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Dimitri Drekonja

Minneapolis, MN
Commenter for
4 years 30 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 06/15/12 at 11:47 am in response to Commentary: 'Device tax' will cost money, jobs ... and lives

Yes, the tax code should be simplified. Of course, both parties have had simultaneous control of both chambers and the presidency in the last decade, and it hasn't happened, so that should give us all an idea of how realistic that is.

But frankly, that's an issue that affects average citizens, who are doing our taxes with turbo-tax or a local accountant. It's a pretty poor argument to raise regarding corporate taxes, since they have the means to create/buy them, and lobby to maintain...

Posted on 06/14/12 at 10:02 am in response to Minnesota Senate to get hit with another Brodkorb defense legal bill

Nice of Brodkorb and Senjem to keep this in the news, and remind people that actions, not words should be looked at come election time.

For a party that likes to scream about fiscal restraint, family values, and frivolous lawsuits, this circus is an embarrassing trifecta.

I'm surprised the republican caucus hasn't come up with a way to pay this bill with some sort of legal-fund that they could fill from donors. Perhaps there's no way to do so, or perhaps the party is in such...

Posted on 06/14/12 at 08:20 am in response to What if we dumped the Fed and returned to the gold standard?

There's a problem with the argument about the 2 greatest recessions/depressions happening with the fed. One (the big one) also happened with the gold standard, and many have written fairly convincing arguments that it was the inability to stimulate the economy by the central bank (because of the limitation of the gold standard) that led to the drawn out great depression. Others have already talked about the prior booms/busts that happened in the pre-fed era, and the odd notion that somehow a...

Posted on 06/08/12 at 01:55 pm in response to St. Paul residents concerned about trains carrying frac sand through neighborhoods

Many very innocuous sounding things are not very good in your lungs, and silica dust is one. Silicosis is a known health problem in sand-blasters, miners, and other construction workers, with it's own International Classification of Diseases code (ICD-9 code 502).

As to the response that the moisture content eliminates blow-away, I'd be skeptical if I lived in the area. Anyone with a sandbox in their yard knows that a good baking sun for a day or 2 will render the top layer (i.e.,...

Posted on 06/06/12 at 03:23 pm in response to Stadium postmortem: How a wealthy NFL owner got millions from taxpayers

I certainly appreciate Sen. Marty's leadership here, and I'd disagree strongly with Hiram that he was "pretty much invisible". It may be fun to write, but it's inaccurate. He was active on the floor, on the airwaves, in print, and online. I'm normally a big supporter of his because of his championing single-payer legislation in the Senate-- that is where I believe he would rather be spending his energy, yet he also took on being the main voice of DFL opposition.

Ultimately, pro-...

Posted on 05/31/12 at 01:08 pm in response to GOP consultant Gregg Peppin's contrarian view sees party keeping legislative control

Republican consultant predicts republicans keeping legislature. Stop the presses.

Posted on 05/29/12 at 01:30 pm in response to Kurt Bills fails to give clear answers to basic questions

You do realize that Bills teaches in a public school, which is one of these terrible places staffed by marxists, don't you? Presumably you know of some examples where these hordes of marxists are indoctrinating public school kids, and aren't just spouting off nonsense. Or, maybe not.

Posted on 05/24/12 at 09:01 am in response to Blogger's case lands in Court of Appeals

Yeah! And after that, let's make sure only productive citizens can vote, and require that only property owners can vote! And just to make sure the riff-raff isn't voting, lets re-institute a poll tax! Heck, let's make it simple and make voting the privilege of angry white men. Then we can just watch as society falls apart...

Posted on 05/14/12 at 10:55 am in response to Fall legislative races particularly problematic for GOP ‘moderates’

I still disagree with most of Rep. Kriesel's positions, but his stand on gay marriage and his comment in this story about being able to see the reasonableness of other people's positions will be missed. There will almost certainly not be a similar Republican in the next legislature-- and I have no idea when someone with those positions will be celebrated by his party. I suspect it will be a long, long time.

Posted on 05/09/12 at 10:47 am in response to Now the get-real negotiations on stadium begin

I wish I could say that this bill (whatever emerges) is calling their bluff. Even if the conference committee opts for calling for the extra 105 million, the team still gets almost half of their stadium paid for by public dollars. They may whine a bit about how this breaks their previous "deal", which likely will get the conference committee to go closer to the Senate's extra 25 million (vs. 105), but I think everyone knows that the Wilf's are quite happy with themselves and their lobbyists...