Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/author/dan-burns/page/4/)
Going into this session of the Minnesota Legislature, a small part of my head was reckless enough to indulge in fantasies of really transformative achievements. The reality-based part tended otherwise, and, thus far, it has been proven correct. Here’s my biggest individual disappointment, as of now: Continue Reading
There is a “bipartisan” effort afoot to deal with some issues regarding Local Government Aid in Minnesota. Continue Reading
Minnesota HF 602 would provide a measure of protection for workers victimized by “lockouts” during labor disputes. Note that in this day and age, “labor dispute” is often code for what happens when corporations seek to slash worker pay and benefits, pretty much just because they can, for the sake of short-term profiteering and “shareholder value.” It’s the sort of incredibly short-sighted, selfish, vindictive crap that unfortunately didn’t die with the figure primarily associated with it (perhaps not entirely fairly), the late Milton Friedman. Continue Reading
With Mayor R.T. Rybak leaving after this term, the starting gate is wide open for all comers. Here are the names that I’ve seen mentioned, with at least a moderate degree of realistic possibility, so far. Feel free to use the comments if you know of others; I’ll update this list accordingly, if it looks like they’re for real, and not just off of somebody’s “wish list.” (I know that could be a close call to make, at this point.) Continue Reading
If you’re doing me the honor of reading this, you’re presumably a regular on the progressive blogosphere, and I don’t have to explain to you what the noxious right-wing billionaires David and Charles Koch are all about. Bilious disgust almost certainly rose in your gorge at the mere sight of the name. (If you’d like some kind of overview, anyway, here you go.) Continue Reading
Voters in Colorado and Washington approved initiatives to legalize the personal possession and use of marijuana. (One in Oregon failed; it was apparently poorly conceived, and had little activist support.) It needs to be noted that the approval of such initiatives is one thing, and the actual law that ends up happening can be quite another. Ideally, said actual law would include the immediate release of everyone currently incarcerated in those states for non-violent marijuana “offenses.” Fat chance. Continue Reading
OK, for the time being, things are looking about as good as I dared hope, for President Obama’s reelection. But I’m not as sanguine as many; it just doesn’t feel right, to be that way. The bottom could still fall out of the labor market, though that looks unlikely. Gas prices could continue to rise, even after Labor Day, though most analysts seem to be anticipating a drop. Continue Reading
For some perverse reason, there’s been an idea, prevalent for a long time, that the rights of women to make personal choices require some sort of explicit legal justification. In fact, in any rational, enlightened society, such rights should be a given, regardless of what lawyers, judges, and (most of all) politicians might say and do.
The 2012 Farm Bill got through the U.S. Senate and is, or is about to be, in conference committee with the House, where it will presumably only get worse.