Over the decades, MPR has presented the many different perspectives of Minnesota politics and politicians. This collection is home to a multitude speeches, interviews and debates on the issues of the day. Important topics of civil rights, environment, crime, budget, legislation, and campaigns are addressed.
Click on link to these well-known figures to see audio segments directly related to them: Michele Bachmann Arne Carlson Keith Ellison Hubert Humphrey Amy Klobuchar Eugene McCarthy Walter Mondale Tim Pawlenty R.T. Rybak Jesse Ventura Paul Wellstone
April 7, 2004 - Morning Edition’s Cathy Wurzer interviews Republican Representative Marty Siefert about legislation that would require drivers license tests be given only in English. The change was proposed as an amendment to a larger transportation bill. Currently, the written portion of the Minnesota drivers license exam is given in several languages, including Hmong, Somali, and Spanish.
April 22, 2004 - Governor Pawlenty heads to St. Louis today in the hopes of using the state's shareholder power to force the world's largest drug company to lower prescription drug prices for Americans. The governor intends to speak in support of a shareholder proposal that would limit how much Pfizer can charge for its drugs. Minnesota owns less than one percent of Pfizer's total value but Pawlenty hopes his visit will get the ball rolling on a shareholder initiative to lower prescription drug prices. Pawlenty is optimistic that others will join his cause. But critics say any proposal to change pricing is unlikely to pass because it would harm Pfizer's stock price. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports.... {Governor Pawlenty's main goal is to recruit enough shareholders to force Pfizer officials to cut drug prices in the U.S. and allow drug reimportation from foreign countries where price controls and other market factors force drug companies to charge less. Pawlenty says he's been trying to persuade large pension fund managers from states like New York and California to join his cause. In any case, it won't happen this year. His proposal isn't on the agenda because the state missed the company's deadline. But it probably won't hurt and could help to wait a year because passing a shareholder resolution is a tough challenge. Pfizer shareholders have not approved any proposals in recent memory. Nevertheless, Pawlenty will argue free trade is allowed on everything from toasters to automobiles and it's only fair that the practice be extended to prescription drugs.
April 22, 2004 - (NOTE: DATE REFERENCE IN FIRST GRAPH) Governor Tim Pawlenty is offering a plan to return Minnesota Twins games to television. Nearly two-thirds of the team's games are being televised this year by Victory Sports One, a start-up cable channel owned by the team. But the new channel isn't carried by the state's largest cable and satellite providers. Pawlenty is worried the blackout will sour Minnesotans on a proposed new ballpark for the team. So he's now asking the state Bureau of Mediation Services to help the parties craft a deal that puts the games back on TV. While Victory Sports One is welcoming Pawlenty's involvement, the state's two largest cable companies say the proposal misses the mark. Minnesota Public Radio's Michael Khoo has more.
April 22, 2004 - MPR’s Tom Scheck reports Governor Tim Pawlenty was unsuccessful in his efforts to persuade the shareholders of Pfizer, the world's largest drug company, to charge Americans less for prescriptions. In report, Pawlenty speaks on re-importation of drugs.
April 23, 2004 - Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil reports on JOBZ (Job Opportunity Building Zones), a Minnesota jobs program. What Governor Tim Pawlenty calls the "mother of all economic incentives" has landed its first big out-of-state prize for rural Minnesota. A South Dakota company says Minnesota's JOBZ program played an important role in its decision to expand to Luverne…but despite Pawlenty's enthusiasm, officials with Total Card, Inc. say JOBZ was not the most important factor.
April 23, 2004 -
April 29, 2004 - MPR’s Marisa Helms reports on Ramsey County and St. Paul city officials beginning an education campaign they hope will prepare residents to welcome the newest Minnesotans…1000 to 5000 Hmong refugees that will resettle in the county in the next few months.
May 3, 2004 - MPR’s Dan Gunderson profiles Coya Knutson, the first woman elected to Congress from Minnesota. In May 1954, Coya Knutson stepped to a podium in Moorhead to announce she was running for Congress. Then, in November 1954, Knutson became the first woman elected to Congress from Minnesota. Congresswoman Knutson made a splash in Washington with her plainspoken politics and persuasive personality. But she also challenged the leadership of the newly formed Minnesota DFL party.
May 5, 2004 - A group of mostly-immigrant workers at a meat-packing plant in Buffalo Lake turned down a chance to unionize today. Union organizers charge some workers at the Minnesota Beef Industries plant were threatened or intimidated into not voting to unionize. Minnesota Beef would not comment on the matter. An increasingly large immigrant labor force is changing the way Minnesota's meat-packing plants do business -- and the wages they're willing to pay. Katherine Fennelly (FENN-a-lee) is a professor specializing in immigration and public policy at the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota. She says immigrants are doing work that others won't.
May 13, 2004 - Governor Tim Pawlenty says he's taking the next step on the issue of drug reimportation. A plan Pawlenty announced today (Thurs) would allow Minnesota's 120 thousand state employees to get certain drugs at no cost to them if they buy from a Canadian internet pharmacy. He says the employees and the state will save a significant amount of money on drug costs. Minnesota is the first state in the nation to take such action. But critics say the action is illegal and will have a short shelf life. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports....