Remember last fall Minnesotans had a hard time deciding who to send to the U.S. Senate between incumbent Republican Norm Coleman and Democratic funnyman Al Franken? Well, it's still undecided, after five months, but an end is getting closer.

A three-judge panel in Minnesota ruled today against Coleman in a dispute about which ballots should be looked at again. The decision is almost certain to give Franken the edge in a race he's already leading by 225 votes. Half of the 400 ballots to be counted come from areas that Franken carried in November.

Even after these are reviewed, by sometime next week, Coleman is unlikely to roll over. He can still appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Of course, the Democrats would like to see Franken seated soon. That would leave them just one vote shy of the 60 they need to override GOP filibusters.

Here's the Minneapolis Star-Tribune's story.

It's official: Gov. Sarah Palin is out as the headliner at the one of the biggest Republican gatherings of the year, the Senate-House dinner in Washington D.C.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is subbing in.

As you may recall, the chairmen of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, and the National Republican Congressional Committee, Texas Rep. Pete Sessions, sent out a press release earlier this month announcing Palin as keynote speaker for the June 8 fundraiser. But within hours, Palin's staff said, nope, not so fast.

Here's a statement from Brian Walsh, communications director for the NRSC:

"After initially confirming her attendance, Governor Palin’s team informed the Committees that her gubernatorial responsibilities in Alaska prevented her from committing until the end of the legislative session. We completely understand and respect Governor Palin’s focus on her official state business; however, there is obviously an enormous amount of planning that goes into this annual event. For that reason, we invited and are honored to have former Speaker Newt Gingrich join us as our speaker at the 2009 Senate-House Dinner. As one of our Party’s brightest minds and most energetic speakers, we are looking forward to having former Speaker Gingrich provide the keynote address on June 8."

            The White House, egg still on its face from this month's blunder over whether to bill private insurance companies for the health care of some veterans' wartime injuries, is contemplating a new office to track veterans issues. While the parameters are up in the air, it could help avoid embarrassments such as the one in mid-March, when word leaked that the Obama Administration was considering billing third-party private insurance companies for the care of some veterans' service-connected ailments.

While care not connected to military service is often paid by private health insurance, asking veterans to tap their own health policies for wounds received in battle was met with outrage and derision. It was the kind of proposal that made kindred souls of Jon Stewart and Rush Limbaugh, both of whom blasted idea as abandoning the nation's commitment to treat its wartime wounded. The White House quickly backed away from the proposal.

The White House had no comment Tuesday afternoon about the latest proposal.

Sen. Jim Bunning says he’s surveyed the fundraising landscape for his 2010 re-election bid and so far it’s “lousy.”

Still “if at first you don’t succeed try, try, try again,” Bunning told reporters during a press conference on Tuesday. His pronouncement came as candidates scramble to meet the March 31 quarterly campaign finance filing deadline with the Federal Election Commission.

Bunning’s campaign previously reported having about $150,000 on hand—far less than the $1 million to $2 million that political experts suggest Bunning would need by the end of the first quarter to mount a successful run.

However, Bunning says he saw an uptick in fundraising last month. He hopes that a planned private fundraiser with baseball legend Tommy Lasorda this week and a separate fundraiser with Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour will help improve fortunes.

Want to see how the administration's plan to help banks and free up credit is unfolding? The Treasury Department has a new Web site where you can do just that.

We think we have backbiting and political posturing in Washington. Well, Barack Obama is about the meet some real pros as he arrives in London this evening for this week’s G-20 summit on the economy in Europe.
Oh, the foreign leaders aren’t likely to stab Obama in the back. He’s way too popular in their countries.
But they’re sniping at one another and doing all they can to posture for political purposes at home.
First, there was the leak of the group’s anticipated final statement to the German magazine Der Spiegel. That leak said the final agreement will call for a combined $2 trillion in spending to stimulate the world economy. The Brits blame the Germans, saying they want to torpedo the British-hosted summit.
Then there’s the report that French President Nicholas Sarkozy threatened to skip the meeting if he couldn’t win tough new regulations of banks and finance.
“If there's no progress in London, there'll be an empty chair. I'll get up and leave," Sarkozy said, according to a front page story Tuesday in Le Figaro.
And what about the little Spain-versus-Netherlands spat?
Seems neither made the list of the G-20 and fought one another for a vacant seat. Spain, with the world’s 8th largest economy, didn’t make the original list because it’s a “latecomer” to democracy, as London’s Guardian newspaper puts it. Netherlands simply didn’t make the cut.  
Spain argued its way into the summit as an add-on. Then, said the Guardian, “everyone took pity” and said the Dutch were invited, too.

The House of Representatives Tuesday is expected to pass historic legislation that will dramatically expand the nation's volunteer service programs--but conservative congressional Republicans are worried and wonder if the programs will help abortion rights and gay rights organizations..

The bill "stretches the definition of a volunteer by paying them for their service, frequently providing volunteers with health benefits, housing, and other items that undermine the definition of a volunteer," warns the conservative congressional Republican Study Committee in a "legislative bulletin."

The bill passed both the House and Senate recently by huge margins, attracting lots of GOP lawmakers as well as Democrats. It needs final passage in the House before going to President Barack Obama for his signature.

But watch out, says the RSC. The bill funds AmeriCorps, the nation's major volunteer program at "such sums as may be necessary." But, the RSC notes, "AmeriCorps has funded programs in the past such as Planned Parenthood of Western Washington and the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center (LAGLC).  In addition, they ran a program that gave $5 to children for each toy gun they brought in."

The group also makes a philosophical point: "Many conservatives may not agree that individuals who are paid monthly stipends, compensated for living expenses, and granted healthcare benefits should be classified as volunteers—AmeriCorps indentifies their participants as volunteers.

"This bill is part of a Democrat agenda to force taxpayers to fund liberal service organizations, while at the same time, increasing taxes on charitable donations for individuals who want to support organizations with which they agree."

And, the RSC notes, "Many conservatives may be concerned that the programs authorized and expanded in this bill reflect a big government response to local and community needs—instead of a more effective encouragement of community and individual response to such need."

To read the full RSC report: http://rsc.tomprice.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=116380

London is very excited about President Obama coming to town Tuesday evening for the G-20 economic summit.
Local papers and newscasts are filled with stories about him, his wife, even his car. Did we know that his armored car carries shotguns, tear gas, a night vision camera and bags of Obama’s blood, type AB? 
Among the other things Londoners are learning today:
-Air Force One will not fly into Heathrow Airport as President Bush did a few years back, because that was “as bit of a nightmare” for commercial flights. It will fly into Stansted Airport for security reasons;
-The president and First Lady will stay at Winfield House, the residence of the U.S. ambassador. Sold to the government for $1 after World War II by American heiress Barbara Hutton, it has the second largest private gardens in London (after Buckingham Palace);
-The president’s Secret Service code name is Renegade. The Guardian newspaper notes, in a way that would delight the conspiracy cabals in the United States, that the word renegade comes from an old Spanish word for a Christian who’s converted to Islam;
-That Secret Service agents wear sunglasses…get ready for this …to shade their eyes from the sun.

Something strange in your neighborhood with government stimulus funds? Who ya gonna call?

The Government Accountability Office's FraudNet program.

GAO announced Monday that its FraudNet line, established 30 years ago for tipsters to report government waste, is open for stimulus-related business.

According to GAO, the public can call 1-800-424-5454 (an automated answering system); send an e-mail to fraudnet@gao.gov; send a fax to (202) 512-3086; or write to: GAO FraudNet 441 G Street, NW, Mail Stop 4T21, Washington, DC 20548. The public may also visit the FraudNet page of our website at http://www.gao.gov/fraudnet/fraudnet.htm.

. GAO may refer allegations for follow-up to its own investigative units, appropriate inspector general offices, or to the Justice Department."

To learn more: http://www.gao.gov/press/fraudnet2009mar30.pdf

    The U. S. Senate began its fiscal 2010 budget debate Monday, and a key question involved why Democrats did not include money for President Barack Obama's initiatives on health care, carbon emission reduction and tax credits. Instead, the budget allows the creation of "reserve funds" for those purposes, funds that currently have no money.

It will be up to other committees later this year to fund Obama's key programs, and then they must pay for any costs with spending cuts or tax increases.

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., told reporters Monday that the system is in fact a good way to deal with those issues.

"You know, reserve funds impose a certain discipline because they can only be triggered if they meet the conditions. And the conditions are set out in the reserve funds, and they are deficit neutral," he said.

"So if the committees write legislation, for example, energy legislation or they write legislation on health care, they have to be paid for. And that exerts a certain discipline."

He also maintained the funds "give the committees full flexibility to write the best legislation they can."

It also makes it easier to pass the budget this week. But Conrad maintained "we do not have the authority to tell them how to do it (create health care or climate change or tax plans)."