Almanac: At the Capitol

A popular bumper sticker from the 2004 presidential campaign simply stated: "November 2nd," signifying the date of the election and those displeased with the politics and policies of the Bush administration to change course.

Had that bumper sticker — and the election calendar — been in effect in 2006, the 2007 legislative session would have been decidedly different.
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With the 2007 session now concluded, I can let you know there's some good, bad and ugly in terms of the results and cooperation from the House Republican perspective.
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The Good

The session finished on time. Kudos to Speaker Kelliher who drove the session to a close, from first day to last, even though House Republicans did everything in final hours to make sure that didn't happen.
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Last January, I was asked to make a wish list for the coming legislative session which has now (maybe?) come to a close. While I had a number of specific policy initiatives I wanted to see lawmakers act upon, I had one overriding piece of advice: Think big.
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Not bad. Not bad at all.

That would be my rating for the Governor and the legislative session this year.
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As of the moment I write this, the denizens of the Great State of Minnesota are still not sure whether their governor will sign, line-item veto or completely veto several key pieces of legislation.
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I'm a Democrat. This means that I should be incensed right now at the results of the recently-concluded legislative session, right?

Not so much.
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I was surprised to read Rep. Siefert's latest blog submission. I'm not sure what's with all the doom and gloom considering he told his local Marshall paper that he is optimistic that the legislative session can end on time.
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The passage of the statewide smoking ban has brought a collective sigh of relief to both sides of the Minnesota River where it bends to the northeast in southern Minnesota. On the north side of the river is North Mankato, which has steadfastly resisted instituting a citywide smoking ban in restaurants and bars despite pressure from citizens, local physicians and nurses groups and the Mankato Area Smoke-free Coalition.
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Having lived in Italy for a couple of years, I have acquired a real love for Renaissance art, good Italian food, and espresso — God's gift to the somnolent universe.

I was indulging this latter passion with my DFL friend, Bob, in our weekly coffee session, when I noticed he seemed a bit down.
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