This week, the state government of Minnesota pledged to take $1 billion (give or take) of taxpayer money and spend it on … a gift to the 1 percent. Specifically, the money is meant to buy a stadium for the Minnesota Vikings, a team owned by a multimillionaire real estate developer, and the NFL, a [...]
The sight of people donning replica jerseys to lobby their elected officials to force some taxpayers to pay for their hobby makes me a bit sad: “Don’t you have a life,” I quietly ask. But I think I’ve found the hints of a silver lining in that passion: Perhaps this is a point for us [...]
Monday, November 15, 2010
If you’re a state senator who got less than 52 percent of the vote, you’re part of the vulnerable 8. Of those, 6 are Republicans, and 2 are Democrats. Republicans with less than 52 percent of the vote: Paul Gazelka SD12 John Pederson SD15 Jeremy Miller SD31 Ted Daley SD38 Don Hall SD40 Ted Lillie SD56 [...]
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Monday, November 15, 2010
Of the 134 seats that were up for grabs in the Minnesota House, 10 were won by candidates who received less than 52 percent of the vote. Of those, 8 were Republicans, while 2 were Democrats. Republicans who just got by: Debra Kiel, 1B Carolyn McElfatrick, 3B King Banaian, 15B Glenn Gruenhagen, 25A Kelby Woodard, [...]
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Saturday, November 6, 2010
How can Minnesota Democrat (in Minnesota-speak, DFL) Mark Dayton win the governor’s office even when his party loses its majorities in the Legislature? Sure, the Independence Party, which captured almost 12 percent of the vote, is likely one factor. But another factor, which is easy to overlook, is the fact that the rule for counting [...]
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A preacher-turned-politician is accused of disregarding his faith by opposing this or that expansion of government-financed health care. Put aside the obvious question–whatever happened to the separation of church and state?–the criticism is based on the invalid assumption that there’s an indisputable link between “Love thy neighbor” and a specific government program. Making this assumption leads [...]
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
If past performance is in any way related to future results, all of the congressional races in Minnesota–and most in the nation–are over before they even begin. (Hint: In Minnesota, all the incumbents will win.) So says the work of 538, a project of the New York Times. Of 435 seats in the House, only 37–less than 10 percent–are truly in play. Cartel, anyone?
Friday, September 17, 2010
Even though Congress enacted ObamaCare over the strenuous objections of the American people, Minnesota’s political leaders may enact something even worse. During this biennium, 35 members of the House DFL caucus–2 out of every 5 members–were cosponsors of HF135. ObamaCare establishes laws and regulations that are likely over time to mean the end of private health [...]
Friday, September 10, 2010
On a recent weekend, I listened to an interview of Tom Emmer (conducted by Mitch Berg) that left me disappointed. The question arose of whether Emmer supported corporatism, or as anyone else would put it, “doing something to help the Vikings stay in Minnesota.” From what I recall, Emmer punted. To paraphrase the Republican nominee, [...]
Is it possible to take the gerrymandering out of redistricting? I’ve long been intrigued by the approach used by Iowa, which relies on an independent, non-partisan commission that is given strict instructions on how it is to draw the lines. Stateline.org looks at the Iowa approach and contrasts it with those used in other states.
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