19 hours Ago
Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes a mix of commentary online and in print each day. To contribute, click here . ••• Cheers to Wisconsin for rebuffing Elon Musk’s millions in the pivotal contest for a single state Supreme Court seat.
Musk and his affiliated groups are said to have spent nearly $20 million on the race. He personally handed out $1 million dollar checks to a couple voters, seeking to curry favor for his preferred candidate. Minnesotans got a front-row seat in Musk’s pay-to-play version of democracy because television ads flooded our airwaves owing to the Twin Cities’ proximity to the border.
Democrat-backed Susan Crawford won resoundingly , by 10 percentage points. The promising news is that the spanking to the Musk-propped candidate, Brad Schimel, may continue to keep a deluge of big money out of Minnesota judicial matches, at least for now. Cheers to the vanquished Schimel as well.
He lost fair and square and conceded the race. It says a lot that we now feel compelled to applaud such a civic act of democratic norms. Jeers to 10 state Senate Republicans who declined to vote on a resolution condemning Trump’s pardons of Jan.
6 protesters. All 34 DFL senators voted for the resolution on Tuesday and 22 Senate Republicans voted against it. They took a stand on a closely watched issue.
But 10 Republicans “took a walk,” meaning they didn’t vote . That’s rank cowardice. It’s especially notable given that Senate rules make it easy to vote remotely, so these 10 clearly didn’t want to go on the record.
Some of the abstainers are in suburban districts where Trump’s popularity is softer than rural areas. Some are potential candidates for statewide office, and supporting Trump won’t win them many votes in the Twin Cities. Others will likely offer a litany of excuses if cornered.
For the record, here are the 10 who abstained: Sens. Jim Abeler of Anoka, Julia Coleman of Waconia, Zach Duckworth of Lakeville, Karin Housley of Stillwater, Andrew Lang of Olivia, Bill Lieske of Lonsdale, Warren Limmer of Maple Grove, Carla Nelson of Rochester, Eric Pratt of Prior Lake and Nathan Wesenberg of Little Falls. Cheers to a bipartisan group led by state Rep.
Dan Wolgamott that seeks to support law enforcement by helping fill some 1,000 statewide public safety vacancies, a number expected to grow. Modeled on a similar Nebraska program, the bill would create a “last-dollar” baccalaureate scholarship for licensed police officers and their dependents. The Minnesota Law Enforcement Scholarship Act would fill the gap after all other aid is awarded.
Minnesota has some 10,000 law enforcement officers with nearly a third of them older than 50 and soon eligible for retirement. Remaining on duty would make their dependents eligible for the scholarships if their studies are law enforcement related. The initial proposal fell prey to this year’s tight budget, but Wolgamott, DFL-St.
Cloud, said he’s still going to fight for it with an eye to a pilot program. Jeers to laudable but confusing bipartisan efforts at the Capitol to stretch the boundaries of how millions in Legacy Amendment proceeds are spent on arts, culture and heritage. In 2008, voters approved the Legacy Amendment, which increased the state sales tax by three-eighths of 1% until 2034 with the revenue going to four funds, one of which is arts related.
That was broadly described as preserving the state’s historical and cultural resources, sharing stories and resources, connecting Minnesotans to each other and history. Some of the spending in the current iteration of the bill includes: $275,000 to Forest Lake, the boyhood home of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, for construction of a Veterans Memorial; $700,000 to St. Paul for ice sculptures at Lake Phalen; $200,000 to Sweet Potato Comfort Pie , a nonprofit organization celebrating the “sacred dessert” of Black people; $200,000 to celebrate thoroughbred horse racing at Canterbury Park; $1.
8 million to Taste of Minnesota for event infrastructure; $100,000 to St. Paul’s SIR Boxing Club ; $150,000 for Delano’s Sesquicentennial celebration. A lot of the proposals in the bill are worthwhile, while others leave one questioning the actual definition of art funding.
The bill isn’t final yet so the recipients and amounts will likely change and perhaps a clearer focus on what constitute art will emerge. See the Senate version of the bill , which is still a work in progress. Cheers to Democratic U.
S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey for giving the anti-Donald Trump resistance a needed boost with his recent 25-hour-plus speech on the floor of the Senate.
Notably, the Democrat also wiped from the record books the filibuster of the late segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond, who flapped his gums for 24 hours and 18 minutes in a soliloquy designed to stop the advance of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Booker recalled the history and provided a rallying cry.
“This is not a left or right moment,” Booker said. ”It is a right or wrong moment.“ Jeers to U.
S. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer and his apparent disdain for meeting face-to-face at town hall meetings. Emmer, who represents Minnesota’s Sixth Congressional District, became the fourth Republican member of the state’s congressional delegation to hold a town hall with constituents via telephone rather than in-person.
(To participate, one had to dial a number to listen and press *3 to ask a question. Sample comments from Emmer on Wednesday night, “It’s pretty amazing what we’ve been able to accomplish for all of you.” “The media in this country is corrupt.
”) Trump is requiring federal workers to return to the office full-time. Republican members of Congress ought to lead by example with in-person meetings. Emmer has been in Congress for a decade.
He won his last election by more than 25 percentage points. There’s no reason to hide behind a phone. Come out, come out wherever you are.
Cheers to a big week for Minnesota’s female collegiate athletes. Hopkins native and basketball superstar Paige Bueckers is playing in the Final Four for the University of Connecticut for the last time. She is expected to be the top pick in the WNBA draft later this month.
Meanwhile, University of Minnesota junior Isabella McCauley became the first Gophers player to tee off at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. The Inver Grove Heights native and Simley High School graduate was one of four Big 10 players in the field. She missed the cut to advance by one shot, but no matter.
She and Bueckers have done themselves and the state proud for many years..
