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Brian Simon

Minneapolis, MN
Commenter for
5 years 27 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 04/26/11 at 04:47 pm in response to Big day as federal funding for Central Corridor LRT arrives

"[Gov Dayton] said he disagreed with sports economists who say the economic impact of a sports stadium is negligible."

It would be nice of the Gov to provide some evidence on which his disagreement is based. Surely its not just a 'gut feeling'.

Posted on 04/26/11 at 01:07 pm in response to President Giuliani?

The GOP nominee won't be:
Palin
Huckabee
Gingrich
Trump
Bachmann
Paul
Santorum

Which, by my calculations, leaves:
Romney
Pawlenty
Daniels
Huntsman

And those last four are ordered by likelihood. Daniels might not run; Huntsman is probably doing organization building more than making a full run. This could be a great year to run as the not-quite-so-extreme candidate, make a respectable showing, then come back in...

Posted on 04/25/11 at 03:17 pm in response to Minneapolis Census data uncover a bipolar city

Bradley Johnson writes
"Scott County has lower property taxes, lower sales tax, and greater bang for the buck"

It depends on what you're looking for. Personally, I have a very poor tolerance for time spent in the car commuting. My coworkers from Shakopee and other southwest suburbs talk about the painful commutes they endure daily. In distance they go about 5 miles farther than I do, but it apparently takes them twice as long.

I often bike to work, but if I lived...

Posted on 04/19/11 at 04:32 pm in response to Who Minnesota's GOP leaders like for president

Interesting piece as a window into MN GOP politics.

Grams' shot at Pawlenty is somewhat striking. Bak's comments about Huntsman are also illuminating. He'll be worth watching; it may be a smart year to make a token attempt at running, but let others try to outflank one another on the right, courting the TEA vote. A less extreme candidate who builds name recognition now would have a leg up in 2016.

Posted on 04/18/11 at 12:17 pm in response to Are liberals suckers?

"Are liberals suckers?"

Yes, they are. One of the liberal underpinnings of our legal code, for instance, makes us all suckers. Huh? It is the premise that the accused are innocent until proven guilty - beyond a reasonable doubt. The result? OJ walks. The conservatives, living in fear, would rather hang 'em all and let god sort 'em out. The liberals, suckers that they are, find that remedy odious & would prefer to put criminals back on the streets to prey on us, than to...

Posted on 04/13/11 at 08:03 am in response to Federal budget cuts here help marauding wolves, criminals

Of course the Pawlenty campaign was unhappy with how their candidate was portrayed. For one thing, Piers Morgan didn't play fair. The candidate rehearses his answer to the question "Are you running for President?" He does NOT rehearse a response to "Are you running for VICE President," which is clearly an unfair ambush on the part of the lamestream media.

Posted on 04/08/11 at 02:41 pm in response to Hmmm ... One Wisconsin county finds 7,500 Prosser votes

will lynott writes
"I just heard somewhere that the new margin of error is just over the margin that would trigger an automatic state recount. That can't be, can it?"

You're right: it can't. WI doesn't have automatic recounts. Instead, they have a threshold over which a recount is not free to the candidate making the request.

The presumptions, coming from the left, that Nickolaus must have been involved in chicanery are as tiresome as the allegations that MN SoS Mark...

Posted on 04/06/11 at 01:34 pm in response to Powerline blog makes the case for getting out of Afghanistan

Hinderaker writes
"I am a lot more concerned about Pakistan than Afghanistan."

Well, sure. Pakistan has nukes & an unpredictable government. But one has to ask: what is the impact on the likelihood of Pakistan harboring terrorists if we pull forces out of their neighbor, Afghanistan? We'll lose the ability to conduct drone strikes, for one. We'd also be conceding a much larger territory to the terrorists, on both sides of the AfPak border. Even so, those impacts might...

Posted on 04/05/11 at 04:15 pm in response to Do gas prices make you feel sick? Fatal? Busherized?

"More than 30 years after New Ulm police arrested Fred Meine Jr. for stealing clothes from his next-door competitor, Leuthold Jensen Clothiers, and selling them in his own store"

Fascinating. My father-in-law talks about finding clothes stolen from his father's store (in rural WI) in a Minneapolis store (a recently closed men's shop). But that store didn't even bother to replace the hangers. The cops told him there was nothing they could do about it. This was back in the 50s, or...

Posted on 04/04/11 at 01:02 pm in response to Trying to figure out who conservative women back for president

"Since 1980, women have outvoted men, off years and on years. But no one has asked women what they really want — it's ridiculous."

The good pollsters model their sample after the electorate demographically - by race, income, education and... gender. In every election cycle, pollsters publish these numbers, including the crosstabs. Invariably, it seems, pollsters and the media develop cute names for these groups. Like, where does she think the term 'soccer moms' came from?

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