Media criticism

Clown car politics: MNGOP circus strategy travels to Minnesota’s Eighth CD

Posted in Congress, Media criticism, Minnesota Women Writers, Politics, Prairie, Range, Sally Jo Sorensen, Weblogs on February 18th, 2010 by Sally Jo Sorensen – Be the first to comment
Clowncar On Tuesday, I posted Road trip: MNGOP brings clown car politics to Minnesota's Seventh, which looked at the expansion of the Clown Car Syndrome as a political strategy into the sprawling rural district:
Back in 2007, potential candidates started lining up in Southern Minnesota to run against then-freshman representative Tim Walz. By 2008, FDL/Mercury Rising blogger Phoenix Woman soon identified this as "The Clown Car" Syndrome, a strategy the MNGOP appears to be repeating in the First. Given the anemic fundraising by the candidates running against Walz, it's more of a kiddies' party than three-ring circus. The Republican Party seems to be taking the clown car on the road to Minnesota 's Seventh Congressional District, a seat now held powerful House Agriculture Chair and Blue Dog Collin Peterson. While progressives across the country are dismayed by Peterson's voting record, he remains quite popular in the sprawling rural district. Four potential candidates have hitched a ride.
Since then, Forum newspapers have learned to check the Minnesota CD7 website, since the new candidates aren't sending out press releases. Unlike Bluestem, the papers' accounts-- and Minnpost's digest of them--aren't acknowledging the Clown Car Syndrome, or the long shot nature of the bids. More...

Lazy NASCAR weekend reporting: WCCO asleep at the wheel on Hahn proposal

Posted in MN Governor 2010, Media criticism, Minnesota Women Writers, Politics, Sally Jo Sorensen on February 14th, 2010 by Sally Jo Sorensen – Be the first to comment
Earnhardtjrflips-300x165 The Daytona 500 is being run today, or will be when the track gets fixed. Meanwhile, WCCO reports that Independence Party Candidate For Gov. Calls For Gambling Expansion:
A candidate for governor is calling for an expansion of gambling in the state. Rob Hahn is in the running for the Independent Party nomination. On Sunday, he proposed allowing betting on stock cars at local tracks across the state. In a news release titled, "Ladies and Gentlemen Start Your Betting," Hahn said the state needs to look seriously at every possible new form of revenue. He said money generated through gambling would go to the state's general fund. "Minnesota can really be a leader in this area of betting on local stock car races," Hahn stated in the press release. "The feedback I've gotten from voters, particularly in the past few days while in Mankato and St. Peter, has been very favorable." ...
Stock car racing is popular across rural Minnesota, and I don't doubt that Mr. Hahn has gotten people's hopes up. Unfortunately, WCCO didn't conduct the minimal fact checking about Hahn's proposal. More...

Another Bachmann moment, brought to you by the Mayo Health Policy Blog

Posted in Congress, Media analysis, Media criticism, Minnesota Women Writers, Politics, Sally Jo Sorensen, health care on February 12th, 2010 by Sally Jo Sorensen – Be the first to comment
Bachmannindy A headline today at the Minnesota Independent notes: Poll: Majority of Minnesotans ‘embarrassed’ by Bachmann. Recent news coming from Rochester may help illustrate why Minnesotans feel that way. Yesterday, Mayo's Health Policy Blog posted this entry (emphasis added):
Payment Reform and Coverage for All a Step in the Right Direction
We have been asked about the financial impact of health care reform bills on Mayo Clinic. We reiterate that both the House and Senate bills include important steps toward creating a more equitable and higher value health care system, consistent with the cornerstones of the Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center. We believe that reform provisions, which set the stage to rework the way Medicare pays for care (with the goal of transforming the current payment methods) have the potential to improve incentives for high quality doctors and hospitals and make it more possible for them to offer the highest quality care at the most reasonable cost. We have concerns about some of the across-the-board cuts in Medicare payments associated with the proposed legislation, which are a continuation of historical approaches to cutting prices rather than addressing utilization of care. However, we cannot quantify the net impact of those cuts with any level of specificity. In addition, the potential positive and negative financial impact of several reform provisions can not be quantified at this point. Expanding insurance coverage to more Americans is the right thing to do, and will also have a financial effect on providers. Doctors and hospitals will see fewer financial losses from charity care and bad debt. Yet, to the extent that this is accomplished through Medicaid expansion, it will result in more patients being cared for in a system that reimburses below cost and does not reward good care provided at a reasonable cost. We are confident that expanding insurance coverage and moving Medicare in the direction of paying for value will positively transform health care delivery in the United States. Reforming health care in America is essential. The status quo is not sustainable, and Mayo Clinic remains firmly committed to moving forward with patient-centered reform.
While the Mayo Clinic's Health Policy Center is optimistic that the pay-for-quality reforms in the bill are good step and cautiously guarded about the across-the-board cuts, the gentlewoman from Minnesota's Sixth was quite confident that Mayo would suffer thirty percent cuts in federal funding in her remarks to the audience at a campaign event for MN01 GOP congressional hopeful Allen Quist.
More.