DFL Education Foundation

Recap: Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson-Kelliher

June brought Minnesota Representative, and Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives Margaret Anderson-Kelliher to the Downtown Discussion Group.  How often do you get this much time with the Speaker? 

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This podcast is brought to you by iDream.tv and the DFL Education Foundation.

Recap: Peter Mclaughlin on the role of County Government

In May the Stone Arch Discussion Group hosted Hennepin County Commissioner Peter Mclaughlin on the topic of how the County will cope with budget cuts from the State.  The Commissioner also spoke concerning Hennepin County Medical Center, the Library system and other components of County Government.  Because Hennepin County is the second largest government body in Minnesota it’s important to understand what they do.

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This podcast is brought to you by iDream.tv and the DFL Education Foundation.

Recap: Art Rolnick on the US Economy and what the Fed is doing

In May the Downtown Discussion Group was happy to host Art Rolnick from the Minneapolis Federal Reserve.  Mr. Rolnick spoke on the Federal Reserve’s perspective on the current US economy, and the rationale behind the Fed’s actions.  It is an “optimistic” take on what we’re going through.

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Download Art Rolnick

This podcast is brought to you by iDream.tv and the DFL Education Foundation.

Preview (7/16): Watching Wall Street

12:00-1:00 PM
Seattle Room, Dorsey and Whitney
50 S. 6th St., Minneapolis (map)

It all started with massive downsizing at AT&T. In the mid-1990s, Karen Ho was studying anthropology as a graduate student at Princeton, searching for the focus of her dissertation. Ho, now an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Minnesota, remembers thinking that 40,000 workers losing their jobs was horrible news. But the stock market applauded it, sending AT&T shares up.

Karen Ho has explored this culture of Wall Street, how it conflicts with Main Street, and what it means for life after the financial crisis. Get a preview from this recent interview with Star Tribune writer Kara McGuire.

This event is free and open to the public. Join us with your brown bag lunch for this fascinating conversation (drinks provided).

Views: Governor Pawlenty's unallotment may be unconstitutional

Minnesota's legislative session ended with the governor refusing to sign the legislature's budget bills and swearing to use unilateral unallotment to balance the budget.  Law professor David Schulz think the governor's on precarious legal footing:

First, it is unlikely that the original intent of the Legislature was to give the governor this broad of a power to unallot. Its original passage was to give the governor power to address small budgetary shortfalls, not make cuts that amount to major programmatic changes. Second, there is a basic rule in law regarding statutory interpretation. One should interpret laws to avoid absurd results and avoid conflicts with other laws. Here, if one accepts the governor's reading of unallotment, it would mean he alone has the power to change fiscal priorities for the state or that he could use this power to negate laws establishing statutory authorized policies. One result is absurd; the other produces a conflict in the laws.

Read more at Minnpost.

Preview (6/17): Equality in Access to Health Care

Inaugural Presentation: 'The Physician's Perspective' (Part of a 7-part series on health care)
June 17, 7:00pm
Jeanne d'Arc Auditorium Saint Catherine University
2004 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105 (map)

Featuring Dr. Oliver Fein, President of Physicians For a National Health Program, and local physician Dr. Elizabeth Frost.

The United States is the richest nation in the world; we spend twice as much as other developed nations on health care, yet our system is in crisis. As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said "Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane"

This inaugural presentation in the series features Dr. Oliver Fein, the national president of Physicians for National Health Program, and local physician Dr. Elizabeth Frost. Both will speak about their experience working with patients and as advocates of health care reform.

All events are free and open to the public.

Click here for more information on this event and the complete series:

• Business Perspective: July 15, 2009
• Rural Communities and Access: August 26, 2009
• Racial Disparities in Care: September 16, 2009
• Immigrant Perspective: October 14, 2009
• International Perspectives and Solutions: Nov. 18, 2009
• Economics of Health Care and Solutions: December 9, 2009

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