Sample ballots for the August 10th Primary election are available here. Select your precinct from the list.

Here is a nice concise guide on the effects of the tax policies which will expire on Jan 1, 2011 unless the legislation is renewed, or new legislation passed.  Very little of the legislation passed by Congress has an expiration date but this does;

• Part I  rate tables comparison 2010 to 2011.
• Part II examples of typical situations: (Ex 1 : Fam of 4, $50,000 income, increase tax libility in 2011  =  $2136)
• Part III  additional info on child tax credits, marriage penalty, and the 10 percent tax bracket

Prepared by House Committee on Ways and Means - Republican

"Ever since Democrats ostentatiously signed [Pay-Go] into law, they have used every excuse in the book to avoid complying with it — in order to keep running up deficits and debt."

Read more here

James S. Henry and Laurence J. Kotlikoff have written this excellent piece on the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill which just passed both houses of Congress an is on the way to the President.

The Dodd-Frank bill does nothing to deal with Wall Street's central problem: systemic non-disclosure.

So long Glass-Steagall. Hello Dodd-Frank--the most comprehensive rewrite of financial rules since 1933. This 2,319-page colossus--10 times the length of Glass-Steagall--took 1.5 years to produce and will cost $30 billion and many more years to implement. Will all this time and treasure make Wall Street safe for Main Street?

No.

Read the full article here.

Oil Spill Timeline from RightChange on Vimeo.

Senator Tom Colburn has issued this 32 page report on the effects of ObamaCare will be on Americans.  Read the PDF file here.

Americans for Tax Reform have compiled  a list of taxes that will increase on Jan 1, 2011.  They range from income tax increases at every income level, to child exemptions, to capital gains taxes and more.  Read the report here or for the PDF version

h/t  Linda Stanton

The Lake Elmo city council recently passed an ordinance prohibiting farmers from selling products (produce) not raised locally on their farm.  The farmers are fighting back, and now it has taken on national interest with this article in Biggovernment.com.

I am not sure of the scope of the ordinance; I wonder if it prohibits stores from selling products not made in Lake Elmo? That would put all of them out of business. Sounds like one of the most ridiculous ordinances I have ever heard of.

Fees for a new passport will jump to $135 on July 13^th, which is a 35 percent increase.  Renewals will increase by 46 percent to $110. 

Read more on this at CNN

Marsha Swails (DFL) the incumbent Democrat state rep from Woodbury's SD56B announced that she and her husband of 36 years are divorciing. A larger problem for the Swails's is the $33,000 they owe in back taxes on their state and federal income taxes.

Read more on this at Twincities.com

Ms. Swails is another of the many teachers who also happen to be legislators. I have always felt this was a strong conflict of interest since 50 percent of the state budget is education related. It would seem she has a strong intrest in the teachers pay, benefits, and the teachers union instead of what is best for the students.

Last evening Michele Bachmann had her annual picnic for supporters and volunteers.  The event was held at Tartan Park and the evening was great, though a little more of a breeze would have been welcome,  

Representative Steve King from Iowa was the keynote speaker. His speech was focused on two main areas, ObamaCare and illegal immigration. Congressman King was on target with his criticisms of the Obama admin which continues to do exactly the opposite of what most Americans believe needs to be done in these areas.

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D - MN) gets down to serious issues with Elena Kagen, supreme court nominee and "Twilight" is on her mind;

It is good to know our MN Senators ask the important questions of the day.