This prediction is not surprising, because it’s increasingly
clear that growth in the urban core will be the only growth that the Met
Council will allow to occur in the next 30 years. The prediction will be self-fulfilling, based
on the Met Council’s policy preferences.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
The Met Council’s Wishful Thinking
With some fanfare, the Metropolitan Council issued
its predictions
on where within the Twin Cities metropolitan area population growth will occur
between now and 2040. Not surprisingly,
the Met Council predicts that almost all future population growth will occur in
the core cities of the metro area, with little growth occurring in the suburbs
and outlying areas.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
The Banana Republic of Minnesota: After Action Report
I attended a meeting of the MNsure Board
of Directors this afternoon in St. Paul.
I do not recommend the experience to others. MNsure is the state government agency
overseeing the start up of Minnesota’s Obamacare health insurance exchange. MNsure’s Board is the body that is supposed
to be overseeing the agency. As Board
members themselves were quick to point out, they neither have nor will they
exercise any such authority. It turns
out that the buck stops…well, it never stops.
Monday, September 9, 2013
Outsourcing Even a Democrat Can Like
Democrats, as a group, aren’t known as fans
of outsourcing, but I’ve found at least one instance where they appear to
embrace the practice.
Combing through 2012 Year-End Reports filed at the Minnesota
Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, I found a few curious entries in
the filing of the DFL House Caucus.
The DFL House Caucus is the Democrat political party entity
that coordinates the election efforts for the 134 seats in the state House of
Representatives. For 2012, House
Democrats reported receiving a total of $189,036.51 of “in-kind” contributions.
The American Federation of State County and Municipal
Employees (AFSCME) donated $13,350.20, mostly in “staff and mileage” costs. The Education Minnesota teachers union donated
$63,394.51 in “staff time.” Taking the
top spot, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) donated $108,593.99
in “staff expense” to the House Democrats.
The House Democrats’ Republican counterparts—the HRCC—show only
$7,230.63 of “in-kind” contributions. Of
that amount, $6,880 is attributed to “fundraising event” costs.
It’s bad enough that Democrats in Minnesota are so dependent
on union cash for financing their election efforts. Once elected, House Democrats must vote on
public employee union contracts and appropriate funds to pay for government
employees’ salaries and benefits. How
likely is it that elected Democrats would defy union demands, when Democrats
are dependent on unions to staff their campaigns?
Saturday, September 7, 2013
The Banana Republic of Minnesota, Part 6: Who are these guys (or gals)?
Another media outlet has begun reporting on the growing scandal
surrounding the Federal taxpayer- funded grants
issued by the state government agency MNsure. MNsure is the Obamacare arm in Minnesota
about to launch a statewide health insurance exchange. Since MNsure announced the list of 30 grant
winners late last month, it’s turning out that some of MNsure’s “trusted
community organizations” don’t qualify as any one of those three things.
Politics in Minnesota (PIM) reports on how—despite having one of the highest uninsured populations—local nonprofits serving the African-American community were largely shut out of the MNsure grants.
Politics in Minnesota (PIM) reports on how—despite having one of the highest uninsured populations—local nonprofits serving the African-American community were largely shut out of the MNsure grants.
Friday, September 6, 2013
The Banana Republic of Minnesota, Part 5: Shotgun Edition
The legacy media has finally joined the effort in looking into the
curious case of MNsure grantees.
MNsure is the Minnesota
state government agency operating the state’s Obamacare health insurance
exchange scheduled to launch on October 1st.
Last month, MNsure announced the 30 recipients of a taxpayer-funded
Federal grant to promote Obamacare in the state. Lyon-Dugin Associates was one of a handful of
for-profit companies to make the list of what MNsure describes as “trusted
community organizations.”
Lyon-Dugin
Associates is a private, for-profit company owned by Bruce Lyon-Dugin and
Fran Lyon-Dugin. According to documents
on file at the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office, the company was created
on August 3, 2012. Questions remain as to how this year-old, two-person, for-profit operation so quickly rose to become one of the state's most trusted community organizations.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
The Banana Republic of Minnesota, Part 4: Campaign Finance Edition
This post follows up on the
second post in this series, which focuses on the west-Metro non-profit Small Business Minnesota (SBM). This 2½-year-old non-profit group is headed
by its president, Audrey Britton, according to documents on file with the
Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office.
Democrat Britton is a two-time (2010, 2012) candidate for the state House of Representatives seat held by Republican Sarah Anderson, representing the Plymouth area. Britton maintains an active candidate committee on file with the state’s Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. Britton’s 2012 candidate profile on the Plymouth Patch lists her leadership role with Small Business Minnesota.
Democrat Britton is a two-time (2010, 2012) candidate for the state House of Representatives seat held by Republican Sarah Anderson, representing the Plymouth area. Britton maintains an active candidate committee on file with the state’s Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. Britton’s 2012 candidate profile on the Plymouth Patch lists her leadership role with Small Business Minnesota.
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Random Act of Journalism
Some 8 months after the data became available, the Minneapolis Star Tribune finally gets around to an analysis of campaign spending in the 2012 election.
The article (headlined "Spending on Minnesota legislative races has doubled in 10 years") describes how much more money has poured into races for the state legislature in recent years.
Not surprisingly, they bury the lede. Yes, lots more money is coming into these races, but in recent years, it's almost all on the Democrat/liberal/progressive side of the ledger.
Consider these two facts brought out by the Star Tribune,
"Fueled by cash from unions and wealthy Minnesotans, the Alliance poured nearly $2 million into independent expenditures in targeted legislative races last year.
The article (headlined "Spending on Minnesota legislative races has doubled in 10 years") describes how much more money has poured into races for the state legislature in recent years.
Not surprisingly, they bury the lede. Yes, lots more money is coming into these races, but in recent years, it's almost all on the Democrat/liberal/progressive side of the ledger.
Consider these two facts brought out by the Star Tribune,
"Fueled by cash from unions and wealthy Minnesotans, the Alliance poured nearly $2 million into independent expenditures in targeted legislative races last year.
"Only the DFL Party, with $3.5 million in independent spending on legislative races, spent more in 2012."
And,
"Republican interests were outgunned that year not just in [King Banaian's] district, but in most other competitive races.
"The Star Tribune’s analysis showed that Democratic interests outspent Republican groups in 25 of the 40 most expensive contests. In those races, Democratic groups spent $6.9 million — 20 percent more than the $5.8 million mustered by Republican groups.
"While money is not the only determining factor, DFLers swept to victory in 32 of those races, with Republicans winning eight."
As I have documented before, much of the money is coming from out-of-state sources. Minnesotans no longer have any meaningful say in their own politics. The culprits are not the shadowy Koch Brothers on the right, but the wealthy liberals from the two coasts.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
The Banana Republic of Minnesota, Part 3: Health Access Edition
Some 30
organizations in Minnesota
are set to receive at total of $4 million in taxpayer-funded grants
to promote MNsure, the newly-formed Obamacare
health insurance exchange.
The MNsure exchange is scheduled to begin operations on
October 1st and these 30 groups will split the $4 million to promote
the exchange within the state. While the
exact dollar amounts for each group is still to be determined, dividing $4
million by 30 groups produces an average grant of $133,333.33. According to Minnesota Public Radio, more
than 100 organizations competed for the 30 grants.
Among the 30 grantees to make the cut is a company that had
been in business a mere 39 days at the time it was selected by the state agency
MNsure. In fact, it had been in business
for only four days prior to the
deadline for the MNsure grant application.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
The Banana Republic of Minnesota, Part 2: Small Business Edition
Some 30 organizations in Minnesota are set to
receive taxpayer-funded grants to promote Obamacare in the state courtesy
of the newly-created MNsure health insurance
exchange. The lucky 30 were selected
from more than 100 applicants and will split $4 million in Federal
grant money.
Among the more familiar names on MNsure’s list—like Dakota County
and Planned
Parenthood—is the lesser-known west-Metro-based, non-profit Small Business Minnesota (SBM).
Never heard of SBM?
The 2½-year-old organization and its President, Audrey Britton, were
profiled in June by Star Tribune political columnist Lori Sturdevant. The occasion was the end of the 2013
legislative session, which Britton declared a success,
Sunday, August 25, 2013
The Banana Republic of Minnesota, Part 1: Planned Parenthood
Late afternoon last Friday (5:30 p.m. to be exact) the
Minnesota arm of Obamacare—the MNsure health
insurance exchange—issued a press
release touting the 30 organizations picked to receive grant money to
promote the new service. MNsure is a
state government agency collaborative
involving five agencies. MNsure’s Board of Directors includes
seven members, only one of which (the Commissioner of the state’s Department of
Human Services) is a state employee. In
other words, as a powerful and well-funded independent government entity, MNsure
is accountable to no one except the Governor, who appoints all seven members of
the board.
The MNsure exchange is scheduled to begin operations on October 1st and these 30 groups will split $4 million in Federal grant money to promote the Obamacare exchange within the state. According to Minnesota Public Radio, more than 100 organizations competed for the 30 grants. Individual amounts and the specific scope of work for each will be determined later.
The MNsure exchange is scheduled to begin operations on October 1st and these 30 groups will split $4 million in Federal grant money to promote the Obamacare exchange within the state. According to Minnesota Public Radio, more than 100 organizations competed for the 30 grants. Individual amounts and the specific scope of work for each will be determined later.
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