Central Minnesota Political

I wrote the following letter to the Morrison County Record this week . . . Dear Editor: Recently Donald Trump has been saying how evil socialism is. He says he opposes socialism and that it won’t come to America on his watch. But do you believe that a free high school education is socialism? I do! And I think we need more socialism like that in this country. We need free college education for all Americans. Educating our children and young adults will be a good investment in our great countries future. Lets make America great again by giving our young people  a great education. When the socialistic GI bill educated veterans we had a tremendous spurt of economic growth when those young people entered the economy. Do you believe Soial Security is socialistic? I do! And we need to expand it. Do you believe Medicare is socialistic? I do! And we need Medicare for all. Socialism has been good for America. We need more of it - not less. Democratic Socialists of America a  ht...

There is a partisan struggle going on in the Minnesota legislature over the security of our voting system. The nature of the struggle seems obscure but the end result may be that our voting systems integrity will be put at risk. In 2016 Minnesota’s computerized voter registration system, along with that of twenty other states, experienced a cyber attack from a foreign government, according to Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. As a result of those attacks DHS declared voting systems across the United States to be infrastructure critical to our national security. As part of that declaration, the federal government ear marked grants for states to improve cybersecurity. Minnesota’s grant was for $6.6 million. Most states could simply accept their grant. Minnesota’s system of governance requires the legislature to vote to accept the grant, however. Although the Secretary of State can recommend how to use the money the legislature...

This is from CREDO - Tim Trump's national emergency is completely manufactured. The only crisis on our southern border is the one that he has spent the last two years creating. But that doesn't make it any less dangerous.  Declaring a state of emergency gives Trump access to more than 100 special powers that allow him to override the laws that protect our civil rights and civil liberties and unleash a range of nightmarish scenarios at the border and in communities across the country. 1 Under a state of emergency, Trump can: 2 order the military to round up immigrants or stop protests in American cities. order the killing or indefinite detention of people he designates as enemies. freeze assets and block financial transactions of people who hire, house, or provide paid legal representation to asylum seekers. block access to websites and social media tools or disrupt email communication. The idea that emergency powers invite abuse against communities of color is no...

This last week saw major legislative action in St. Paul and Washington regarding what we euphemistically call climate change. I believe chaos is more accurate. After all, what’s wrong with a little change. Any way! In Washington, we saw that awesome force of nature Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez team up with the ever righteous Senator Ed Markey, from Massachusetts, to introduce a resolution in support of a Green New Deal. Although detailed language is being worked on the two said that broadly, the legislation will address issues such as job creation, emission reductions, greening infrastructure and a variety of principles that would come with a "robust" climate-change package, according to CNN. A.O.C. While the old time champion of nuclear arms control and the young firebrand were stirring the pot in D.C. the 100% Campaign was launching a major green initiative here in Minnesota. Senator Nick Frentz, of North Mankato, along with co-sponsor and former gubernato...

It would be silly except that it’s dreadful. State Representative John Poston wrote a newsletter this week giving the impression to his constituents that not much was going on at the Capitol in St. Paul except committee meetings.  That just ain’t so John. Between January 14th and January 31st Representative Poston co-sponsored fifty-four separate pieces of legislation. That’s just shy of four bills everyday the legislature is open for business. If you count the three bills JP sponsored himself it’s more than four per day. Wow! You say. Representative John is sure earning his keep. Glad some of those slug-a-beds feeding at the government trough are earning their keep. Except, dear reader, Poston’s bill machine is cranking out legislation that ranges from the mean and petty to obnoxious and abhorrent. Some just plain dumb. Take HF 76, for example. It’s in the dumb category. It says that if the Department of Natural Resources requires an irrigator to drill a t...