The Daily Digest

Republicans in the House and Senate will release their budget targets later this week. It will be the first sign of where GOP lawmakers will look to balance the state's budget.

Forum Communications says the war or words comes before the budget.

Dayton and GOP legislative leaders have been mum on whether gambling will be a part of the mix but it is being pushed and opposed by interest groups.

Gov. Dayton will sign a bill today that allows for another alternative pathway for teachers to get a license.

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Minnesota's Buy America law has a rocky first year.

The Department of Transportation is nearing record spending on snow plowing this year.

Gov. Dayton got his new puppy on Sunday.

There will be a bullying summit today and it will be well attended.

The Pi Press says there are talks to revise the makeup of the Met Council.

The PoliGraph says Dayton's voting claim is hard to back up.

WCCO fact checks the tax the rich arguments.

The Pi Press also says lawmakers are looking to see whether HMOs are being overpaid for running state subsidized health care.

Dayton announced his ballpark authority appointments.

Border residents are filing taxes in both Minnesota and Wisconsin because of the end of reciprocity.

Congress

The fighting in Libya continues.

Several in the U.S. Senate say the U.S. should create a no fly zone in Libya.

The nation's unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level in nearly two years.

White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley says the U.S. will consider tapping its strategic oil reserve to keep prices in check.

DFL Rep. Keith Ellison says it's unwise to hold hearings on Muslim extremism.

DFL Rep. Tim Walz is losing hope that a government shutdown can be avoided.

GOP Rep. John Kline appears to be opposed to efforts to create a common curriculum. The Obama Administration endorses the measure.

DFL Rep. Betty McCollum addressed world hunger at an Oxfam America event.

GOP Rep. Chip Cravaack met with regulators and state lawmakers on PolyMet.

Cravaack also explains why he won't join the Tea Party Caucus.

Wisconsin

Talks on the Wisconsin labor bill falter.

2012 Race for President

Tim Pawlenty is in Iowa today to speak at a forum for social conservatives. Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are among the four others who will be at the event.

MPR says candidates who hope to do well in Iowa will have to win over social conservatives.

How important are social conservatives? Pawlenty will also sit down with the Christian Broadcasting Network today.

GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann stands by her criticism of President Obama. She also accused the Obama Administration of hiding billions of dollars in the health care bill.

Mitt Romney blasts the federal health care law at an event in New Hampshire. He also tried to say the Massachusetts law passed under his leadership wasn't perfect.

A few pundits are starting to praise Pawlenty as one to watch in the GOP field.

DFL Rep. Keith Ellison says Pawlenty has no connection to his working class roots.

Here's the National Review profile of Pawlenty.

Donald Trump's approval rating is higher than Tim Pawlenty's or Mitt Romney's.

Trump's adviser is headed to Iowa this week.

Both Pawlenty and Bachmann will be in New Hampshire later this week.