Ellison: Get Money Out of Politics

The Minnesota representative said lessons can be learned from the Wisconsin recall election.

Editor's Note: The following was written by Rep. Keith Ellison and first appeared on the Huffington Post, which is a partner of Patch.com. Last Tuesday, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker kept his job, but with a high price tag. In a state of only six million people, $60 million was poured into the race, $50 million of which went to Governor Walker. And almost half of that was spent by outside groups -- most of them not based in the state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin was not an isolated event. Since 2010, Super PACs and corporations have spent record amounts of money in elections nationwide. Corporate spending soared during the 2010 election cycle to over $290 million, four times more than the previous mid-term elections in 2006. Most of this spending…

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The Fifth District Report

Ellison: GOP’s Student Loan Bill Pits Health Care Against Education

The Minnesota congressman opposes using preventive health money to keep student loan rates low.

Rep. Keith Ellison slammed House Republicans’ decision to use the preventive health fund to keep student loan costs from doubling. Stafford loan interest rates were scheduled to grow from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. Both parties want to keep loans at the current rate. But Republicans want to pay for the $6 billion proposal through cuts, while Democrats want to pay for it with new revenue. In a Friday news release Ellison argued that one essential service shouldn’t be cut to fund another. The American people should never have to choose between their health and their education. Today House Republicans told women they can’t have preventive breast and cervical exams, and told children they can’t have regular check-ups or immunizations, if we …

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The Fifth District Report

Ellison, GOP Spar Over Corporate Money, State of the Union

The Democratic incumbent and his Republican challengers had sharp disputes this week.

The State of the Union Tuesday’s State of the Union speech saw a predictable split between Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Republican challengers, notably Chris Fields. Throughout the speech, Fields retweeted comments critical of President Barack Obama’s defense strategy and economic proposals. Ellison, on the other hand, praised the president’s comments. “I think that the president was looking at this speech as a way to highlight some of his accomplishments,” Ellison told MinnPost. “He was able to do that, he was able to project a good vision. He was contrasting his vision with that of some of his opponents.” The speech also saw Ellison and Fields exchange barbs via Twitter. Ellison tweeted, “Obama is not afraid of accusation 'class warfare…

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Brad Kadue

9:49 am on Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Elaine, I mostly agree with you, but where your comments and those of Mr. Ellison fall short (in my opinion) is that they focus only on the contributions of corporations and exclude any mention of labor unions and non-profits. If you look at it objectively, it's really quite sinister for the AFLCIO (for example) to spend $$ helping politicians get elected, and then meeting those same politicians …   more ›