Archive for 2009
Iowa Endures Largest Monthly Increase in Unemployment in Quarter Century
The new numbers released late last week by Iowa Workforce Development continue to highlight the worst employment trend the Hawkeye State has faced in more than three decades. Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased from 5.1 in April to 5.8…
Read MoreMinnesota U.S. Senate Race Still Fodder for Late-Night Comedians
Now seven and a half months out from Election Day, the U.S. Senate contest between DFLer Al Franken and Republican Norm Coleman is still providing a few yucks on late-night television. In recent weeks, Bill Maher has been a virtual…
Read MoreIs the Minnesota US House Delegation Voting More Conservatively?
With the DFL winning a string of 9 consecutive presidential elections, 4 out of 5 U.S. Senate contests (counting Al Franken), and netting 35 state House and 11 state Senate seats since 2002, Minnesota has been frequently characterized as an…
Read MorePawlenty Unallotment Strategy, Decision Not to Run in 2010 Have Little Impact on Approval Ratings
Just as Tim Pawlenty’s announcement that he would use an unallotment strategy to resolve the state’s budget crisis had little impact on his approval ratings in late May, his decision to not seek a third term as Minnesota’s Governor also…
Read MoreMinnesota, Wisconsin Lead Nation in Largest Proportion of House Committee Leadership Posts
U.S. Representative John Kline’s (MN-02) election this week as the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and Labor further established the Gopher State’s House delegation as one of the most powerful in the nation. Minnesota now has…
Read MoreObama Approval Rating Dips Below 60 Percent in Minnesota
It took nearly half a year, but President Barack Obama’s approval rating finally fell below the 60 percent mark in the Gopher State, according to the latest round of monthly polls conducted by SurveyUSA. Obama had previously notched an…
Read MoreSouth Dakota Unemployment Rate Reaches 5 Percent for First Time Since 1985
New unemployment numbers released by the South Dakota Department of Labor quickly doused the short-lived optimism about the economic situation in the Upper Midwest, which had seen historic increases in the jobless rates across the Upper Midwest halt and slightly…
Read MoreHow Will Pawlenty’s Unallotment Impact State’s Higher Ed Ranking?
When Governor Tim Pawlenty proposed a collective unallotment of $100 million to the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MNSCU) system on Tuesday, higher education officials breathed a short sigh of relief. After the end of…
Read MoreWhy Michele Bachmann’s Political Ideology Is the Boldest Among U.S. House Republicans
Continuing to serve as a lightning rod for the political left in the Gopher State, the month of June has seen Representative Michele Bachmann maintain her remarkably high profile among not only the Minnesota Congressional delegation, but also nationally…
Read MoreU.S. Military Fatalities Continue at Record High Pace in Afghanistan, Record Low Pace in Iraq
As President Barack Obama approaches the 5-month mark of his administration, his political supporters, especially those on the liberal end of the ideological spectrum, are faced with reconciling the President’s campaign promises on the military, national security, and the country’s…
Read More