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Dave Thompson

Minneapolis, MN
Commenter for
5 years 2 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 03/04/11 at 01:23 pm in response to Stillwater bridge: Bachmann's version fails to match new market realities

Wow, reading this article takes me to a different Neverland than Congresswoman Bachmann inhabits. While I agree that a scenic area like the St. Croix valley deserves an attractive bridge, you must be joking if you think that a three-lane swing bridge has any credibility at all. Bridges are built to meet the needs of commerce and population growth. Without an economic justification, a new bridge will never be built. Highway 36 should have been rerouted to go around Stillwater over a decade...

Posted on 02/14/11 at 04:58 pm in response to The coming boomer bust: Some huge problems facing Minnesota

A fascinating article. Please keep up the good work!
We are all going to be working longer. The retirement age will get moved back to 70 for full benefits. I hope we replace pensions with 401(k)'s across the board. People live into their 90's now, and the public can't afford to pay for the extra decades of life made possible by medical advances.

I also agree with the commenter who suggested we should welcome increased immigration. As baby boomers retire, jobs will actually...

Posted on 02/04/11 at 01:22 pm in response to Deducting mortgage interest on your taxes: a good thing or bad?

"phasing out the MID would provide a much-needed correction in the housing market, tilting it away from super-sized homes that require excessive driving toward a more efficient housing model better tuned to future needs."

Now THERE's a statement that is not supported by the facts. Most people who buy homes are financing their purchases. Most home sales are for used homes, not new McMansions. My oldest son and his wife just bought their first home last year - a post-war rambler in...

Posted on 01/24/11 at 04:23 pm in response to Is anyone following up on KSTP-TV's HMO scoop?

What is this BS about state money being handed over to "the HMO's" without any accountability? The state's health insurance industry is subjected to an amazing collection of regulatory methods. Audits are performed by every purchaser of health care services - CMS, DHS, employers - to the point where there's at least one ongoing audit every week. The State gets an electronic copy of every claim in a monthly report file, along with how much was paid, why services were denied, etc etc....

Posted on 01/14/11 at 04:50 pm in response to With choice of Mondale, Dayton signals serious Vikings stadium effort

How about building an open-air football stadium NEXT TO the Metrodome? It would probably be cheaper than building another all-purpose facility. Please remember that it's BASEBALL teams that want to play in the Metrodome. There are no football or soccer teams that want a roof.

Posted on 01/03/11 at 02:43 pm in response to Early appointments indicate a clearly different course for Minnesota's new governor

I think you guys are missing the message that Gov. Dayton is sending. So far, his appointments could just as easily have been made by someone from the Independence party. He may have run as a liberal, but he is obviously planning to govern from the middle.

Posted on 11/04/10 at 01:24 pm in response to If GOP keeps austerity promises, big metro projects on rail, housing and research may be pared or eliminated

As long as the metro area's population is growing, the state has no choice but to continue investing in regional transit, whether highways or rails. On the other hand, the high-speed rail to Chicago has always struck me as a solution in search of a problem. Whatever happened to "think globally, act locally"?

Posted on 10/27/10 at 02:29 pm in response to A redo for the West Bank? Central LRT to bring changes

What a great story. Thank you! I agree that we missed the boat with the Hiawatha LRT line. That train line was walled off from the community instead of being incorporated into it. "TIF for TOD's". Hmmm. Probably not catchy enough to sell. Where's a marketing type when you need one?

Posted on 10/01/10 at 01:15 pm in response to Hollywood flack's dream: Dustup over 'Troubled Waters' sells out premiere

It is a sad commentary on our political discourse that a documentary on water pollution could be dismissed as "lefty". The Minnesota River is a big agricultural sewer. It doesn't have to be that way.

Since when do facts have a political point of view?

Posted on 08/27/10 at 12:07 pm in response to The urban alternative to the State Fair

If by "city" you mean concrete and steel, by all means go to Chicago. I never understood the appeal. I ride my bike down the Greenway to the train, bring my bike aboard the train, ride to Bloomington to work. On my way home I get off the train at Minnehaha Falls, ride my bike down Minnehaha Parkway to the lakes, around the lakes to home. Now THAT's a daily commute. I could never do that in Chicago.

P.S. You know WHY they call it the Greenway? Because there are green plants,...