Many people have been asking very good questions about the Republican Primaries, which start incredibly early this time ‘round. Sadly, I don’t have any good answers – but I can give a few really lousy ones.
Home » Politics (Page 67)
Category Archives: Politics
Influence
It’s a story that truly deserves the term “meteoric” – a brief ball of heat streaking across the sky for just one moment, then crashing to the earth with a terrific thud. The rise and fall of Michael Brodkorb is the biggest story in Minnesota politics this month, yet it begs caution on so many levels. It is full of unsubstantiated rumors and personal tragedy that do not deserve much public scrutiny. We cannot be sure exactly how it ends, given that some pieces are still playing out.
But there is one thing that we know about this story that is worth telling now – influence is fleeting when done for the sake of influence itself. That cautionary tale has a deep meaning well beyond “politics”.
Catching Up
December is a month of Advent – preparing, catching up, and waiting. There has been a lot of economic and political news lately, most of it not incredibly bad. Some has even been good. Let’s celebrate the season and the thin coating of snow on the ground by catching up with the unfolding stories.
Election Recap
The election is over. As everyone decompresses the habit of constant analysis flashes back to what happened over the long months of campaigning. Like any process, it’s good to step back at the end and think about what went well, what went wrong, and how it all could have been better.
Dave Thune won re-election to the St Paul City Council in Ward 2 on the third IRV re-allocation by 806 votes, a 58/42 win. It was by far his highest ever once all the sorting, counting, and math were finished the Monday afterward. The great irony is that the strongest skeptic of the new IRV (or Ranked Choice) system wound up benefiting from it more than anyone else. How did this all go down?
Super Committee
Back in August, negotiations over the Federal budget were so impossible that Congress had to punt to a “Super Committee” that had until November 23rd to report back on how to proceed. Failure to come up with a plan would trigger automatic spending cuts and probably quite a bit of chaos.
The bad news is that ten days out there is no sign of an agreement. The good news is that it’s taking them so long because they are tackling the big issues such as tax and entitlement reform.
Barataria - The work of Erik Hare 