Like many bloggers, I have a set of Google alerts set to send me all the stories that are out there on the "inter-tubes" about candidates and races I am interested in (note to self - must set one for the Chaffetz race). Naturally, I have one set for the Franken/Coleman race. When I set it up, I set it up for blogs and news stories and every now and then, the blogs alert sends me a diamond that I obviously would have never seen, in my crazy day, had I not had the alert. Today, I got one of those diamonds...

Today we enjoy the Monticello Riverfest parade. I love a parade!

As usual, the people watching is remarkable.

Especially the dude who sits by me in a "Keep Kids Off Drugs" who is totally stoned and spaced out.

We stand for the color guard and are so proud of any of the military people we see marching or retired ones that are riding.

We marvel at the horses and snicker at the pooper scoopers that follow them (why is poop so dang funny?).

We clap like crazy for the bands and the flag/fake wood rifle girls.

When Al Franken's wife and his posse with Al Franken signs (i.e. those dirty hippies with floppy hats and ugly brown sandals) pass by there are crickets, I swear. It is pretty funny but even funnier is this guy at the end of the posse who tries to get the crowd fired up and yells, "Do you want change, or more of the same?!" and Trina my supercoolsistersays, "MORE OF THE SAME!".

Heh heh heh.

What more can you say?

Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum said that a Playboy column written by Senate candidate Al Franken eight years ago was offensive and presents a serious political problem for Democratic candidates this year.   McCollum, who had supported Franken rival Mike Ciresi until he dropped out of the race, told The Associated Press on Thursday that she was worried that Minnesota Democratic congressional candidates will be running with a candidate “who has pornographic writings that are indefensible.”

I guess in the end it doesn’t matter much how Al Franken loses this election, but a broadside from two key members of the Minnesota DFL’s Congressional delegation reflects a strange set of priorities. Betty McCollum and Keith Ellison attacked Franken not for his serial tax evasions or his failure to provide workers-comp insurance to his employees, but for a sexually graphic and sophomoric piece of fiction Franken wrote for Playboy eight years ago. Apparently for the DFL, breaking the law doesn’t rise to the level of outrage, but idiotic fantasy is a disqualification:

He says he won't rule out running for U.S. Senate and he repeatedly ripped Franken and Coleman with some very harsh words. He said he lives in Minnesota more than Al Franken and when he wrestled for 30 years in different states he knew he had to pay taxes where he earned the money. He wondered why a Harvard grad like Franken wouldn't know that. Moving on to Coleman, he was angry the Republican Party was using an old wrestling image of him in ads and said he'd like to see some images of a long-haired war protestor from years ago who was Norm Coleman.

This story gets worse and worse every day for Team Franken.

HT MDE

The AP released a story today on how Jack Nelson Pallmeyer has been the "surprise" beneficiary of the Franken campaign's self destruction.

On the Senate campaign trail, Al Franken frequently invokes the name of his friend, the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, as a major inspiration.

But as Franken moves to consolidate Democrats behind his challenge to Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, another Democrat is chipping into his support — one whose background and beliefs spark even greater Wellstone nostalgia for some voters.

Like Wellstone, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer is a college professor with a long history of political activism and fearless liberalism. His green-and-white campaign signs mimic the Wellstone placards that still hang in the front window of many a Democratic household, and that's not an accident.

However, unlike Wellstone!, Pallmeyer does not have the devoted legions behind him. Pallmeyer ran a constant 3rd behind Franken and Mike Cirisi (before Cirisi dropped out of the race) and in a head to head battle against incumbent Norm Coleman, Pallmeyer finishes 18 points back! Now I fully understand that can (and most likely will) change after the conventions, but that is an awfully deep hole to start in and it will be even harder to get out of the hole with some of the policies that Pallmeyer espouses. While these policies play very well with the DFL base, they will not play all that well with many of the strapped taxpayers who just want a little relief to their financial ills.

On Global Warming, Pallmeyer advocates reducing our output of greenhouse gases by 80% by 2030. The problem is the last time we were ever at that level of greenhouse gas production, it was 100 years ago. Does he really think that the average consumer is going to be willing to give up heating their homes, their showers and powering their toys? I suspect that once people hear exactly what that lofty goal entails, the answer will be no!

On Immigration Reform, Pallmeyer advocates legalizing all illegals who are here already (out of respect to family unity) and pulling out of trade agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA. Senators Clinton and Obama are both already backing away from those remarks, one (Sen. Obama) even admitted that he was simply using the issue as an election issue - telling a Canadian official that he "really didn't mean" what he said in Ohio on the issue.

Pallmeyer's idea of education reform is to repeal the Bush Tax Cuts on employers and using that money to pay for increased funding. The only problem with that will be when those employers leave the country, who is going to pay for the workers unemployment compensation? He also opposes No Child Left Behind (well something we agree on!) and would work to repeal that - if it does not get done already by the current congress.

On health care, Pallmeyer supports putting the same bureaucrats that are in charge of the Veterans Administration in charge of your health care. Oh, I know he does not exactly say that on his issues page, but he does say that he wants a system that covers everyone and that is paid for at taxpayer expense. The government already has the VA in place, so if they do take over health care for the rest of us, you know that the bureaucracy in place will not rest until they get their hands on YOUR tax dollars - one way or another!

Jack Nelson Pallmeyer is probably a very nice man....definitely well meaning. However, former Senator Wellstone was that and much more. He was inspirational, he was thoughtfull and he (most importantly) he respected ALL of his constituents whether they agreed with him or not. I still remember the interviews that he did with Jason Lewis when Lewis was still on KSTP-AM. Those interviews were some of the best radio I have ever heard in my life. While Lewis and Wellstone disagreed on just about everything, they did so in a way that was well sourced, well thought out and 100% respectfull of each other. I simply do not see that respect for the other side in any of the current crop of state and local Democrats (and to be fair in a few Republicans as well). Wellstone was one of a kind and we are a poorer state because of his loss (yes this conservative did just say something nice about a liberal).

Does Pallmeyer stand a ghost of a chance against Franken or Coleman? Well, let's just say that as much as he wishes it were so, Jack Nelson Pallmeyer is no Paul Wellstone. At least not as far as I can see...

Allen Chanzis
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"We paid taxes on every cent of income we ever had," Franken told AP. "What happened is our accountant made a mistake, and all of these are repercussions of that same mistake. His mistake was not understanding the law, the obligation to pay these state taxes." Following his accountant's advice, he said, he and his wife, Franni, paid their entire income tax bill to the city and state where they were living at the time.

"I've been told to say, 'No comment,'" Chanzis said, without saying who had instructed him to do so. Refusing to discuss any mistakes, he added: "I've been told you have the information you need."

Revelations concerning DFL U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken’s taxes has not shaken the support of local lawmakers who have endorsed the comedian.

Indeed, several lawmakers point to a perceived quickness on Franken’s part in dealing with the tax flap as evidence of a take-the-bull-by-the-horns mentality desirable in a public official.

It’s always a big deal politically when the unpaid taxes issue crops up for a candidate., said Rep. Shelley Madore, DFL-Apple Valley. “It’s unfortunate that this wasn’t vetted out before (by his campaign),” said Madore.

“But now that it’s been vetted out — he took responsibility quickly, didn’t hide behind the, ‘I didn’t understand,’” she said. “I still believe that he’s a truthful, honest person and that was an oversight,” she said.

The divvying up of tax payments based on where you've worked is called apportionment, and while accountant Michael Shaffer says it can be complex to calculate, it's not exactly an obscure accounting principle.

"I learned it in my first tax class in college" he says.

Sen. Don Betzold, DFL-Fridley, isn’t mulling over his endorsement of Franken. “No. I think he’s a good candidate,” said Betzold.

If Franken’s accountant made mistakes — Franken signed-off on the taxes, true — but then Franken shouldn’t be held completely responsible, he opined.

Rep. Tom Tillberry, DFL-Fridley, also opined Franken reacted quickly to the tax issue.

Tillberry views Franken as moving ahead politically undamaged. “I mean, if he is — if people think that — I can’t agree with them,” he said. “What it points out to me is how well someone can take care of problems when they come up,” said Tillberry.

“If a person steps up and says, ‘This is my fault this is happening and I’m going to take care of it,’ isn’t that the type of integrity we want,” he rhetorically asked.

If Al Franken REALLY wants to take responsibility ….he will, along with his lawyers, accountants, financial advisers, et al, hold a press conference and answer the many lingering questions about this mess.  I’m sure the press corps, both local and national, would welcome the opportunity, as should Franken if he really wants to get out  from under the cloud hovering over his campaign and put it behind him.

Some questions that quickly come to mind include:

How did Team Franken decide on $70,000 and 17 states?

Does the $70,000 include penalties and interest?

Who told him he had no tax liability in the first place?

Who signed off on the termination process for Al Franken, Inc. in California?

How come the stories out of the Franken Campaign kept changing?

Does this settle all outstanding legal and financial issues for Al Franken, Inc?

Responding to new Republican charges that DFL U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken
hid income from California tax authorities for years, Franken's campaign said
Thursday that his accountant is trying to sort out whether taxes are owed.

Republicans, who for more than a year have eagerly unearthed controversial
tidbits from Franken's comedy routines and books, have in recent weeks
discovered several slip-ups in the celebrity's business life. On Thursday, they
claimed to have found another possible irregularity, a charge that has yet to be
resolved.