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As heated discussions continue over the national debt, two of Minnesota’s major political parties are wresting with significant debts of their own. According to Federal Election Commission reports filed at the end of July, both the GOP and DFL continue to carry debt from the 2010 election cycle. The Republican Party of Minnesota owes the most — more than $600,000 while the DFL owes close to $300,000.

The New Mexico House passed a Democratic-backed redistricting plan this morning, with every Republican in the chamber voting against the proposal. The Alamogordo Daily News reports : It would pit incumbents against each other in two redrawn districts, and sets up the possibility of another competitive pairing

In the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee on Thursday, Sen. Al Franken spoke about his Student Non-Discrimination Act and lamented that the bill, which would beef up national anti-bullying policies, was not included in the proposed revamp of No Child Left Behind that’s being considered in the Senate. Franken spoke of several recent suicides of LGBT students around the country, including Justin Aaberg who attended the Anoka-Hennepin School District

The New York Times made an incredibly moving video about what it’s like to live in Swat under the rule of the Taliban. The barbarism on display is repugnant:

Our sister publication, The Michigan Messenger, has been doing some great reporting on a massive oil spill along the Kalamazoo River in Calhoun County, Mich.,

The ACLU sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder demanding that the Obama administration live up their repeated promise not to prosecute people for using medical marijuana in compliance with state and local laws. Though Obama and the DOJ have said several times that they would not use federal resources to go after those who are complying with state laws allowing the use of medical marijuana, U.S

Further fueling the speculation that U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) may be making a bid for the White House in 2012, she handed out jerseys with “Bachmann” on the front and “12? on the back at a reception Thursday evening

The New York Times reported that the National Security Agency improperly wiretapped a member of Congress who was part of a Congressional delegation to the

Michigan residents could vote via absentee ballots for any reason under election reforms proposed by Republicans last week, but because the package requires voters to pick up their ballots in person, the change might not make it much easier for some people to vote. Under the current rules a voter can only get an absentee ballot if they certify that they are 60 or older, expect to be away while polls are open, are physically unable to get to the polls, in jail awaiting arraignment or trial, can’t attend for religious reasons, or will be working as a election official in another precinct

Gov.

SANTA FE, N.M. -- A look at how Gov. Bill Richardson handled himself during the months before withdrawing his name for commerce secretary helps explain why, nationally, there was so much confusion and surprise at the news.

Apparently, Sen. John McCain doesn’t like it when he’s on the receiving end of false or misleading attacks. His campaign’s rapid response team kept busy today,

A number of moderate Democratic senators are pushing to scrap comprehensive climate legislation and instead pass a much weaker energy bill that has been called

A Christian group says it will target U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann over her opposition to President Obama’s jobs plan.

According to a poll released last week by Public Policy Polling , Colorado voters narrowly favor making same-sex marriage legal and favor legalizing civil unions by a more than 3-1 margin. “Colorado is the first ‘purple’ state where we’ve found a plurality of voters in support of gay marriage

When m ultiple media outlets reported Friday that Michele Bachmann’s entire campaign staff in New Hampshire had departed, Bachmann went on the defensive, blaming the media for fabricating the story. As it turned out, Bachmann had lost two of her five campaign staffer in New Hampshire, but nobody told her until after the press started calling.

The latest development in the battle over Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood’s mileage tax proposal: House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman

Well, that was more interesting than anyone could have reasonably expected it to be. The sense I’m getting from conservatives and GOP strategists is that the

As President Obama prepares to announce a plan next week to create more jobs, another fight over extending federal unemployment benefits is likely in the offing between the White House and the Republican-led House of Representatives. The San Francisco Chronicle reports : The president has called for another extension of benefits

A new report from the National Employment Law Project shows that many states, faced with serious budget problems, have passed laws limiting access to unemployment insurance benefits — including Michigan, of course. State lawmakers enacted a range of policies in 2011 to amend their unemployment insurance (UI) programs, most of them motivated by insolvent state trust funds. Most notably, six states passed unprecedented cuts in the duration of benefits, for the first time reducing benefit weeks to less than the decades-long accepted standard of 26 weeks.

Noah Shachtman at Danger Room has an alarming post about Tara O’Toole, the Obama administration’s pick to become Undersecretary of Homeland Security for Science

Fox News’ morning show Fox & Friends on Wednesday oversimplified and misrepresented an ongoing news story about a former Democratic congressman, an

The Department of Health and Human Services included a provision in its recent decision to make birth control a preventative service that would allow religious groups to refuse to cover contraceptive services. # The federal agency today announced it would be following the Institute of Medicine’s recommendation to include birth control and contraceptive services on a list of preventative care as the Affordable Care Act is implemented