Voices
Voices
VOICES | Gift of faith at Christmastime
Hypnotized by the idea of getting presents from a jolly old man who ate the red and green sugar cookies I decorated for him, the true Catholic spirit of the Advent and Christmas was lost on me as a child.
My parents tried their best to involve me in the more traditional activities: lighting the candles on our Advent wreath, counting down the days until Christ’s birth with an Advent calendar, setting up the nativity scene at our Church. This proved futile. As a young child I could not grasp the significance of the Christmas season any better than I could grasp the meaning of what it meant to be a Catholic. MORE »
VOICES | The Mainstream Movement: We must act decisively
Consider this. Everything is not all right. And, everybody is not all right. And, as long as it is not all right for everybody we, the people, cannot rest. MORE »
Faith-based Minnesota Teen Challenge cannot evade scrutiny
If you accept taxpayer money, you have to accept that you’re going to receive public scrutiny. MORE »
Crisis mustn't reinforce poor policy choices
If crisis offers opportunity, Minnesota should bet on itself. It shouldn’t double down on failed public policy. Given state policymakers’ ominous hints regarding slashing or eliminating Local Government Aid payments, that’s clearly what’s at risk. MORE »
Pawlenty contradicts his own budget data
After last Thursday’s November budget forecast, the Governor held a press conference to spin his usual mantra that government spending is causing Minnesota’s budget woes. To support his claim, the Governor produced a a table (PDF) comparing total state and local government spending in each of the fifty states to the rate of job growth over the last five years. The Governor’s only problem was that his data contradicted his assertion. MORE »
VOICES | Now is precisely the time to invest in education
As Minnesotans digested Thursday’s news of a state revenue shortfall, they experienced the distress that those in the education community have felt for years. Like education funding, Minnesota’s financial situation is bad and will take true leadership to get the state moving again. MORE »
VOICES | Letter from under the City Hall jail
Dear Fellow Minnesotans,
For three years now, I have lived under the Minneapolis City Hall jail. MORE »
VOICES | It's time to move forward with gay marriage legislation
Last session, along with several of my colleagues, I introduced legislation to legalize same-sex marriages in Minnesota. Now we are asking for a hearing on the legislation in the Senate Judiciary Committee during the 2009 legislative session. MORE »
