MORNING EDITION

How appropriate is Scalia at Bachmann's law seminars?

Describing the “seminars” as “what turns out to be a closed-door event in conjunction with Bachmann's Tea Party Caucus,” Kevin Diaz of the Strib files a story on the appropriateness of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia taking part in Congresswoman Michele Bachmann’s events: “One of the most outspoken critics is University of Minnesota law professor Richard Painter, chief White House ethics lawyer under former President George W. Bush. Painter notes that Bachmann is among 63 House members who filed a brief in support of a lawsuit by more than two dozen states challenging President Obama's health care overhaul. The case could easily end up before the Supreme Court.”

Diaz adds: “Bachmann also has received some support in academia. ‘This is a complete non-issue,’ said University of St. Thomas law professor Michael Stokes Paulsen. ‘There is absolutely nothing unethical or improper about Supreme Court justices or other judges giving public speeches, teaching classes, giving lectures, participating in panel discussions or writing books — which often may include discussion of their views about the Constitution or specific legal issues. Justices do it all the time.' " Those of course would be “activist judges."

To hear some politicians and pundits, the single biggest threat to the American economy is … unions. If we could just get rid of those high wage scales and benefits, our entrepreneur class could flex their job-creating muscle again. Its odd, then, that Minnesota is one of the few states showing union growth, under the barrage of antipathy. Julie Forster of the PiPress writes: “Since the start of the recession, the share of workers in unions has declined steadily, but that trend was reversed in 2010 with an increase of 23,000 workers in the state. Last year, the number of workers in unions rose 6.3 percent to 385,000. In Minnesota, the share of workers in unions rose to 15.6 percent from 15.1 percent, versus the nation's unionized share of the work force, which dropped to 11.9 percent from 12.3 percent in 2009.”

I suspect the end of combat operations doesn’t have families with soldiers heading off to Iraq feeling all that much better. Mark Brunswick, the Strib’s boots-on-the-ground guy, reports on Sunday's latest deployment of Minnesota National Guard. “In its second-largest deployment since World War II, the Minnesota National Guard will send more than 2,400 troops to Iraq and Kuwait later this year. ... The mission is a far cry from the last time the brigade was sent to Iraq, when it became the longest-serving unit in the Iraq war during the beginning of the so-called surge in 2006 and 2007.” And: “This will be the first deployment for about 60 percent of the soldiers, the second deployment for 23 percent and the third deployment for 12 percent. The soldiers come from 29 units in 27 Minnesota communities.”

You may have noticed that the Obama administration is feeling the pain of the medical device industry. The president mentioned it last week, and now Tom Scheck at MPR reports Sen. Klobuchar is inviting Medtronic’s CEO to the State of the Union Tuesday night: “ ‘Companies like Medtronic show how innovation can be a catalyzing force in the American economy,’ Klobuchar said in a statement. ‘It is important that Washington hear from business leaders like Bill [Hawkins] who share my commitment to revitalizing America's innovative edge to help our businesses find new markets for their products and compete in the global economy.’ The move also re-emphasizes that Klobuchar is working to improve the working relationship between the federal government and the medical device industry. Industry officials have complained that the FDA approval process is too slow.

Feel free to celebrate. Minnesota still has the strongest charter school law. A story in the Alexandria Echo Press reports: “Measuring Up to the Model: A Ranking of State Public Charter School Laws analyzes the country’s 41 state charter laws and scores how well each supports charter school quality and growth based on the 20 essential components from the Alliance’s model charter school law. ‘Minnesota tops the chart most notably because of its laws promoting quality and funding equity for charter schools,’ said report author Todd Ziebarth, vice president of state advocacy and support, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. ‘However, legislators could do more to ensure equitable access to capital funding and facilities for charter schools.’ ”

If you’re among those who have felt the sting of a (much) lower than expected appraisal on a property you were trying to sell, you’ll feel kinship with the subjects of a story by Gita Sitamariah at the PiPress. “It's another byproduct of the housing bust: Appraisals have become yet another complication in the effort to close a deal. Stories abound of deals upended by appraisals that are dramatically lower than a buyer's offer. Industry observers blame lower appraisals on declining housing values. They also say lenders are more conservative, wanting to ensure buyers make good, given the foreclosure crisis. Meanwhile, the process used to hire appraisers has been undergoing nationwide reform in the wake of the housing bust to avoid what was widely seen as cozy relationships between lending officers and appraisers that some believe exacerbated the housing bubble. As a result of that reform, no longer can a loan officer call an appraiser directly. The point is to ensure that a lending officer can't influence an appraiser to assign a particular value to a home to ensure the sale will close.”

An online dating scam? James Eli Shiffer of the Strib tells the story of a Burnsville woman, Jody Buell, scammed out of $10,000 by a guy she met online, who is now getting even instead of just getting mad: “For the past two years, she has been helping other fraud victims get advice, support and fellowship from an online group called romancescams.org. Since the Yahoo group was founded in 2005, it has helped more than 50,000 people from around the world. ‘It's basically a war,’ said site founder Barb Sluppick, a scam victim who lives in Missouri. ‘They're battling us for our money. We're fighting back, but we're fighting on our own because the government doesn't seem to want to get involved in this.' "

The failure of the Northstar rail line to deliver a profit has anti-public transportation types in a lather. Andy Post, at Minnesota Democrats Exposed, blogs: “It's no secret ridership on Northstar commuter-rail fell far below plan for 2010, as local media reported this week that Metro Transit had 21% fewer riders on the Big Lake to Minneapolis line than expected. What most haven’t heard about, however, are the illegal procedures surrounding a proposed zoning change by the City of Fridley in the neighborhoods surrounding their Northstar station.”

The countdown to spring training has begun. We know because the White Sox are talking out loud about how to beat the Twins. Scott Merkin of MLB.com writes: “One prevailing theme of irritation cutting across the seemingly record levels of excitement at SoxFest this past weekend was how White Sox fans simply are tired of the Twins. It's not so much about an intense personal dislike for Minnesota. After all, disrespecting a team featuring such consummate professionals as Jim Thome, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, not to mention a sound fundamental squad doing the little things to win, is hard to do. But baseball supporters from the South Side of Chicago don't want to see another American League Central title end up with their heated rivals.”

And: “When talking about the two most gut-wrenching 2010 losses during a Saturday Town Hall Meeting at the Palmer House Hilton, Ozzie Guillen mentioned a game on July 18 at Target Field when the Twins put together three walks and three singles to score four runs in the bottom of the ninth. The Twins erased a 6-3 deficit without the White Sox recording an out. Painful Game No. 2 came on Aug. 17, again at Target Field, when Thome rocked a game-winning, two-run home run off [Matt] Thornton. So, it's not just the little things adding up to provide daggers or the Twins' 25-11 advantage over the White Sox during the last two seasons.” I can’t tell you how pleased I am to report that I was there for both of those games.