Watching the legislative session from the sidelines, instead of being in the trenches, is an interesting experience. It’s certainly been fun to watch the fecklessness, especially with regards to the stadium issue, which reached a new low yesterday when the super-secret GOP plan to pay for the stadium with general obligation, a.k.a. taxpayer bonds, was… Continue reading My Fantastic Stadium Plan
Words Mean Things
This past weekend, I went up to my hometown in Central Minnesota to visit some friends. This being Central Minnesota (also known as Michele Bachmann’s district), all sorts of fun political signs were in abundance. There were the old standbys, like hand-painted anti-abortion signs on farms and “U.S. out of the U.N.” graffiti so old… Continue reading Words Mean Things
Privacy Around Me
There has been a lot of ink spilled about the Girls Around Me app that was introduced, and then pulled from the iPhone App Store. For those who are unaware, the app used the geolocation aspects of existing websites, such as Foursquare and Facebook, to show the user where women were located close to them.… Continue reading Privacy Around Me
On Mandates
Part of the argument against Obamacare is how terrible and freedom-hating and un-American the insurance mandate is. I mean, being forced to pay for something you don’t want, or don’t need? Being forced to enter into a contract? Ridiculous! Inconceivable! If the government can mandate paying for that, what can’t they mandate paying for? Ad… Continue reading On Mandates
The Fundamental Role of Reality
If you listen to the pundits, the 2012 election represents a referendum on “the fundamental role of government” (see this from one of my more favorite conservative publications, for example; Google the phrase itself and you will get thousands of hits). On one side, we have the Obama administration, which wants more taxes, more spending,… Continue reading The Fundamental Role of Reality
Falling Apart
The federal gas tax has not been increased since 1993. It’s a fixed per-gallon tax, not a percentage of the price of gasoline like a sales tax, so as gas prices have gone up, this hasn’t led to increased gas tax revenues. On the contrary: higher gas prices and more fuel-efficient cars are leading to… Continue reading Falling Apart
Legislating via amendment
There are a lot of reasons why the photo ID constitutional amendment is a bad idea (it was sent to the house floor today), but I’m going to ignore all the policy for now and focus simply on the mechanics. No matter what you think of the concept, putting it in the constitution could make… Continue reading Legislating via amendment
Fair and Balanced
What’s wrong with journalism today? Look no further than this article in today’s New York Times about voter ID laws. Specifically, this paragraph: Supporters argue that the restrictions are necessary to prevent fraud. Critics say there is no evidence of significant amounts of in-person voter impersonation fraud — the kind addressed by photo identification requirements… Continue reading Fair and Balanced
Stadium Angst
I know there’s a “stadium deal” in the works, but there are deals, and then there are deals. The current plan is not going to survive either the Legislature or the Minneapolis City Council, so the real question is what the end product, if any, will look like. I have my desires; we’ll see if… Continue reading Stadium Angst
More pointless health accounts
Two Republicans in the state legislature have an idea to make health insurance more affordable. No, it’s not health care exchanges. No, it’s not universal coverage. Instead, it’s a plan to create a “personal health premium account” for paying for health insurance. They say people could use it to pool money from employers, family members,… Continue reading More pointless health accounts