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 14, 2009 - Margaret Anderson Kelliher, speaker of the Minnesota House; and Larry Pogemiller, the Minnesota Senate majority leader, discuss the $4.6 billion budget shortfall and other key issues being negotiated in the final five weeks of the 2009 Legislative session.
May 18, 2009 - University of Minnesota and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System Colleges expect big tuition increases.
May 18, 2009 - Minnesota's safety net hospitals are sifting through their options after Governor Pawlenty eliminated public insurance coverage for up to 35,000 of the state's poorest adults to balance the budget. The cuts don't take effect until the middle of 2010. But hospitals say they will have to start making some tough decisions now to make up for the expected *reductions*. Minnesota Public Radio's Lorna Benson reports. {
May 19, 2009 - MPR’s Tom Scheck reports that the number of people on the state's payroll has grown even though thousands of government employees have retired since Governor Tim Pawlenty ordered a hiring freeze at state agencies.
May 20, 2009 - Unallotment was used in the past. Unallotment allows the governor to cut spending unilaterally in the event of a budget crisis. It's a power that's existed in state law since 1939. But it's been used only a few times in state history.
June 1, 2009 - MPR’s Elizabeth Stawicki reports on arguments to the Supreme Court over Senate seat.. Minnesota's long-running U.S. Senate race is in the hands of the Minnesota Supreme Court. Justices grilled attorneys for Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken during oral arguments. Coleman is appealing a three-judge panel's decision that put Franken ahead by 312 votes.
June 2, 2009 - Minnesota 5th District’s Keith Ellison, America's first Muslim member of Congress, reflects on his recent trips to the Mideast and previews President Obama's speech in Egypt. Ellison comments on how to rebuild U.S. relations with Muslim world and answers listener questions.
June 3, 2009 - Gov. Tim Pawlenty's decision to forego running for a third term is sending ripples through the political scene, on both the state and national levels. Midday's regular political analysts discuss the possible scenarios.
June 5, 2009 - Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher joins Midday to talk about the state's budget deficit, the unallotment process, her leadership of the just concluded 2009 legislative session, and a possible run for governor.
June 19, 2009 - As friends and colleagues mark the 25th anniversary of Joan Growe's 19-ballot DFL endorsement for the U.S. Senate in 1984, Growe joins Midday to talk about her career in politics. Growe also answers listener questions.