Good Advice From the Nightwriter

As if you would expect anything other than good advice from one of the wisest bloggers around. . . .

Lori Grivna In Her Own Words - Transportation

Continuing with our series on Lori Grivna's candidacy to restore common sense representation to District 50B, here is where Lori stands on transportation issues. Lori's positions on the issues are italicized, with my comments interspersed.

I will advocate for solutions that address the congestion in our district.

1. Transportation basics (roads and bridges) should be funded first to relieve bottlenecks before sinking millions of dollars into rail projects serving very limited geographical areas or as a convenience to visit a casino up north! While the current transportation budget of nearly $5 billion will expand due to the tax increases passed by our legislators, the fact is that transit earmarks have taken away revenue for roads and bridges.

We've talked about this issue repeatedly and the difference is pretty simple. Lori's vision for transportation policy is that it serve people as they actually live their lives. Kate Knuth and her DFL friends would prefer to have us reorder our lives to live on a more "sustainable" model. By this they mean cramming more people into less space, along rail lines, and forcing people from their cars whenever possible.

So you work in Minneapolis, but you'd like to live in the suburbs, or (gasp!) out in the country? You selfish person! Free-flowing highways aren't desirable because they allow people (meaning you and me) to live in the profligate manner that we currently do. Everyone knows that the light rail service currently contemplated will do nothing to relieve congestion in 50B; in order to access the pending Central Corridor, a 50B resident will have to drive to a station on the line (an average of 8-10 miles) or take a bus to downtown Minneapolis (the 4 and the 25 routes will get you there, but it takes around a half hour). How valuable is your time? And if you are driving 8-10 miles to get to the line, how much gas are you really saving? See, the solution for you is to cram yourself into a townhome built along the line. And if you like a little space and would prefer not to live cheek-to-jowl with your neighbors, tough luck.

2. The Metropolitan Freeway System 2007 Congestion Report by the Department of Transportation indicates increased congestion on the main arteries going through our district: 694 and 35W.

If you live in 50B, you don't need a MnDOT report to know how the traffic on 694 and 35W complicates your life. It's not only the time wasted on roads that don't have enough lanes, but the spillover onto parallel roads that plays havoc with life in our communities.

Consider the cost of traffic on 35W. Do you have some spare time? Try making a left-hand turn from Foss Road onto Old Highway 8 in New Brighton during evening rush hour. You can wait at this intersection for 3-5 minutes some days. I know - I've experienced it repeatedly. Traffic can be just as bad on Cleveland Avenue on the Arden Hills side of 35W, especially near County Road E-2, where hundreds of vehicles play musical chairs each day.

Then there's the carnage on 694 betwen 35W and 35E, where a major expressway thins to 2 lanes in each direction, with a complicated interchange with U.S. 10 to boot. Say you have a meeting in White Bear Lake; it should be about a 10-15 minute drive. Go during rush hour and the time can quadruple. MnDOT is well aware of the problem, but nothing will happen to relieve congestion until 2012, which is when the multi-year project might begin.

Lori Grivna will pay attention to these issues. Kate Knuth wants to build trains.

Is there a role for transit? Of course. And Lori identifies something that will actually help.

3. In conversations with district residents, the need for bus service between suburban cities has shown some support. Bus lines retain the flexibility for ridership needs and can be adjusted accordingly to serve our community residents.

Yep, buses. Unhip buses. They are a far better investment than trains. Why? A bus can go places trains cannot. As I mentioned before, you can take a 4 or a 25 from New Brighton to downtown Minneapolis. Those routes have decent ridership. But you could also route buses from New Brighton to the new Medtronic facility in Mounds View. We could also design a route that serves the array of employers (Medtronic, Deluxe, Land O'Lakes, Boston Scientific, Fair Isaac) along the 694 corridor. And we could send buses toward Maple Grove, or the 494 strip, or any number of places where people work. And we could do it for much, much less money than will be spent on light rail infrastructure. A well-designed, augmented bus service with nicer buses running at sensible times could make a huge difference in congestion. It's not going to happen, though. Instead, we're going to get a train that won't help 50B, or 53A, or any of the other districts in the north metro. But we will get to pay for it.

Lori Grivna is thinking about the issues and because she lives in the real world, she is proposing real-world solutions. What does Kate Knuth have to say about it? From Knuth's website:

Transportation: Minnesota is enjoying a growing economy and population, which need smart transportation systems. In addition to maintaining our transportation systems, we must invest in increased public transportation networks as well as access to them.

Lori Grivna is talking about district-specific issues. Kate Knuth is talking about platitudes. Just another reason why Lori Grivna deserves the support of the residents of 50B.

Cross-posted at True North

Is it finally over?

Obama whips Clinton in North Carolina and Clinton holds a narrow lead in Indiana. Here's my guess - the long knives will be coming out for Mrs. Clinton, starting tomorrow. I think a lot of people want her to quit now so that Obama can turn his attention squarely on John McCain.

I doubt Hillary will quit, though. West Virginia and Kentucky are the next states and they should be more hospitable to her campaign. The math is against her, no question about it, but she's hoping that another shoe or two might drop. The only shoes left are those relating to Tony Rezko and Obama's radical chic pals Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, but that probably won't matter at this point. In the general it might be different.

A thank you and a reminder

A big thanks to the Lady Logician, who helped me get yesterday's post about Lori Grivna up on True North today. LL is one of the best and most prolific bloggers around (she's also a regular contributor at a number of other blogs, especially True North and Anti-Strib) and her energy level, unerring sense of the big picture and esprit de corps really makes her a leader among Minnesota bloggers. I recommend that you visit her blog as often as you can. It's always worth your time.

Brewers Have Tough Time in Slop

Tough night for our intrepid Brewers, who started quickly but ended up losing to the Mariners 19-6 this evening at a very sloppy Wilson Park in Shoreview. While our Brew Crew had some good moments, things didn't go very well especially in the 3rd inning, when the Mariners were able to put together a very big inning. Ben reached base one time and stole a base but did not have any chances in the field, playing mostly at 3rd base.

The loss puts our lads' record at 1-3. They will not play again until next Tuesday, when they take on the Cubs in a 6:30 p.m. tilt at Perry Park. Count on Mr. Dilettante to provide you with continuing coverage of exciting SAYB American League action!

Lori Grivna in her own words

Lori Grivna now has her campaign site up and running. I support Lori in her quest to represent HD 50B in the state legislature. Lori would bring common sense to St. Paul and she would be a massive improvement over the pie-eyed incumbent, Kate Knuth.

I would encourage you to visit Lori's site to find out more about her candidacy, but I wanted to call out something that she understands much better than her opponent.

Here is Lori on taxes, the economy and jobs:

I will work to reduce the tax burden on Minnesotans and remove obstacles for the many businesses in our district to succeed.

Individual, corporate, and capital gains tax rates must be reduced in order to grow our economy.

1. Minnesota has among the highest corporate and individual income tax rates. Fortune Small Business Magazine cites high state and local taxes as an issue for business expansion in our Minnesota cities. Penalizing hard work, business and prosperity-the legislature's answer to fairness and equality-are never acceptable ways to impose tax structures.

2. The reality is businesses pass the tax burden on to employees and customers. After all, corporations are made up of average people who work and are shareholders investing in their retirement. Raising the corporate tax or mandating corporate spending is the quickest way to stifle job growth. I have met with corporate employees in our district that disclose they've moved portions of their business overseas in order to grow, stay competitive, or just survive. Countries like Ireland can offer less than one half of the tax burden that Minnesota places on business. Current tax policy has lost Minnesota jobs not only overseas, but to our neighboring states as well.

3. The majority of Minnesotans are perplexed that the legislature passed one of the largest tax increases in these struggling economic times. Don't believe the legislature's claim that it was done to create jobs. It is the private sector that creates jobs, not the government. Free markets maximize the talents and innovations of individuals to produce goods and services. They are the agent of change.

4. Only the private sector can make the economic pie bigger for all to share, every time the government takes more of the people's money, this pie shrinks.

5. The legislature wants to penalize hard workers, yet creates and expands programs that promote the cycle of poverty and government reliance. Instead, government should provide safety net programs to temporarily help citizens with the tools they need to encourage self reliance.

6. Property tax should not be based on the unrealized value of property that arbitrarily grows by double digits each year. This is like taxing potential income instead of actual income.

This is spot-on. I would especially call your attention to point #3. If you doubt that our local business climate suffers from the levels of taxation, you could ask this guy about it. He's on the radio pretty much every day explaining it and essentially gloating about how he and his friends are coming to take more business away from Minnesota. Somehow, I don't think Kate Knuth's cap and trade schemes are going to help change that.

Cross-posted at True North

Clueless Newspaper in Topless Death Spiral?

So the Star Tribune tells us that they aren't dead. . . yet.

You do have to wonder about that. Bringing on the Blackstone Group is an admission that the paper's financial problems are a lot worse than they've been willing to acknowledge publicly. The least surprising admission contained in the Strib's article about itself came from publisher Christopher Harte:

"Credit Suisse and the other lenders absolutely do not want to run the newspaper," Harte said in an interview Sunday evening.

In related news, Harte noted that Credit Suisse and the other lenders don't want to receive a blunt stick in the eye. And who could blame them? Running a newspaper, especially one that is as financially compromised as the Star Tribune, is a fool's errand. Institutional lenders are notoriously unsentimental and eventually they will look to cut their losses. It's difficult to imagine a scenario in which the Strib will be able to turn the corner financially and become profitable again.

Certainly a newspaper is an important part of what makes a community a community. For all its myriad faults, the Strib has been a major player throughout the development of the Twin Cities. If the Strib does fail it would not be a happy thing. As much as we despise the arrogance of the editorial board, the sneering of Nick Coleman and the relentlessly slanted reportage, I'm not convinced that our region would be well served if the Strib went away. The Pioneer Press has plenty of problems of its own and isn't well-positioned to serve the millions who live on the other side of the river. And I'm not sure that George Soros will be willing to take on all the additional salaries, even though he's managed to hire plenty of ex-Strib people for his local screed factory.

I am thinking that the MOB ought to hire Nick Coleman and set him up with his own blog, just so we won't lose out on the fisking opportunities. I'd be willing to chip in a few of these for the effort.

Headless Newspaper In Topless Bar

The always-entertaining New York Post is reporting that the Star Tribune is in trouble. The Post gets a lot of abuse for its sometimes lurid approach and its proudly downmarket sensibility, but it's usually the second most reliable paper in New York (behind the Wall Street Journal). Lassie at Freedom Dogs and Captain Ed have both weighed in on the possible reasons for why the Strib might be in trouble; Lassie points to the changing marketplace and especially the electronic competition, while Captain Ed points to the long-standing systemic problems at Strib, especially on the editorial side of the paper.

We've subscribed to the Star Tribune for 15 years now and I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to cancel my subscription, especially on those magic days when Nick Coleman, Lori Sturdevant, Syl Jones and Garrison Keillor run in the same issue, but there have always been sound reasons to keep taking the paper. The Sunday edition typically provides us with enough ad circulars and coupons to offset the cost of the subscription, and the sports section is usually pretty good. The rest of the paper is thin and getting thinner with each passing year. Other than Katherine Kersten and James Lileks, the only other advantage to the editorial side of the paper is that it provides local bloggers with ample fisking material.

So while I'm with Ed in thinking that the problematic editorial content hasn't helped matters over on Portland Avenue, the real problem is advertisers get more bang for their buck advertising on Google or Craigslist than with the Strib. Home computers with internet access are pretty close to ubiquitous now. While my 12 year-old son loves reading the newspaper, he's an anomaly and I don't see many of his contemporaries having much interest. Demography is destiny and the dead tree version of the Strib is on the wrong side of this wave.

I'm afraid that print newspapers are like typewriters. I learned to type on a typewriter, but my kids have never used one and probably never will. It's quite possible that my grandchildren won't ever hold a daily newspaper. If the StarTribune does go belly up, it will likely remain alive as an online presence, which is the approach the Capital Times in Madison is taking. But it also wouldn't surprise me if, 20 years down the line, the major players in the Twin Cities media market are all online sources. And it's quite possible that one of the major players will be True North.

Would I miss tucking into a fat Sunday newspaper while nursing a cup of coffee? Sure, I suppose I would. But I'd get over it. Millions of other people already have. And since we can get plenty of coupons online, that day may be imminent.

Brewers Bats Come Alive in Win Over Braves

It was a fine day all around for our intrepid Brewers, as the lads started fast and kept it going all game long, cruising to a 23-9 win over the Braves this afternoon at sunny Perry Park in Arden Hills. All 10 guys had it going and Ben was no exception, scoring twice and stealing three bases from the leadoff position. By far our best game so far.

The win brings the record to 1-2 on the young season. The Brew Crew will be in action twice this week. The first game will be on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Wilson Park in Shoreview against the Mariners, and the second will be Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Sitzer Park in Shoreview against the Giants. As always, Mr. Dilettante is your source for exciting coverage of American League action in the SAYB Little League.

Early 1967 or so

That's me on the left, holding the ball and the seal toy, along with my cousin Mary, my brother Patrick, and my aunt Patricia holding my brother Paul. That is quite the shirt I'm sportin' there.

Guilty Pleasures Part Sixteen - Cheesehead Rock

Since the snotty leftists didn't get a lot of love, let's turn the page to something different. Let us now praise (semi-) famous Cheeseheads.

Before we begin, we need to be honest about something; when it comes to rock history, Minnesota has my beloved home state of Wisconsin beat every which way possible. There are no Dylans or Princes in the Badger State pantheon. But the cupboard is not bare by any means.

The story begins with two related acts who met and worked together in the mid 1960s at the University of Wisconsin. Eventually they both wound up in California and made their fortunes there, mostly a decade later. But we can certainly lay claim to both of these big-time hitmakers.

First, from late 1973, playing his biggest hit and demonstrating how much fun a slide guitar can be, it's the Steve Miller Band, speaking of the "pompatous" (or is it Pompitus?) of love in:

The Joker

Next, Steve's former Mad-town running mate Boz Scaggs in full international rock star mode (and with full orchestra), from 1976, reminding us of the sad, sad, truth, the dirty

Lowdown

Fast forward to 1982. The Pretenders came to Milwaukee for a show and noticed some buskers playing away near the venue. They liked what they heard and helped the buskers get started on an odd but ultimately lengthy career. The buskers were known as the Violent Femmes and they were certainly heroes to a generation of alienated young males. It's quite possible that your host was part of their demographic. Herewith we present their most family-friendly choice:

Gone Daddy Gone

Finally, we leave the angsty 80s for the 1990s. Butch Vig had made a name for himself as a producer, most notably of Nirvana's seminal Nevermind album. He had also produced records for Sonic Youth and the Smashing Pumpkins, among others. But he still wanted to play himself and the band that formed out of his previous bands Spooner and Fire Town became huge in the middle of the decade, once Vig and his pals had managed to recruit singer Shirley Manson. This band, Garbage, hit it pretty big in the 90s. From their eponymous debut album, Butch, Shirley and friends discuss the relative merits of a

Stupid Girl

The floor is open. And since this is a Wisconsin election, I fully expect that an unexplained last minute surge of votes from Milwaukee will likely give the election to John Kerry. But vote anyway!

Maria is blogging

My daughter has been on a blogging binge this afternoon. She always appreciates visitors, so feel free to stop by and give her some encouragement.

Applying Ladies Logic to Franken's Finances

This was the day that Al Franken's accounting problems were supposed to go away. A wide array of DFL politicians circled the wagons on Franken's behalf today, as the Lady Logician notes over at True North.

Because Don Betzold, Shelley Madore, Tom Tillberry (among others) have now publicly supported Franken, the matter was over, right? Well, maybe not. Because the Lady Logician has more over at her blog.

You should read the whole piece, but here's the money part:

I would speculate that this expertise is the reason why Chanzis told the Star Tribune that he was instructed to say "no comment" if asked about Franken's tax woes.

"I've been told to say, 'No comment,'" Chanzis said, without saying who
had instructed him to do so. Refusing to discuss any mistakes, he added: "I've
been told you have the information you need."

Emphasis once again mine. I've been told to say "no comment". Those words
were very deliberately chosen....that is not an off the cuff answer. This man
knows the whole truth but has been instructed not to say what it is!

My guess is that LL is right about this. As LL points out, Chanzis is a partner in his accounting firm and his specialty is handling the finances of people in the entertainment industry. It defies belief that this guy would not know the laws concerning paying income taxes in the various states where Franken did business.

While the Star Tribune and the DFL want this story to be over, it's not over. Al may be in more trouble than he knows.

Marty's Got a Book Coming Out

Marty Andrade runs a first-class blog that I visit regularly. He now has a book out, too, on an always-crucial topic. I'll be getting a copy and I hope that you do, too. He'll have more details about it next week and I'll keep you posted. Or go visit Marty yourself, which is always a good idea.

On the matter of "defending" candidates

The other day I asked a question about ANWR that was specifically directed to my portsider friends. Since my portsider friends are smart people, I received some thoughtful responses. In the comments section of that post I had a genial exchange with my friend Rich, who is a regular and greatly appreciated visitor to this feature. He praised me for being honest in expressing my view that drilling in ANWR isn't about energy independence. That was nice of Rich to say. Then Rich said something that I thought was interesting:

Second count is for not defending McCain's proposal to suspend the Fed Gas tax. . . .

One of the dynamics of the blogosphere, it seems to me, is that we spend way too much time asking people to defend the views of others. While I don't think Rich was necessarily expecting me to defend McCain's proposal, I sense Rich was surprised that I didn't.

We'd probably be a lot better off if we stopped asking people to "defend" our politicians, especially when they say and do things that aren't reasonably defensible. Many Obama supporters have had a hell of a bad time lately as their guy has stumbled through the minefields of race and class, all while battling the insatiable 24-hour news cycle.

It's frankly a lot easier being a McCain supporter. Many of us who support his candidacy aren't necessarily that fond of him, which I wrote about back in February. When McCain proposes something that would be ineffectual (like suspending the gas tax) or says something that is demonstrably wrong (like blaming the 35W bridge collapse on pork-barrel spending), I feel no reason to defend him. McCain has my support and will likely get my vote in November because he's the best available alternative. My guess is that Rich supports Obama because, in his judgment, Obama is the best available alternative. If nothing else, no matter who emerges from this God-awful scrum of an election cycle, we shouldn't have any illusions about the next President of the United States, because by now they've all received the gimlet eye.

Guilty Pleasures Part Fifteen - May Day Snotty Lefist Edition (With Maria's Highly Capitalist Alternative)

(Editor's note: there's a little game in this post - see if you can spot the one-liner I stole from a Robert Christgau review.)

Happy May Day, everyone! It may be tougher to find Commies these days, but leftism is never in short supply and today is traditionally the day that Soviets used to roll their weaponry in front of the refugees from Madame Tussaud's who were up on the Kremlin balcony. But when all that was happening, there were plenty of leftists who were busy making money in the music industry. And that's who we're looking at today.

Our first choice came out of Leeds, quintessential university Marxists. They were critical darlings mostly because of their politics, even though their music was sometimes hard to listen to. They were the Gang of Four and our choice today is their off-kilter, vaguely Human League-like UK dance smash from 1982,

I Love A Man in Uniform

About five years later, another group of dyspeptic lefties emerged from Hull, cleverly disguised as a fresh-faced vocal harmony group. See if you can spot the thinly-veiled disgust in this one from the Housemartins,

Me and the Farmer

Meanwhile, down under we had the hectoring 7-footer, Peter Garrett, at the helm of Midnight Oil, complaining about all manner of Australian injustices. Presented for your approval, a video complete with burning Union Jack and just about every agitprop image from the Eisenstein playbook except the Odessa Steps, is their hit (sort of) from 1993,

Truganini

I actually like these songs, but they are grim stuff. Maria noticed that, too. So she's asked me to add another song for this vote. Something that's less grim-visaged than these angry white dudes. So Maria, what do you want to propose?

Well, let's go back to one of my favorite movies, Shrek 2. This song is one of my favorites. Can you guess? It was originally recorded way back in 1980, 20 years before I was born. It's

Funkytown!

Cast your votes and savor the irony of voting among choices from people who sneered at Western freedom. Except the proud local entrepreneurs that Maria has recommended.

Does Mr. Dilettante Meet Your Needs?

While I run this blog primarily because I have ideas to express, dirt to dish, etc., I am grateful for my readers. So here are three questions for my readers:

1) Do you generally enjoy the fare offered here?

2) Are there topics that you'd like to see get greater attention?

3) Are there topics you wish I'd not spend as much time on?

I appreciate your support. If you'd like to offer comments privately, you can click on my profile and find an e-mail link there. Thanks to everyone!

Quick Question for My Liberal Friends (And Everyone Else)

If you are upset about the price of oil and the effect it is having on people, and you are demanding that Something Be Done About It, like Amy Klobuchar did the other day, why should we oppose drilling for more oil in U.S. territory? Yes, that means in ANWR and in coastal waters.

Here's a good synopsis from Washington Post (and Newsweek) columnist Robert Samuelson.

And (anticipating the question) yes, it's a question that our Republican senator and noisy ANWR-drilling opponent Norm Coleman should answer as well.

Help me understand the reasons not to drill.

H & R Blockhead

So do you think that Mike Ciresi is kicking himself about his decision to bail on his Senate campaign? The Star Tribune is reporting that DFL candidate and business genius Al Franken owes $70,000 in back taxes to 17 different states.

"You're an accountant? Well then, account for yourself!"

-- Zero Mostel in "The Producers"

The accounting for Mr. Franken is not too pretty. According to the Star Tribune article:

Franken told the Associated Press that he never intended to avoid paying taxes and that on the advice of his accountant, had paid taxes to the city and state where he lived.

It's not clear if that means New York -- it could be Planet Zorf for all we know, which is apparently where Franken's accountant is based. There are probably a couple thousand competent accountants here in the Twin Cities and any one of them could have told Mr. Franken that if you do business in more than one place, there's an excellent chance that the local government in each place will be looking for a little taste. But big picture types like Mr. Franken don't like minutiae, of course.

I live in hotels, tear out the walls/I have accountants pay for it all.

--Joe Walsh, "Life's Been Good"

This incident, on top of several others, might indicate that Minnesota's Prodigal Son may still be a little, well, prodigal. Since the DFL reminds us all that we must be Happy To Pay For A Better Minnesota, our local portsiders will have a hard time selling a guy who wasn't happy to pay for a better California, New York, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Delaware, Michigan, Kentucky, etc.

The DFL is in a bit of a quandary, though -- with Mr. Franken's campaign currently on the shoals and Ciresi out of action, they may need another candidate. There is that peacenik professor from St. Thomas. . . what's his name? Charles Nelson Reilly? No, that's not it. Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, I think. I know that some of the more earnest lefties think he's the real deal, but my guess is that a hyphenated lefty professor channeling Dennis Kucinich isn't exactly what the DFL needs to lead its ticket this time around. Who will save their soul?

Don't worry, down-hearted DFLers, Mr. Dilettante understands your predicament and has great sympathy for your pain. I have a suggestion -- Betty ("Betty!") McCollum. Betty could step into the breach, let fly with her patented shrill accusations and brilliant legislative record and she'd be sure to beat ol' Norm. Why, she'd crush Norm! Of course it would work! And the best part is, it would open up the 4th and give Ed Matthews, the highly impressive GOP nominee, a better chance.

C'mon Betty -- Mr. DeMille says it's time for your closeup!

Cross-posted at True North

Brewers Rally Again, Lose Late

Once again our intrepid Brewers fell behind early, but mounted a furious rally before falling to the Mets 12-9 in 5 innings at Southpoint Park in North Oaks this evening. The Brew crew was behind at one point 9-2, but rallied all the way back to tie the score in the 5th inning, highlighted by a bases-clearing triple by one of our lads, but the Mets were able to push across the winning runs in the bottom of the 5th as darkness fell. Ben went 0-1 but scored a run during the rally and also made a nice fielding play to end a Mets threat in the 4th.

The Brew Crew now stands at 0-2 and will be off until a week from today when they will play the Mariners in another 6:30 tilt, this time at soggy Wilson Park in Shoreview. As always, Mr. Dilettante is your source for exhaustive coverage of Shoreview Little League American league baseball.