I nicked my neck the other day while shaving. A little shaving cream seeped into the tiny nick and I was surprised by the amount of pain. Imagine the surprise of Nick Berg, hands and feet bound but not blindfolded, when Islamic radicals, following a rambling dissertation, all captured intentionally on video, grabbed him, threw him to the floor and proceeded to cut his head off. Yes, he was fully conscious. Yes, he was fully aware of what was happening to him. Relative to alternative means of killing another human being it was quick. Nick only screamed and struggled in horror and agony for about thirty seconds. That first cut through that sensitive skin on his throat and the subsequent sawing through his esophagus, brachial plexus nerves causing brief but unimaginable pain, through the muscles and tendons in his neck, all the vessels feeding his brain and finally, his last realization that this was, in-fact the end of his life on Earth. All the brief but adrenaline enhanced emotions, thoughts, feelings, excrutiating pain and fear he must have felt haunts me. The life leaves his body and only God knows the extent his brain continues to function beyond until those final moments. This is the fate Islam and Islamic fascists condemned all non-Muslims to upon the first acceptance of it as a religion.
To understand the depravity of people who are capable of and willing to commit such an act against another living, breathing human is to explore the depths of faith, devotion and the reason for our existence. Until such time as we are able to talk to God, we must guess what is behavior that a rational being who would rule all the universe and who, according to innumerable religions, controls our eternity.
Absent such answers from God, we have to decide how we will live together on this planet. After-all, this is the only existence we know, for certain, that involves us and our individual choices. Man, we could get really deep with this and I could get all graphic again, describing the hundreds of people who are routinely dispatched in this manner in the Muslim world. On the other hand, I wish only to point out the battle to which I can only hope we are committed against the people who commit these acts.
We have had a dramatic shift in the political lanscape and if you listen to the pundits, it is all because of the Iraq war. If you listen to the talk show hosts, they will debate the proper designation of the conflict. I consider it a rebuilding effort, and the US role being that of restoring order and security as well as training the Iraqis to defend themselves following what can only be described as a swift and brilliant defeat of the Iraqi Army. That done, we get out. Some are comparing this "war" to WWII if only that it has "lasted longer". Don't we still have troops in Germany? We still have troops in Iraq. WWII was a geo-political war. The war against terror is primarily a propaganda war. The terrorists are winning because that is their strategy. A several thousand year old strategy of breaking your opponent by creating terror and demoralization is working against the most technologically advanced civilization in the history of the Earth, because we lack resolve and patience. Our military is committed and our troops, as evidenced by record re-enlistments in-theater are occuring. Yet our political leaders are divided, the newly elected majority of Democrats appears like a ship without a rudder and all the political divisions have, among the senior Democrats, magically disappeared...on Iraq.
The shifting landscape over the next weeks and months holds something I don't believe anyone has considered. Within the now Democrat dominated Congress, there will be a number of newbies, coming in with a perceived mandate to "get our troops out now". This idealism will collide with the reality of a lack of direction from the Democratic Party for the future, the power of the Comander in Chief and a generally idealistic approach to the conflict vs. the reality of our commitment. The junior members of Congress coming from the Democratic Party, expecting to see their adrenaline enhanced euphoria and fervor to get out, will be disappointed.
Nancy Pelosi has made it clear that dissention in the ranks will not be tolerated and there will be repurcussions for those who engage in it. The stage is set for civil, or not so civil war within the Democratic Party. 2008 will usher in the ultra-important election, as has every other. Yet this one will be different. The Democrats, never able to keep the rabble on a consistent, logical strategy, will be in disarray in short order. By 2008, Americans will be begging for the divisiveness between the two parties over the dissention and disarray of the Democrats. Finally, the average Joe will be dismayed by the fact that he or she, in 2006 voted for a "change of direction in Iraq" and did not get it at the hands of many Democratic majorities both Nationally and among the states.
Ours will be a rapidly changing landscape and by '08, the Democrats will be scratching their collective heads wondering how, in this day and age, the Republicans were able to maintain Unity for six years when theirs unraveled in less than two. They capitalized on portability of information, access to constituents via internet, posting out of context sound-bites while the Republicans relied upon it yet exercising no influence over it. The lesson has been learned and in the immortal words of George W. Bush, fool me, er, uh, yer, um gonna, if you fool me, ah, your, gonna, you won't fool me again...or something like that.
Monday, September 18, 2006
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Criminal?
Marti Bascaglia says it would be a waste of time to investigate and potentially prosecute Mayor Herb Bergson for releasing an auditor's confidential draft report to her. Herb has apologized and many have suggested that should suffice. The resulting fray, a conclusion of three, count them, three front page, headline reports by the "news" paper headed by Marti Bascaglia. Both heads are in the frying pan and it is just a matter of time before they both sizzle under the heat of a policy of nose thumbing at the rules, laws and mores of our community. The combined arrogance of Herb Bergson and Marti Bascaglia are eclipsed only by those of Kim Jong Il of modern day Korea, Hitler and Mussolini of days past.
Fortunately, unlike their mentors, they hold positions of power and influence in a tiny playground of nitwits. That playground, on the other hand has become that of nitwits at their own hands. Herb Bergson lacks the integrity to command any respect, but among a few, wields just enough power to instill fear into enough people to render a community and it's trusted employees completely impotent.
The unmitigated willingness of Marti Bascaglia to engage in ruthless character assassination has more than a few in her tiny peer group shuddering with fear. The rest of us looking in cannot help but wonder what goes on in the mind of a textbook narcissistic personality. That personality in a position of relative power has an enormous amount of ability to do both good and bad. Unfortunately for Duluth, Marti has not the judgement nor the vision to comprehend the damage done to this small community when she embarks on her crusades leaving all that is decent and good about it, in ruins behind her. The wrath of Marti and her editorial board is a force of terrible consequence in the tiny little haven of Duluth but in real world relativism, she and her board are but a pimple on the ass of society. They are worthy of scorn but certainly not enough energy to get through a trivial gossip session over lunch.
You see, to be relevant, you have to present attitudes, opinions and logic that is considered worthy of ponder by the population at large, not just your peers and local community. Duluth is a tiny microcosm of the United States and as a stand alone community is relatively irrelevant. While we machinate over the hate filled and dislexic boys and girls club of the Tribune, the rest of the world simply goes on. We are not noticed. We have no attention paid to our trivial quibbles and comic eye poking and face slapping. Marti is no more important to the world than she makes herself in her own mind. Unfortunately, she gets validation from her many foes within the community including myself. She believes that by being the topic of conversation in Duluth, she is valid and relevant. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We, as a community have strayed so far from the mainstream as to render our entire existence and presence, irrelevant. What we do here, stays here. Nobody cares outside of this area, with a possible tiny handful of exceptions. People born and raised here but forced to move away to find a relevant life occasionally check in, but to their dismay, and likely disappointment, the only thing that has changed is we have become even less relevant.
Fortunately, unlike their mentors, they hold positions of power and influence in a tiny playground of nitwits. That playground, on the other hand has become that of nitwits at their own hands. Herb Bergson lacks the integrity to command any respect, but among a few, wields just enough power to instill fear into enough people to render a community and it's trusted employees completely impotent.
The unmitigated willingness of Marti Bascaglia to engage in ruthless character assassination has more than a few in her tiny peer group shuddering with fear. The rest of us looking in cannot help but wonder what goes on in the mind of a textbook narcissistic personality. That personality in a position of relative power has an enormous amount of ability to do both good and bad. Unfortunately for Duluth, Marti has not the judgement nor the vision to comprehend the damage done to this small community when she embarks on her crusades leaving all that is decent and good about it, in ruins behind her. The wrath of Marti and her editorial board is a force of terrible consequence in the tiny little haven of Duluth but in real world relativism, she and her board are but a pimple on the ass of society. They are worthy of scorn but certainly not enough energy to get through a trivial gossip session over lunch.
You see, to be relevant, you have to present attitudes, opinions and logic that is considered worthy of ponder by the population at large, not just your peers and local community. Duluth is a tiny microcosm of the United States and as a stand alone community is relatively irrelevant. While we machinate over the hate filled and dislexic boys and girls club of the Tribune, the rest of the world simply goes on. We are not noticed. We have no attention paid to our trivial quibbles and comic eye poking and face slapping. Marti is no more important to the world than she makes herself in her own mind. Unfortunately, she gets validation from her many foes within the community including myself. She believes that by being the topic of conversation in Duluth, she is valid and relevant. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We, as a community have strayed so far from the mainstream as to render our entire existence and presence, irrelevant. What we do here, stays here. Nobody cares outside of this area, with a possible tiny handful of exceptions. People born and raised here but forced to move away to find a relevant life occasionally check in, but to their dismay, and likely disappointment, the only thing that has changed is we have become even less relevant.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Still Here
Spring has sprung and projects abound. I haven't upddated for some time and will be sparse in new postings but look for me to spice things up a little. Local issues will still be my focus here but the content will be less cumbersome to read and I will be including more links and sourcing.
Free Speech recently got a boost from the FEC as they decided to leave blogs outside the spectrum of their scrutiny. The logical thing for them to do was of course just that. It is going to become more and more impossible and impractical, without gestapo tactics and World Wide Web policing on a frightening scale, to monitor or regulate speech on the internet. This is a good thing.
I won't be shy about taking advantage of my right to free speech. I will continue my figurative in-step stomping on the Tribune and lampooning our overly deserving local politicians. The lunacy continues and seems to have affected more than the usual 6 or 7 Councilors and leftist talking heads around Duluth. Enjoy Spring, the mosquitoes are right around the corner!
Free Speech recently got a boost from the FEC as they decided to leave blogs outside the spectrum of their scrutiny. The logical thing for them to do was of course just that. It is going to become more and more impossible and impractical, without gestapo tactics and World Wide Web policing on a frightening scale, to monitor or regulate speech on the internet. This is a good thing.
I won't be shy about taking advantage of my right to free speech. I will continue my figurative in-step stomping on the Tribune and lampooning our overly deserving local politicians. The lunacy continues and seems to have affected more than the usual 6 or 7 Councilors and leftist talking heads around Duluth. Enjoy Spring, the mosquitoes are right around the corner!
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Free Speech Survives FEC
"FEC Won't Regulate Internet Politics". This statement reverberates throughout the internet today. Although in many circles, it will get nary a glance, among bloggers, however, this is an important and significant development. You and I will likely never encounter the likes of FEC enforcement but imagine answering the door and having two federal agents standing there with warrants to seize your laptop. It is at least a little disconcerting. The door remains open to an infinite variety of attacks on free-speech, such as fallacious accusations of libel/slander but those can be avoided by qualifying what you say as opinion and not getting into specific allegations or accusations represented as fact, etc.
Why is this significant? This allows people like you and I to blog about candidates for political office, independent of the majority of constraints without fear of federal prosecution. The local implications are obvious as well. Would a State be willing to bring enforcement action against little ol' me if the FEC has already come out in support of allowing this type of communication? This will likely have implications for States with more restrictive rules as well. The best part is Free Speech has survived another attempted assault.
Why is this significant? This allows people like you and I to blog about candidates for political office, independent of the majority of constraints without fear of federal prosecution. The local implications are obvious as well. Would a State be willing to bring enforcement action against little ol' me if the FEC has already come out in support of allowing this type of communication? This will likely have implications for States with more restrictive rules as well. The best part is Free Speech has survived another attempted assault.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Dry Reading
I have a tendency to get too verbose in my postings. I am passionate about Duluth and feel an obligation to do whatever I can to effect change. I will continue to post to this blog but going back over my posts, it is clear, my writing appeals only to me and has no impact relative to a call to action or providing relevant, current information. I have no traffic counters but I suspect if I did, it would click off a visit about three times a month and a few more in-between as I log in to update and check for comments. Is this a worthwhile endeavor? Well, only to me as it relates to pealing back the onion of my brain to occasionally review what I was thinking at any given time.
What to do? Well, it seems it is time to begin posting more relevant, current, appealing and certainly less lengthy posts. In this day and age, nobody has the time to read through an opinion piece of 2000 words, especially when that opinion is about nothing more than Duluth. After-all, there are 86,000 residents in Duluth and we are all struggling for survival, save Marti Buscaglia and all her limosine liberal friends as well as a few over-paid, wacko college professors.
I am going to start taking on less than local issues and do a little more digging, provide better linking, etc. to make this space more useful to the handful of people who accidentally stray to it on occasion. If you have read this page, you will see I have also eliminated the ads placed between the articles as they were distracting and mostly junk. Have a great day and to the few of you who have actually read, thanks!
What to do? Well, it seems it is time to begin posting more relevant, current, appealing and certainly less lengthy posts. In this day and age, nobody has the time to read through an opinion piece of 2000 words, especially when that opinion is about nothing more than Duluth. After-all, there are 86,000 residents in Duluth and we are all struggling for survival, save Marti Buscaglia and all her limosine liberal friends as well as a few over-paid, wacko college professors.
I am going to start taking on less than local issues and do a little more digging, provide better linking, etc. to make this space more useful to the handful of people who accidentally stray to it on occasion. If you have read this page, you will see I have also eliminated the ads placed between the articles as they were distracting and mostly junk. Have a great day and to the few of you who have actually read, thanks!
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Nothing to Fear
So much of what I have written culminates into one general theme. That theme is that Duluth needs a fundamental change of direction, change of leadership and change in general thought and attitudes. The comments by the Publisher of the Duluth News Tribune, typify the attitudes of the stodgy, dusty and out of touch, liberal, DFL establishment in Duluth. This sort of 50s era thinking seems so entrenched, to dislodge it is going to take a powerful voice.
When change is the only direction to progress, the new voice of that progress must not only be powerful, afterall, anyone can stand at a podium and bang their fists, shouting slogans of power to the people, it must be unifying and galvanizing. I cannot remember a voice in my lifetime that I felt compelled to follow on a local level. I cannot remember a voice that truly galvanized people to action and compelled change in Duluth. It has been the same, whether the voice comes from the right or the left. The voices have always stuck to one message or another, pro-business, or pro-labor; pro-development or pro-environment; pro-growth or pro-green. I submit to you that these voices have done damage to their respective sides and viewing the situation Duluth now finds itself in, they have done a disservice to Duluth as a whole, with little exception.
This new voice must be able to articulate that it is possible to be both pro-business and pro-labor and that the two go hand in hand. Labor depends on job creation. The new voice must be able to articulate that it is possible to be pro-development and pro-environment and that, in today's day and age, the two now go hand in hand. Developers are now held to the highest, strictest standards of environmental protection and aesthetic sensitivity. We must realize that leaving land undeveloped or in the public domain, leaves it essentially without stewardship. Todays developers have become excellent stewards and out of necessity, demanded by the marketplace and the political arena, are keenly aware of the sensitivities of their detractors. Good stewardship, depends on those good stewards to take ownership.
Duluthians must be made to understand that by embracing growth, we aren't, at the same time, capitulating to urban sprawl. We must also understand that to embrace growth, maintain a higher standard of living for all and the quality of life we now experience, we can and will do all of it with careful stewardship of and respect for those ideals from all sides of the political spectrum.
For decades, we have been lead to believe that growth and development are mutually exclusive from high quality of life. We have been brainwashed on both sides that to protect green and open spaces, we have to sacrifice economic and population growth. We have been misled to believe that both sides of the arguments require unequivocal compromise and one will cease to exist if the other is allowed to succeed. We have, in a nutshell, lost balance. That loss of balance has come from the paranoia of those on the extremes of both sides, that the other is out to monopolize the public domain, grab up all the land and exclude the other from the process. This paranoia has come from our elected leaders and those campaigning for office who feel using fear is the only way to obtain and retain elected office.
The new leadership of Duluth, if it is ever to move Duluth in a unified manner, and if this new brand of leadership ever arrives on the scene, must be a master of public communication and a non-threatening presence to all. They will have to move us toward solving the issues that affect all and toward creating opportunities across all spectrums for all Duluthians and those not native to the area, who would like to locate here, such as our hundreds of college graduates every year. They will have to put out a message that Duluth is too good to suffer mediocrity and stagnation. Duluth is too valuable and beautiful to think small in regards to the future. We have to think smarter and bigger and we need a leader who will bring this message to all Duluthians, across all political and dogmatic lines. "Enlightened" leaders are not enough. We need enlightened, bold, articulate and unashamed leadership.
The new leadership must be a problem solving, not finger pointing presence. The demons of the past must be exorcised and forgotten. The enemies of the future must be dealt with and convinced, theirs is a message of days gone by. The Party loyalists who capitalize on fear must be marginalized and their message drowned out by one galvanizing the community into hope and progress. A "polarized" community must alienate and ostracize those who capitalize on and propagate the myth of polarization.
The new voice of Duluth has to be able to convince those across all lines that, in the words of FDR, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself". Fear is the most powerful tool in the politicians' arsenal and it has been used far too long, to the detriment of society. It has created a chasm in Duluth, larger than the City itself and that chasm must be filled with a message of unity, cooperation, hope and most of all, galvanized determination to turn the City into what it once was; a place where anyone with an able body, sound mind and the willingness to work hard, could and would succeed.
When change is the only direction to progress, the new voice of that progress must not only be powerful, afterall, anyone can stand at a podium and bang their fists, shouting slogans of power to the people, it must be unifying and galvanizing. I cannot remember a voice in my lifetime that I felt compelled to follow on a local level. I cannot remember a voice that truly galvanized people to action and compelled change in Duluth. It has been the same, whether the voice comes from the right or the left. The voices have always stuck to one message or another, pro-business, or pro-labor; pro-development or pro-environment; pro-growth or pro-green. I submit to you that these voices have done damage to their respective sides and viewing the situation Duluth now finds itself in, they have done a disservice to Duluth as a whole, with little exception.
This new voice must be able to articulate that it is possible to be both pro-business and pro-labor and that the two go hand in hand. Labor depends on job creation. The new voice must be able to articulate that it is possible to be pro-development and pro-environment and that, in today's day and age, the two now go hand in hand. Developers are now held to the highest, strictest standards of environmental protection and aesthetic sensitivity. We must realize that leaving land undeveloped or in the public domain, leaves it essentially without stewardship. Todays developers have become excellent stewards and out of necessity, demanded by the marketplace and the political arena, are keenly aware of the sensitivities of their detractors. Good stewardship, depends on those good stewards to take ownership.
Duluthians must be made to understand that by embracing growth, we aren't, at the same time, capitulating to urban sprawl. We must also understand that to embrace growth, maintain a higher standard of living for all and the quality of life we now experience, we can and will do all of it with careful stewardship of and respect for those ideals from all sides of the political spectrum.
For decades, we have been lead to believe that growth and development are mutually exclusive from high quality of life. We have been brainwashed on both sides that to protect green and open spaces, we have to sacrifice economic and population growth. We have been misled to believe that both sides of the arguments require unequivocal compromise and one will cease to exist if the other is allowed to succeed. We have, in a nutshell, lost balance. That loss of balance has come from the paranoia of those on the extremes of both sides, that the other is out to monopolize the public domain, grab up all the land and exclude the other from the process. This paranoia has come from our elected leaders and those campaigning for office who feel using fear is the only way to obtain and retain elected office.
The new leadership of Duluth, if it is ever to move Duluth in a unified manner, and if this new brand of leadership ever arrives on the scene, must be a master of public communication and a non-threatening presence to all. They will have to move us toward solving the issues that affect all and toward creating opportunities across all spectrums for all Duluthians and those not native to the area, who would like to locate here, such as our hundreds of college graduates every year. They will have to put out a message that Duluth is too good to suffer mediocrity and stagnation. Duluth is too valuable and beautiful to think small in regards to the future. We have to think smarter and bigger and we need a leader who will bring this message to all Duluthians, across all political and dogmatic lines. "Enlightened" leaders are not enough. We need enlightened, bold, articulate and unashamed leadership.
The new leadership must be a problem solving, not finger pointing presence. The demons of the past must be exorcised and forgotten. The enemies of the future must be dealt with and convinced, theirs is a message of days gone by. The Party loyalists who capitalize on fear must be marginalized and their message drowned out by one galvanizing the community into hope and progress. A "polarized" community must alienate and ostracize those who capitalize on and propagate the myth of polarization.
The new voice of Duluth has to be able to convince those across all lines that, in the words of FDR, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself". Fear is the most powerful tool in the politicians' arsenal and it has been used far too long, to the detriment of society. It has created a chasm in Duluth, larger than the City itself and that chasm must be filled with a message of unity, cooperation, hope and most of all, galvanized determination to turn the City into what it once was; a place where anyone with an able body, sound mind and the willingness to work hard, could and would succeed.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Denying the Market
As I read and discuss the most recent development significant to Duluth, the sale and impending re-sale of the Duluth News Tribune, I thought it might be time to reflect on a few things. First and foremost is Duluth's longstanding failure to embrace and recognize the importance of market economics. To put it in a very simplistic way it all boils down to supply and demand. In the case of the Tribune, the supply is ample and the demand dropping. In many senses, the demise of the Tribune has been brought about by their own brand of "journalism".
Any "news" entity that embraces the politics of personal destruction, vindictive targeting of individuals and organizations and a selective approach to subject matter to promote an agenda damages not only their credibility, but those they seek to serve. The consumers of news want balance. People want to make informed decisions and generally, people thirst for accurate and unbiased information. If you are making judgements and decisions based on lies, misconceptions or misinformation, your judgement is ultimately, based on ignorance. When a "news" outlet chooses to promote an agenda, rather than simply and objectively report the news, and subsequently damage their own credibility, the consumers of that "news" will dismiss that "news" more and more and ultimately will turn to other sources of information.
Recently, the bias of the Tribune has been so evident, even the least discriminating reader has begun to turn to other sources to corroborate or verify the content. When that becomes too troublesome, or in the case of the Tribune, preferable to reading the "paper", readership declines. Further, the Tribune has been a willing accomplice to the local labor unions and left of center organizations and agendas. What this has lead to is a general approach to governing Duluth and a philosophy among Duluthians of denying market forces.
This is the greatest damage done by the Tribune. Refusing to recognize that market forces will eventually kick in, thwarting those forces at every opportunty and promoting anti-market practices and policies can only lead to unfavorable long term economic impact. It is worth saying at this point that the Tribune has done so many things to cause long term damage to Duluth, it is hard to quantify it all on one blog entry. It is poetic justice then that they are now suffering the fate of so many years of liberal, anti-market practices and policies. The population of Duluth has declined, the remaining population has become very skeptical about the content of the Tribune and are therefore, dropping their Tribune subscriptions.
Accurate, unbiased sources of information are available with the touch of a button. The Tribune has stubbornly refused to recognize and adjust to the reality that promotion of an agenda will not be tolerated by the news consumer. Does this spell the end of the Tribune? Only if they are purchased by an organization that will tolerate continued blatant promotion of a social agenda that is counterproductive to the community. Unless the new owners of the Tribune do some house-cleaning from the top down, they will be purchasing their own ruin.
The internet is not to blame for the plight of the Tribune. The Tribune must recognize and embrace the notion that mainstream America is not left of center and is in-fact right leaning and leaning farther that way. They must further recognize that the Unions, especially the public employee unions do not have the best interests of the community at heart. Their's is a single-minded, self-promotion at all costs approach, whether or not they have bankrupted the City of Duluth.
Bottom line; Duluth is on the shakiest financial grounds it has ever seen. The Tribune has been a huge contributor through it's denial of the Market and promotion of it's leftist agenda. Duluthians have been making terribly irresponsible decisions for decades due to the spin and misinformation promoted by the Tribune. This poetic justice will be meted out without regard to those who promoted it, fought it, or are currently suffering. This should be a lesson to Duluth and Duluthians. In today's America, the market will adjust and if you don't embrace the market, it will backfire. The backlash is occuring.
Any "news" entity that embraces the politics of personal destruction, vindictive targeting of individuals and organizations and a selective approach to subject matter to promote an agenda damages not only their credibility, but those they seek to serve. The consumers of news want balance. People want to make informed decisions and generally, people thirst for accurate and unbiased information. If you are making judgements and decisions based on lies, misconceptions or misinformation, your judgement is ultimately, based on ignorance. When a "news" outlet chooses to promote an agenda, rather than simply and objectively report the news, and subsequently damage their own credibility, the consumers of that "news" will dismiss that "news" more and more and ultimately will turn to other sources of information.
Recently, the bias of the Tribune has been so evident, even the least discriminating reader has begun to turn to other sources to corroborate or verify the content. When that becomes too troublesome, or in the case of the Tribune, preferable to reading the "paper", readership declines. Further, the Tribune has been a willing accomplice to the local labor unions and left of center organizations and agendas. What this has lead to is a general approach to governing Duluth and a philosophy among Duluthians of denying market forces.
This is the greatest damage done by the Tribune. Refusing to recognize that market forces will eventually kick in, thwarting those forces at every opportunty and promoting anti-market practices and policies can only lead to unfavorable long term economic impact. It is worth saying at this point that the Tribune has done so many things to cause long term damage to Duluth, it is hard to quantify it all on one blog entry. It is poetic justice then that they are now suffering the fate of so many years of liberal, anti-market practices and policies. The population of Duluth has declined, the remaining population has become very skeptical about the content of the Tribune and are therefore, dropping their Tribune subscriptions.
Accurate, unbiased sources of information are available with the touch of a button. The Tribune has stubbornly refused to recognize and adjust to the reality that promotion of an agenda will not be tolerated by the news consumer. Does this spell the end of the Tribune? Only if they are purchased by an organization that will tolerate continued blatant promotion of a social agenda that is counterproductive to the community. Unless the new owners of the Tribune do some house-cleaning from the top down, they will be purchasing their own ruin.
The internet is not to blame for the plight of the Tribune. The Tribune must recognize and embrace the notion that mainstream America is not left of center and is in-fact right leaning and leaning farther that way. They must further recognize that the Unions, especially the public employee unions do not have the best interests of the community at heart. Their's is a single-minded, self-promotion at all costs approach, whether or not they have bankrupted the City of Duluth.
Bottom line; Duluth is on the shakiest financial grounds it has ever seen. The Tribune has been a huge contributor through it's denial of the Market and promotion of it's leftist agenda. Duluthians have been making terribly irresponsible decisions for decades due to the spin and misinformation promoted by the Tribune. This poetic justice will be meted out without regard to those who promoted it, fought it, or are currently suffering. This should be a lesson to Duluth and Duluthians. In today's America, the market will adjust and if you don't embrace the market, it will backfire. The backlash is occuring.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Moving Right Along
Has Duluth ever been this disconnected? There seems to be no cohesion, no momentum in any given direction and the City is as lethargic and detached as I have ever seen it. It's almost as if we're all just standing around waiting for something to happen so we can respond to it. In that sense it seems Duluth has become irrelevant. We're like the slumbering bear waiting for Spring to roll around so we can go out and eat something.
A few days back, I had my kids and we were looking for something to do. It came down to doing something we had done a hundred times or leaving town. Duluth and Duluthians seem content that the City during the Spring is a place where there is almost nothing to do. This time of year, when the banks are still high, the snow too mushy for Winter sports, the ground too wet, mucky or slushy to do much outside, it hits you like a brick; Duluth is a dying community. Sure, this weekend things will come to life for the adults with the DSSO and other weekend fare but for the kids, there is relatively little for them to do. I remember days gone by when me and a few of my buddies would huddle around the pinball machines at the Morgan Park Goodfellowship Club and see who could post the high score. We could go downstairs and bowl a few frames or make a few extra bucks setting pins for the afternoon. We could check out a couple rackets and play racketball or shoot some hoops...all indoors. We could just run around the elevated track and play tag. There was plenty to do and all within walking distance from our front door.
I suppose a lot of those activities are still available to the kids these days but most require mom and dad to drive them somewhere, spend an exhorbitant amount of money and time and the activities are more one dimensional. The reverberating sound in Duluth is one of needing jobs and an economy that isn't almost solely based in tourism. This false economy has dropped the bottom out of the traditional American Dream in Duluth unless you are in the Medical profession or a public employee.
Where are the leaders of this community? What are they doing for Duluth? It seems the lethargy is coming from the top down and despite our best efforts, the best they can come up with is banning pigeon feeding and endlessly discussing the City's bowhunt for deer. The issues of greatest consequence, such as jobs, retiree healthcare, our failing infrastructure and bloated City budget get little more than a sideways glance. Apathy has not only infected the voters, it seems to have crippled our Council and administration. Is there anything we can do to motivate them? It seems not. Status quo is apparently preferable to moving any real agenda forward.
Progressives are in charge and we are waiting anxiously for progress. Will they deliver?
A few days back, I had my kids and we were looking for something to do. It came down to doing something we had done a hundred times or leaving town. Duluth and Duluthians seem content that the City during the Spring is a place where there is almost nothing to do. This time of year, when the banks are still high, the snow too mushy for Winter sports, the ground too wet, mucky or slushy to do much outside, it hits you like a brick; Duluth is a dying community. Sure, this weekend things will come to life for the adults with the DSSO and other weekend fare but for the kids, there is relatively little for them to do. I remember days gone by when me and a few of my buddies would huddle around the pinball machines at the Morgan Park Goodfellowship Club and see who could post the high score. We could go downstairs and bowl a few frames or make a few extra bucks setting pins for the afternoon. We could check out a couple rackets and play racketball or shoot some hoops...all indoors. We could just run around the elevated track and play tag. There was plenty to do and all within walking distance from our front door.
I suppose a lot of those activities are still available to the kids these days but most require mom and dad to drive them somewhere, spend an exhorbitant amount of money and time and the activities are more one dimensional. The reverberating sound in Duluth is one of needing jobs and an economy that isn't almost solely based in tourism. This false economy has dropped the bottom out of the traditional American Dream in Duluth unless you are in the Medical profession or a public employee.
Where are the leaders of this community? What are they doing for Duluth? It seems the lethargy is coming from the top down and despite our best efforts, the best they can come up with is banning pigeon feeding and endlessly discussing the City's bowhunt for deer. The issues of greatest consequence, such as jobs, retiree healthcare, our failing infrastructure and bloated City budget get little more than a sideways glance. Apathy has not only infected the voters, it seems to have crippled our Council and administration. Is there anything we can do to motivate them? It seems not. Status quo is apparently preferable to moving any real agenda forward.
Progressives are in charge and we are waiting anxiously for progress. Will they deliver?
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
To Caucus or Not
Tonight marks the true beginning of election season 2006. Caucuses will be held all over the State and attendence will likely be light. On the other hand, those forces commonly in control of the political football, will undoubtedly show. Listening to local talk show host, Lew Latto, you'd thing it was a big waste of time. He states, "the caucuses are only attended by extremists from both parties so I just won't go". Great attitude Lew. You don't like the forum, have your own comfortable little soap box you retreat to each day and are afraid to get out of your comfort zone.
For the rest of us rubes, instead of simply complaining, the other option is to attend and attempt to effect change. I am not happy where the local Republicans are taking the Party. I know where the DFL is taking theirs and it takes decades to climb the agreement ladder within that cronified Party so I definitely won't be going there. If there is a chance to effect change anywhere, it will be at the very scarcely attended Republican caucus. Maybe I am one of those extremists Lew speaks of with such disdain but I want things for this State and this City. I want my children to be able to stay here. I want my business to thrive and not be in survival mode all the time. I want prudent fiscal policy on a State and Local level. I want to see leadership within the Republican Party that adheres more closely to the principles and foundations of conservative and mainstream Republicans such as fiscal conservatism, smaller government, streamlined processes within government, pay and promotion for merit, economic stimulus through decreased taxation and finally, minimally invasive regulation.
Over the last several years, they have not adhered to these principles. While I admire and respect Tim Pawlenty and believe he is the best Governor we have had in decades, he has not reduced the size of government in any meaningful, long-term way. Further, he has transferred the lion's share of the expense of government on to small businesses and individuals through dramatic fee increases as well as extremely punitive penalty programs related to State taxes. While he has erased a large deficit by holding the line on taxes and reducing line items such as Local Government Aid, K-12 and higher education funding, core government agencies have not shrunk by any meaningful degree. Unions still largely control local political landscapes and therefore, local politicians and local elections. On that note, I would like to see some effort, any effort, to bring about right to work legislation. It has had dramatic results everywhere it has been instituted and would forever and positively change the political landscape in Minnesota. In the case of right to work, Unions only need fear the market, for employment, wages, and employee rights are universally enhanced by it. The only thing that tends to suffer is Union clout.
On a State level, our representation up North is almost entirely DFL and we need to take definite, affirmative steps to change that. We need to show up in numbers large enough to convince the Party that we are not happy with the direction. We need to bring in the next generation of politically and civically minded and get the ball rolling in the right direction. We need to caucus. Is it too late to get the word out? Maybe, but there's always the next caucus. Let's get organized and put out the effort toward getting things to swing our way. Go to your caucus and let your voice be heard.
For the rest of us rubes, instead of simply complaining, the other option is to attend and attempt to effect change. I am not happy where the local Republicans are taking the Party. I know where the DFL is taking theirs and it takes decades to climb the agreement ladder within that cronified Party so I definitely won't be going there. If there is a chance to effect change anywhere, it will be at the very scarcely attended Republican caucus. Maybe I am one of those extremists Lew speaks of with such disdain but I want things for this State and this City. I want my children to be able to stay here. I want my business to thrive and not be in survival mode all the time. I want prudent fiscal policy on a State and Local level. I want to see leadership within the Republican Party that adheres more closely to the principles and foundations of conservative and mainstream Republicans such as fiscal conservatism, smaller government, streamlined processes within government, pay and promotion for merit, economic stimulus through decreased taxation and finally, minimally invasive regulation.
Over the last several years, they have not adhered to these principles. While I admire and respect Tim Pawlenty and believe he is the best Governor we have had in decades, he has not reduced the size of government in any meaningful, long-term way. Further, he has transferred the lion's share of the expense of government on to small businesses and individuals through dramatic fee increases as well as extremely punitive penalty programs related to State taxes. While he has erased a large deficit by holding the line on taxes and reducing line items such as Local Government Aid, K-12 and higher education funding, core government agencies have not shrunk by any meaningful degree. Unions still largely control local political landscapes and therefore, local politicians and local elections. On that note, I would like to see some effort, any effort, to bring about right to work legislation. It has had dramatic results everywhere it has been instituted and would forever and positively change the political landscape in Minnesota. In the case of right to work, Unions only need fear the market, for employment, wages, and employee rights are universally enhanced by it. The only thing that tends to suffer is Union clout.
On a State level, our representation up North is almost entirely DFL and we need to take definite, affirmative steps to change that. We need to show up in numbers large enough to convince the Party that we are not happy with the direction. We need to bring in the next generation of politically and civically minded and get the ball rolling in the right direction. We need to caucus. Is it too late to get the word out? Maybe, but there's always the next caucus. Let's get organized and put out the effort toward getting things to swing our way. Go to your caucus and let your voice be heard.
Friday, March 03, 2006
Action Means Action, Dummy
I hear people around town, on local talk shows, at the City Council, claiming that though the retiree health care issue is spinning out of control, "at least they're doing something about it". My question to those of you who follow this train of thought is: what? What is the Mayor doing about it? What is the Council doing about it? They put together a panel to study, report and suggest remedies. They completed their study, gave a very comprehensive report along with suggested fixes and were thanked and summarily dismissed.
Has the Council or Mayor taken any action on their recommendations? The answer is no. There have been no resolutions other than a token endorsement of the recommendations by the Council. Still though, no tangible action on this critical issue. This debt grows by an estimated $35,000 every day, still no action by the Council to stem the tide. What are we waiting for? I was listening to a local talk show and a woman called in to say, "you all complain that they're not taking action so why don't you offer up a solution?" This is the kind of thinking that is sinking Duluth fast. They have had solutions presented to them and they are the ones who must take the action. We can offer up solutions all day long but if they fail to act, we are powerless and might just as well be mumbling in the corner.
For every two days we wait, this costs us as much as a full time equivalent (FTE) or the equivalent of one City employee. This is the subject nearly everyone who cares is concerned with and talking about. We are all waiting to see what the Mayor and Council do with this. They are doing nothing. It begins to make those of us who are on the more conservative side, disgusted, left feeling powerless and scratching our heads wondering who's running the asylum.
As much as people are demanding action and complaining about this, there is still no action and those seeking to defend the left, the unions, the DFL candidates charged with taking action and not doing it charge that we are attacking them. You're damn right we're attacking them. They have been presented this issue as the number one concern of the City, have been made aware of the dire consequences if it is not addressed and still we wait. All have paid lip-service to this issue but none seem to have the fortitude to take action. Tick, Tick, Tick, TICK... The clock is running and the debt is growing...Anytime guys! This is what electing incompetents to run our City gets us. Enjoy the view.
Has the Council or Mayor taken any action on their recommendations? The answer is no. There have been no resolutions other than a token endorsement of the recommendations by the Council. Still though, no tangible action on this critical issue. This debt grows by an estimated $35,000 every day, still no action by the Council to stem the tide. What are we waiting for? I was listening to a local talk show and a woman called in to say, "you all complain that they're not taking action so why don't you offer up a solution?" This is the kind of thinking that is sinking Duluth fast. They have had solutions presented to them and they are the ones who must take the action. We can offer up solutions all day long but if they fail to act, we are powerless and might just as well be mumbling in the corner.
For every two days we wait, this costs us as much as a full time equivalent (FTE) or the equivalent of one City employee. This is the subject nearly everyone who cares is concerned with and talking about. We are all waiting to see what the Mayor and Council do with this. They are doing nothing. It begins to make those of us who are on the more conservative side, disgusted, left feeling powerless and scratching our heads wondering who's running the asylum.
As much as people are demanding action and complaining about this, there is still no action and those seeking to defend the left, the unions, the DFL candidates charged with taking action and not doing it charge that we are attacking them. You're damn right we're attacking them. They have been presented this issue as the number one concern of the City, have been made aware of the dire consequences if it is not addressed and still we wait. All have paid lip-service to this issue but none seem to have the fortitude to take action. Tick, Tick, Tick, TICK... The clock is running and the debt is growing...Anytime guys! This is what electing incompetents to run our City gets us. Enjoy the view.
All Aboard the Tax and Spend Train
As I posted in my previous article, the increase in the food and beverage tax to fund the new Arena is a bad idea. But, the vote is over and Duluthians, in what is a very pathetic turnout, approved the new tax. I can't help but drop a few more comments on this as it goes South. Of course our local State Legislators will support and likely aggressively lobby for this project. Whether it will survive other skeptics in the Legislature and the Governor's Office remains to be seen.
The thing that gets under my skin is the comments by many of those who supported this project, that Duluth is an anti-business City. To all of you who supported this and bitch about how Duluth is anti-business, you have lost your right to complain. Are higher taxes favorable to business? The answer is an obvious and unequivocal no. How do those who support this and complain about the anti-business environment reconcile these opposing views? Well, it takes understanding the way Duluth and Minnesota do business and approach big projects. We have a long history of pork and taxpayer funded projects. It is viewed as an acceptable approach to funding practically anything. We currently fund various forms of entertainment, the Visit Duluth marketing program, other civic organizations and seed money for Grandma's Marathon and the In-Line Marathon. Are these truly appropriate uses of our tax dollars?
The bottom line to be made is that taxes in any form thwart business growth and contribute to a stagnant economy. In Duluth, however, we seem completely incapable of learning that lesson. On a national scale, a reduction in the capital gains tax resulted in greater activity in the stock market and others affected by the reduction. Reducing the capital gains tax from 20% to 15% resulted in an increase in revenue received by the government. On the other hand, when the capital gains went from 20% to 28%, it resulted in a net decrease in revenue. If Duluth and Duluthians truly want growth, economic vitality, a better job market and opportunities for enterpreneurs, we have to collectively get our heads around this priniciple. Taxes and taxation do not stimulate economic growth and in the long run, result in lower government revenue. Increasing taxes thwarts economic activity. Reducing taxes stimulates economic activity and growth resulting in significant and substantial increases in government revenue as more taxable transactions take place. Oh well, for the next 25 years, we will still not get an opportunity to test this theory in Duluth.
The thing that gets under my skin is the comments by many of those who supported this project, that Duluth is an anti-business City. To all of you who supported this and bitch about how Duluth is anti-business, you have lost your right to complain. Are higher taxes favorable to business? The answer is an obvious and unequivocal no. How do those who support this and complain about the anti-business environment reconcile these opposing views? Well, it takes understanding the way Duluth and Minnesota do business and approach big projects. We have a long history of pork and taxpayer funded projects. It is viewed as an acceptable approach to funding practically anything. We currently fund various forms of entertainment, the Visit Duluth marketing program, other civic organizations and seed money for Grandma's Marathon and the In-Line Marathon. Are these truly appropriate uses of our tax dollars?
The bottom line to be made is that taxes in any form thwart business growth and contribute to a stagnant economy. In Duluth, however, we seem completely incapable of learning that lesson. On a national scale, a reduction in the capital gains tax resulted in greater activity in the stock market and others affected by the reduction. Reducing the capital gains tax from 20% to 15% resulted in an increase in revenue received by the government. On the other hand, when the capital gains went from 20% to 28%, it resulted in a net decrease in revenue. If Duluth and Duluthians truly want growth, economic vitality, a better job market and opportunities for enterpreneurs, we have to collectively get our heads around this priniciple. Taxes and taxation do not stimulate economic growth and in the long run, result in lower government revenue. Increasing taxes thwarts economic activity. Reducing taxes stimulates economic activity and growth resulting in significant and substantial increases in government revenue as more taxable transactions take place. Oh well, for the next 25 years, we will still not get an opportunity to test this theory in Duluth.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Into the Fray
The hottest topics are not tackled by the faint of heart. The current topic of the DECC expansion is one of those topics. It seems if you come out publicly in support of this project, you are hailed as a visionary, forward thinking, civically minded, pro-business, happy, fun-loving, intelligent shining star. If you oppose it, you are a nitwitted, negative, pessimistic, inflexible thwarter of all that is good.
As is usually the case in Duluth, the reality is lost in the shuffle of politics and nobody truly wants an objective look at the facts. I'll do my best to do just that but be fore-warned, I am on the side of the naysayers.
Duluth has a long and jaded history of broken promises, propaganda campaigns to promote less than prudent projects, tax increases with sunset provisions that never seem to arrive and fiscal mismanagement on a mind boggling scale for a city this size. The broken promises started way back in the late 60s. A one percent sales tax was proposed and implemented with a sunset of three years. That tax was eventually made permanent and is now used entirely in the general fund, not it's intended purpose. The second one percent tax was also imposed with a very short sunset provision. It has become permanent. The third half percent was imposed in the late 90s to fund the last DECC expansion.
That tax has been further pilfered to help fund the embattled Great Lakes Aquarium. This is a very brief history of local option sales taxes in Duluth. In addition to the local option sales taxes currently "collected" (more on this later) and paid by local businesses, there is between 6.5 and 9 percent State sales tax also imposed.
Proponents of the current increase needed to fund the DECC expansion, minimize it's impact, reducing the obligation to pennies on a hypothetical lunch or dinner bill. The problem with this argument is the increase is quite substantial relative to the current tax burden and will put Duluth bars and restaurants at a greater competitive disadvantage as the tax rates for them become some of the highest in the U.S.
The proponents have made a concerted attempt to separate the DECC expansion and related tax increase from the other financial woes and previous debacles hamstringing Duluth's future. Unfortunately, the money comes from the same pool. Whether it is the "tourism tax", sales tax, property tax from the City, County, State, School District and various taxing authorities or the food and beverage tax, the money comes from us, the taxpayers. Proponents are also using the argument that a large portion of the money will come from tourists, when the reality is, the majority of local receipts come from you and me.
Finally, the argument that carries the most weight among the starry-eyed is that 33+ Million will come from "The State" and that this is money we need to bring back to Duluth, lest we become the red-headed step child of the Bonding Bill. Last time I checked, this money also comes from taxpayers. Regardless of the form, we ultimately pay it back through State and local taxes...with interest.
There are a few very important points to understand before you vote this Tuesday, February 28th. First, the projections provided to Duluth from Dan Russell for the amount of money the tax increase will generate are based on growth in the food and beverage receipts. The fact is, last year, one of the most favorable for weather and events, food and beverage receipts, adjusted for inflation, were down. If this trend continues, the projected revenue will fall short.
What happens if the revenue from the food and beverage tax increase falls short of making the bond payments? We will have to take it from the general fund. Just to refresh your memory, the City Council heard recommendations from a task force formed to address the unfunded retiree health care issue. Included in those recommendations are a 9% per year increase in property taxes for at least four years in a row. Added onto your base tax rate currently, coupled with annual increases in assessments, your house payment stands a 100% chance of going much higher. Couple that with proposed utility increases and your personal bottom line just got substantially smaller.
These taxes will become prohibitive to all but the most affluent and inflation-proof house-holds. More importantly, they will hit employers especially hard. What do employers do when faced with dramatically higher costs? They cut the greatest cost of all, payroll. This translates in to job loss.
Add this all up and you end up with the non-tourist season, or 75% of most years, a very substantially decreased pool of disposable income and a corresponding reduction in food and beverage receipts. What do you cut out when you have less mulah in your wallet? You guessed it, dinner out. Now, if that dinner bill is going up right along with all your other taxes, your willingness to go out and spend your hard earned and increasingly scarce dollars on dinner in Duluth will certainly decrease.
The bottom line here is that Duluth is on a spending spree that is coming to a disastrous end and a few people are all too aware of it. The possibility that our bond ratings will drop is almost a foregone conclusion making those much sought after dollars, extremely difficult to come by. Why now? Why so rushed? Why the hurry to get this done and before the Governor so quickly? If we don't do it now, in all likelihood, it won't happen and should not happen until Duluth gets it's fiscal house in order.
With a positive vote on Tuesday the 28th, this project still has a very long and difficult road.
For the record, I'll be voting no.
As is usually the case in Duluth, the reality is lost in the shuffle of politics and nobody truly wants an objective look at the facts. I'll do my best to do just that but be fore-warned, I am on the side of the naysayers.
Duluth has a long and jaded history of broken promises, propaganda campaigns to promote less than prudent projects, tax increases with sunset provisions that never seem to arrive and fiscal mismanagement on a mind boggling scale for a city this size. The broken promises started way back in the late 60s. A one percent sales tax was proposed and implemented with a sunset of three years. That tax was eventually made permanent and is now used entirely in the general fund, not it's intended purpose. The second one percent tax was also imposed with a very short sunset provision. It has become permanent. The third half percent was imposed in the late 90s to fund the last DECC expansion.
That tax has been further pilfered to help fund the embattled Great Lakes Aquarium. This is a very brief history of local option sales taxes in Duluth. In addition to the local option sales taxes currently "collected" (more on this later) and paid by local businesses, there is between 6.5 and 9 percent State sales tax also imposed.
Proponents of the current increase needed to fund the DECC expansion, minimize it's impact, reducing the obligation to pennies on a hypothetical lunch or dinner bill. The problem with this argument is the increase is quite substantial relative to the current tax burden and will put Duluth bars and restaurants at a greater competitive disadvantage as the tax rates for them become some of the highest in the U.S.
The proponents have made a concerted attempt to separate the DECC expansion and related tax increase from the other financial woes and previous debacles hamstringing Duluth's future. Unfortunately, the money comes from the same pool. Whether it is the "tourism tax", sales tax, property tax from the City, County, State, School District and various taxing authorities or the food and beverage tax, the money comes from us, the taxpayers. Proponents are also using the argument that a large portion of the money will come from tourists, when the reality is, the majority of local receipts come from you and me.
Finally, the argument that carries the most weight among the starry-eyed is that 33+ Million will come from "The State" and that this is money we need to bring back to Duluth, lest we become the red-headed step child of the Bonding Bill. Last time I checked, this money also comes from taxpayers. Regardless of the form, we ultimately pay it back through State and local taxes...with interest.
There are a few very important points to understand before you vote this Tuesday, February 28th. First, the projections provided to Duluth from Dan Russell for the amount of money the tax increase will generate are based on growth in the food and beverage receipts. The fact is, last year, one of the most favorable for weather and events, food and beverage receipts, adjusted for inflation, were down. If this trend continues, the projected revenue will fall short.
What happens if the revenue from the food and beverage tax increase falls short of making the bond payments? We will have to take it from the general fund. Just to refresh your memory, the City Council heard recommendations from a task force formed to address the unfunded retiree health care issue. Included in those recommendations are a 9% per year increase in property taxes for at least four years in a row. Added onto your base tax rate currently, coupled with annual increases in assessments, your house payment stands a 100% chance of going much higher. Couple that with proposed utility increases and your personal bottom line just got substantially smaller.
These taxes will become prohibitive to all but the most affluent and inflation-proof house-holds. More importantly, they will hit employers especially hard. What do employers do when faced with dramatically higher costs? They cut the greatest cost of all, payroll. This translates in to job loss.
Add this all up and you end up with the non-tourist season, or 75% of most years, a very substantially decreased pool of disposable income and a corresponding reduction in food and beverage receipts. What do you cut out when you have less mulah in your wallet? You guessed it, dinner out. Now, if that dinner bill is going up right along with all your other taxes, your willingness to go out and spend your hard earned and increasingly scarce dollars on dinner in Duluth will certainly decrease.
The bottom line here is that Duluth is on a spending spree that is coming to a disastrous end and a few people are all too aware of it. The possibility that our bond ratings will drop is almost a foregone conclusion making those much sought after dollars, extremely difficult to come by. Why now? Why so rushed? Why the hurry to get this done and before the Governor so quickly? If we don't do it now, in all likelihood, it won't happen and should not happen until Duluth gets it's fiscal house in order.
With a positive vote on Tuesday the 28th, this project still has a very long and difficult road.
For the record, I'll be voting no.
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Civility vs. Integrity
I've been feeling uninspired lately. There has been so little news locally lately, I have pondered taking on less than local topics. I am sure with more digging, I could do more justice to local issues. Anyway, bear with me and I'll begin more frequent updates. Thanks for reading and here are my latest ramblings...
Civility vs. Integrity
Individuals within many communities and forums are promoting "civility". Civility projects are all the rage among various groups, parties, politicos and intellectuals. It seems dissention is being viewed more and more as uncivil. The interesting thing to explore is whether the dissention is, in-fact, uncivil or is the dissention, within a given forum merely percieved as uncivil. We see civility "projects" popping up around the country and of course we have our own right here in Duluth. Drawing upon my experiences in Duluth, but perhaps more importantly, decades away from Duluth and then returning, it appears obvious to all but the most disconnected that dissention is the only pre-requisite to being labelled as uncivil.
Dissention is generally based in a differing interpretation of fact, emotion, pre-disposition and social disposition. The current dominating party in Northeastern Minnesota has sensibilities so easily upset, you'd think the apple cart had one very wobbly wheel. Expressing the most insignificant dissention, coupled with a little spirit is viewed as disrespectful and uncivil. Criticizing the promoters of inane, impractical or downright foolish policies is met with vehement indignation by those promoters. One need only call a fool a fool to be attacked for being an uncivil extremist.
What the promoters of this phony civility are asking us to do is part with our convictions and diminish our own integrity. If you or I are angered by the actions of a public official, do we owe it to them to simply stuff it? The reason many people don't attend City Council meetings is because they see it as futile. If you are a dissenter and speak your mind, you are labelled uncivil. If you are frustrated and correspond with the Council to express your frustration, you are dismissed as uncivil. The bottom line is, the way to diminish and marginalize you and dismiss your message these days is to label you uncivil. Labelling somebody uncivil is such a clever way to destroy your message. If they are successful painting you as uncivil, the public sees you as a mindless savage not worthy of consideration.
What people have forgotten with all this phony civility is the integrity of human emotion and conviction is being crushed out. The passion of the messenger is destroyed and lost in the intellectual soup of labels. Civility "projects" are nothing more than organized attempts to quell dissent. Did our forefathers stuff their emotion and convictions? Our leaders take us into war to defend or establish freedom. Those who prefer isolationism and pacifism demand those of us who support the effort to remain silent. How dare we support such a draconian solution as war? In some minds, as long as we are free all others be damned. There is no justification for war in their minds short of defending against homeland attack. Why do we go to war? We go to war to defend and protect our right and the rights of others to express dissent. Those going into battle on America's behalf, engage in the ultimate form of dissent, against those who chose to crush or stifle dissent.
How do we get from here to there? How do we get from being the defender of freedom to becoming the ones who must fight for our own? The answer is, the Civility Project. The Civility Project as we so fondly refer to it, is nothing more than another weapon in the arsenal against free speech. If we as citizens, through threat of intimidation, public humiliation or simply being labelled as ne'r do well, uncivil savages, are not allowed to express spirited dissent, we have taken the first step toward tyranny, if only on a local level.
Don't be fooled by "civility projects", they are nothing more than the first step down the road to quelling freedom of speech. Civility "projects" must be attacked for what they are, nothing more than certain groups whittling away at your freedom. Any attempt to silence the human voice must be attacked for what it is, the first eroding of your freedom. All attempts at stealing freedom, crushing the human spirit or silencing the individual, have ultimately lead to tyranny. Tyranny leads to war. The human spirit is a power far too great to be silenced, stuffed or even rebuffed. If you believe it, speak it. Never allow your elected leaders to silence you. Never allow your elected leaders to marginalize you with speech policing. The inevitable end of this stifling of the human spirit is tyranny. The most uncivil act of the human race is war and the slippery slope of speech police leads to tyranny which has always been resolved through war. The unquenchable human desire to be free simply cannot be suppressed. The freedom to speak one's mind is the most fundamental freedom. When times require it, uncivil discourse is the best way to avoid tyranny.
Civility vs. Integrity
Individuals within many communities and forums are promoting "civility". Civility projects are all the rage among various groups, parties, politicos and intellectuals. It seems dissention is being viewed more and more as uncivil. The interesting thing to explore is whether the dissention is, in-fact, uncivil or is the dissention, within a given forum merely percieved as uncivil. We see civility "projects" popping up around the country and of course we have our own right here in Duluth. Drawing upon my experiences in Duluth, but perhaps more importantly, decades away from Duluth and then returning, it appears obvious to all but the most disconnected that dissention is the only pre-requisite to being labelled as uncivil.
Dissention is generally based in a differing interpretation of fact, emotion, pre-disposition and social disposition. The current dominating party in Northeastern Minnesota has sensibilities so easily upset, you'd think the apple cart had one very wobbly wheel. Expressing the most insignificant dissention, coupled with a little spirit is viewed as disrespectful and uncivil. Criticizing the promoters of inane, impractical or downright foolish policies is met with vehement indignation by those promoters. One need only call a fool a fool to be attacked for being an uncivil extremist.
What the promoters of this phony civility are asking us to do is part with our convictions and diminish our own integrity. If you or I are angered by the actions of a public official, do we owe it to them to simply stuff it? The reason many people don't attend City Council meetings is because they see it as futile. If you are a dissenter and speak your mind, you are labelled uncivil. If you are frustrated and correspond with the Council to express your frustration, you are dismissed as uncivil. The bottom line is, the way to diminish and marginalize you and dismiss your message these days is to label you uncivil. Labelling somebody uncivil is such a clever way to destroy your message. If they are successful painting you as uncivil, the public sees you as a mindless savage not worthy of consideration.
What people have forgotten with all this phony civility is the integrity of human emotion and conviction is being crushed out. The passion of the messenger is destroyed and lost in the intellectual soup of labels. Civility "projects" are nothing more than organized attempts to quell dissent. Did our forefathers stuff their emotion and convictions? Our leaders take us into war to defend or establish freedom. Those who prefer isolationism and pacifism demand those of us who support the effort to remain silent. How dare we support such a draconian solution as war? In some minds, as long as we are free all others be damned. There is no justification for war in their minds short of defending against homeland attack. Why do we go to war? We go to war to defend and protect our right and the rights of others to express dissent. Those going into battle on America's behalf, engage in the ultimate form of dissent, against those who chose to crush or stifle dissent.
How do we get from here to there? How do we get from being the defender of freedom to becoming the ones who must fight for our own? The answer is, the Civility Project. The Civility Project as we so fondly refer to it, is nothing more than another weapon in the arsenal against free speech. If we as citizens, through threat of intimidation, public humiliation or simply being labelled as ne'r do well, uncivil savages, are not allowed to express spirited dissent, we have taken the first step toward tyranny, if only on a local level.
Don't be fooled by "civility projects", they are nothing more than the first step down the road to quelling freedom of speech. Civility "projects" must be attacked for what they are, nothing more than certain groups whittling away at your freedom. Any attempt to silence the human voice must be attacked for what it is, the first eroding of your freedom. All attempts at stealing freedom, crushing the human spirit or silencing the individual, have ultimately lead to tyranny. Tyranny leads to war. The human spirit is a power far too great to be silenced, stuffed or even rebuffed. If you believe it, speak it. Never allow your elected leaders to silence you. Never allow your elected leaders to marginalize you with speech policing. The inevitable end of this stifling of the human spirit is tyranny. The most uncivil act of the human race is war and the slippery slope of speech police leads to tyranny which has always been resolved through war. The unquenchable human desire to be free simply cannot be suppressed. The freedom to speak one's mind is the most fundamental freedom. When times require it, uncivil discourse is the best way to avoid tyranny.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Capitalizing on Duluth
Duluth was once a burgeoning, empire building, economic center. Growth industries of the day, such as steel production, the railroad and shipping industry, among others provided jobs, unprecedented economic opportunity and growth in practically every measure of economic health.
Things have changed dramatically. We now have a tourism based economy with new focus and growth in the medical industry, higher education and general aviation. The most notable thing about the past heydays of Duluth's economy, was the diversity within that economy. Growth industries provided widespread wealth and generated almost limitless opportunities for the neighborhood entrepreneur. Small businesses such as corner restaurants, neighborhood grocery stores and even small banks were able to open and thrive. Vitality is a function of diversity. Both are inextricably entwined, the yin and yang of economic growth. Also a very important factor and another player in the yin and yang is Government. There has to be a balance of taxation to fund infrastructure and public safety, as well as sound long-term economic policy.
To effectively capitalize on Duluth, we need to fully inventory the assets, both fiscal and physical. Duluth has an International Airport with the longest runway in the State of Minnesota. The Duluth-Superior harbor boasts the world's largest inland port. We have rail infrastructure that has deteriorated but where the most expensive and critical piece of the pie is still in place, the right of ways to construct new rail. We are the terminus of Interstate 35 which goes all the way to the Mexican Border and continues via highway 61 all the way to the Canadian border. Within the City itself we have vast natural resources, albeit most are off limits to all but hikers and naturalists. A high proportion of our population is highly educated and the Minnesota work ethic is well-known. We have a huge amount of land available for development, including areas that have previously been developed, are set aside for development but currently sit vacant.
On the other hand, we must be cognizant of our liabilities. The most significant liability is largely political. The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party is extremely dominant in Duluth. Their most important and significant constituent groups are public employees and Unions. State imposed legislation gives Unions and Public Employees an extraordinary amount of power. This has created a disproportionately pro-employee, anti-employer environment. Due to the dominance of the DFL Party, policies typically associated with the Democratic Party have been taken to the extreme, such as very burdensome and sometimes outlandish policies related to environmental protection, preventing or inhibiting most developments. The Duluth City Council has adopted even more extreme policies and has been a difficult hurdle for all but the best connected and completely benign developers.
Taking all these factors into account, how do we capitalize and grow our local economy? Most importantly, how do we grow our City, and successfully navigate the political mine-field? First, with regard to our assets, the large amount of land and previously developed but vacant property needs to be evaluated, quantified and marketed. We need to determine and detail the infrastructure available to those properties and develop contingency plans for how to get infrastructure in place should a developer decide on a given location.
We need to quantify and market those properties that will need little ramp-up such as the Northwest maintenance facility and find other operations that will be a good fit. Most importantly, we need to recognize, quantify and market the unique combination of transportation facilities available. Some possible fits would seem to be no-brainers. With the growth in internet marketing and sales, resulting in a huge increase in drop-shipping, a shipping hub for a UPS or Fed-Ex type of operation seems a natural fit. Duluth is centrally located on the North American Continent, again, with an International Airport and a huge facility, essentially sitting empty.
While the auto-making industry has taken huge hits lately, the best defense is a good offense. A great offense for them would be to take a hint from the Japanese and focus on innovation. Duluth would be a great location with it's proximity to vast natural resources, extremely flexible shipping where cars could literally go from ramp to container, to ship, to anywhere in the world. With our high level of education and innovation, we could build a super high-tech auto factory with the sole aim to produce better, more reliable vehicles than our Japanese competitors.
General Aviation is also a natural fit for Duluth. Again, with a facility at the existing airport sitting essentially empty, there is a huge opportunity knocking. Any of these would create spinoff industries and immediate growth.
Duluth needs to better capitalize on it's location on the largest body of fresh water on the planet. We need to be more welcoming to boaters. With a relatively tiny investment in our existing waterfront, we could be hosting cruise ships, yachts from all over the great lakes, charter boat operations, sailboat races, kayaking, canoeing and myriad other water-related activities.
Finally, with all the great minds currently working on solving this crisis or that issue, or marketing small-town pork projects, we need to get a group together that does nothing but market Duluth. That group would not market Duluth as a tourist destination but as a place to do business and raise a family. We currently have a Mayor who's sole focus seems to be taking care of all those who are disadvantaged, out of work, homeless or drug and alcohol dependent. We need a Mayor who, instead of taxing the producers to pay for the non-productive, will market Duluth to Producers and try to find a way to make the non-productive, productive. Instead of rewarding them for bad behavior, let's encourage them to stop it by putting them to work. We need to make Duluth a place that is unattractive to the unproductive and make it attractive to producers. Bottom line, we need leadership and vision.
Things have changed dramatically. We now have a tourism based economy with new focus and growth in the medical industry, higher education and general aviation. The most notable thing about the past heydays of Duluth's economy, was the diversity within that economy. Growth industries provided widespread wealth and generated almost limitless opportunities for the neighborhood entrepreneur. Small businesses such as corner restaurants, neighborhood grocery stores and even small banks were able to open and thrive. Vitality is a function of diversity. Both are inextricably entwined, the yin and yang of economic growth. Also a very important factor and another player in the yin and yang is Government. There has to be a balance of taxation to fund infrastructure and public safety, as well as sound long-term economic policy.
To effectively capitalize on Duluth, we need to fully inventory the assets, both fiscal and physical. Duluth has an International Airport with the longest runway in the State of Minnesota. The Duluth-Superior harbor boasts the world's largest inland port. We have rail infrastructure that has deteriorated but where the most expensive and critical piece of the pie is still in place, the right of ways to construct new rail. We are the terminus of Interstate 35 which goes all the way to the Mexican Border and continues via highway 61 all the way to the Canadian border. Within the City itself we have vast natural resources, albeit most are off limits to all but hikers and naturalists. A high proportion of our population is highly educated and the Minnesota work ethic is well-known. We have a huge amount of land available for development, including areas that have previously been developed, are set aside for development but currently sit vacant.
On the other hand, we must be cognizant of our liabilities. The most significant liability is largely political. The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party is extremely dominant in Duluth. Their most important and significant constituent groups are public employees and Unions. State imposed legislation gives Unions and Public Employees an extraordinary amount of power. This has created a disproportionately pro-employee, anti-employer environment. Due to the dominance of the DFL Party, policies typically associated with the Democratic Party have been taken to the extreme, such as very burdensome and sometimes outlandish policies related to environmental protection, preventing or inhibiting most developments. The Duluth City Council has adopted even more extreme policies and has been a difficult hurdle for all but the best connected and completely benign developers.
Taking all these factors into account, how do we capitalize and grow our local economy? Most importantly, how do we grow our City, and successfully navigate the political mine-field? First, with regard to our assets, the large amount of land and previously developed but vacant property needs to be evaluated, quantified and marketed. We need to determine and detail the infrastructure available to those properties and develop contingency plans for how to get infrastructure in place should a developer decide on a given location.
We need to quantify and market those properties that will need little ramp-up such as the Northwest maintenance facility and find other operations that will be a good fit. Most importantly, we need to recognize, quantify and market the unique combination of transportation facilities available. Some possible fits would seem to be no-brainers. With the growth in internet marketing and sales, resulting in a huge increase in drop-shipping, a shipping hub for a UPS or Fed-Ex type of operation seems a natural fit. Duluth is centrally located on the North American Continent, again, with an International Airport and a huge facility, essentially sitting empty.
While the auto-making industry has taken huge hits lately, the best defense is a good offense. A great offense for them would be to take a hint from the Japanese and focus on innovation. Duluth would be a great location with it's proximity to vast natural resources, extremely flexible shipping where cars could literally go from ramp to container, to ship, to anywhere in the world. With our high level of education and innovation, we could build a super high-tech auto factory with the sole aim to produce better, more reliable vehicles than our Japanese competitors.
General Aviation is also a natural fit for Duluth. Again, with a facility at the existing airport sitting essentially empty, there is a huge opportunity knocking. Any of these would create spinoff industries and immediate growth.
Duluth needs to better capitalize on it's location on the largest body of fresh water on the planet. We need to be more welcoming to boaters. With a relatively tiny investment in our existing waterfront, we could be hosting cruise ships, yachts from all over the great lakes, charter boat operations, sailboat races, kayaking, canoeing and myriad other water-related activities.
Finally, with all the great minds currently working on solving this crisis or that issue, or marketing small-town pork projects, we need to get a group together that does nothing but market Duluth. That group would not market Duluth as a tourist destination but as a place to do business and raise a family. We currently have a Mayor who's sole focus seems to be taking care of all those who are disadvantaged, out of work, homeless or drug and alcohol dependent. We need a Mayor who, instead of taxing the producers to pay for the non-productive, will market Duluth to Producers and try to find a way to make the non-productive, productive. Instead of rewarding them for bad behavior, let's encourage them to stop it by putting them to work. We need to make Duluth a place that is unattractive to the unproductive and make it attractive to producers. Bottom line, we need leadership and vision.
Backwards
I began work on a post a while back and never finished it. It sat in my drafts for so long that when I finally finished it, i posted lower on the page. The article is titled old news and is regarding the Downtown Waterfront Improvement District. So, for my latest post scroll down past the end of my article about the planned Swamp at Slip #2.
Thanks for reading.
Thanks for reading.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Purifying a Billion Gallons of Water
I have been following the Sweetwater Alliance's bid to get a piece of prime Duluth real estate dedicated for use as a "Living Water Garden". Jill Jacoby of the the Sweetwater Alliance has long promoted this project as a way to purify water before it enters the Lake Superior basin. The problem is, the plan has always been a plan to pump water out of the St. Louis Bay, through the garden, then back into the bay.
The "Living Water Garden" has been touted as an educational project and represented as legitimate science. Any Kindergarten student will tell you, pumping fresh water through a swamp is not going to make it any cleaner. Further, Jill Jacoby makes outrageous claims that this will in-fact, contribute to cleaner water by reducing salinity in St. Louis Bay.
The fact that our City Council has given away a half acre of the most valuable property in Duluth, approved funding for the design of this ridiculous project and discussed it like it is a legitimate use of public funds, time or energy, demonstrates the complete and utter stupidity and flagrant pandering to the leftist, extreme of Duluth. This, along with so many other completely stupid, nutty projects is why Duluth is and will continue to be a laughing stock and the butt of so many jokes State and Nationwide.
This land is DEDA property and it's intended purpose is economic development. Here is the list of economic development proposals approved for that property:
1. Living Water Garden
2. To Be Announced
3. To Be Announced
If this had been property specifically earmarked for environmental protection and development was approved, there would be a firestorm of controversy, front page news articles damning the Council for approving it and the developer building it. The Council would be figuratively hanged, drawn and quartered by the media and the left. The opposite has occurred; economic development property, specifically set aside for development, has instead been stolen from the tax roles and set aside for the construction of a fancy swamp. Where is the outrage?
How utterly ridiculous that we, as a City have been hijacked by a handful of starry-eyed, leftist nuts is an indication of how far out of the mainstream we truly are. In any other City facing the same challenges as Duluth, this project would have been laughed right out of City Hall. In Duluth, we embrace stupidity. We love a good waste of time, resources and public funds. Anybody who defends this project and the totally intellectually bankrupt notion that by pumping water out of the bay, running it through a swamp and pumping it back into the bay somehow contributes to our environment is hopelessly out of touch with the realities of science.
It's like saying, if we purify a bucket of water each day, we could purify the whole lake over time. Let's say this "Living Water Garden" successfully treats 1000 gallons of water each day (they have made no representations regarding how much water will be treated) , it will only take 1,095,890,411 years to run the contents of Lake Superior through it.
If you pull up the Sweetwater Alliance website, you will see pictures and verbiage that represents to the viewer that they will be treating storm water runoff. This is a bald-faced lie. The "Living Water Garden" will treat water that has already run into and mixed with the water from the St. Louis Bay. The St. Louis bay ebbs and flows with Lake Superior, the world's largest fresh water lake by area. Of course, that is irrelevant to Jill Jacoby and our City Council.
The only way the science is legitimate is if salinity equivalent to that which would naturally flow in from the street is present going in. Lacking this, it is nothing more than an expensive lie on prime property, using public funds for Junk Science. Will we ever get this City away from these ridiculous blunders? It is apparent that there is no recognition by our illustrious Council that we can no longer afford these distractions.
"Welcome to the Living Water Garden: This is an experiment in treating storm-water runoff, of course we don't really treat storm-water runoff, but we really needed to prevent development on this site and this is the only thing we could think of that would fit the bill."
Anyone who cannot see this as nothing more than a cynical attempt by a few extremists to grab the most valuable piece of property in Duluth, are blinded by their own loyalty to the fringe kooks running Duluth into oblivion.
The "Living Water Garden" has been touted as an educational project and represented as legitimate science. Any Kindergarten student will tell you, pumping fresh water through a swamp is not going to make it any cleaner. Further, Jill Jacoby makes outrageous claims that this will in-fact, contribute to cleaner water by reducing salinity in St. Louis Bay.
The fact that our City Council has given away a half acre of the most valuable property in Duluth, approved funding for the design of this ridiculous project and discussed it like it is a legitimate use of public funds, time or energy, demonstrates the complete and utter stupidity and flagrant pandering to the leftist, extreme of Duluth. This, along with so many other completely stupid, nutty projects is why Duluth is and will continue to be a laughing stock and the butt of so many jokes State and Nationwide.
This land is DEDA property and it's intended purpose is economic development. Here is the list of economic development proposals approved for that property:
1. Living Water Garden
2. To Be Announced
3. To Be Announced
If this had been property specifically earmarked for environmental protection and development was approved, there would be a firestorm of controversy, front page news articles damning the Council for approving it and the developer building it. The Council would be figuratively hanged, drawn and quartered by the media and the left. The opposite has occurred; economic development property, specifically set aside for development, has instead been stolen from the tax roles and set aside for the construction of a fancy swamp. Where is the outrage?
How utterly ridiculous that we, as a City have been hijacked by a handful of starry-eyed, leftist nuts is an indication of how far out of the mainstream we truly are. In any other City facing the same challenges as Duluth, this project would have been laughed right out of City Hall. In Duluth, we embrace stupidity. We love a good waste of time, resources and public funds. Anybody who defends this project and the totally intellectually bankrupt notion that by pumping water out of the bay, running it through a swamp and pumping it back into the bay somehow contributes to our environment is hopelessly out of touch with the realities of science.
It's like saying, if we purify a bucket of water each day, we could purify the whole lake over time. Let's say this "Living Water Garden" successfully treats 1000 gallons of water each day (they have made no representations regarding how much water will be treated) , it will only take 1,095,890,411 years to run the contents of Lake Superior through it.
If you pull up the Sweetwater Alliance website, you will see pictures and verbiage that represents to the viewer that they will be treating storm water runoff. This is a bald-faced lie. The "Living Water Garden" will treat water that has already run into and mixed with the water from the St. Louis Bay. The St. Louis bay ebbs and flows with Lake Superior, the world's largest fresh water lake by area. Of course, that is irrelevant to Jill Jacoby and our City Council.
The only way the science is legitimate is if salinity equivalent to that which would naturally flow in from the street is present going in. Lacking this, it is nothing more than an expensive lie on prime property, using public funds for Junk Science. Will we ever get this City away from these ridiculous blunders? It is apparent that there is no recognition by our illustrious Council that we can no longer afford these distractions.
"Welcome to the Living Water Garden: This is an experiment in treating storm-water runoff, of course we don't really treat storm-water runoff, but we really needed to prevent development on this site and this is the only thing we could think of that would fit the bill."
Anyone who cannot see this as nothing more than a cynical attempt by a few extremists to grab the most valuable piece of property in Duluth, are blinded by their own loyalty to the fringe kooks running Duluth into oblivion.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Old News
Duluth's Downtown Waterfront District has been marketed heavily to Duluth and Downtown businesses as a way to clean up and keep safe the Downtown and waterfront area. This district was the brainchild of the Greater Downtown Council and they are now the beneficiaries of the taxes imposed on the various businesses enclosed within it's borders.
A public examination of the process undertaken to impose this district and the related taxes on the businesses included is overdue. A Constitutional review is also in order. The fourteenth amendment to the Contsitution guarantees equal protection. Case law with regard to this and the original intent was to cement the "one man, one vote" concept. This was done to grant equal status to non-property owners, small and large property owners alike.
The Duluth Waterfront District and the State Statute that was used to create it dismisses this concept entirely. In order for a municipality to create these special taxing districts, they must get a certain percentage of the owners of the "net tax capacity" to vote in favor of the district. What this does is effectively ignore the one man one vote concept. Owners of larger, more valuable properties have a more "valuable" vote.
Perhaps a way to simplify this concept would be to illustrate it on a much smaller scale. Imagine a city block with four properties on it. One of the properties is a high rise apartment building with very upscale apartments with a total taxable value of 10 Million dollars. The other properties are a small, family owned restaurant, a gas station and a small shoe store. If the owner of the apartment building decided he wanted to rid the neighborhood of the other properties, he/she could propose a special taxing district, making a shell organization for the purpose of "sprucing up" the neighborhood the beneficiary of the taxes. The tax could be set at 20 Percent of the taxable value of the property but would be capped at $25,000.00.
The owner of the high-rise would already own a greater share of the propertys' net tax capacity and therefore would be able to vote for it and effectively, make the votes of the other three properties, null.
For the three small businesses, this would be a death blow and would effectively put them out of business. For the high-rise, it would be a drop in the proverbial bucket. With such an incredible tax burden, the smaller properties would effectively lose most, if not all of their market value. The high-rise owner could then scoop up the properties. With the high rise being the only remaining property owner, the taxing district, when brought up for review would be subject only to the vote of the high-rise owner and he/she could vote it down.
This is a little more dramatic than what has happened in Duluth but the process was the same. It only took a handful of the largest property owners to achieve the level of support required by statute. The rest were forced into the taxing district with their votes becoming essentially worthless. If the one man one vote concept had been applied, the district would have failed as a majority, in numbers, of property owners opposed the district. However, the majority had less "net tax capacity" than the minority of larger owners. To add insult to injury, the largest property owners built in a "cap". Not only did their votes count for more, their burden, as a percentage of the "net tax capacity", was far less than that of the smallest properties.
This process was reviewed by the City Attorney's Office a number of times and challenged by a few of the downtown property owners affected. The City Attorney's position was based on the fact that in any review of the Constitutionality of a State Statute, the assumption the appellate courts abide by is that that States generally don't pass unconsitutional laws. While that may be the case, there are certainly exceptions and this particular statute is one glaring example. Taken to the extreme this statute is certainly subject to abuse and could actually result in the sample scenario I used as an illustration. Is this the example we want to set in Minnesota? Big Business vs. Small with the full backing of the force of government is a frightening prospect. Consider also, the use of imminent domain and special taxing districts already within the City of Duluth. The Government has already seized property from a small business for the benefit of a larger one, imposed a tax on smaller businesses for the benefit of larger ones. Does the constitution no longer apply in Duluth?
A public examination of the process undertaken to impose this district and the related taxes on the businesses included is overdue. A Constitutional review is also in order. The fourteenth amendment to the Contsitution guarantees equal protection. Case law with regard to this and the original intent was to cement the "one man, one vote" concept. This was done to grant equal status to non-property owners, small and large property owners alike.
The Duluth Waterfront District and the State Statute that was used to create it dismisses this concept entirely. In order for a municipality to create these special taxing districts, they must get a certain percentage of the owners of the "net tax capacity" to vote in favor of the district. What this does is effectively ignore the one man one vote concept. Owners of larger, more valuable properties have a more "valuable" vote.
Perhaps a way to simplify this concept would be to illustrate it on a much smaller scale. Imagine a city block with four properties on it. One of the properties is a high rise apartment building with very upscale apartments with a total taxable value of 10 Million dollars. The other properties are a small, family owned restaurant, a gas station and a small shoe store. If the owner of the apartment building decided he wanted to rid the neighborhood of the other properties, he/she could propose a special taxing district, making a shell organization for the purpose of "sprucing up" the neighborhood the beneficiary of the taxes. The tax could be set at 20 Percent of the taxable value of the property but would be capped at $25,000.00.
The owner of the high-rise would already own a greater share of the propertys' net tax capacity and therefore would be able to vote for it and effectively, make the votes of the other three properties, null.
For the three small businesses, this would be a death blow and would effectively put them out of business. For the high-rise, it would be a drop in the proverbial bucket. With such an incredible tax burden, the smaller properties would effectively lose most, if not all of their market value. The high-rise owner could then scoop up the properties. With the high rise being the only remaining property owner, the taxing district, when brought up for review would be subject only to the vote of the high-rise owner and he/she could vote it down.
This is a little more dramatic than what has happened in Duluth but the process was the same. It only took a handful of the largest property owners to achieve the level of support required by statute. The rest were forced into the taxing district with their votes becoming essentially worthless. If the one man one vote concept had been applied, the district would have failed as a majority, in numbers, of property owners opposed the district. However, the majority had less "net tax capacity" than the minority of larger owners. To add insult to injury, the largest property owners built in a "cap". Not only did their votes count for more, their burden, as a percentage of the "net tax capacity", was far less than that of the smallest properties.
This process was reviewed by the City Attorney's Office a number of times and challenged by a few of the downtown property owners affected. The City Attorney's position was based on the fact that in any review of the Constitutionality of a State Statute, the assumption the appellate courts abide by is that that States generally don't pass unconsitutional laws. While that may be the case, there are certainly exceptions and this particular statute is one glaring example. Taken to the extreme this statute is certainly subject to abuse and could actually result in the sample scenario I used as an illustration. Is this the example we want to set in Minnesota? Big Business vs. Small with the full backing of the force of government is a frightening prospect. Consider also, the use of imminent domain and special taxing districts already within the City of Duluth. The Government has already seized property from a small business for the benefit of a larger one, imposed a tax on smaller businesses for the benefit of larger ones. Does the constitution no longer apply in Duluth?
Saturday, January 21, 2006
When Will We Learn?
This post was cut and pasted from the Duluth Citizen's Blog. While it does speak for itself as the moderator on that site states, it is certainly worthy of further comment. Read and bear with me, it's lengthy and very revealing. Also, as with anything internet, cutting and pasting a number of times results in a degredation of the punctuation and alignment of the original message:
This is of interest:Greetings prog-action.I am the new moderator for Progressive-Action. I have been appointedbythe steering committee to implement certain reforms. ProgressiveActionhas been getting numerous complaints about what has become of ournews-group and they are trying to remedy this situation. The mainpointis that this is NOT a general political discussion group but rather agroup BY and FOR progressives in this area. If you want to hear aboutconservative or reactionary points of view, there are many other groupsyou can join.The main change is that Progressive Action asks our members to agreewith the 10 core positions outlined below. If you have a minordisagreement with the specifics of a given point, that's obviously OK,but if you susbstantially disagree with our core positions then I askthat you leave / not join our group. Don't worry, the 'thought-police'is not breathing down your neck, but this is a list for progressivesand I want to make sure it stays this way.Some of you will disagree with these changes. Some of you will leavethis group. If you cannot live with the new guidelines, I ask you toleave this group and go somewhere else. I also encourage anyone whodisagrees with these reforms to run for election to the steeringcommittee.On a final note. The moderator's identity is not disclosed to ashieldhim/her from personal attacks and b enable multiple people to take onthis resposibility seamlessly. I have been asked however to clarifythat neither Barb Olsen nor Will Rhodes are currently moderators forthis group.So here are the new PROGRESSIVE ACTION NEWS-GROUP PURPOSE, RULES ANDPOLICIES.prog-action purpose.prog-action is a news-group that was set up by progressives in theDuluth / Superior area to further the discussion of progressive ideasand events throughout NE Minnesota and NW Wisconsin. This is anews-group created by and for progressives, not a general politicaldiscussion group. While we welcome a variety of viewpoints, we ask thatall members agree with the following core positions. Your continuedmembership on prog-action indicates your agreement with thesepositions. If you choose to unsubscribe from prog-action, simplychoose the unsubscribe option at the bottom of any prog-action email.NOTE: All new applicants for prog-action will be required tospecifically indicate agreement before they will be added to the list.Labor - The right to choose a union and bargain collectively isa fundamental human right. This right must be actively promoted at alllevels of government. Businesses that receive public funds must committo providing living-wage jobs with benefits.Health Care - Health care is a fundamental human right.High-quality health care must be guaranteed to all citizens.Education - All children deserve a first-rate public education.Public funds should not subsidize private or for-profit schools.Fundingbetween affluent and less affluent school districts must be equalized.Human rights - All people are entitled to equal treatmentregardless of race, religion, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ordisability. Strong legal protections against discrimination must bemaintained.Taxation - Fairness must be returned to our tax system throughprogressive taxation based upon ability to pay.Individual rights - The individual freedoms guaranteed in theBill of Rights, including freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, andfreedom from unreasonable search and seizure, must be defended.Trade and Globalization - The rules that govern global trademust be rewritten to provide strong guarantees for labor rights, humanrights, and environmental protection.Planning and Economic Development - Vibrant neighborhoods and ahealthy environment are the backbone of a strong community. Localplanning and development policies must invest in existingneighborhoods,support small neighborhood businesses, promote quality affordablehousing, and be environmentally responsible.War and Peace - Military force should be a tool of last resortand be reserved for cases where the lives and freedoms of Americans aredirectly at risk. Military spending should be reduced with the fundstransferred to meet human needs.Clean Government - Government should be conducted in a mannerthat maximizes openness, accountability, and community participation.Campaigns for state and federal office should be publicly funded toreduce the influence of wealthy interests. Democracy is not limited tothe act of voting democracy is also found in the accurate counting ofevery vote._____prog-action rules and policies.1 To be a user of prog-action you must be in agreement with the corepositions above.2 Absolutely no personal insults or name-calling directed at otherlist-serve members will be tolerated.3 Please try to stick to issues that are relevant to progressives andavoid lengthy off-topic discussions. Occasional postings of jobopportunities, requests for assistance to local families, and so on arefine.4 Please restrict the volume of your weekly postings to a reasonablenumber.5 Please be careful not to send personal messages over thelist-serve.Be aware that when you reply to a prog-action email, it will go toALLmembers!Violation of these rules and policies could result in a warning. Iftheviolation persists you could be suspended from the list for a period oftime and consistent offenders will be permanently banned from the list.Suspension policyIf you receive a suspension, you will be notified of the suspension,thereasons for it and you will be removed temporarily from the list. Afterthe allotted time has passed, you may apply to re-join the list.
Worthy of comment indeed. The progressives talk about social justice, economic fairness, equality and all kinds of other platitudinous hypocrisy. Their idea of social justice is, if you don't agree with everything we say, we will silence you. Their idea of equality is not bringing the disadvantaged up, but bringing the rest of us down to the lowest common denominator. Their idea of a living wage is, if you make more than your employees, you are evil.
The Cult of Personality has been exposed and they are on the defensive as well as the offensive. If you offend you're not one of us and you're out but we are right so you should just fall in line. How completely intellectually bankrupt of them. Where these ideas come from is right out of Marxism. For this platform to be accepted and promoted is beyond modern belief. This is the stuff of the early 20th century Eastern idealists.
This will serve to galvanize their base but also marginalize it. Anytime you demand total, unbending loyalty to a group lest you risk exile, you will alienate some. On the other hand, you will force those on the fence either closer to you or force them away. Those who stay with you will become your biggest and most adamant defenders...extremists, loyal only to the platform. This is unhealthy in so many ways and progressive it certainly is not. It is a 100+ year old dogma that has only resulted in the death and destruction of millions of people and numerous civilizations.
When will we learn?
This is of interest:Greetings prog-action.I am the new moderator for Progressive-Action. I have been appointedbythe steering committee to implement certain reforms. ProgressiveActionhas been getting numerous complaints about what has become of ournews-group and they are trying to remedy this situation. The mainpointis that this is NOT a general political discussion group but rather agroup BY and FOR progressives in this area. If you want to hear aboutconservative or reactionary points of view, there are many other groupsyou can join.The main change is that Progressive Action asks our members to agreewith the 10 core positions outlined below. If you have a minordisagreement with the specifics of a given point, that's obviously OK,but if you susbstantially disagree with our core positions then I askthat you leave / not join our group. Don't worry, the 'thought-police'is not breathing down your neck, but this is a list for progressivesand I want to make sure it stays this way.Some of you will disagree with these changes. Some of you will leavethis group. If you cannot live with the new guidelines, I ask you toleave this group and go somewhere else. I also encourage anyone whodisagrees with these reforms to run for election to the steeringcommittee.On a final note. The moderator's identity is not disclosed to ashieldhim/her from personal attacks and b enable multiple people to take onthis resposibility seamlessly. I have been asked however to clarifythat neither Barb Olsen nor Will Rhodes are currently moderators forthis group.So here are the new PROGRESSIVE ACTION NEWS-GROUP PURPOSE, RULES ANDPOLICIES.prog-action purpose.prog-action is a news-group that was set up by progressives in theDuluth / Superior area to further the discussion of progressive ideasand events throughout NE Minnesota and NW Wisconsin. This is anews-group created by and for progressives, not a general politicaldiscussion group. While we welcome a variety of viewpoints, we ask thatall members agree with the following core positions. Your continuedmembership on prog-action indicates your agreement with thesepositions. If you choose to unsubscribe from prog-action, simplychoose the unsubscribe option at the bottom of any prog-action email.NOTE: All new applicants for prog-action will be required tospecifically indicate agreement before they will be added to the list.Labor - The right to choose a union and bargain collectively isa fundamental human right. This right must be actively promoted at alllevels of government. Businesses that receive public funds must committo providing living-wage jobs with benefits.Health Care - Health care is a fundamental human right.High-quality health care must be guaranteed to all citizens.Education - All children deserve a first-rate public education.Public funds should not subsidize private or for-profit schools.Fundingbetween affluent and less affluent school districts must be equalized.Human rights - All people are entitled to equal treatmentregardless of race, religion, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ordisability. Strong legal protections against discrimination must bemaintained.Taxation - Fairness must be returned to our tax system throughprogressive taxation based upon ability to pay.Individual rights - The individual freedoms guaranteed in theBill of Rights, including freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, andfreedom from unreasonable search and seizure, must be defended.Trade and Globalization - The rules that govern global trademust be rewritten to provide strong guarantees for labor rights, humanrights, and environmental protection.Planning and Economic Development - Vibrant neighborhoods and ahealthy environment are the backbone of a strong community. Localplanning and development policies must invest in existingneighborhoods,support small neighborhood businesses, promote quality affordablehousing, and be environmentally responsible.War and Peace - Military force should be a tool of last resortand be reserved for cases where the lives and freedoms of Americans aredirectly at risk. Military spending should be reduced with the fundstransferred to meet human needs.Clean Government - Government should be conducted in a mannerthat maximizes openness, accountability, and community participation.Campaigns for state and federal office should be publicly funded toreduce the influence of wealthy interests. Democracy is not limited tothe act of voting democracy is also found in the accurate counting ofevery vote._____prog-action rules and policies.1 To be a user of prog-action you must be in agreement with the corepositions above.2 Absolutely no personal insults or name-calling directed at otherlist-serve members will be tolerated.3 Please try to stick to issues that are relevant to progressives andavoid lengthy off-topic discussions. Occasional postings of jobopportunities, requests for assistance to local families, and so on arefine.4 Please restrict the volume of your weekly postings to a reasonablenumber.5 Please be careful not to send personal messages over thelist-serve.Be aware that when you reply to a prog-action email, it will go toALLmembers!Violation of these rules and policies could result in a warning. Iftheviolation persists you could be suspended from the list for a period oftime and consistent offenders will be permanently banned from the list.Suspension policyIf you receive a suspension, you will be notified of the suspension,thereasons for it and you will be removed temporarily from the list. Afterthe allotted time has passed, you may apply to re-join the list.
***********************************
Worthy of comment indeed. The progressives talk about social justice, economic fairness, equality and all kinds of other platitudinous hypocrisy. Their idea of social justice is, if you don't agree with everything we say, we will silence you. Their idea of equality is not bringing the disadvantaged up, but bringing the rest of us down to the lowest common denominator. Their idea of a living wage is, if you make more than your employees, you are evil.
The Cult of Personality has been exposed and they are on the defensive as well as the offensive. If you offend you're not one of us and you're out but we are right so you should just fall in line. How completely intellectually bankrupt of them. Where these ideas come from is right out of Marxism. For this platform to be accepted and promoted is beyond modern belief. This is the stuff of the early 20th century Eastern idealists.
This will serve to galvanize their base but also marginalize it. Anytime you demand total, unbending loyalty to a group lest you risk exile, you will alienate some. On the other hand, you will force those on the fence either closer to you or force them away. Those who stay with you will become your biggest and most adamant defenders...extremists, loyal only to the platform. This is unhealthy in so many ways and progressive it certainly is not. It is a 100+ year old dogma that has only resulted in the death and destruction of millions of people and numerous civilizations.
When will we learn?
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Targeted
The Tribune is on my mind, forgive or indulge. The Tribune has a sad recent history of attacking individuals and groups in the Duluth area. The politics of personal destruction practiced by the Tribune is the height of hypocrisy, considering their frequent, empty pleas for civility in Duluth.
Consider the case of Betty George. Three days of headlines were devoted to what can only be characterized as wholesale character assassination. Her organization was accused of various types of malfeasance and misuse of public funds. Ultimately, following a very complete audit by the State, "irregularities" were the worst of the findings. Consider your own checkbook and unless you are the most meticulous bookkeeper, there will be "irregularities". The only small business that doesn't have irregularities would be one featured in a fiction novel. However, these irregularities justified the unmitigated, shameless assault on Ms. George's character complete with three front page headlines. I can only imagine if the same audit was conducted at the Tribune.
The politics of personal destruction reared it's ugly head again during the most recent City Council election. A "Routine background check" that has never been conducted on a DFL candidate for local office, was selectively performed on one candidate for an at large seat. This not so "routine background check" revealed a speeding ticket and a dismissed assault charge. While having never posted anything about any other candidates' criminal record, they chose to publish this information in another repugnant, selatious display of character assassination. This information had to be reviewed and approved by somebody prior to being published. It is not only repugnant but embarrassing to say the least. How the person responsible for publishing this garbage can look at themselves in the mirror every day is beyond comprehension.
Any hint of dissention has been ruthlessly and relentlessly attacked. Connect Duluth, a small group of thoughtful Duluthians attempting to stem the tide of leftist propaganda and bring the discussion to the Center has been subjected to attack and libel as well. They have never taken a stand on traditional, more controversial subjects such as abortion, national defense, death penalty, union labor, etc. Instead, they have examined and presented facts, figures and extremely well though out, local, issues based opinions and editorials. The opinions and editorials can hardly be characterized as right or left, in-fact, they are very centrist in nature and content.
For this presentation of fact, figures and truths, they have been ruthlessly and relentlessly attacked as a fringe, right-wing organization. Within the group, they agree on some subjects and disagree on some. They are a cross-section of Duluthians made up of small business people, union labor, a banker, a lawyer, a computer consultant, wives, husbands, sons, daughters, young and old. Based on the Tribune articles, you walk away with the impression they are right-wing, crazed, fascist, capitalist pigs. Quite the contrary, they are some of the best and brightest Duluth has to offer. Among them are people who have run for and both prevailed and suffered defeat in bids for public office. They are a passionate bunch with the future of Duluth and it's children their greatest concern.
For this they have been branded right-wing kooks by the Tribune and a small core of the left-wing elite in Duluth. Fortunately, they are undaunted and are forging ahead and growing. The group has touched many nerves for Duluthians City wide as they continue to gain in numbers and influence. Rank and file through upper management, thinking people City wide are seeing the Connect Duluth website for themselves, reading it and seeing that this group, in-fact, represents their views more than, perhaps any other group, anywhere. Regular folks who drive older cars and have only seen the inside of a limosine the day they got married.
On the other hand, a handful of limosine liberals in Duluth, wield their sword of personal attack and truth bending with ruthless precision. They strike fear into the hearts of anyone who disagrees with them, creating a cult of personality right here in little old Duluth. So, take care what you say or you will become their next mark. The sword will almost certainly swing this way if any of the power elite discover the author. Truth and Civility be damned. Until the hypocrisy ends, when those in leadership at the Tribune, other publications and within the institutions typically inhabited by the liberal leadership grow a conscience, we will continue to be subjected to their ruthless, repugnant politics of personal destruction. Until then, people are simply stepping stones, obstacles to be stepped on and crushed out and pawns in their game of power mongering.
Consider the case of Betty George. Three days of headlines were devoted to what can only be characterized as wholesale character assassination. Her organization was accused of various types of malfeasance and misuse of public funds. Ultimately, following a very complete audit by the State, "irregularities" were the worst of the findings. Consider your own checkbook and unless you are the most meticulous bookkeeper, there will be "irregularities". The only small business that doesn't have irregularities would be one featured in a fiction novel. However, these irregularities justified the unmitigated, shameless assault on Ms. George's character complete with three front page headlines. I can only imagine if the same audit was conducted at the Tribune.
The politics of personal destruction reared it's ugly head again during the most recent City Council election. A "Routine background check" that has never been conducted on a DFL candidate for local office, was selectively performed on one candidate for an at large seat. This not so "routine background check" revealed a speeding ticket and a dismissed assault charge. While having never posted anything about any other candidates' criminal record, they chose to publish this information in another repugnant, selatious display of character assassination. This information had to be reviewed and approved by somebody prior to being published. It is not only repugnant but embarrassing to say the least. How the person responsible for publishing this garbage can look at themselves in the mirror every day is beyond comprehension.
Any hint of dissention has been ruthlessly and relentlessly attacked. Connect Duluth, a small group of thoughtful Duluthians attempting to stem the tide of leftist propaganda and bring the discussion to the Center has been subjected to attack and libel as well. They have never taken a stand on traditional, more controversial subjects such as abortion, national defense, death penalty, union labor, etc. Instead, they have examined and presented facts, figures and extremely well though out, local, issues based opinions and editorials. The opinions and editorials can hardly be characterized as right or left, in-fact, they are very centrist in nature and content.
For this presentation of fact, figures and truths, they have been ruthlessly and relentlessly attacked as a fringe, right-wing organization. Within the group, they agree on some subjects and disagree on some. They are a cross-section of Duluthians made up of small business people, union labor, a banker, a lawyer, a computer consultant, wives, husbands, sons, daughters, young and old. Based on the Tribune articles, you walk away with the impression they are right-wing, crazed, fascist, capitalist pigs. Quite the contrary, they are some of the best and brightest Duluth has to offer. Among them are people who have run for and both prevailed and suffered defeat in bids for public office. They are a passionate bunch with the future of Duluth and it's children their greatest concern.
For this they have been branded right-wing kooks by the Tribune and a small core of the left-wing elite in Duluth. Fortunately, they are undaunted and are forging ahead and growing. The group has touched many nerves for Duluthians City wide as they continue to gain in numbers and influence. Rank and file through upper management, thinking people City wide are seeing the Connect Duluth website for themselves, reading it and seeing that this group, in-fact, represents their views more than, perhaps any other group, anywhere. Regular folks who drive older cars and have only seen the inside of a limosine the day they got married.
On the other hand, a handful of limosine liberals in Duluth, wield their sword of personal attack and truth bending with ruthless precision. They strike fear into the hearts of anyone who disagrees with them, creating a cult of personality right here in little old Duluth. So, take care what you say or you will become their next mark. The sword will almost certainly swing this way if any of the power elite discover the author. Truth and Civility be damned. Until the hypocrisy ends, when those in leadership at the Tribune, other publications and within the institutions typically inhabited by the liberal leadership grow a conscience, we will continue to be subjected to their ruthless, repugnant politics of personal destruction. Until then, people are simply stepping stones, obstacles to be stepped on and crushed out and pawns in their game of power mongering.
The Damage of Bias
Our local newspaper, the Duluth News Tribune has been accused by many, of being biased and letting that bias drive it's reporting. Any objective reader from the right or center will observe an obvious left bent to the entire management of this paper. It is apparent in editorial comments, article placement, article content and interpretation, it even shows through in their selection of photographs. If the article is about a person from the right, the photos are nearly universally unflattering. If the article is about someone from the left, it is nearly always a favorable, smiling photograph.
How does this result in damage? If they are succeeding in promoting their agenda, it is largely based on a lie. If they intend to present news, it will always be taken with a grain of salt and likely verified through some other source by those on the opposite side of the fence. Obvious, flagrant bias will alienate the lion's share of readers as those in the center or right will dismiss or unsubscribe. This has already borne itself out with Knight Ridder as a corporate interest. Stocks are flat, readership is down and the reputation has been irreversibly damaged.
The Publisher of the Tribune, Marti Buscaglia, claims this bias is necessary to appease the liberal dominated Duluth area. She represents the bias as a necessary business approach to ensure continued sales. So, what she is saying is, we can't handle the real news and we are not intelligent enough to make our own judgements. What's worse, by admitting the bias, one must only infer that the real news, presented in an unbiased manner, would not lead people to support her political agenda and by extension, she admits to publishing propaganda. The counterpoint that the Tribune is losing subscribers and damaging it's reputation is wholly dismissed. The Tribune is supposed to be a "news" paper, when it is, in-fact, selective in it's presentation of news. As consumers, we are not getting news, we are getting bits and pieces of information, carefully screened and edited in a way that promotes a given philosophy. This is ultimately, a disservice to the community and an admitted propaganda campaign.
The fact that Ms. Buscaglia admits and defends the bias should be evidence enough to the citizens of Duluth to wholly dismiss the paper and begin cancelling our subscriptions in earnest. Unfortunately, too many of us still enjoy sitting down to a cup of coffee and reading the "news" paper. Many now access the paper on-line to avoid subscribing but this doesn't fill the morning void of reading a paper. Further, we can't all sit down to our Cheerios with a laptop in front of us. In our home, I read a section, my spouse reads a section, our son, reads a section and our other son reads the comics. It pains me to continue subscribing to a paper that I know is indoctrinating a community but we all still like to sit down with our "paper".
I suppose there will come a time when we will cancel our subscription. After our children are grown and have moved out, there will be no need for a physical version and we will instead go to the cyber copy. The damage of bias is that it has cemented a bias throughout the community, lead to a foundation of ignorance and will ultimately be the undoing of the Publisher and the Company.
How does this result in damage? If they are succeeding in promoting their agenda, it is largely based on a lie. If they intend to present news, it will always be taken with a grain of salt and likely verified through some other source by those on the opposite side of the fence. Obvious, flagrant bias will alienate the lion's share of readers as those in the center or right will dismiss or unsubscribe. This has already borne itself out with Knight Ridder as a corporate interest. Stocks are flat, readership is down and the reputation has been irreversibly damaged.
The Publisher of the Tribune, Marti Buscaglia, claims this bias is necessary to appease the liberal dominated Duluth area. She represents the bias as a necessary business approach to ensure continued sales. So, what she is saying is, we can't handle the real news and we are not intelligent enough to make our own judgements. What's worse, by admitting the bias, one must only infer that the real news, presented in an unbiased manner, would not lead people to support her political agenda and by extension, she admits to publishing propaganda. The counterpoint that the Tribune is losing subscribers and damaging it's reputation is wholly dismissed. The Tribune is supposed to be a "news" paper, when it is, in-fact, selective in it's presentation of news. As consumers, we are not getting news, we are getting bits and pieces of information, carefully screened and edited in a way that promotes a given philosophy. This is ultimately, a disservice to the community and an admitted propaganda campaign.
The fact that Ms. Buscaglia admits and defends the bias should be evidence enough to the citizens of Duluth to wholly dismiss the paper and begin cancelling our subscriptions in earnest. Unfortunately, too many of us still enjoy sitting down to a cup of coffee and reading the "news" paper. Many now access the paper on-line to avoid subscribing but this doesn't fill the morning void of reading a paper. Further, we can't all sit down to our Cheerios with a laptop in front of us. In our home, I read a section, my spouse reads a section, our son, reads a section and our other son reads the comics. It pains me to continue subscribing to a paper that I know is indoctrinating a community but we all still like to sit down with our "paper".
I suppose there will come a time when we will cancel our subscription. After our children are grown and have moved out, there will be no need for a physical version and we will instead go to the cyber copy. The damage of bias is that it has cemented a bias throughout the community, lead to a foundation of ignorance and will ultimately be the undoing of the Publisher and the Company.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Oh, the Beauty of Snow
Once again, it's snowing. There's value in them there flakes (no, I'm not talking about Donny Ness and Mayor Bergson). Many industries in Duluth depend partly or entirely on the white stuff. Some businesses suffer some when it snows but by and large, the community as a whole benefits from snow.
There are the obvious ones such as the ski areas, both downhill and cross-country, the snowmobile dealers and service people, the sporting goods stores, etc. It is interesting , however, that Duluth is one of those places that spurns the lion's share of potential Weather related Winter Business in that there is no way to traverse the City on an ATV or Snowmobile. In-fact, Duluth has goneone further, banning all use of ATV's except for utilitarian use in and around one's pivate residence. Any hint of advocacy for relaxing our anti-motor laws in Duluth would likely be met with fierce resistance even though, many of Duluth residents enjoy and participate in these activities.
If only we could embrace outdoor, Winter motor sports in Duluth and allow these folks into the interior of the City. There are trails all around and some within the City. There are numerous bars and restaurants who struggle to get through the Winter months yet we keep the huge river of potential revenue at bay. True tourist towns welcome these and other forms of transportation in and around their Cities benefitting from thousands of motor-sports enthusiasts and hundreds of thousands in revenue. Duluth seems to have departed from it's fun side, turning instead, to a paranoid, fearful, anti-future, killjoy, anti-technology, primitive promoting lifestyle.
Progress is bad according to some, but without it, imagine how hard it would be to go back country skiing. You'd have to go back to cutting down all those trees. Restraint of one's own political agenda and recognizing the validity of others, lends credence to your own and strengthens it with a more sound foundation. Pursuing it without restraint is, by definition, what makes one an extremist. Do we want to be extremists or do we truly want to pursue the strengths of all political viewpoints? Examine the weaknesses of your own political convictions and pursue balance.
We have been seduced to a large degree, by some extremists who believe anything motorized is bad. This has cost us potential jobs, tourist revenue and damaged our reputation as a "Tourist Friendly" destination. Tourism comes in all forms, let's try to embrace as many of them as possible. Motorsports and eco-tourists can enjoy the same areas. I look forward to the day when we capitalize, as a City, on all forms of tourism, including Winter motor sports. Enjoy the snow.
There are the obvious ones such as the ski areas, both downhill and cross-country, the snowmobile dealers and service people, the sporting goods stores, etc. It is interesting , however, that Duluth is one of those places that spurns the lion's share of potential Weather related Winter Business in that there is no way to traverse the City on an ATV or Snowmobile. In-fact, Duluth has goneone further, banning all use of ATV's except for utilitarian use in and around one's pivate residence. Any hint of advocacy for relaxing our anti-motor laws in Duluth would likely be met with fierce resistance even though, many of Duluth residents enjoy and participate in these activities.
If only we could embrace outdoor, Winter motor sports in Duluth and allow these folks into the interior of the City. There are trails all around and some within the City. There are numerous bars and restaurants who struggle to get through the Winter months yet we keep the huge river of potential revenue at bay. True tourist towns welcome these and other forms of transportation in and around their Cities benefitting from thousands of motor-sports enthusiasts and hundreds of thousands in revenue. Duluth seems to have departed from it's fun side, turning instead, to a paranoid, fearful, anti-future, killjoy, anti-technology, primitive promoting lifestyle.
Progress is bad according to some, but without it, imagine how hard it would be to go back country skiing. You'd have to go back to cutting down all those trees. Restraint of one's own political agenda and recognizing the validity of others, lends credence to your own and strengthens it with a more sound foundation. Pursuing it without restraint is, by definition, what makes one an extremist. Do we want to be extremists or do we truly want to pursue the strengths of all political viewpoints? Examine the weaknesses of your own political convictions and pursue balance.
We have been seduced to a large degree, by some extremists who believe anything motorized is bad. This has cost us potential jobs, tourist revenue and damaged our reputation as a "Tourist Friendly" destination. Tourism comes in all forms, let's try to embrace as many of them as possible. Motorsports and eco-tourists can enjoy the same areas. I look forward to the day when we capitalize, as a City, on all forms of tourism, including Winter motor sports. Enjoy the snow.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
How Will You Vote?
At the end of February, Duluthians will go to the polls for a special referendum. The effect of this vote will be nothing more than a stamp of approval to the City Council for their plan to raise the Food and Beverage tax by .75%. The State Legislature will still have to pass a law to allow Duluth to go ahead with the imposition of this tax. The Governor has stated he wouldn't support this tax unless it went to the voters. He will still have the opportunity to veto it.
That being said, the marketing machine has already been put into motion and the seduction of Duluth appears complete with many supporters claiming this is a "no brainer". If it is such a no brainer, why is it so difficult to impose such a tax? The answer is, if there aren't some hoops to jump through, tax and spend politicians all over the State would be raising local option sales taxes to pay for numerous pet projects.
The thing we all must think about is how we feel about our taxes already. I hear complaints from all political and non-political people of all pursuations about how high our taxes are in Minnesota. We have slipped from the third highest taxed State in the Union to about fifth or sixth. This is still a dubious distinction. The DFLers will use cliches like we have a better State and we're willing to pay for it. Conservatives on the other hand continue to try to hold the line and limit or reduce taxes due to the undeniable fact that taxes impede growth, discourage and reduce private investment into business.
What is interesting about this tax is, conservatives appear to be on board. Why? The Marketing has been very effective. The scare tactic that the UMD Bulldog hockey program would be forced to re-locate to the UMD Campus has been used but is that really true? Well, my question is, if they re-locate to the UMD Campus, how does that: 1. Reduce the cost 2. Increase available funding for the construction of a new hockey stadium? This certainly appears to be a ruse that the whole of Duluth seems to have fallen for.
I feel as though I may be getting redundant but the citizens of Duluth have been sold a bill of goods that may not be what they appear. We will be shoe-horning another huge building into a footprint that is not large enough or accessible enough for the buildings currently situated there.
My final point on this subject that I will likely explore again both pre and post-vote is, if you feel taxes here are too high, yet you vote yes on this referendum, you must count yourself among those who will lose the ability to complain, with any integrity or credibility, about Duluth being anti-business and taxed to heavily.
If you are a proponent for business and growth but you vote in favor of a tax that will inevitably harm at least a handful of businesses you have to examine your motives. This tax will reduce the amount of money in public circulation by around a million dollars every year or a total potential economic impact of 5-7 million. If we could see fit to reduce taxes, increase business investment and put this project off for five years we could likely allow some of the existing food and beverage taxes to finally sunset. In essence, by waiting, just like a family on a limited budget or a business on a limited budget, with diligence and discipline, we could cover the City match with no net tax increase. If you vote yes, don't dare complain about higher taxes.
That being said, the marketing machine has already been put into motion and the seduction of Duluth appears complete with many supporters claiming this is a "no brainer". If it is such a no brainer, why is it so difficult to impose such a tax? The answer is, if there aren't some hoops to jump through, tax and spend politicians all over the State would be raising local option sales taxes to pay for numerous pet projects.
The thing we all must think about is how we feel about our taxes already. I hear complaints from all political and non-political people of all pursuations about how high our taxes are in Minnesota. We have slipped from the third highest taxed State in the Union to about fifth or sixth. This is still a dubious distinction. The DFLers will use cliches like we have a better State and we're willing to pay for it. Conservatives on the other hand continue to try to hold the line and limit or reduce taxes due to the undeniable fact that taxes impede growth, discourage and reduce private investment into business.
What is interesting about this tax is, conservatives appear to be on board. Why? The Marketing has been very effective. The scare tactic that the UMD Bulldog hockey program would be forced to re-locate to the UMD Campus has been used but is that really true? Well, my question is, if they re-locate to the UMD Campus, how does that: 1. Reduce the cost 2. Increase available funding for the construction of a new hockey stadium? This certainly appears to be a ruse that the whole of Duluth seems to have fallen for.
I feel as though I may be getting redundant but the citizens of Duluth have been sold a bill of goods that may not be what they appear. We will be shoe-horning another huge building into a footprint that is not large enough or accessible enough for the buildings currently situated there.
My final point on this subject that I will likely explore again both pre and post-vote is, if you feel taxes here are too high, yet you vote yes on this referendum, you must count yourself among those who will lose the ability to complain, with any integrity or credibility, about Duluth being anti-business and taxed to heavily.
If you are a proponent for business and growth but you vote in favor of a tax that will inevitably harm at least a handful of businesses you have to examine your motives. This tax will reduce the amount of money in public circulation by around a million dollars every year or a total potential economic impact of 5-7 million. If we could see fit to reduce taxes, increase business investment and put this project off for five years we could likely allow some of the existing food and beverage taxes to finally sunset. In essence, by waiting, just like a family on a limited budget or a business on a limited budget, with diligence and discipline, we could cover the City match with no net tax increase. If you vote yes, don't dare complain about higher taxes.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
It's History
Well, there it is...the Mayor's state of the City address. All is well and we have lots of progress to report. Lots of development and growth and a beautiful City. Of course all the credit goes to Herb Bergson and all the DFLers in Duluth.
What he didn't tell you is that the retiree health care liability is growing by an estimated $35,000 dollars every day. What he didn't tell you is all of the projects he mentioned were either well under way or actually on the table before he took office. What he didn't tell you is our projected job growth is actually negative, that is, we are projected to lose jobs over the foreseeable future. What he didn't tell you is we are losing jobs and businesses are closing at an astonishing rate. What he didn't tell you is our tax burden is growing, our tax base is shrinking and he wants to spend more money!
He wants to locate police substations on practically every corner in Duluth. He wants to locate another in the Central Hillside area. My question is, Why? The current Police Department is located on the Western end of the Central Hillside. The majority of Police patrols, calls, arrests and responses are in the Central Hillside area. Maybe the next will be located in the Grant School expansion, you know, the school the School Board wanted to close last year and now wants to expand. He could locate one more on the UMD campus and another in Woodland. One more in Lakeside and another in the Congdon area. We shouldn't leave out Park Point, they have a Fire Station, why not a Police substation. There should be a Wethouse on Park Point, one in Morgan Park, one in Piedmont and another in Duluth Heights and don't forget Lakeside. OK, Lakeside is dry but you know the bottles in bags turn up along the railroad tracks all the time. After-all, should we be asking the panhandling drunks by the Miller Mall to hike all the way to downtown after working feaverishly, thieving money all day in the cold?
The question to really be asked here is, what is this Mayor's vision for the City of Duluth? It is obviously one of build, tax and spend. It is one of never leave a drunk unhoused or uncared for. It is one of pandering to AFSCME. It is one of promoting alternative lifestyles. It is one of distracting us from the real issues facing us. It is one of abject incompetence on a scale rarely seen in municipal government.
It is apparent the Mayor of Duluth has learned nothing of the entitlements to retirees. Now he is seeking to extend those same entitlements to the street drunks. After-all, how long will it be before they need medical treatment? How long before we are covering that too? How long before one of them decides we didn't do enough and sues the City? The incredible level of fiscal irresponsibility and ignorance of the potential dangers to the City boggle the mind of anyone with common sense.
It is clear, the mission of Mayor Herb Bergson is one of distracting the public from unprecedented incompetence, ignorance and outright stupidity. The agenda is nothing more than pandering to as many fringe groups to attempt to get their vote. It is so shameless it is nauseating. This man clearly has no conscience and his behavior is utterly repugnant. Where will it end? With the mentality of the voting public in Duluth, the ship runneth aground and we applieth the throttle.
You have to give him credit though. Homosexuals across the country have hailed him as a messiah. He is a masterful distractor and obviously has taken every word of advice from his shell game advisors. Duluthians have to wake to the depths this man will take us before we are all swimming in muck.
What he didn't tell you is that the retiree health care liability is growing by an estimated $35,000 dollars every day. What he didn't tell you is all of the projects he mentioned were either well under way or actually on the table before he took office. What he didn't tell you is our projected job growth is actually negative, that is, we are projected to lose jobs over the foreseeable future. What he didn't tell you is we are losing jobs and businesses are closing at an astonishing rate. What he didn't tell you is our tax burden is growing, our tax base is shrinking and he wants to spend more money!
He wants to locate police substations on practically every corner in Duluth. He wants to locate another in the Central Hillside area. My question is, Why? The current Police Department is located on the Western end of the Central Hillside. The majority of Police patrols, calls, arrests and responses are in the Central Hillside area. Maybe the next will be located in the Grant School expansion, you know, the school the School Board wanted to close last year and now wants to expand. He could locate one more on the UMD campus and another in Woodland. One more in Lakeside and another in the Congdon area. We shouldn't leave out Park Point, they have a Fire Station, why not a Police substation. There should be a Wethouse on Park Point, one in Morgan Park, one in Piedmont and another in Duluth Heights and don't forget Lakeside. OK, Lakeside is dry but you know the bottles in bags turn up along the railroad tracks all the time. After-all, should we be asking the panhandling drunks by the Miller Mall to hike all the way to downtown after working feaverishly, thieving money all day in the cold?
The question to really be asked here is, what is this Mayor's vision for the City of Duluth? It is obviously one of build, tax and spend. It is one of never leave a drunk unhoused or uncared for. It is one of pandering to AFSCME. It is one of promoting alternative lifestyles. It is one of distracting us from the real issues facing us. It is one of abject incompetence on a scale rarely seen in municipal government.
It is apparent the Mayor of Duluth has learned nothing of the entitlements to retirees. Now he is seeking to extend those same entitlements to the street drunks. After-all, how long will it be before they need medical treatment? How long before we are covering that too? How long before one of them decides we didn't do enough and sues the City? The incredible level of fiscal irresponsibility and ignorance of the potential dangers to the City boggle the mind of anyone with common sense.
It is clear, the mission of Mayor Herb Bergson is one of distracting the public from unprecedented incompetence, ignorance and outright stupidity. The agenda is nothing more than pandering to as many fringe groups to attempt to get their vote. It is so shameless it is nauseating. This man clearly has no conscience and his behavior is utterly repugnant. Where will it end? With the mentality of the voting public in Duluth, the ship runneth aground and we applieth the throttle.
You have to give him credit though. Homosexuals across the country have hailed him as a messiah. He is a masterful distractor and obviously has taken every word of advice from his shell game advisors. Duluthians have to wake to the depths this man will take us before we are all swimming in muck.
Monday, January 09, 2006
Anticipation
The Mayor will address the citizens of the City of Duluth tonight with the state of the City address. I will probably watch from home as the text and tone of his address is predictable.
What I am really interested in and where the drama will lie tonight will be the City Council's choice for next year's president. Rumor has it there has been some maneuvering to get Reinert into the position. He was appointed, then re-elected and the effort now is to lend credibility to the man. However, this is only a rumor.
Maybe it will be Laurie Johnson. She is obviously grossly incompetent and an embarrassment to the Council and the City. This would be a perfect opportunity for the DFL and the Union to say, "she really is a trainwreck and now that she has shown everybody, we can justify asking her to not run in the next election." Of course they won't do that and will keep her silently nodding and smiling and sending out e-mails that state emphatically, "thank you for your message".
What about Greg Gilbert? He has been on the Council for some time and being an attorney and all, wouldn't he be a good choice? The only drawback might be, anytime he is criticized by anyone, he would make ridiculous accusations against all the speakers at a Monday night meeting. Tuesday morning, when asked why he was so rude to the public the night before, he would blame his conduct on Connect Duluth.
How about Russ Stover? He's knows his way around the chambers and it would be refreshing to have a representative from the West end of Duluth serve as President. Unfortunately, as President, he would still be introducing the resolutions regarding Street Improvements and he still cannot pronounce bituminous.
I assume they will not put Donny Ness back in, for to make us suffer another year of his over-serious frowns, phony, glib giggles and smiles and having to see him quoted and interviewed ad nauseum by local media would be intolerable. Just think of how many people would be forced to stick their fingers in their ears and yell babble for another twelve months to avoid listening to him.
That leaves Garry Krause, Russ Stewart, Tim Little and Jim Stauber. Garry, being totally new to the Council and a total unknown, as he never did give a straight answer during his campaign, he might be too unpredictable. Besides, being the rookie, he would just not be a good choice. Duluth could only be so lucky to have one of the remaining three, Jim, Tim or Russ Stewart elected President. All three are intelligent, well spoken, balanced and lack that phoniness so prevalent in all the other Councilors. Well, that almost certainly eliminates them from contention. Stauber has already done his year as President, Tim is too conservative and Russ Stewart is just too intelligent. He's becoming an independent thinker and likely has the highest IQ on the Council (although Tim would certainly give him a run for his money) making him totally unacceptable as he might make the rest of the Council, with a couple obvious exceptions, look stupid.
Yep, Reinert is the obvious choice. He's safe, DFL, needs to boost his credibility and is popular among Councilors. He's a nice guy too so speaking wouldn't be too intimidating.
However it turns out, Duluth certainly faces unprecedented challenges and opportunities. With any luck, they will search their collective souls (no need to worry Laurie, they'll explain what I mean by this) and challenge the bankrupting, unholy alliance and allegiance to AFSCME (again, Laurie, don't worry, we wouldn't expect that from you). They will have to take one big bull (retiree health care) by the horns and once they have grabbed on, determine how to slay it. Solving this issue or taking the appropriate steps toward bankruptcy will dominate the public discussion. The implications affect us all and it's bound to be an interesting year.
What I am really interested in and where the drama will lie tonight will be the City Council's choice for next year's president. Rumor has it there has been some maneuvering to get Reinert into the position. He was appointed, then re-elected and the effort now is to lend credibility to the man. However, this is only a rumor.
Maybe it will be Laurie Johnson. She is obviously grossly incompetent and an embarrassment to the Council and the City. This would be a perfect opportunity for the DFL and the Union to say, "she really is a trainwreck and now that she has shown everybody, we can justify asking her to not run in the next election." Of course they won't do that and will keep her silently nodding and smiling and sending out e-mails that state emphatically, "thank you for your message".
What about Greg Gilbert? He has been on the Council for some time and being an attorney and all, wouldn't he be a good choice? The only drawback might be, anytime he is criticized by anyone, he would make ridiculous accusations against all the speakers at a Monday night meeting. Tuesday morning, when asked why he was so rude to the public the night before, he would blame his conduct on Connect Duluth.
How about Russ Stover? He's knows his way around the chambers and it would be refreshing to have a representative from the West end of Duluth serve as President. Unfortunately, as President, he would still be introducing the resolutions regarding Street Improvements and he still cannot pronounce bituminous.
I assume they will not put Donny Ness back in, for to make us suffer another year of his over-serious frowns, phony, glib giggles and smiles and having to see him quoted and interviewed ad nauseum by local media would be intolerable. Just think of how many people would be forced to stick their fingers in their ears and yell babble for another twelve months to avoid listening to him.
That leaves Garry Krause, Russ Stewart, Tim Little and Jim Stauber. Garry, being totally new to the Council and a total unknown, as he never did give a straight answer during his campaign, he might be too unpredictable. Besides, being the rookie, he would just not be a good choice. Duluth could only be so lucky to have one of the remaining three, Jim, Tim or Russ Stewart elected President. All three are intelligent, well spoken, balanced and lack that phoniness so prevalent in all the other Councilors. Well, that almost certainly eliminates them from contention. Stauber has already done his year as President, Tim is too conservative and Russ Stewart is just too intelligent. He's becoming an independent thinker and likely has the highest IQ on the Council (although Tim would certainly give him a run for his money) making him totally unacceptable as he might make the rest of the Council, with a couple obvious exceptions, look stupid.
Yep, Reinert is the obvious choice. He's safe, DFL, needs to boost his credibility and is popular among Councilors. He's a nice guy too so speaking wouldn't be too intimidating.
However it turns out, Duluth certainly faces unprecedented challenges and opportunities. With any luck, they will search their collective souls (no need to worry Laurie, they'll explain what I mean by this) and challenge the bankrupting, unholy alliance and allegiance to AFSCME (again, Laurie, don't worry, we wouldn't expect that from you). They will have to take one big bull (retiree health care) by the horns and once they have grabbed on, determine how to slay it. Solving this issue or taking the appropriate steps toward bankruptcy will dominate the public discussion. The implications affect us all and it's bound to be an interesting year.
Friday, January 06, 2006
American Nightmare
What is the American Dream? How do you define the American Dream? I'd like to think of it as being able to take advantage of opportunity. To be your own boss or work for somebody else, make a reasonable living, own your own home and live a reasonably comfortable life. Couple that with the reasonable security of knowing you will eventually have the opportunity to retire and do at least a few of the things you have always wanted to such as travel, pursue your favorite hobby and live relatively free of crime. Safety, security and freedom. All in all, these are pretty humble goals considering the vast wealth of this great Nation. The opportunity to achieve wealth and greatness should not be reserved only for those born into privilege.
So, how does this dream fit into the overall scheme in Duluth? Back in the 1950s and 1960s, it fit quite well. We had jobs available for anyone who wanted to work and opportunities for individuals to go into their own business abounded. However, national and local policies were shifting and would forever change the field of opportunity, especially locally. Government entitlement programs became all the rage as those businesses and business people who were at the top of the biggest corporations were raking in what some saw as obscene profits and personal benefit. Envy got the best of the Nation and Local Government as policies to confiscate some of that wealth and redistribute it to those who aspired to less became the mission of the 1960s and 1970s.
While it is certainly noble and worthy to take care of those unable to care for themselves, these policies began to shift the rights from the entrepreneur, to the employee. The idea people who created the bulk of employment and opportunity were seen as profiteers and a political movement sought to "even" things out. That age old killer of economies, the need to establish social and economic "equality", started driving the shift in the United States from manufacturing to technology. The need to equalize everybody's economic status, in-fact began to eat away at the least capable or qualified to find opportunity. As the shift to penalize employers for success became more evident and prevalent, those employers understood that the greatest expense to them was soon going to become labor costs and the trend to replace employees with machines and technology began in earnest.
This has been the impetus for the new technological age resulting in incredible acceleration of technological advances. This is ultimately a good thing, however, an economy that eliminates entry level, assembly line labor, will ultimately fail to provide jobs for those who simply have never had the opportunity to learn the latest technologies. In the world economy, the labor will be done where it is least expensive. This inevitably creates a growing gap between the haves and have nots and will again drive the equalists with envy driving them to create more economically destructive, anti-wealth and anti-employer legislation.
In Duluth, that movement to punish employers and villify anyone who owns a business, turns a profit or appears to be the least bit successful, is still alive and well and has never taken sabbatical. The local economy has shifted almost completely from manufacturing to health care and technology. Even service level positions such as dishwashing and waiting tables is being affected as these policies are taken to the extreme.
This trend has been shifted in other areas of the United States with dramatic results. The right to unionize in Duluth has become mandatory membership in the Union to simply be eligible to work. In certain trades, it can be nearly impossible to gain membership and therefore employment with the Union. Instead of having the right to work, we instead have an atmosphere of mandatory, lifelong, indentured service to the respective Union for your chosen vocation or the requirement to re-locate to secure employment.
The strongest job growth, wage increases and economic growth are occurring in areas where the right to work has once again been embraced and restored. Employers are not hamstrung by exhorbitant wage and benefit contracts with Unions and instead are able to grow their businesses and in-turn, through market forces instead of mandates, wages and employee opportunities. This is resulting in explosive job growth in those areas. This growth in jobs, creates a demand for employees, placing the employees as individuals, in greater demand and therefore better able to negotiate suitable wage and benefit packages for themselves. This truly empowers the individual employee, freeing them from the need and requirement to Unionize and is precisely why the Unions fear Right to Work and fight it tooth and nail everywhere it has been proposed. Growth in business results in rapid economic growth, increased flow of revenue to Government and overall economic vitality.
In Duluth, on the other hand, we have turned the other way, holding to draconian, socialist redistribution of income, expensive, bloated Government programs and mandatory Union membership. This mandatory union membership has lead to various economic maladies including, negative economic growth, negative projected job growth (i.e. net job loss), Government insolvency and declining population. This trend will ultimately bankrupt the community as employment continues to shrink with employers looking to more vibrant communities and consolidating away from Duluth.
Along the way, those attempting to secure their own American Dream, will instead be treated to sleepless nights worrying about the unpaid bills, making the next payroll, the next house payment, declining health due to stress and eventual bankruptcy themselves. Some will truly live the American Nightmare.
The only long term solution to this problem will be to restore the right to work. The likelihood, however that this will occur anytime soon, is very low. The Unions and their chosen party have a stranglehold on power in Duluth and across Minnesota and appear to be entrenched for the forseeable future. The Unions have a long history in Minnesota and practically anyone with a decent job aside from management is a member. The scare tactics used to dissuade voter support for right to work legislation have been extremely effective in Union strongholds such as Minnesota.
So, how does this dream fit into the overall scheme in Duluth? Back in the 1950s and 1960s, it fit quite well. We had jobs available for anyone who wanted to work and opportunities for individuals to go into their own business abounded. However, national and local policies were shifting and would forever change the field of opportunity, especially locally. Government entitlement programs became all the rage as those businesses and business people who were at the top of the biggest corporations were raking in what some saw as obscene profits and personal benefit. Envy got the best of the Nation and Local Government as policies to confiscate some of that wealth and redistribute it to those who aspired to less became the mission of the 1960s and 1970s.
While it is certainly noble and worthy to take care of those unable to care for themselves, these policies began to shift the rights from the entrepreneur, to the employee. The idea people who created the bulk of employment and opportunity were seen as profiteers and a political movement sought to "even" things out. That age old killer of economies, the need to establish social and economic "equality", started driving the shift in the United States from manufacturing to technology. The need to equalize everybody's economic status, in-fact began to eat away at the least capable or qualified to find opportunity. As the shift to penalize employers for success became more evident and prevalent, those employers understood that the greatest expense to them was soon going to become labor costs and the trend to replace employees with machines and technology began in earnest.
This has been the impetus for the new technological age resulting in incredible acceleration of technological advances. This is ultimately a good thing, however, an economy that eliminates entry level, assembly line labor, will ultimately fail to provide jobs for those who simply have never had the opportunity to learn the latest technologies. In the world economy, the labor will be done where it is least expensive. This inevitably creates a growing gap between the haves and have nots and will again drive the equalists with envy driving them to create more economically destructive, anti-wealth and anti-employer legislation.
In Duluth, that movement to punish employers and villify anyone who owns a business, turns a profit or appears to be the least bit successful, is still alive and well and has never taken sabbatical. The local economy has shifted almost completely from manufacturing to health care and technology. Even service level positions such as dishwashing and waiting tables is being affected as these policies are taken to the extreme.
This trend has been shifted in other areas of the United States with dramatic results. The right to unionize in Duluth has become mandatory membership in the Union to simply be eligible to work. In certain trades, it can be nearly impossible to gain membership and therefore employment with the Union. Instead of having the right to work, we instead have an atmosphere of mandatory, lifelong, indentured service to the respective Union for your chosen vocation or the requirement to re-locate to secure employment.
The strongest job growth, wage increases and economic growth are occurring in areas where the right to work has once again been embraced and restored. Employers are not hamstrung by exhorbitant wage and benefit contracts with Unions and instead are able to grow their businesses and in-turn, through market forces instead of mandates, wages and employee opportunities. This is resulting in explosive job growth in those areas. This growth in jobs, creates a demand for employees, placing the employees as individuals, in greater demand and therefore better able to negotiate suitable wage and benefit packages for themselves. This truly empowers the individual employee, freeing them from the need and requirement to Unionize and is precisely why the Unions fear Right to Work and fight it tooth and nail everywhere it has been proposed. Growth in business results in rapid economic growth, increased flow of revenue to Government and overall economic vitality.
In Duluth, on the other hand, we have turned the other way, holding to draconian, socialist redistribution of income, expensive, bloated Government programs and mandatory Union membership. This mandatory union membership has lead to various economic maladies including, negative economic growth, negative projected job growth (i.e. net job loss), Government insolvency and declining population. This trend will ultimately bankrupt the community as employment continues to shrink with employers looking to more vibrant communities and consolidating away from Duluth.
Along the way, those attempting to secure their own American Dream, will instead be treated to sleepless nights worrying about the unpaid bills, making the next payroll, the next house payment, declining health due to stress and eventual bankruptcy themselves. Some will truly live the American Nightmare.
The only long term solution to this problem will be to restore the right to work. The likelihood, however that this will occur anytime soon, is very low. The Unions and their chosen party have a stranglehold on power in Duluth and across Minnesota and appear to be entrenched for the forseeable future. The Unions have a long history in Minnesota and practically anyone with a decent job aside from management is a member. The scare tactics used to dissuade voter support for right to work legislation have been extremely effective in Union strongholds such as Minnesota.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Tribute
We have been graced with the presence of a handful of truly great people. Today, one of them was laid to rest. Attending the funeral of Dennin Charles Bauers was both a very humbling and inspiring experience. I feel privileged to have become acquainted with Denny over the last eight years and I am very grateful to have known him. His family put it into better words than I could ever hope to; follow this link to read their words:
http://www.legacy.com/duluthsuperior/DeathNotices.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=16211728
Denny, you were and are an inspiration. Thank you.
http://www.legacy.com/duluthsuperior/DeathNotices.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=16211728
Denny, you were and are an inspiration. Thank you.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Outside, Looking In
It is sad to read about another business going under in Duluth. I am in small business and have been doing business in Duluth for 8 years. During that 8 years, I have aged 15, developed various digestive problems, thrown away more money than I care to remember and have wished that I had chosen a different path.
What Duluth and Duluthians seem inextricably doomed to is chasing down the next big Government program or building. These buildings and programs cost money and it is not imaginary money. This is real money that comes from real people who write real checks every month and watch as their livelihoods dwindle away in that chase for the next big Golden Government Goose (GGG). It is truly a thing to behold at times. Watching those who are fiscal conservatives enthusiastically jumping on board for the next GGG. I often feel I am on the outside looking in and this time around, I am obviously part of a tiny minority who feel the City is making a mistake and handing the bill to Mom and Pop for the newest GGG. Even others in the same business are on board.
The thing it seems nobody is talking about is the fact that this GGG will be built entirely with tax dollars. These tax dollars come from somewhere. The thing blurring everbody's eyesight is the fact that half the funds will come from "the State". Great! Well, who is "the State"? Where does "the State" get it's money?
Is anybody considering the fact that if the revenue from the tax increase falls short, we are still, as a community still on the hook for this? Visions of the GLA come to mind. This was touted as such a great idea and that it would bring in massive revenue and would be self-supporting, blah, blah, blah! Well, a few questions are in order for you before you throw caution to the wind and jump on board with the new DECC expansion:
1. We tend to complain about high taxes in Minnesota but seem all too easily seduced by big Shiny Buildings. Will we ever mature beyond the "I see it, I want it now" mentality?
2. Will we ever get the concept that if it's being built with tax dollars, it's going to increase our tax burden?
3. Will the concept that the greater the distance the tax dollars travel, the easier it is to spend them, ever become passe'.
4. How can so many of us be anti-taxes and anti-Big Government but so quickly seduced by another GGG project?
5. How will we ever improve the State and local economy if we are so willing to spend tax dollars?
Taxes are taxes. This burden will be placed on the shoulders of those already subsidizing so many other failed or mismanaged GGGs. Why is it so easy for this community to be on board, taxing those in that industry when they are already experiencing very tough times? How is taxing one segment of our economy to the limit of their ability to pay fair to those businesses? Finally, why is it that we can vote to tax a certain segment of businesses for a project that will ostensibly benefit the entire community? Do the bar and restaurant owners get more benefit? Do the sporting goods stores get less? Those in the restaurant industry, even if universally opposed to this tax, would stand little chance of defeating it. It seems another example of Duluthians being anti-tax, unless somebody else is writing the check.
What Duluth and Duluthians seem inextricably doomed to is chasing down the next big Government program or building. These buildings and programs cost money and it is not imaginary money. This is real money that comes from real people who write real checks every month and watch as their livelihoods dwindle away in that chase for the next big Golden Government Goose (GGG). It is truly a thing to behold at times. Watching those who are fiscal conservatives enthusiastically jumping on board for the next GGG. I often feel I am on the outside looking in and this time around, I am obviously part of a tiny minority who feel the City is making a mistake and handing the bill to Mom and Pop for the newest GGG. Even others in the same business are on board.
The thing it seems nobody is talking about is the fact that this GGG will be built entirely with tax dollars. These tax dollars come from somewhere. The thing blurring everbody's eyesight is the fact that half the funds will come from "the State". Great! Well, who is "the State"? Where does "the State" get it's money?
Is anybody considering the fact that if the revenue from the tax increase falls short, we are still, as a community still on the hook for this? Visions of the GLA come to mind. This was touted as such a great idea and that it would bring in massive revenue and would be self-supporting, blah, blah, blah! Well, a few questions are in order for you before you throw caution to the wind and jump on board with the new DECC expansion:
1. We tend to complain about high taxes in Minnesota but seem all too easily seduced by big Shiny Buildings. Will we ever mature beyond the "I see it, I want it now" mentality?
2. Will we ever get the concept that if it's being built with tax dollars, it's going to increase our tax burden?
3. Will the concept that the greater the distance the tax dollars travel, the easier it is to spend them, ever become passe'.
4. How can so many of us be anti-taxes and anti-Big Government but so quickly seduced by another GGG project?
5. How will we ever improve the State and local economy if we are so willing to spend tax dollars?
Taxes are taxes. This burden will be placed on the shoulders of those already subsidizing so many other failed or mismanaged GGGs. Why is it so easy for this community to be on board, taxing those in that industry when they are already experiencing very tough times? How is taxing one segment of our economy to the limit of their ability to pay fair to those businesses? Finally, why is it that we can vote to tax a certain segment of businesses for a project that will ostensibly benefit the entire community? Do the bar and restaurant owners get more benefit? Do the sporting goods stores get less? Those in the restaurant industry, even if universally opposed to this tax, would stand little chance of defeating it. It seems another example of Duluthians being anti-tax, unless somebody else is writing the check.
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