Your taxes will be feeding Enbridge’s insatiable greed

July 12, 2021

I wrote here, back in March, about how the repugnant greedheads at Enbridge were looking to gouge Minnesota counties. They got their way. The state of Minnesota will pay Canadian energy company Enbridge nearly $30 million to cover northern counties’ costs from a tax case settlement. The deal — a last-minute addition to the state […]

by Dan Burns

MN lege: Daudt gets spanked by the Draz

July 5, 2021

From July 1: Sitting lawmakers will no longer be able to work as lobbyists, after a Republican amendment taking aim at House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, was adopted nearly unanimously in the House and later approved by the Senate as part of a broader tax bill. Offered by state Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, the […]

by Dan Burns

In re: wild rice

June 29, 2021

The EPA moves to protect wild rice water in Minnesota because the state won’t

by Steve Timmer

Why would MN Party of Trumpers crush Market Bucks?

June 23, 2021

From about a week ago, and from a search just now, there’s no change. There’s a chance it could get back in, but it doesn’t seem likely. Farmers markets are a summertime staple in many communities around Minnesota, but not everyone shopping at them has the means to pay farmers for what they grow. A […]

by Dan Burns

Mary Kiffmeyer, the Herodotus from Big Lake

June 15, 2021

Herodotus was the father of history; Mary Kiffmeyer is its mother

by Steve Timmer

Still spouting off about school vouchers – Update

June 14, 2021

Yeah, whatever. Minnesota Republicans and school choice advocates gathered at the Capitol Thursday to urge Gov. Tim Walz to meet with them about a Senate school voucher proposal. The advocates want Walz and Democratic-Farmer-Labor lawmakers to back a program called “education savings accounts” as part of the Senate’s education budget proposal. The Minnesota Department of […]

by Dan Burns

Misleading at best

June 8, 2021

And something else at worst

by Steve Timmer

Enbridge is coming on strong, and so is the opposition

June 7, 2021

From last week: After a short spring break on mainline construction required by Minnesota regulators, however, Enbridge is now entering a new phase of construction — and a new phase of protests. As the company restarted construction this week, opponents of the project geared up for a wave of larger demonstrations aimed at slowing or […]

by Dan Burns

Pres. Biden doesn’t seem to see a need for PolyMet

May 28, 2021

Or for new mining, sulfide or otherwise, in general. From earlier this week: U.S. President Joe Biden will rely on ally countries to supply the bulk of the metals needed to build electric vehicles and focus on processing them domestically into battery parts, part of a strategy designed to placate environmentalists, two administration officials with […]

by Dan Burns

What kind of year will Minnesota’s farmers have?

May 26, 2021

Heck if I know. For that matter, heck if anyone knows. Some data points (I’m focusing here on Minnesota’s major crops, corn and soybeans, and also meat and dairy): – Corn and soybean prices have spiked. Experts in the soybean market like Davis attribute high corn and soybean prices to poor weather conditions in South […]

by Dan Burns

Gaza: The Final Solution – a reprise

May 16, 2021

The next installment

by Steve Timmer

What Lies Beneath

May 9, 2021

The unstated motivations behind the Page Amendment

by Steve Timmer