DFL Education Foundation

Liberal power

In case anyone had questions about the fortitude of our new Board members with the DFL Education Foundation, or liberals and progressives in general, check out Maura Shuttleworth and her latest deeds throwing weight around.

Some things never change

For anyone talking about taxes and state funding I couldn’t help feel regret in a recent book passage that I read. In His Excellency George Washington written by Joseph Ellis I found this fascinating little quote on page 59 referencing our first President. “He was not even present at the session of the House of Burgesses in April 1768 when the delegates protested the Townshend Act, a clever (ultimately too clever) measure imposing new duties on colonial imports which the British ministry claimed were not, strictly speaking, taxes.” How interesting that last year certain powers in Minnesota government took their tax policy from the failed notions of King George III, the guy who tried to subjugate the Americas. Health Impact Fees should be taxes and identified as such rather than wasting our time playing 250-year-old games that Americans have already soundly rebutted.
Jeremy Wieland

American Prospect article

Please check out the latest series in The American Prospect about definition.  It's an important piece.  Click here if you’re interested.

Common Cause for a Common Good

A sort of low-level rumbling on the state of the Democratic Party's soul has been engaged since November 3rd, 2004. And rightfully so. As it turned out, we Democrats discovered once again that beating something with nothing is painfully hard to do, and the country is worse off for the effort (or lack thereof).

Typically, these fratricidal affairs consist of left vs. center, ideology vs. pragmatism, traditional democratic constituencies vs. other traditional democratic constituencies and any other pairing off of two naturally hostile factions that we try to hold in the same tent. The argument ebbs and flows and before long, another election year is upon us, and it's up to the likes of Bob Shrum to try and make sense of it all. At a record of 0 and 8, he's not doing very well, and neither are we for listening.

Continued...