Category Archives: Post type

The Land Stewardship Project is here today participating in the Farmer-Labor Tractorcade being led by Wisconsin farmers because of the actions taken by Gov. Scott Walker.  Walker and his allies have enabled a power-grab by big corporations to the detriment of the land, and people, of Wisconsin.

We know what happens under unchecked corporate power – the people suffer.  That’s why family farmers across the Midwest organized in the 1890s, and the 1910s, and the 1930s, and the 1980s – building farmer co-ops, passing public policy that reined in corporate power and assisted family farms, and establishing farm organizations to fight for the well-being of family farmers, rural communities, and the land.

Today is another such time, in which predatory corporations like Monsanto, Dean Foods,  Smithfield, and the Koch Brothers, are grabbing control over our seeds, our milk, our livestock, our land, our public assets — even our democracy.  And now their political allies in Madison are attempting to pass and implement extremist legislation that breaks the power of working people to organize on their own behalf.  They believe it will greatly diminish the power of people to rein in corporate greed that knows no bounds.  They further this attack on the middle class by attempting to divide portions of the middle class against one another, alleging  that the fight is between a unionized worker and someone who is not in a union. … Continue reading »

Requiring a photo ID to vote might sound like common sense.  But it’s a terrible idea for Minnesota’s nationally-lauded election system.  Here’s why.

Two bills are moving through the Minnesota legislature right now that would require every voter to show a government-issued photo ID before being given a ballot.  Both bills would radically change our state’s nation-leading election system, and both would roll the clock back for Minnesota voters, recalling the days when women, persons of color, and those without property couldn’t vote. And with Minnesota mired in a battle to close a $5 billion budget gap, these bills would cost the state and local governments millions of additional dollars to implement.  At the same time, critical programs people depend on, such as health care and public schools, are facing deep and harmful cuts.

Harmful Barriers That Move Minnesota Backwards

The primary problem with these photo ID bills is that they create new barriers that will take away the right to vote from a significant chunk of voters.  These include seniors, people with disabilities, college students, people of color, low-income people, overseas military, rural Minnesotans, and people without housing.

The central idea of both HF 89 and HF 210 is requiring everyone who shows up to vote on Election Day to present an election judge with a photo ID before being given a ballot. … Continue reading »

Minnesota and Wisconsin have both played key roles in advancing workers’ rights over our histories. One of Wisconsin’s earliest crusader was “Fightin’ Bob” Lafollette. His firebrand campaigns against “Stalwart Republicans” and “vast corporate combinations” and his calls for minimum wages and workers’ compensation systems inspired progressives to elect him to a 40-year career in Congress, the Governor’s office, and the US Senate. In his 1924 campaign for President, Fightin’ Bob was supported by Minnesota’s Farmer-Labor Party, the same party that would give rise to one of our biggest labor heroes, Floyd B. Olson.

The same year that Fightin’ Bob was running for President, Floyd B. Olson was a labor attorney battling a conservative business association over so-called “right-to-work” laws. This business association – the Minnesota Citizens Alliance – had even gone so far as to hire a hit-man to dynamite the home of a local union leader. Olson’s crusade against this corporate abuse fueled his campaign for governor, which he won in a landslide in 1930. Acting quickly, Olson was able to overcome Republican opposition, passing pro-labor reforms like collective bargaining rights for the private sector, a progressive income tax and minimum wage laws.

Later in the twentieth century, both Wisconsin and Minnesota showed their pro-labor convictions once again.… Continue reading »

It’s not complicated. It’s actually pretty straight forward. It’s not about the money concessions being demanded from state workers. It is about a power-grab by major corporations to weaken unions, weaken the middle class, and so weaken any holds that the people of our country have on unchecked corporate power.

CEOs spent about $1 billion in the last election cycle and they want a payback on that investment. Those CEOs and the elected politicians they’ve groomed and financed, like Governor Walker, know that unions are the primary check to unrestricted corporate power. Their solution is to either eliminate or weaken unions so that corporate abuse isn’t challenged.

Scott Walker, at the beck and call of his corporate master, David Koch, provided two business tax breaks that added significantly to Wisconsin’s budget shortfall about two weeks before announcing his intent to make Wisconsin’s middle class pay for the tax cuts. To make sure that he and the others that passed the tax cuts for the wealthy couldn’t be held accountable or that economic balance be restored in the future, he demanded that collective bargaining be destroyed for most public workers in the state.

He must have been surprised when the unions that had endorsed him for governor publically challenged what he is doing, or maybe by the recent poll that shows he would lose his election by a wide margin if it were held today.… Continue reading »

Minnesota’s outpouring of support in solidarity with Wisconsin’s fight for workers’ rights has been truly amazing. Only days after the situation materialized, Minnesota’s labor movement was organizing one rally after another. Hundreds turned out on a freezing bridge over I-94 in Hudson on Saturday February 19th, marching half-a-mile to the Hudson government center for a rally. The following Tuesday, over 2,000 rallied at the capitol in what many called the largest turnout event in the rotunda they had ever seen. And this past Saturday, another 2,000+ crowd turned out again, this time in coordination with rallies in all 50 states. Fundraisers have been organized for the Wisconsin 14 – the Senate Democrats who fled the state rather than comply with the plan to undermine the fundamental bargaining rights of Wisconsin workers. As a former Wisconsinite myself (I grew up in Madison), these tremendous events have been especially powerful, and I am thrilled with the prospect of winning this critical fight for workers’ rights.

Stay strong and keep up the fight.… Continue reading »

I often compare important issues that occur around the country to those that are critical to me as a Minnesotan.  At first, I assumed nothing could be worse than taking away the rights of people to bargain fairly in order to make an honest living.  After all, don’t we all want to live in a Minnesota that treats it population with respect and dignity?

It became clear to me while working on the Health Care team at TakeActionMinnesota that my tax dollars are systematically being directed not to those who need it most, but to lining the pockets of HMOs top executives.  As our Governor looks for acceptable ways to deal with our state budget deficit, I want to make clear to him and our representatives to look very closely at this issue.  I do not want to live in a state where a not-for-profit organization continues to fool the public into believing they are committed to healthy outcomes of those they are charged to cover, who happen to be the most vulnerable of our citizens.  Instead of cutting dollars to nursing homes, community clinics and hospitals, we need to demand transparency of every transaction of those we have entrusted to deliver health care in our state. … Continue reading »

A year ago at this time Tim Pawlenty was still our governor and the main topic of conversation at the state capitol was whether or not the legislature would ratify his unilateral cuts to necessary state programs to help local governments keep our streets safe and clear of snow, provide health care for tens of thousands of our poorest residents, and help working families make ends meet.  (To the disappointment of most Minnesotans, the DFL controlled legislature bowed to Pawlenty’s pressure).  The message was clear: “Times are tough and you are on your own.  Good luck!”

What a difference a year and an election can make.

In his State of the State address Governor Mark Dayton laid out a very different vision for Minnesota.  A vision that says everyone matters.  That all children should have equal worth and access to a great education.  A vision that says investing in people, in their local communities, is the way to lead Minnesota forward.  A vision that says in hard times we have to come together.

I’m pleased that Governor Dayton’s vision resembles TakeAction Minnesota’s vision.

When the governor proposed his budget this week, he turned his vision into a concrete plan to move our state toward a more equitable and prosperous future.  … Continue reading »

There are really two questions I want to ask this afternoon:

• Where are we now, politically, socially, economically?

and

• Who and What are we in this historical moment?

So — Where are we now?

Look outside.  Let’s take a lesson from nature.

We are in the depths of winter.

In Minnesota today, we are far beyond a winter of discontent — we’re in a winter of pain, violence, and destruction, of cold-blooded greed and hot-blooded zealotry.  This winter is bitter, and it is causing real damage to our homes and our communities.  And, as my friend and fellow TakeAction Board member Gary Fuller from Red Lake said recently, it looks sometimes like this winter is here to stay.

But this bitter winter I speak of is manufactured, not natural.

For example, it’s the result of corporate policies that throw workers into the cold in the middle of winter with no time to address the concerns raised – hundreds of Latino workers treated this way by the fast-food chain Chipotle alone.  And it’s the result of corporate policies that throw people out of the chance to even get a job because of a record, a mistake from the past – an enduring remnant of Jim Crow policies that exists today in Minnesota and is part of this winter we are in.… Continue reading »

Our $6.2 billion state budget deficit is unprecedented.  In fact, some would argue it’s the perfect storm: an unpredictable recession triggered by an unforeseen speculative asset bubble that was an unusual market failure.  It was none of these.  Markets collapse.  When they do, we have to dig out.  Fortunately, Minnesotans know how to use a shovel.

State tax revenues fall during recessions.  As the economy contracts, people lose jobs.  People nervous about employment spend less.  Less spending equals less business and fewer profits.  As each shrinks: income, consumption and profits, state tax revenues fall.  In fact, tax revenues fell during the 1981-82, 1990-91, and 2001 recessions.  The banking collapse, which deepened our recession, is hardly new either.  It is a species of market failure that’s relatively common.  In 2008, the International Monetary Fund identified 124 systemic banking crises over the last 40 years.  (Yes, on average, that’s three per year.)  We haven’t had a major crisis in the U.S. since the Saving & Loan debacles in the late 1980’s, but we have, fortunately, preserved some of the tools we need to start digging out.  What are those tools?

Short-term, we need to maintain state spending and raise the income taxes of the wealthiest Minnesotans. … Continue reading »

This post first appeared at www.mn2020.org on January 31, 2011.

“… if your interest is to make health care available to more Americans, this should be a happy day for you – no matter what your ideological beliefs.”

The quote above about the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (PPACA) comes not from Daily Kos or even the New York Times. In fact, the quote comes from columnist Rick Ungar of Forbes Magazine, a publication whose motto is “The Capitalist Motto.” Why are they so bullish on the Affordable Care Act? The answer is simply that healthcare reform is already working exactly as intended and is good for our country’s and Minnesota’s bottom line.

In all the clamor from the new GOP majority about repealing healthcare reform, including from our own Reps. Bachmann, Kline, and Cravaack, they have failed to be frank with citizens about the real consequences.

Repealing the PPACA would cost Minnesota thousands of jobs, shackle small businesses with unaffordable healthcare options, exacerbate our state and national budget woes, and put power back in the hands of the insurance companies that have held patients hostage for decades.

As President of union representing 17,000 healthcare workers, I can speak first-hand about the PPACA’s positive impact on healthcare jobs in Minnesota.… Continue reading »

I’m not one to shower elected officials with praise.  I often find myself skeptical of their motives, questioning of their tactics and dubious if they will have the chutzpah to stand up for what they truly believe.  But yesterday I witnessed one of the more brilliant bits of political theater that I’ve ever seen and need to give credit where credit is due.

What I’ve seen and heard from Governor Mark Dayton so far has been good.  He’s surrounded himself with a strong staff that is well respected and a good mix of experienced veterans and new energy, all of whom have shown themselves to be political savvy.  Likewise, his choices to lead state departments have, thus far, been strong (though we are still waiting to see if his senior team will be more reflective of Minnesota’s increasing racial diversity).

Yesterday, Governor Dayton made a bold move in signing two executive orders to make Minnesota’s residents and budget healthier.  The first order expands Medicaid and to cover 90,000 Minnesotans while also accepting nearly $1.4 billion from the federal government, money that will create jobs and help to close the state budget deficit.  The second order rescinded the previous administration’s directive to refuse any and all dollars made available to Minnesota as part of federal health care reform (who wants what they’ve already paid for?).… Continue reading »

After a long night that stretched into Wednesday, we are all left trying to make sense of this election. On one hand there is a national feeling of defeat.  A sense of rejection of President Obama’s policy agenda.  On the other hand, there is also a sense of hope that Mark Dayton, despite an expected recount, will win and become Minnesota’s next governor.

In stark contrast to the slash-and-burn politics of the Citizens United era, a politics which places a premium on big money, TV ads, and tearing down one’s opponents at all costs, the statewide ground game that we as members of TakeAction Minnesota developed through the reNEW Minnesota campaign was built to last beyond Election Day.

For all the money spent on this election, most of it bought air.  But working together, we built a grassroots infrastructure that remains in place.  The lesson of the first two years of the Obama administration is that bold policy change requires an effective ground game.  Without it, the power of a chief executive is limited.  And in a time of divided government, with new conservative majorities in the Minnesota House and Senate, TakeAction Minnesota’s ground game becomes more critical than ever.

Working together through the reNEW Minnesota campaign, TakeAction Minnesota members made a significant contribution to the statewide campaign that helped to elect Mark Dayton our next governor. … Continue reading »