Sharing Thoughts and Ideas - 2019 and newer

Our Changing Climate: Options to Consider ·          Have you noticed that the past few “normal” Minnesota winters have not been as cold as 20 or 30 years ago? According to University of Minnesota scientists testifying to the Minnesota House of Representatives earlier this year, between 1895 and 2015, average daily low temperatures in winter have increased. In the northern part of the state, they’re up 4.8 degrees over that period and 3.4 degrees in the south. One study pointed out that between 1959 and 1978 Duluth averaged 45 days a year in which the average daily temperature did not top 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Between 1999 and 2018, there were no such days. ·          Have you noticed that the emerald ash borer territory has moved north with the borers not killed in the winter as the winters have gotten warmer, such that our state’s ash trees have been disappearing? ·    ...

The Minnesota Political Party Endorsement Process The endorsement process is useful in allowing grassroots’ influence in the party, allowing those most active to have an important say in who their candidate is. It is disconcerting how often in open primaries how the voters from the other party vote in the Republican primary in hopes of the weaker candidate winning the nomination.  Nonetheless, a political party by the endorsement process cannot and should not be able to deny a citizen from running for office. And, with no party membership criteria, there is no way to prohibit an unendorsed candidate from filing to run as a member of that party. The question then becomes whether the candidate who is not endorsed should have access to the party's resources, namely people, lists and money. That the party can legitimately deny. However, the State Party denying the unendorsed candidate access to such resources is easily circumvented by having independent PACs, which was wha...

Why I Support the Second Amendment As a State Representation in Michigan in 2011-2012, I knew I could not be an expert on everything. My background and expertise lay in economics, law and business management. What Michigan needed then was to recover from the depths of the Great Recession, and that is where I focused. I had learned while serving as attorney for the Republican Caucus of the Washington State House of Representatives in 1981-1984 that to be effective a representative needed to focus on issues that matched their expertise and follow other representatives of like mind in their areas of expertise. I also sought to avoid being a single issue representative because I had learned that they simply were not very effective within their caucus as they were viewed as pariahs with little to offer on other issues, and thus ignored. So, I approached gun issues as one of those important but peripheral issues to what I needed to focus on. I was and remain deeply concerned with the e...

Thoughts on “Confrontational Politics” After attending a session on “Confrontational Politics: How things really work” conducted by the North Star Liberty Alliance, I got to thinking about comparing and contrasting the approaches that might be effective as a special interest group versus that of a legislator. From either perspective, the need for lists, money and people is accurate. How one conducts oneself to be “effective” however, will vary. First, one needs to define “effective”. If one has a single issue focus, obviously whether one achieves his or her objective on that issue is the measure of effectiveness. However, as a legislator, you have multiple issues that need your attention and decision-making. And, that difference dictates different approaches to how one performs his/her duties. As a State Representation in Michigan in 2011-2012, I knew I could not be an expert on everything. My background and expertise lay in economics, law and business management. What Michig...

Am I a Libertarian ? One cannot read Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” or believe in “the natural rights of man” without strong visceral support for individual liberties. But, does that qualify me as a “libertarian”? I don’t know, but those feelings lead me to believe that in evaluating potential government actions, the position of libertarian is a good place to start. The rule of law is essential for capitalism to work. There must be a clear understanding of the law of contracts for two individuals to voluntarily enter into an agreement with the consequences of the deal known. Laws against stealing and killing are needed. Strong economies need predictability for entrepreneurs to invest and for lenders to lend. Any uncertainty depresses risk taking – both the business owners and the lenders need to factor in higher rates of return forecast in their business plan models before they will be willing to take the risks of either investing or lending. Uncertainty can come from many sourc...

Reaction to “Unbreaking America: A NEW Short Film about Solving the Corruption Crisis” online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=62&v=TfQij4aQq1k The film asserts that a study has shown that the likelihood of a law being enacted is not dependent upon the percentage of American who support the enactment of the law. That is, with either low public support or high public support, the likelihood of a proposal being enacted into law is about the same. This is attributed to the excessive influence of money in politics After describing some of the problems in the U.S., the film advocates the following: ·           Stop gerrymandering ·           Ranked Choice Voting ·           Automatic voter registration ·           Overhaul lobbying and ethics laws ·           Transparent political spending ·           Vot...