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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Radical Solutions

It has been an interesting turn of events in Duluth since Connect Duluth started driving the point home that we, as a City, are facing what could truly be a devastating unfunded retiree health care benefit liability. Various solutions have been proposed by assorted groups and individuals. Finally, prodded by Connect Duluth, the City Council and Mayor decided it may be time to deal publicly with this issue. The Mayor went on a Friday bus ride for a few weeks, attended numerous conferences, visited a Sister City, went to the GLBTQAI celebration both at Bayfront Park and The Main Bar in Superior, stopped attending City Council Meetings, terminated the employment of perhaps the only individual who could actually get his head around the issue and generally buried his head, eventually resorting to acohol and getting a DUI in Wisconsin.

The Council, lead by Donny Ness took the brave and bold step of appointing a task force to point out to them what some already knew, few understood and all of us will pay for for decades. That realization is that the City of Duluth has been bankrupted by the irresponsible pandering to AFSCME for four decades. Also, the stunning revelation that this is going to cost somebody something.

The final nail in the coffin of Duluth has been the willful back-turning to the issue of outrageous promises made in exchange for pitiful concessions since the lifetime health benefit, with no provision for funding it was made two decades ago. The question nobody seems willing or smart enough to ask is, "if the City had no idea it was going to be such an astronomical windfall for the Union and huge expense for the City, why were the Unions the only ones to figure it out?" My point is, if they were willing to concede wages in exchange for lifetime healthcare, why couldn't our appointed and elected leaders of the time, understand to the degree that the Union did, how much greater benefit there was in the lifetime benefit? Is the seductive allure of something paid for over time or by somebody else so great that responsibility to the voting public becomes secondary to appeasing AFSCME? More importantly, does the total abrogation of responsibility begin to pale if the politician of the day can simply say, "it won't cost us anything more...now"? This is and has been the long standing tradition of Duluth's Politicians. Give now and pay later.

Perhaps the most important questions we must answer at this stage of the debacle created by our appointed and elected leaders is whether any of those responsible for creating this monster are or were:

1. Still in Office?
2. Supported by anyone still in Office?
3. Campaigned for by anyone still in Office?
4. Up for re-election any time soon?

There should be swift and decisive political consequences as well as decisive action to stem the growth of this behemoth. What is not being screamed to the hills is that with every passing day, this debt grows. With every indecisive act of the Council or the Mayor, Duluth's debt grows. It has already grown beyond manageable proportions but the question must be asked, if this has been ignored for so long and is a growing problem, why is there not any action on the table, other than a rhetorical rubber stamp of the task force recommendations? There still has been no action taken. What will it take to get the Mayor or the Council to act? What must be done immediately is to put into motion, a recall of this Mayor. He has grandstanded on various issues including this one, yet has done nothing. Maybe if he sees the natives getting restless enough, he will take some kind of action.

If somebody did something and it was challenged by the Union, at very least, there would be action. While the Mayor stands scratching his head and Donny Ness attacks everyone who disagrees with him or his party, this debt grows. It is time for the collective bunch to say, "this is our solution" and take steps to actually implement it, or step aside and let somebody who can, lead. This is not a time for positioning or rhetoric, it is a time for definitive and decisive action. It is time for bold leadership. It is time for the current leaders to lead, follow or get out of the way.

Happy New Year to all. My best wishes to everyone.

Headliner

In most legitimate "news" papers, the the front page headline is usually reserved for something of international, national or regional significance. Like today, for example, a number of possible headlines could have been, Saddam Hussein's trial resumes with graphic torture testimony, or President Bush Has Authority to Eavesdrop, with a followup explaining that the New York Times propaganda machine has been misleading Americans into believing President Bush is doing something that has never been done before. Instead, it's an unflattering photo of Governor Pawlenty and an article about the $.75 per pack fee he imposed on cigarettes.

This $.75 fee per pack is bad idea and I believe Pawlenty exercised poor judgement when he imposed it. You cannot legislate morality or manipulate it through taxation. But I digress.

The Duluth News Tribune has spent more headlines on dubious issues than any "news" paper I have ever had the pleasure, or in this case, great displeasure to read. Three days of headlines were devoted to a shameless, selatious attempt at character assassination of Betty George, who, in my opinion, was ultimately vindicated of the wrongdoing alleged by the Tribune.

You have to be completely blinded by political fervor to not see the shameless and transparent, in your face, bias of the Tribune and it's Publisher, Marti Buscaglia. If there is an opportunity to make conservatives or Republicans look bad, it's front page, bold and fraught with unflattering photos. If it's a leftist or Democrat who has stepped in the proverbial excrement, the photos are usually the best they have ever taken and the miss-step is minimized and the wrongdoing diminished.

It is evident that decades of this type of journalistic malpractice has yielded positive results for the Publisher. The evidence is the Letters to the Editor. One need only read them day after day to realize, there are people out there who's sole source of information is the Tribune. They sit with their coffee, digest the contents of the paper and their Crunch Berries and go off to school and work, knowing full-well that they have all the news of current events that they need. Of course, those of us who have written repeatedly and never successfully to the Editor, letters sent but never published, know the indoctrination is not complete.

Blogs are popping up all over the place with similar themes of frustration, political savvy, conservative views, counterpoints to the blather and competing with the cult of personality of Northeastern Minnesota. The tide may not yet be turning but the wave of discontent is building and gaining momentum. Groups such as Connect Duluth are gaining influence and notariety. Of course some of that notariety is at the hands of the libelous, muck slinging "Journalists" at the Tribune.

Every dog has his day and today, Marti is having hers. In time, she will simply get the doghouse. Until then, we must remain calm, upbeat, optimistic and steadfast. At some point, the hypocrisy, phony altruism, outright lies and misrepresentations of the Tribune will be the dog with the teeth and will ultimately bite the hand that feeds it. The truth always prevails and history, while some try to rewrite it, cannot be changed. The future is ours, America and patriotic Americans will rise up and take back our nation and our region. The pendulum always swings back.

Xing on Xmas

I attended my son's school "Winter Celebration" concert yesterday. I read the program with great interest, and a little trepidation. You know, when you take a part of the afternoon off to watch your child perform, show up at the announced time, only to find your child is last or next to last. It is, perhaps Murphy's Law of school concerts. Well, as Murphy would have it, my son's group was, in-fact, second to last. Oh well, watching the children perform is always entertaining, amusing and usually heartwarming so I decided to just stick around for the whole show.

Here, in order, were the performances as listed in the program:

We Wish You a Swingin' Holiday
Hanukkah festival
Penguin Polka
Snow is falling Today-Spanish/English
Polar Puppy
The Little Snowflake
Bubble Wrap
Winter Waltz
Chicken Soup
Blitzen Boogie
Celebrate Kwanzaa
Keep the Candles Glowing
Everlasting Fruitcake (no, this was not about Herb Bergson)
Masters in This Hall
Believe (theme from Polar Express)

Notice anything about this program? It is scheduled the Monday and Tuesday before Christmas and Christmas break, in a time frame traditionally set aside for Christmas programs and Christmas is notably absent from the program. Actually, they went one step further and edited certain songs to take the references to Christmas out of them. OK, no big deal right? I have no right to be indignant or question why my son's school is actively taking Christmas out of the traditionally Christmas season...or do I?

"So what?" you ask. Well, they also went out of their way to recognize Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. Why is it that now only Christ is persona-non-grata? I'm not sitting here pulling my hair out with anger or disgust, just a little frustrated for the vast majority of the students performing in this concert, that the Holiday they will recognize at home, has essentially been banned from their school concert. Drive around Duluth right now and you tell me how many Hanukkah Menorahs, or Kwanzaa candelabras you see in windows vs. how many Christmas trees and Christmas related decorations.

It seems, once again, our sensitivities to the minority are overwhelming our common sense and the rights of the majority. When did Christmas become offensive? When did Christians become deserving of revile by academia? This is a millenia old tradition, celebrated by people in all cultures. In Duluth, instead of what would Jesus do, it's what would Wellstone do?

Well, I'd tell you what Wellstone would do but I'm not going to disparage a dead man. However, I'll tell you what his loyal followers are doing, they're pandering to the left fringe PC crowd and making Christmas a bad word. They are attempting to thwart the free exercise of religion. They are creating their own context within which society is actually beginning to make decisions. This context of "Separation of Church and State" is nothing more than leftist context drummed out of vague references made in a letter written hundreds of years ago. This context and language does not appear in our Constitution, it does not appear anywhere in law and is a fallacy propagated very successfully by the anti-Christian left. Now they're teaching and enforcing it in our schools. The phrase "separation of Church and State" is so routinely used across all lines in this Country, people have actually come to believe there is something in our Constitution that requires it. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Our forefathers are rolling in their graves everytime some leftist media "correspondent" plays loose with history and facts and uses that statement to manufacture the context of why we cannot allow any reference to Christianity in our schools or anywhere else for that matter.

Finally, if the Church must be separated from the State, and we all know it doesn't, why then is the reference to a Jewish celebration still PC? I have no problem with the celebration giving equal billing to competing traditions but to eliminate Christmas from current "Holiday" celebrations, is an omission of a particularly aggregious sort. The Constitution guarantees the right to the free exercise of religion and denies the Government the right to establish an official State religion. The leftists are already thwarting our right to the free exercise of religion. Why? Because it fits their overall political strategy. Liberals tend to be liberal with not only our money, but their own approach to life in general, typically lacking moral courage and core convictions. Since Christians are typically conservative, and athiests, agnostics and acedemia tend to be liberal, if they simply crush out any reference to God, Christ, Christmas and the Bible, they feel they can turn the tide in the US from that of embracing conservative principles to one of liberal power-brokering. The problem with their theory it is transparent, contrary to the Constitution and terribly cynical. Even my kids are catching on. On the trip home from school I asked my son why he thought there was no reference to Christmas in the school's program. I kid you not, without prompting or hesitation, my ten year old replied, "it is a conspiracy by a bunch of dimwitted liberals." I couldn't have said it better and my first thought was "there is a God!"

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Influential?

It seems certain people and entities have done all they can to dismiss the importance of a new local Political Action Committee (PAC). The Connect Duluth PAC has been maligned by so many people you'd think they are the enemy of the State. They have been branded right wing extremists, bigots, racist, homophobes, hate mongerers, etc. The Tribune has gone so far out of their way to malign this group, they have spent more time investigating them and a related blog than they have on Herb Bergson's recent "accident" or on the looming unfunded health care liability the City of Duluth faces.

So why all the hubub about a group of Duluthians? If you read their website at connectduluth.com, you won't find anything inflammatory, hateful or distasteful. You will find quite the opposite. They have numerous articles featuring research and statistics that likely make the Tribune reporters blush with humility. The facts and figures presented on this site are impressive in scope and depth.

There is a "Links" section featuring links to sites all across the political spectrum. Also linked there is the Duluth Citizens Blog, a blog originally operated by Connect Duluth but ultimately spun off due to concerns that it might cause them to run afoul of PAC laws. It is now found at duluthcitizensblog.com. This is another forum that has stirred controversy and has also been branded with similar unflattering labels and smeared aggressively by the Tribune. However, if you read it, you will see that it is merely an open discussion among Duluthians and some former or non-Duluthians.

It is a moderated discussion to some degree and there are screeners who filter out the garbage and comment at times about the subject matter being discussed. While people speak freely and at times passionately, the discussion is intelligent and civil. Isn't this precisely what so many in our community have been calling for? Open, intelligent, thoughtful discussion from all sides is what is truly needed to solve the City's biggest problems. However, again, the Tribune and specifically, reporter Scott Thistle have gone to great lengths to smear, demean and silence this important forum.

Several others, who I care not mention have also gone out of their way to smear, demean, silence and predict the demise of the Duluth Citizen's Blog. Despite their efforts, it is the single most popular, heavily visited discussion forum in the City of Duluth. Why is it so popular? People are allowed to post under anonymous pseudonyms. The cloak of anonymity without the fear of reprisal for speaking one's mind keeps this forum alive and vibrant.

Why would one want to silence such an important and constructive forum? Maybe, it is becoming too influential. The efforts of the Tribune and their reporters have been to claim this forum is bad for Duluth and promotes hate speech and hateful rhetoric. Go there and read it yourself. You will see, nothing could be farther from the truth. If anything, the Moderators have gone overboard in their efforts to keep the forum civil. The fact remains that this is the most heavily participated and viewed forum in the City of Duluth.

The Tribune has had a monopoly on public opinion and influence for so long, and recently purchased all but the smallest independent local papers, further cementing their monopoly. Knight Ridder has gone to great lengths and great expense and risk to "buy" this monopoly. It does stand to reason that they see any challenge to this monopoly as a threat and will do anything in their power, including slanderous accusations, libelous reporting and outright intimidation to silence this voice of reason in Duluth. Unfortunately for the Tribune, recent court decisions have upheld a person's right to anonymityon the internet. Courts have been reluctant to get sucked into cyber-suits involving discussions on the internet as to do so would be in direct conflict with the right to free speech.

So the next time you read an article in the Tribune dismissing or demeaning a local internet forum, go to the forum and read it yourself. You will see what the Tribune is afraid of. Radical views are not the norm as they are propagated by the Tribune. More moderate, thoughtful and generally better informed views are presented and real solutions are being discussed. The real fear of the Tribune...Competition. Just like respect, influence is earned, not purchased, a lesson long ago forgotten by the Publisher of the Duluth News Tribune.