Blog

Pause for a moment to celebrate.

As we close out 2013, take a look at all that people-power made possible this year, and start dreaming big about what big change we can win together in 2014 and beyond.

Like this? Share it with your friends on Facebook and Twitter.… Continue reading »

Joy Among Our Righteous Anger

On Black Friday I was arrested with 25 others in an act of civil disobedience to demand an end to poverty wages in Minnesota. It was the busiest shopping day of the year and with a thousand people marching, we shut down half a dozen Saint Paul City blocks with our joyful rebellion. You can see pictures of the action here.

Now, we were determined to disrupt business as usual, but we weren’t creating a crisis. The truth is with hours cut, benefits non-existent and wages stagnating or in decline, our families are already in crisis. With our kids growing up in working poverty and our schools underfunded, our communities are already in crisis. With so much wealth in so few hands, our state is already in crisis. Our civil disobedience was about making the crisis visible.

I was surprised, though, that a demonstration filled with righteous anger felt so celebratory. The truth is collective action is a liberating thing. You’re not alone in your anger. You have a community.  You come alive to the sense of possibility and power you’ve always had inside.

Maybe Minnesota’s Senate should take note. They could easily step up and pass the minimum wage hike the House of Representatives has proposed.… Continue reading »

Being welcomed into homes

I approached the minimum wage door knock I had signed up for yesterday tired and stressed. I wasn’t fully committed to being there but wanted to follow-through on what I said I would do. I am so glad I didn’t back out.

The conversations I had with people – asking them to tell their story, sign a petition and write a letter to their Senator about raising the minimum wage — were amazing. The energy and real relationship building I was able to do reminded me why I do this work. Many people invited me in, treated me like a welcomed guest in their home (even though I had unannounced showed up at their door). Everyone thanked me.

That’s what stands out the most for me. I grew up in many of those apartments. Some of my childhood memories include hanging out in the halls with all the other kids who lived in the unit. No one that I recall took the time to meet me and my family, where we were at. That’s what these door-knocks are doing. We’re lucky enough to get out and meet people in their homes, where they are. And people are grateful that we are doing it.… Continue reading »

The top three Election Day lessons

Now that the dust has settled, and all the ranked choice votes have been counted, we know that two longtime TakeAction Minnesota members have climbed another rung on the political ladder: Betsy Hodges will be Minneapolis’ next mayor, and Dai Thao will be joining the St. Paul City Council. Both of these candidates – and their campaigns – teach important lessons about what progressives need to do to win at the ballot box and set the stage for bigger change once in office.  

First, people-powered campaigns matter. Both campaigns had the largest grassroots operations of any in their respective races. Both campaigns made grassroots organizing a key strategy.  Just as important, both candidates inspired grassroots organizations and volunteers to volunteer their time. Alongside other endorsing groups, TakeAction Minnesota members contributed over 1,000 hours of volunteer time knocking on doors, dialing phones, and talking one-on-one with voters. We reached out to more than 17,000 households in our membership about our endorsed candidates. In any campaign, headlines and campaign ads get the most attention. But all of that is just noise if it isn’t backed up by thousands – and tens-of-thousands – of individual, personal conversations with voters about what matters in this election and why their support is crucial.… Continue reading »

Celebrating HOW we won

Last Friday, at our Annual Leadership Awards Celebration, we celebrated the concrete change we have all won that makes our lives and the lives of our loved ones – and our whole state better.

But last Friday wasn’t only a celebration of what we won, it was a celebration of how we won.  Look around you, and you will see a new grassroots movement that has taken hold of our state.

Who was in the room on Friday?

Elected officials like Governor Mark Dayton, Speaker Paul Thissen, and members of the Minnesota House and Senate who acted to make our cities, our state, our nation more equitable.

Minnesotans who organized people in the streets, in government, or online. And the people who love and support someone who works so hard to make the world a better place.

Because of what we all won this spring, the future of our children is brighter, our unions are stronger, and love is the law.

The conventional wisdom used to be, that only what happened inside the state Capitol mattered.  If you weren’t there, then you should just wait to hear what was decided.

But this year – unlike any in recent memory –people all across Minnesota led with their own talent and creativity and changed the status quo.… Continue reading »

What’s working in Minnesota?

Consider what life is like in our neighboring states in the upper Midwest.

To the south, in Iowa, farm and rural activists are fighting off factory farms at every turn.  Farther away, Illinois is continually facing a looming financial crisis.  To the west, North Dakota continues trying to limit a woman’s freedom to choose by passing the most restrictive anti-choice laws in the country.  And to the east, Wisconsin state government resembles that of Mississippi, restricting the right to vote and sitting idle as its health care costs skyrocket.

Meanwhile, here in Minnesota the list of populist accomplishments in the last 12 months is long and impressive… being the first state to defeat both the Voter Restriction and Anti-Gay Marriage Amendments, turning around six months later to pass Marriage Equality, passing historic Ban the Box legislation, Homeowner’s Bill of Rights, The Dream Act, increased progressive revenue and closed corporate tax loopholes, and expanded and strengthened health care coverage.  The list goes on.

What’s working in Minnesota that we are breaking through the same barriers that are holding other states back?

For one thing, nothing that has happened here in Minnesota has happened overnight.  For years, organizers and activists have laid the groundwork for what just recently emerged as a grassroots movement. … Continue reading »

Target Joins the Conversation

Last week, more than 400 people packed the Capri Theater on the northside of Minneapolis and others watched online in Duluth, Grand Rapids, Virginia, Rochester, Mankato, and beyond.

Why?

To be part of a conversation with Target Corporation about closing our worst-in-the-nation racial jobs gap, and to be there as they made a commitment to be part of the solution.

For more than two years, every day Minnesotans with criminal histories have been asking Target to be a leader in closing our worst-in-the-nation racial jobs gap. People like you made phone calls, stood in Target’s lobby, travelled to Denver for their shareholder meeting, filed complaints with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, and more.

And last Thursday night, they joined the conversation and took some serious steps forward. What did that look like?

At the meeting, Target leadership went on the record and committed to continuing a public discussion, funding a free legal clinic on the north side for people with criminal histories, and supporting hiring practices that remove barriers to employment. In a major step forward, they announced that they’ll be adopting “Ban the Box” (a policy that removes questions about criminal histories from employment applications) for all of their applications nationwide.… Continue reading »

$9.50 vs. $7.75: Looking Past the Numbers.

At the end of the 2013 legislative session, Governor Mark Dayton, Speaker of the House Paul Thissen, and Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk agreed on one thing: they will need to take up the minimum wage again in 2014 session.  Beyond that: they have differences.  The Governor has indicated he “would settle” for an increase to $9.50/hr.  The House has passed a bill that would raise it to $9.50/hr by 2015.  The Senate’s bill raises it to only $7.75/hr.

Before the next legislative session begins on February 25, 2014 you can expect to hear a lot more about these dollar figures (as well as the rest of the minimum wage improvements being proposed.)  As you do, it’s important to place them in some context.  How high is too high?  How low is too low?  What do people need to make per hour in order to just get by?  Here is a simple guide to the minimum wage dollar figure debate:

$28.34: This is what the minimum wage would be had it grown at the same rate as the income as the top 1% since 1968 (the year in which the federal minimum wage was at its highest).

$18.72: This is what the minimum wage would be had it grown with the productivity of the U.S.… Continue reading »

Coming Through on Election Day

Election Day is nearly upon us — with two progressive champions locked in tight races that will go down to the wire.

In Minneapolis and Ward 1 of St. Paul, we’ll be hitting the phones and knocking on doors to make sure that Betsy Hodges is Minneapolis’ first choice for mayor, and that Dai Thao heads to City Hall as St. Paul Ward 1’s newest city council member.

These races will be close, and one-on-one conversations among neighbors about why Betsy and Dai are the right candidates to make our cities more equitable will make the difference on Election Day.

Want to be a part of making it happen? Head here to see when we’ll be with Betsy’s campaign, and here to see Dai Thao’s schedule of events.

See you on the doors!

— Steve Rogness… Continue reading »

The power of stories

I’ve always believed in the power of stories.

As a teacher of history and literature, I use personal narratives to bring lessons and lost eras home to students in the present. And recent research has shown that stories are uniquely effective at imparting shared values and empathy. But the fight for healthcare reform taught me how stories can transform the world.

When my family moved to Minnesota about three years ago, we lived without health insurance for four months while we applied for MinnesotaCare. I’d saved up for a doctor’s visit to get continuous care for my fibromyalgia and depression, but the doctor I’d picked refused to follow the treatment plan I’d been on for over a decade. We couldn’t afford to “shop” for a good doctor through out-of-pocket visits, and I was forced off all my medications. I became couch- and bed-bound with pain and exhaustion. I couldn’t look for work or explore the city we’d moved to–even taking my sons swimming for an hour was enough to use up all the energy I had for the day.

I truly recovered once our MinnesotaCare coverage started, and I was able to resume life as a worker, a mom, and a member of our new community.… Continue reading »

What Babysitters Can Tell Us About Minnesota’s Fate

For the last five years my wife and I have had a string of top-notch babysitters.  Our two daughters have had the benefit of getting to spend time with young musicians, burgeoning scientists, and up & coming early childhood educators.

Talented, caring, and thoroughly underemployed: all of them were college educated.

What’s been true in my experience has also been reflected by the employment data of the recession.  According to the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, the rates of underemployment for recent college graduates have grown from 27.4% in 2007 to 37% on 2012.  Paired with straight up unemployment that means 1 of every 2 recent college graduates are under- or unemployed.

What underlies this trend, however, is not lazy students, bad schools, or superfluous college majors, what drives this trend is lousy jobs.  According to a 2012 report by the Center for Economic Policy Research, since 1979 the U.S. economy has lost about the one-third of its ability create good jobs.  If we were creating good jobs (meaning those that pay $18.50 an hour and have health insurance and retirement benefits) in the same way we were in 1979, 34.2% of workers would have good jobs.  Instead only a shrinking 24.6% of U.S.… Continue reading »

Targeting the Racial Jobs Gap

Minnesota is home to more Fortune 500 companies per capita than 48 other states. Our current count is 19 and they play a significant role in our states economy. But for the the random brotha on the block, our state could be home to all 500 companies and it wouldn’t make a difference. The reality is, those 19 companies are not concerned with him and he ain’t concerned about them.

Here is why, African Americans have an unemployment rate of 27%, versus 5.9% for white folks. So, the presence of those 19 companies is not creating jobs in communities like North Minneapolis. Oh, and did I mention that we (African Americans) only make up 5% of the state’s population but 35% of the state’s prison population? This leads to a higher rate of criminal histories in our community and this is a serious barrier to employment. The conversation around employment ends before it is given a chance to start.

So, how does this translate?

On Broadway and Emerson Avenue, the conversation sounds like this: “I got a felony, ain’t no one trying to hire me.” On Dr. Martin Luther King Drive(AKA the State Capital),  it sounds like: “I voted for Ban the Box, isn’t that enough?”… Continue reading »

Field Canvasser

TakeAction Minnesota is hiring field canvassers, full or part time, for the season and for the long haul. We want people who are articulate and self-disciplined, with a passion for social, racial, and economic justice. We believe that we are all in this together. We embrace a politics of inclusion, and justice for all Minnesotans.

We are a worker friendly organization. We consider our employees to be assets, not expenses. We also offer excellent health and dental insurance.

For more information, contact Enoch LaVelle at 651.379.0766 or Enoch@TakeActionMinnesota.org. TakeAction Minnesota is an equal opportunity employer. Women and people of color are strongly encouraged to apply.… Continue reading »

On to November with Dai Thao!

At the DFL special endorsing convention for Saint Paul City Council Ward 1 on July 27th, TakeAction-endorsed Dai Thao was the standout in a strong field of candidates vying for the endorsement. Having put together an impressive campaign team in a short two-month period, and having worked tirelessly to secure delegate support, Dai led on 5 of 6 ballots with support from every corner of Ward 1’s diverse communities.

Dai energized the convention with his progressive vision for Ward 1. Dai recognizes that, as he put it, “our diversity is our strength… we are the answers to our challenges when we work together.” Dai painted a picture of a Ward with boundless potential, but still struggling under divisions of wealth and race, and too many obstacles to prosperity. Dai emphasized the need for a councilmember who “will drive hard bargains at City Hall” and “build every necessary relationship and leverage every opportunity to make sure our residents have a place at the table”.

His message was heard loud and clear. While the convention ultimately came to no endorsement, Dai won the day and heads into the General Election with momentum on his side. It will be a spirited contest, but Dai’s strong message and incredible campaign team make him formidable contender.… Continue reading »

Linnaea Honl-Stuenkel, Getting Covered

I’m a healthy young woman, and to be honest, I never had reason to care much about healthcare until I started interning at TakeAction Minnesota. Little did I know, the Affordable Care Act (Obama’s health care reform law), has already been improving young women’s health while saving them and their families money for over three years. This law is like your secret admirer you either thought was really boring, or didn’t even realize existed.

Let me take you from apathy to infatuation in four bullet points:

• With the ACA, you get preventative care without having to share the cost. This includes birth control, STI counseling, and domestic violence screenings and much more. This is like going on a date with the ACA and having it treat you! (Isn’t it fun how I’m making the ACA seem chivalrous?)
• Now, you can stay on your parent’s plan until you are 26! Basically, this buys you time to grow up before having to worry about these things. FYI, before last summer, insurance companies could have kicked you off when you turned 19. The ACA has already heroically saved over 3.1 million of us young people from this fate!
• Even though the ACA doesn’t look at you as just a number, you could be one of the over 18.6 million uninsured women who could be eligible to get covered or score a bargain on insurance with the health care Exchange.

Chris Conry, As New Taxes Begin; Old Theories Must End

July 1st was the date that much of the Minnesota’s 2014-15 tax plan began to be enacted.  This includes the new tobacco taxes, the corporate loophole closings, and, of course, the increased income tax on the top 2%.  As we pass this milestone, expect critics to make their complaints known.  At this point their threats are pretty familiar: taxes force the rich to move out of state and take their jobs with them.

Nowhere was this refrain more tired than in the debate over corporate taxes.  For example, this year, the Legislature and Governor faced relentless lobbying from no fewer than four business associations that wanted to preserve a jumbo-sized tax loophole known as the Foreign Royalty Subtraction.  This loophole, in essence, created an in-state tax haven for intellectual property.  The theory was: if Minnesota shelters certain royalty payments for intellectual property, businesses will create more jobs, and not just any jobs, but high-paying, high-tech jobs in research and development.

As it turns out, this tired theory of taxes was no truer here than it has been in Ireland, Bermuda, or Vanuatu.  During the final days of the recent Conference Committee on Taxes, non-partisan staff from the Department of Revenue explained that only three of the top twenty corporations that claimed the Foreign Royalty Subtraction actually had R & D operations in Minnesota. … Continue reading »

Sarah Greenfield, 1.3 million Minnesotans

2013 was an incredible legislative session to be part of the movement for universal healthcare in Minnesota.

Many years we find ourselves on the defense, working as hard as we can just to keep the public health care programs we have, forced to choose just one priority in order to win anything, with little or no additional capacity to think about the long term and move forward. This was not that year, but it wasn’t a cake-walk either.

Real people stepped up and stepped forward into the weedy, wonky world of “health insurance exchange” policy and wrestled it into a simple, urgent message: “People At The Center.” Rather than leaving it to “the experts,” Minnesotans called, emailed, and visited legislators and the Dayton administration to make sure that Minnesota’s new exchange, now called MNsure, was built to serve the needs of people who need healthcare, not the industry that profits off selling it. This meant fighting back the top priorities of big insurance companies in order to keep people on the payroll of big insurance off of our MNsure board, and to allow MNsure to negotiate with insurers for the best plans and the best prices.

At the same time, a strong alliance of diverse organizations worked with the Dayton administration and legislature to make sure that federal health care reform would maintain and expand MinnesotaCare into a model program for states around the country.… Continue reading »

Chris Conry, Our Tax Plan: It’s Not Overreach, It’s Overdue

“That is the task which we begin today: to inaugurate an age in which our will is equal to our hopes.  I believe that our people are waiting, and are ready, for such an age.  They are waiting for government to catch up with them.” – Governor Wendell R. Anderson, Inaugural Address, January 6, 1971

Changing our tax code is a long run project and it’s controversial every step of the way.  There’s a good reason for that: we negotiate and renegotiate our social contract through taxes.  It’s where we sort out who pays and how much and for what.  Everybody has a stake and everybody has an opinion.  The tax changes coming in the next biennium are no exception.

First, what happened?  In a nutshell, we, as a state, did five things: 1) we raised $1.1 billion by asking the top 2% to pay 2% more, 2) we closed over $400 million in corporate tax loopholes, 3) we raised another $400 million in tobacco taxes, 4) we raised taxes nearly $100 million on large inheritances, and 5) we did a mini-version of sales tax reform: taxing digital goods and a handful of business services while lowering other taxes.

These are significant changes, but none of them are unprecedented. … Continue reading »

Dan McGrath, Getting From No to Yes

“This campaign has lit a grassroots fire that has swept our state. We want a politics that happens by us, and not to us… Tonight I’m so happy to say we closed the chapter on no and we opened the chapter on yes – yes to a future where Minnesota unites in active grassroots democracy.”

Remember that? Election night 2012. Against all odds, an amazing grassroots movement defeated two harmful amendments and elected a progressive majority to the Capitol. We were on cloud nine. But we also knew we hadn’t won anything yet.

But what happened next? You refused to go away. The grassroots movement that started last fall got even stronger, and won a long list of populist achievements in this legislative session. A new health care exchange that puts people at the center. Ban the Box legislation that takes a step toward closing the racial jobs gap. Fairer taxation that closes corporate tax loopholes and invests in all-day kindergarten and a stronger MinnesotaCare. And those are just the issues TakeAction Minnesota focused on most.  Our friends and allies led the way, passing marriage equality, the DREAM Act, the Homeowners Bill of Rights, the right to organize for personal care attendants and childcare workers…and on and on…and on.We… Continue reading »

Elizabeth Lienesch, Fixing the sharing problem

I recently attended a superhero themed birthday party for a 3 year old. Imagine dozens of kids in capes, masks, and tights of all colors. Yes, it was a cute as it sounds. During this party, as cake was doled out and presents were opened, I watched parent after parent explain the concept of sharing to their kids. At one point, I overheard a parent say to their 3 year old, “we share so that everyone can have a good time.”

It’s time for corporations in our state to learn this lesson of sharing. For too long, corporations have failed to pay their fair share, and have instead been taking advantage of every opportunity they can to keep more and more money for themselves.

Let’s look at the real life examples of this in our state. We have corporations like Verizon paying 0% state income tax. We have companies like Wells Fargo using tax loopholes to stash money tax-free in Cayman Island shell companies. And we are just recently learning more about the millions of dollars in excess reserves that the four biggest HMOs in Minnesota are sitting on. That’s money that they’ve made from running our public health care programs that isn’t being spent on care.… Continue reading »

Dan McGrath, An Exchange “Designed To Put the Health Care Needs of Minnesotans as its Top Priority”

Earlier today, Governor Mark Dayton signed Minnesota’s new Health Insurance Exchange, MNSure, into law.  Here’s what Dan McGrath, our Executive Director, had to say on this historic occasion:

“Today, Governor Dayton signed some of the most historic legislation of the past fifty years into state law, ensuring that 1.3 million Minnesotans have access to affordable health care coverage, including 300,000 currently uninsured individuals and over 150,000 employees of small businesses struggling to provide coverage.  MNSure is designed to put the health care needs of Minnesotans as its top priority.

“The new MNSure health care marketplace will ensure that health insurance plans will compete for consumer business in an open and transparent way by allowing consumers to select the plan that meets their budget and health care needs.  MNSure will bring much needed security and financial peace-of-mind to hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans struggling to get the health care they need when they need it.

“For the first time ever, Minnesota health care consumers are on a level playing field with health insurance companies.  This exchange means that individuals, as well as the employees and owners of small businesses, will have the same buying power and control over their health plans as big businesses.… Continue reading »

Sarah Greenfield, The Final Stretch

After years of work, the creation of Minnesota’s new Health Exchange is heading into the final stretch. It is in its final committees now, and we expect it to head to the full legislature as early as next week. 

Two of the most critical elements – the ability of our Exchange to negotiate for Minnesotans and a board free from financial conflicts of interest – are still in the bill, but the insurance industry has lobbied aggressively to have them removed, and committee votes have been razor thin. Earlier this week, a House committee voted to preserve the power to negotiate by only one vote. Even two Democrats voted on the side of the insurance industry.

These next few weeks are going to be a critical moment to have your voice heard. Stay tuned – get ready to contact your legislators to make that your voice is heard above that of the insurance industry.

We’ll be in touch, and together, we’ll make sure Minnesota’s Exchange is created with people at the center.

Sarah Greenfield 

Sarah is TakeAction Minnesota’s Health Care Program Manager.… Continue reading »

Megan Buckingham & Paul Sobocinski, Progress Toward People-Centered Health Care System

This blog is reposted from the Land Stewardship Project, one of our key allies in our work to make sure Minnesota’s Health Benefits Exchange is built with people at the center, not insurance industry profits. You can view it in its original form here. 

For the past year the Land Stewardship Project and our allies have been organizing to make sure Minnesota moves forward, not backward, under the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare). It’s clear that our current health care system is failing working people across the state—including urban people, rural people and farmers.

In fact, lack of access to affordable care is one of the major impediments to beginning farmers getting started. And in farm families it’s very common for one spouse to take an off-farm job to get health insurance benefits. This makes it more difficult to build an economically viable family farm—a situation that’s particularly challenging for livestock operations.

The other options are hardly better: purchasing expensive insurance on the corporate-dominated private market, which is often inadequate to meet people’s needs; or joining the 9.1 percent of Minnesotans who take the risk of going without health insurance coverage.

A Health Insurance Exchange Governed by the People

That’s why LSP has been organizing with allies across the state to win changes in our health care system that start to put the power back in the hands of the people.… Continue reading »

Doug Williams, Fix the Senate Now

An important campaign that many Minnesotans don’t even know about is rapidly coming to a conclusion. The vote is likely going to take place early next week, if it happens at all. Most of us know the Senate is broken. The current Senate rules enable obstruction and block progress on a range of issues key to America’s future. In past years, our nation was able to move forward on landmark legislation that put in place workers’ rights, civil rights, retirement security for seniors and so much more.

We know it’s no longer a question of a majority vote making decisions on critical legislation. We know gridlock rules the decision making process in the Senate. The filibuster used to be an important tool that gave the minority a real voice in the Senate. Not anymore. For too long now, this tactic has been misused and abused. Congress has stopped legislating effectively, with Senators using ridiculous dodge tactics to block real progress. Today, majority rule in the Senate is the exception, not the rule.

We know we can do better. 70% of Americans agree and think substantive change is needed in the Senate rules.

This is our chance to reform the Senate rules so that Senators debate and vote on critical legislation.… Continue reading »

Elizabeth Lienesch, Saying Yes to a Healthier Minnesota

Throughout the summer and fall, TakeAction health care team members pounded the pavement and called thousands of voters, asking them to vote no on November 6th. Last week, we saw the result of all that work as two hateful amendments were defeated in our state. Saying no to those amendments felt great. And seeing them both defeated felt even better.

But now, a week later, we’re ready to say goodbye to no and move on to yes. And as we look to the health care work TakeAction Minnesota will be doing this legislative session, we feel a sense of that “yes” most clearly in the opportunity we have to improve and expand our MinnesotaCare program.

This session, our newly elected legislature will have the chance to make major and long lasting changes to our state’s health care system through the creation of what’s called a Basic Health Plan. A key part of the Affordable Care Act, the Basic Health Plan would mean maintaining, improving and expanding the current MinnesotaCare program in our state.

It would mean saying yes to a healthier Minnesota – the Basic Health Plan will provide affordable, high-quality health care to 120,000 people in our state, some of whom are currently on MinnesotaCare and some of whom would be newly covered.… Continue reading »

Organizational Member Spotlight: OutFront Minnesota Makes History

Eighteen months ago, TakeAction Minnesota organizational member OutFront Minnesota joined Project 515 to launch Minnesotans United for All Families, the campaign to defeat the amendment.

Together, they built the largest grassroots campaign Minnesota has ever seen: close to 700 coalition partners, 27,000 volunteers, 67,000 donors and 1.3 million voters who said no to amending the state’s constitution. Their work led us to make history as the first state in the nation to defeat a constitutional amendment to limit the freedom to marry for same-sex couples.

At the same time, the tireless OutFront joined us in the campaign to defeat the Voter Restriction Amendment and worked to elect a pro-LGBT equality majority in both the house and senate.

But they’re just getting started. OutFront is ready to move from no to yes — yes to the freedom to marry and legal recognition for same-sex couples in Minnesota.

We can’t wait to join them in this fight in 2013. Be a part of this amazing campaign from the start, take a deeper look at the issues facing the LGBTQ community, and celebrate our amazing Election Day victories on December 1 at OutFront Minnesota’s Equality & Justice Summit on December 1.… Continue reading »

Chris Conry, Saying yes to a fair tax system and a popular economy

Last Tuesday our political system moved one step closer to representing America’s emerging majority.

Our political system improves when our electorate more closely matches our population.  In other words, when growing populations like young people, people of color, women, and progressives vote, we get a government more responsive to our needs.  This is what happened in 2008 and 2012.  It is what did not happen in 2010.

The challenge for political leaders going forward is to make sure this emerging majority has a reason to vote in 2014, 2016, and beyond.  This is more than a messaging problem.  It is a governing problem.  Elected officials that fail to respond to the needs of these growing populations will likely find themselves subject to the see-saw ‘wave’ elections the country has been experiencing since 2002.

Like our political system, our tax system is most effective when it responds to our lived experience.  Unfortunately, our tax system is currently out of sync with the economy we live every day.One of the key messages voters sent at the ballot box last week was that they firmly support making our tax system more fair.  In a nationwide AFL-CIO exit poll, 62% of voters said their message to the next president and Congress was: “We should make sure the wealthy start paying their fair share of taxes.”… Continue reading »

Liz Loeb, No Going Back

When I was 11 years old, a teacher from another classroom decided that the whole school needed to have assigned seats in the lunchroom. We weren’t asked about it, we weren’t consulted, we weren’t told why, were simply assigned seats at someone else’s whim.  As luck would have it, we had just been learning about the U.S. Constitution and the right to freedom of assembly in social studies.  Outraged by the blatant trampling of our rights and liberties by an unjust and undemocratic authority, and burning with the righteous desire to sit next to my friends at lunch, I organized a petition and a walk-out.  I couldn’t believe it when dozens of my classmates follow suit.  After a cruel loss of recess privileges and further organized protest, the administration relented.  We won the right to sit where we pleased.  6th Graders of the World Unite! 

It may sound small, writing about my first collective organizing victoy well over twenty years later.   But for me, it was the point of no return.  Once I knew what it felt like to change the world in a way that directly affected me and the people I cared about, once I knew that it was possible, there was no going back.… Continue reading »

Justin Terrell, Saying YES to Ending our Racial Jobs Gap

On Monday morning, November 5th, Arthur Cunningham was working on his resume in the computer lab next to the TakeAction Minnesota Northside “Get out the Vote” Action Center. Arthur is 21 years old, African American, and lives in North Minneapolis. Until Tuesday, he had never voted before. He had no idea what the Voter Restriction Amendment was about or how it would have impacted him if it had passed. 

After a ten minute conversation about the amendment (and some quick help with his resume), Arthur was ready to hit the phones and volunteer his time to defeat the amendment. On Election Day, not only did he continue to work the phones and wave signs in the street, he also got a ride from our action center to the polls and filled out his first ballot.

Arthur helped Minnesota make history. He voted to re-elect the first African American President, and said NO to both marriage discrimination and voter suppression. When I asked him why he had never voted before, he said he felt like voting didn’t make a difference. After voting this year, I am pretty sure Arthur changed his mind.

Here’s the best part: Arthur wasn’t alone. Leaders from the Justice 4 All program spent months on the phones and knocking on doors talking to voters about the Voter Restriction Amendment and its impact on our community.… Continue reading »

Chris Conry, Your Vote or Your Job? A New Low in Corporate Electioneering

SuperPACs are old news.  As we near November 6th, the trendsetters in corporate electioneering are drafting a disturbing new tool: a letter from the boss. 

A growing number of C.E.O.s are setting pen to paper to warn their employees of the dire consequences of voting for President Obama.  Some, such as David A. Siegel, the head of Westgate Resorts, have resorted to outright threats writing, “If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, as our current president plans, I will have no choice but to reduce the size of this company.”

While election year bullying is nothing new, these letters are having unexpected impacts on places and people in Minnesota.

On August 21st Georgia Pacific announced it would close its woods product plant in Duluth.  Workers there manufactured a hard board wood that is used in car interior components like visors and rear shelves.  For decades these jobs had been a livelihood for 141 people and their families.  On October 19th they picked up their last paycheck.

This closing has been a hardship for these families and the City of Duluth.  It is one in a series of six large wood-manufacturing plants to close in Minnesota in the last 5 years. … Continue reading »