What Do the Chauvin Verdicts Mean?

Minnesota, and National Report It’s sad that our state is the focal point for so much consternation in this nation. We have now justifiably convicted two police officers for killing people while in uniform, Mohamed Noor and now Derek Chauvin. The key evidence in both...

Passing of a Great Man

Minnesota and National Report The announcement of the death of former Vice-President Walter Fritz Mondale hit hard. Checks & Balances Publisher Shawn Towle had the opportunity to talk with him on numerous occasions especially their shared distain for Ranked Choice...

Call for an End of Cable Broadcast Television Fee

Minnesota Report When something is freely available to the public a private company should not be able to charge you for its use. This is blatantly wrong. The cable television business is doing this by charging nearly $20.00 a month for the use of local television...

In the Ongoing Trump Era, Are There Really Two Sides to Every Coin?

National and Minnesota Report As the influence of Donald J Trump (R) continues to affect the Republican parties at both federal and state levels, as is the case in Minnesota, the push for legislation to tighten voting standards and processes, like Photo ID continue....

Establishing Federal Voting Protections Via Executive Order

National and Minnesota Report President Joe Biden’s (D) Executive Order on Promoting Access to Voting is a direct response to what is happening across the nation as Republican controlled legislative bodies work to suppress future electoral opportunities for...

No Incentive to Change

Minnesota Report At the start of the 2021 legislative session when House Speaker Melissa Hortman (DFL-36B, Brooklyn Park) decried the end result of the 2020 saying, “We won’t let is happen again,” she was being a bit Pollyannish. The want for the same not to occur is...

Is Walz Dialed In?

Minnesota Report Republicans breathed a sense of relief when Governor Tim Walz (DFL-MN) announce a greatly anticipated turning of the dial on Friday. Granted, they do not think it has gone far enough and continue to weigh-in on stripping the Executive Powers from him,...

Fear, Loathing, and Contempt in the US Senate

National Report In Washington, DC politics, the concept of entitlement comes into play often, but instead of being about what is a just do from the government as a social program, which fiscal conservatives look askance at, a different well used political statement is...

When Will Redistricting Commence? Minneapolis Really Wants to Know.

Minnesota Report When word came through that we will not receive the report on Census data until September of this year, it means something significant to the legislative process for redistricting which will not actually do much substantial without actual numbers....

Legislative Lobbying During COVID

Minnesota Report We spoke we a number of lobbyists on how they are plying their trade during COVID and learned they are able to exercise their established connections with experienced legislators, but it the freshmen they are having troubles connecting with. Zoom...