MN lege: How did the DFL get a decent budget to happen?

July 31, 2021

Not a great one, by any means, especially in the matter of making the thieving, greedhead plutocrats start to pay up. Actual budgets are never great from a progressive standpoint, which is no reason not to keep trying. But there is plenty of investment in the state to like, even if some of the increases […]

by Dan Burns

Ex-teacher Gov. Walz needs to hold the line, at least, on supporting public schools

May 13, 2020

I’ll note at the outset that when Tim Walz was elected governor I was quite concerned that, based on his record in the U.S. House as what’s generally called a “moderate” (there’s a milquetoast term, in contemporary politics), he would be willing to give away far too much to cut deals with legislative Republicans. I […]

by Dan Burns

Sheesh! Gov. Walz is not acting because of “pressure”

April 30, 2020

From Day One, MN Gov. Tim Walz has made it clear that the primary purposes of stay-at-home and related orders (in addition, of course, to keeping a lot of people from getting sick and even dying) are to a) provide time to figure out just what we’re really dealing with, and b) provide hospitals time […]

by Dan Burns

A big fat schism in the Minnesota GOP

April 7, 2020

With an update.

by Dan Burns

A pathological hatred of school funding

June 6, 2019

This is from January. Gov. Tim Walz is aiming to overhaul the way Minnesota funds its schools, putting more responsibility on the state and making local referendums “either rare or extinct.” As he finalizes his first budget, the DFL governor said he’s focused on reversing what he sees as a disturbing trend: a leveling off […]

by Dan Burns