation
"Democrats seized on a mushrooming scandal involving a disgraced lobbyist on Saturday to call for sweeping ethics probes in the Republican-led House of Representatives..."
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January 7, 2006 - DeLay quits House leadership post
"Embattled Rep. Tom DeLay today abandoned his bid to remain as House majority leader, clearing the way for leadership elections among Republicans eager to shed the taint of scandal..."
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January 6, 2006 - Jim Kielkopf: Stick to the facts in this debate
"In recent Opinion Exchange pieces, House Speaker Steve Sviggum and Gov. Tim Pawlenty's communications director, Brian McClung, attacked Star Tribune columnist Nick Coleman for criticizing the governor's recent report on the costs of undocumented immigrants..."
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January 6, 2006 - Mayors condemn part of Pawlenty's immigration plan
"The mayors and police chiefs of St. Paul and Minneapolis have come out staunchly against a plan announced by Gov. Tim Pawlenty to roll back "sanctuary laws" that restrict immigration enforcement by local police..."
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January 5, 2006 - Incoming
"All of official Washington is at this moment waiting with bated breath for the avalanche. Jack Abramoff, the disgraced super-lobbyist, has made a plea agreement in the massive prosecution against him and his cronies..."
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January 5, 2006 - Political Theater of the Absurd
"THE bad guy with a fondness for quoting the most extortionary lines of "The Godfather" walks out of the courtroom dressed like a film noir villain. He was there because his pretty-boy partner had already dropped a dime on him. Lying, cheating, stealing, gambling ... and Indians..."
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January 5, 2006 - Harman Faults White House on NSA Briefings
"The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee told President Bush Wednesday that the White House broke the law by withholding information from the full congressional oversight committees about a new domestic surveillance program..."
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January 5, 2006 - Welcome (back) to the Neighborhood
"Doors to the $25 million Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center for Community Building swing open to the public today. The attractive facility, formerly known as Neighborhood House, provides acculturation and practical services for newcomers to our country and state..."
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January 5, 2006 - Midterm elections developing into battles
"With the return this week of the 109th Congress after last year's bruising session, it is open season for speculation about November's midterm election. The collapse of President Bush's landmark Social Se-curity initiative, the battles over Supreme Court nominations, the scandals real and threatened involving Republican leaders, and the signs of fraying inside the GOP coalition have raised the stakes in the coming House and Senate campaigns..."
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January 5, 2006 - Abramoff Pleads Guilty to Fraud in Fla.
"With two sets of guilty pleas in as many days, once-powerful Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff now must cooperate with federal prosecutors in a broad Congressional corruption probe if he wants a lighter prison sentence..."
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January 5, 2006 - Facing suit, anonymous blogger lifts his mask
"A feisty anonymous Minnesota political blogger has unmasked himself in the face of a lawsuit that claims his blog defamed a local public relations firm..."
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January 4, 2006 - Jack Gordon: Christians would do well to avoid teaching of ID in public schools
"The argument over whether intelligent design should be taught side by side with evolution in public school science classes invites deep thought on some enduring mysteries..."
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January 4, 2006 - Jobs picture mixed for Minnesota
"After four years of dawdling, Minnesota's job market in 2005 finally recovered all the jobs it lost to the 2001 recession and its aftermath. Then the job comeback faded..."
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January 4, 2006 - You can't fool with inflation, state learns
"Most state governments do it. So do most businesses. But not Minnesota's state government..."
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January 4, 2006 - Keep track of Kennedy's words
"Representative Mark Kennedy voted last week on a bill that included opening ANWR (the Alaskan Natural Wildlife Reserve) to oil exploration. He obviously lied to us when he said he opposed that drilling. His explanation for his vote is manure..."
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January 4, 2006 - Do you see what I see?
"Well, Christmas has come and gone, and Santa disappointed me again. I thought I was being practical: no requests for iPods or XBoxes for me, just new glasses..."
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January 4, 2006 - Illegal immigration a 'real issue'
"If you're an illegal immigrant, watch out. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty wants to crack down on you and those who might employ you or provide you with false identification cards..."
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January 4, 2006 - Bush, frustrated by Patriot Act resistance, checking in with Pentagon
"President Bush is taking advantage of a winter congressional recess to lobby for permanent extension of the terror-fighting USA Patriot Act and rap lawmakers who thwarted it in a rush to recess last month..."
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January 3, 2006 - Editorial: No free lunch in cutting taxes
"At a Washington, D.C., luncheon in 1974, economist Arthur Laffer told some friends about his theory that the government could cut tax rates and, by triggering a burst of economic activity, actually increase its overall tax collections..."
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January 3, 2006 - Intelligence Panel Had Clue About Spying
"Congressional intelligence committees had at least a hint in October 2001 that the National Security Agency was expanding its surveillance activities after the 9/11 attacks, according to a letter released Tuesday by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi..."
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January 3, 2006 - Abramoff Pleads Guilty, Will Cooperate
"Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist who spawned a congressional corruption scandal, pleaded guilty Tuesday to three felonies and pledged to cooperate in a criminal probe edging closer to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay..."
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January 3, 2005 - Editorial: An American right is under siege
"Minnesota has a lot to share with its nearby states, and medical expertise is high on the list. But things have gone awry when a next-door neighbor must ship in Minnesota doctors to perform a procedure local physicians could easily undertake..."
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January 3, 2006 - Lee Stagg: Our job is to teach the best science
"Even though U.S. District Judge John Jones in Pennsylvania ruled on Dec. 19 that intelligent design could not be taught in Dover area public schools, those associated with the movement have promised a much longer fight over the issue..."
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January 3, 2006 - Minnesota a political hot spot for 2006
"Ron Carey and Brian Melendez don't agree on much, but the chairmen of Minnesota's Republican and Democratic-Farmer-Labor parties concur that state voters are in for unusually spirited, intense and expensive election campaigns in 2006..."
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January 3, 2006 - Don't let Congress fool you with deficit 'reduction' bill
"A new year brings new hope. And in this year it would be nice to see in Washington a new commitment to fiscal restraint and a resolve to bequeath a solvent government and robust economy to future generations..."
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January 2, 2006 - The I-Word is Gaining Ground--UPDATED
" In 1998, House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, currently under indictment on corruption charges, proclaimed: "This nation sits at a crossroads..."
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January 2, 2006 - Look to The Onion for Accurate War Coverage
"Sometimes, only The Onion gets it right..."
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