Take the poll on taxes

This is a poll with a national focus on a subject that effects everyone and everything.

Where did the Minneapolis Shadow go?

Never fear the Minneapolis Shadow has returned from special secret assignment. He will continue to engage in discussion, and offer opinion on the topics of the day. We are going to look at topics ranging across the politcal divide with a continued focus on urban concerns.

Looking for road, bridge, and school money? Look no further than the Shubert theater

$12 million in state bonding money to do what, complete a 10 year old revitalization of a vacant building that got moved down the street. What a waste of money. We continually hear complaints of the “elected” from Minneapolis that there is a lack of funding for bridges and roads. Maybe the money should have come from the Shubert fund! There has to be a reprioritization of funding so that the basics are covered and taxpayer's money isn’t funneled into projects that aren’t needed. I’m not against funding the arts, but the funding should come from sources other than the taxpayers.

The September Crime Report .. Going up!!???

With crime statistics such as Homicides matching last September’s level, an increase in Rape over last month, and Burglary up 10% over last month; I expect the Minneapolis “elected” to be celebrating in the days to come stating that crime is down. I would rather poll my neighbors and get their reactions to police warnings such as the ones stating that we lock our doors and windows because of the crime wave currently affecting a number of areas of the city. Maybe I should talk with “U” students to see if they are feeling safe on campus with the recent rapes and murders. I could talk with people in the Somali community who have experienced the recent attacks on their friends and neighbors. Huh… sounds like a safe city to me!!!!

In Minneapolis it’s “Crime to the left of me…Crime to the Right..Here I am stuck in the city with you”

Undeniably the headlines are not good coming out from Minneapolis.
Pedestrians in five neighborhoods robbed at gunpoint
Six Somali men shot to death since December
Women raped at the “U”
Slaying of an Augsburg student
Mentally illness woman raped in ally
Man found on railway tracks dead
Cyclist dies after run over by a truck.

What is the city council focusing on?
WiFi
Green Technology
Replacing the goodie money for the NRP
Continued digging into the treatment of the “protesters” at the RNC
Making the city walkable.

All I have to say is ….priorities, priorities, priorities.

Addressing a crisis … McCain v Obama and a local perspective

Senator McCain calls for a sensation of campaign activities and a return to Washington to lead in the discussions on the economic situation.
Senator Obama calls for continuing campaign activities and will help when told his help is needed.

I ask you… who is displaying leadership?

A few points here…..
Barry Obama obviously doesn’t understand what is required in leadership. It takes a presence to drive discussion and solutions. That means be present!

It is frankly apparent that Barry Obama is lacking the experience and understanding of what it takes to get things done. You can’t simply sit around and wait for people to ask for your opinion.
Barry Obama’s response to Senator McCain’s decision to stop campaign activities and return to Washington demonstrates that he has nothing to offer towards getting to the solution. If he did, he’d be returning to Washington as well.

The local perspective on all of this….
The “elected” from the city of Minneapolis all seem to have the same approach to a problem as Senator Obama. A wait until asked for input approach towards fixing and addressing issues isn’t leadership.
He is what I ask of you the reader of this posting… please send me in the comments form provided an example of local Minneapolis leadership. Be specific as to whom and what was done to display leadership on a critical issue.

Space … Hennepin County’s Frontier… These are the Voyages of the starship throwing good money after bad

Budgets and economic situation be dammed, the Hennepin County taxpayers are going to put together the planetarium committed to by the city of Minneapolis after bailing out the library. When does it end? Hennepin County isn’t required to act on this. What is wrong with leaving the space planned for the planetarium vacant until all the funds can be raised and other obligations met? Whatever happen to the commitment to the taxpayers? Here Hennepin County is laying off people, but they continue to soak the taxpayers for non-essentials. What is wrong with these Commissioners, why don’t they get it? Times are tough and it’s time to cut Government.

Don’t read too much into Minneapolis Public Schools enrollment numbers

....being fewer losses than expected. If there were a good non-basis news source in this town we would find out if the decrease in the number of decreases is due to people unable to afford sending their kids somewhere else. I highly doubt that the declining enrollment figures will be calculated into the asking price of the referendum this fall. Instead of setting a fixed price onto the referendum they should set a fixed price per student. This way if the enrollment goes down it can be reflected in the price tag, but that would make too much sense. Heaven forbid the school system do anything that made sense.

Hard economic times … Hold on to guns and religion

Or some leader wannabes believe is the mantra of a lot of us, or dare I say the majority of America. I do believe that this comment by Senator Obama, the Messiah as some like to call him, is way out of line and a slap in the face of us who are of a religious belief. In hard times and in good times we true believers of a faith, which ever faith we may believe in, use our believe in a lot of cases to celebrate and hope in a bright future for ourselves and the world around us. Especially in hard times do we turn to the God we believe in, and place our trust that the future will be bright. What is wrong with that? It’s better than turning to a government and believing in that as if it was a religion. I can see where the good Senator can make this mistake, because a lot of the people from his party can get government and religion mixed up. Not saying that the other side doesn’t get it wrong by any means, but the basic concept of our government being founded on a certain set of religious beliefs is vastly different than making a religion of government. The very reason we face the hard economic times today is because we have gotten away from the core principles of our founding in the first place. Over taxation and over regulation with a mama government mentality is what has driven us to the place that we are currently at. Our economic system was never meant to be handled by an over burdensome government. An economic system that has produced the largest and fastest world wide reaching growth in human history, and we have figured out how to screw it up. When we get back to the basics of a free and thoughtful society our economy will return to full strength once again. We must get back to having the government provide only what the people cannot provide for themselves, and then we can get back to enjoying the strong economy that we are meant to have. As far as the guns, that’s a whole other tirade.

Rise in bicyclist accidents … and they want to change the laws to allow them to brake the current ones

Here is yet another example of how the wrongheaded thinking of the “elected” from the City Of Minneapolis can endanger peoples lives. As most of you have either heard or seen the increase in the number of recent meet and greets between bikes and cars. Yet we have our glorious “elected” officials at the state and city levels wanting a change in the laws to allow bicycles to blow thru lighted intersections and stop signs. This is a reckless disregard for the lives of people who use the self-propelled mode of two-wheeled transit. Too often have I been witness to bicyclists disregarding the rules and laws of the road and ending up almost getting turned into hood ordainments. On the other hand the argument of putting up bike paths everywhere to get bikes off the road doesn’t wash either. Common sense and a respect for the rules and laws of the road will go a long way to keep people safe. Changing the rules will get people killed.

Government is to blame for the financial mess

Maybe it is a good thing that the federal government is bailing out the banks from under the financial mess. After all it is the collective efforts of the government at all levels that is really to blame here. Thought out the numerous postings on this blog I’ve raved on about government staying within it initial mission, to provide for the things that the citizens themselves cannot. Over taxation and a government over stepping its bounds have led us into this mess, and it’s past time to right the ship. An over reaching, manipulative, far too intrusive government doesn’t work within our economic system. Look at the facts. Government has continued to raise taxes at rates that are far and beyond the rate of inflation, prices on everything continue to rise, families having to layout huge amounts money to compensate for a failed education system for their children, and job creation and wage increases are stifled because of over regulation and taxation. All of this adds up to middle class families getting the squeeze put on them, which leads to the financial mess that we are in today. Time to press the reset button and get back to everyone doing their jobs and not overreaching.

Stop the press: Congratulations from the Minneapolis Shadow to Minneapolis City Council

As much as I, the Minneapolis Shadow, will condemn the Minneapolis City Council when they do something dumb and crazy, which is most of the time, I’ll also give them a “that a boy/girl” when they do something right and in the best interest of the public. Council Member Paul Ostrow, who has been out front on the issue noting that there is no need for an investigation into the police conduct regarding the RNC, deserves a pat on the back. The police followed all the proper procedures, acted in the best interest of the public, and went to great extra-ordinary lengths to do the right things. Kudos to the police, chief, and the council members who voted down Cam Gordon’s attempt to cost the city unneeded expense. Bravo!

Cam Gordon is once again wasting government time and money tilting at windmills

For political reasons “silly” councilman Cam Gordon is asking for an accounting (short of calling for an investigation, but really lets call a spade a spade here) of a house raid in regards to committing crimes during the RNC convention. What’s up Cam? Calling into question the cops, the judge who approved the action, or just again tilting at windmills? I would think that the police wouldn’t have requested and taken action if they didn’t think there was a good chance of preventing something of happening. I think you are just trying to blow smoke here in order to be chummy with a bunch of protesters and look as if you are a champion of freedom of speech. Well Cam, you look like nothing more than a fool. Stop wasting everyone’s time and money and get back to the real work, and there is lots of it to do. Go and put on your Superfool cape on your own time!

Income Redistribution v Tax Relief

This is a more national topic than a local topic but it is important on the local level. Let’s layout our definitions here so that there isn’t any misconceptions.

Income Redistribution is the collection of money from generally income taxes that is used in the funding of programs to supply money to lower income people thru tax credits or cash payments. Refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_redistribution.

Tax Relief is the lowering of tax rates in order to stimulate economic growth thru encouraging business investment and relieving the tax burden on a targeted group. The opposite of this is reflected in China’s economic and taxation system. Refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_system_in_China.


The US economic system is based mostly on capitalism, but we keep marching more towards a mixed system that includes socialism. The results of this march are appearing in our markets today, hence the real problem with our current economy. Higher taxation and more Government control and regulation lead to the problems that we see today in the financial markets.

The local flavor in all of this…Government has the responsibility to provide the citizens for which they can’t provide for themselves. Be it building roads and bridges, police protection, national defense, public works (water/sewer/trash), etc. That doesn’t include sports stadiums, crafting public behavior (self protection laws like smoking bans and idling cars), and such. As Government goes further and further into areas that it isn’t really responsible for then Government will continue to grow to meet the demand, the more expensive it will get, and the more freedoms will be lost. This trend will also result in a deepening of the economic troubles and the increasing difficulty of the capitalist system to function. Minneapolis is a microcosm of the problem. Even if our regional economy is stronger than a lot of metro areas, Minneapolis continues to be a place not to do business because of the taxes and fees that are imposed on the citizens and business community. Most of the strongest regional economy isn’t driven by Minneapolis, but increasingly becomes the greatest expense. The “elected” officials that come from Minneapolis need to realize this fact and start to turn things around before there isn’t any turning back from the economic grave.

Minneapolis streets are very dangerous

Never in my 36 years of living in Minneapolis do I recall a time that there has been so many reports of crimes on such a regular basis. Again, on Saturday we experienced a report of three stabbings that occurred on Lake Street. We have a crime alert on a rapist on the loose, and what has become a regular reporting of either arson, rape, or shooting. I hear from my neighbors about reports of prostitution activity in areas that haven’t experienced that before. No matter what the “elected” say it seems that there is a crime problem in Minneapolis, and they are either unable or unwilling to do what it takes to solve the issues. The “elected” seem to just bury their heads in the sand and imagine that everything is getting better, but I don’t buy this line of snake oil. For all of the investment in new technologies to solve and track crimes, there is no good replacement for boots on the streets. Minneapolis is long overdue for a influx of police hirings to place cops on the streets. Long overdue!

“The Elected” need to get reeducated on economics

Hennepin County is looking to cap property tax increase at 7% is the big news. Wow, thank you Commissioners! You are the greatest! The inflation rate so far this year has only risen by an average of 3.86%, and the lowest inflation rate increase over the last three occurred in the final four months of the year. BTW, that would bring down the average if that trend continues this year. The inflation increases over the last three years were 2.85%, 3.24%, and 3.39%. Why does Government need to grow way over the rate of inflation? Who do you know has had an increase in income of over 7% this past year? This only represents the county potion of the property tax increase. It doesn’t represent the increase in state and city property, school, park, sales, user fee, and other misc funding mechanisms. Why is the cap of 7% something to celebrate? The isn’t a cut in the rate we are paying it’s only a cut in the increase we are paying. Is that really the way to help working families out? Minneapolis and Hennepin County officials are trying to “paint lipstick on a pig” here and say they are trying to help families out. What happen to tax cuts?

Minneapolis Public Schools are at it again…another Program of the Day

This time they are creating a special agreement with the African American community. Now I agree with family involvement, which is key to a child knowing that his or her parents place importance on getting a good education. However, creating a culturally responsive curriculum doesn’t make sense. Culture, what culture. You mean to tell me the school system doesn’t have a curriculum that doesn’t appeal to American sensitivities? I thought this was an American school system. What special curriculum needs to be put into place to feed the needs of someone that is an American? I understand language barriers and new Americans or immigrants getting adjusted, but members of a community that have been here for generations needing a whole different program doesn’t make sense. I come from a Swedish, French, and Dutch background. So where is my special curriculum? Isn’t this really about taking responsibility? Why should the school system need to compensate for parental irresponsibility? Maybe the school system just needs to take a different approach towards discipline instead of changing it’s programming. Maybe an agreement between parents, students, and teachers outlining expectations is needed. There are better ways of closing the achievement gap then creating another special program.

Homicides have doubled in Minneapolis over the last month

Welcome to crime time all you citizens. The August Homicide total doubled over July, Robberies increased 16%, and Aggravated Assaults are up. Can “the elected” continue to say crime is down? Fortunately as we get away from the summer months crime will decrease, maybe.

A city that doesn’t work

According to the Mayor crime is worse that it has been. Whew..talking out of two sides of your face. Straight from the Mayor’s web site.
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Closing the Gaps
Closing the gaps between the haves and have-nots is the most important value for our city because the story of this period in Minneapolis cannot be a tale of two cities. While billions of dollars of investment are lifting most of this city, parts of Minneapolis are falling further behind. Crime is worse, unemployment is higher, heath and education disparities are growing. I believe that the role of government is more about leveling the playing field than about treating everyone equally. Where there is disproportionate need, we need to make disproportionate investment. We have proven in the Phillips neighborhood, where a once-distressed area is now creating more jobs than any other part of the state, that investment in areas in need pays off tenfold. We need to reproduce the success of Phillips to north Minneapolis and the entire city.
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The biggest problem that the Mayor nor the council really seem to properly address is the high taxes that the city has. Be it taxes on business, property, sales, user, or amount heavy handed fees, Minneapolis faces some of the highest around. The education system is a complete failure, and the city keeps getting whacked by lawsuits for things that are avoidable or the results of their overreaching authority. One of the most distressing parts of being low income is being able to meet the basic needs.
- If you want to own a home.. you need to pay high property taxes … to pay the city.
- If you want electrical, water, sewer, and trash service for your home… you have high fees and taxes to pay..the city.
- If you want to educate your kids… you have to pay high school taxes … to the city… and get failed results… so you need to go to some alternative … which costs less but you still have to pay the high school taxes .. to the city in addition to your choice.

Whew… what a crazy cycle of tax and spend .. and for what?

Public Education – Death Knell or Strengthen – the two party view

Ok folks … we have heard from both parties’ candidates for the big chair. What do you think? One of the most key livability in the city is education and it is currently ruled here by the public system. A system that is proven, come on now and be straight here, not to work. We have wondered off the path of common sense and the basics of education and cornered into the world of covering our you know whats. I will not get into a political debate here based on a party viewpoint, but look at this from purely logical standpoint. Massive amounts of data has been captured to prove that the state of the public education system in the US is appalling, especially in the inner cities. All one needs to do is to compare testing results between us and the rest of the industrialized world and even an public educated sixth grader can see the problems we face in a ever expanding worldwide economic system. The US is the most highly adaptive society in history and we the people are capable of anything we put our minds to. However, our government has grown to a point that it stands in our way of getting onto the path towards the journey that we all know we must take. Be it education reform, business development, tax reform, economic growth, health reform, etc… it is all held back because of government intrusion and control. Regardless of what problems need to be addressed nothing is going to get accomplished if we are uneducated. Senator McCain was absolutely correct when he stated education is our number one civil rights issue of today. Our entire ability to continue enjoying our freedom and way of life depends on a properly educated population. We must lift the education bar in order to compete in the world market. No amount of extra funds into the existing system is going to fix the problems public education faces. This is way I tend to lean towards the McCain plan instead of the Obama plan.
As I have stated on this blog in the past the major steps that need to be taken are:

Control of each school site needs to rest in the hands of the principal.

No more programs of the month. Stick to meat and potatoes basics.

Focus on areas of math, science, technology, writing, and reading.

Promote life long learning.

Teach health lifestyles thru physical education and health.

Focus on citizenship thru history and civics, but don’t cram doctrine. Be true to historical events and don’t give just a perspective.

Most important… encourage good teachers and weed out the bad ones. They are there for the kids.

No degree of tweaking the current system is going to get the job done, it calls for a complete and immediate overhaul. We not only have to lift up the failing schools, but raise the bar on the more successful ones. It’s a huge undertaking, but it is required. Government must get out of the way and allow it to take place. As example, the Minneapolis Schools referendum this November doesn’t address any of the problems that the education system faces. It is just a band-aid to allow the schools to stay open. This is why it must not pass, and the education board challenged to draw up a detail plan to bring the system around before any funding questions are placed in front of the voters. Unless they do this the taxpayers would be better off flushing the money down the toilet, because at least the school system wouldn’t have the chance to do it.