Lots of people have shared a lot of analyses on Tuesday’s elections, much of it on a national scale. They try to make guesses about what the elections say about Obama, or the Republican agenda, on certain subgroups of voters, and so on. I don’t have any great insights into any of these things. I… Continue reading Local Elections and Turnout
Category: Politics
Final Election Push
It’s a few days before election day. So what exactly is at stake?
Anti-Union Sentiment Redux
Several Jimmy John’s restaurants may unionize. It’s always fun to peruse the reader comments in Star Tribune stories, if you are wondering what the great mass of Christine O’Donnell conservatives are thinking, and this story is no different: several commenters claim that they will no longer patronize Jimmy John’s if they unionize. Like much conservative… Continue reading Anti-Union Sentiment Redux
The Federal DREAM Act
Congress is debating the DREAM act, which would give the children of undocumented immigrants the opportunity to normalize their status, and thereafter gain citizenship, if they server in the military or get a college education. If there was ever a no-brainer, this is it, and polls show widespread support for it. Businesses support it. Human… Continue reading The Federal DREAM Act
A Vision for Minnesota
Tom Emmer released the final part of his budget plan yesterday. As I figured, it was pretty brutal: a one-third cut(!) to LGA, cuts to K-12 education (giving them less than they get this year is not quite “holding education harmless”), cuts to higher ed, cuts to health care (reading between the lines of his… Continue reading A Vision for Minnesota
Anti-union sentiment
I was reading this story about concessions that Harley-Davidson is asking its union workers to agree to in order to save their jobs in Wisconsin. What struck me was not the fact that workers were being asked to sacrifice for years, something that happens with depressing regularity these days, but the reader comments on the… Continue reading Anti-union sentiment
Emmer’s budget fantasy
Tom Emmer has been rightly criticized for not revealing the details of his budget (the Grand Forks Herald, not exactly a liberal newspaper, has a particularly brutal dressing-down of Emmer). So far, he’s released a program of more than $600 million in tax cuts, which only widens the budget deficit Minnesota faces. Why hasn’t he… Continue reading Emmer’s budget fantasy
Emmer and government employees
Tom Emmer is a deeply unserious candidate for office. There will be many examples of why that is popping up between now and election day. Here’s one: his comments on public employee pay. I really have to wonder how much attention Tom Emmer is paying to his own legislative staff people, who are themselves public… Continue reading Emmer and government employees
Fannie and Freddie
More financial regulation stuff, prompted by this post, and this one from Economix. . I agree 100% that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should go, that the mortgage interest deduction should be limited or abolished, and that the government should no more meddle in preferring homeownership over renting and vice versa. As we’ve just learned,… Continue reading Fannie and Freddie
Financial Reform
I’ve wanted to write something about the financial reform bill for a while now, but school and work and wedding planning and campaigning and the rest of real life have conspired against me. I did, however, find this post on the Freakonomics blog asking a few experts on what they would do to simplify the… Continue reading Financial Reform