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John Olson

Lakeville, MN
Commenter for
5 years 31 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 04/05/11 at 08:34 pm in response to When politicians request information: Some danger signs

#18, try watching Fox News. Or MSNBC. Both have done nice jobs of trashing your profession for you.

Posted on 03/25/11 at 08:01 am in response to Riled-up Iron Rangers rip GOP $60 million 'raid' on their development fund

Republican leadership is raiding every fund it can lay its hands on to try and scrape together enough to cover the shortfall.
When they start to go after the police and fire training funds, you know things are not working out as planned.

Since tax increases aren't on the agenda at the Legislature, I'm surprised we have not heard someone come out and said "Whoopsie, we miscalculated the estimated shortfall. It's not $5 billion....it's $3 billion. Heh heh heh."

Keep in mind...

Posted on 03/24/11 at 10:16 am in response to Sunday liquor sales: Who is fighting them and why?

My other question would be what effect (if any) does current Minnesota law influence Sunday off-sale traffic from Minnesota customers in border communities (e.g. Hudson, Fargo, Grand Forks and Superior)?

Posted on 03/26/11 at 06:41 am in response to Question of the day: How can Minnesota's legislative session end well?

Mr. Appelen, the spin is yours. Bill is paying at a rate of 8 percent, while the other two in your hypothetical are paying at 10 percent. Dollar amounts paid? Sure. But the amount of tax between 10 percent and 8 percent for Bob (and certainly Brad) is money that is actually needed for the mortgage, transportation, food and so on. Bill? Not as much.

Bill also probably has a very good lawyer and accountant managing his family's taxes, while Brad and Bob are doing their taxes online or...

Posted on 03/22/11 at 07:41 am in response to It's a mistake to use market economics as the sole arbiter of value in public broadcasting

"Let us suppose for a moment that NPR had a right agenda. This wouldn't even be a topic for discussion."

Agreed. If that were the case, the U.S. House would be advocating for an increase in public funding for NPR.

Posted on 03/17/11 at 05:47 pm in response to House votes to defund NPR; Minnesota delegation splits along party lines

Rep. Hensarling: "Government has no business in the news business. Even NPR’s own former fundraising executive recently admitted that the organization ‘would be better off in the long run without federal funding.'"

I wounder if the Gentleman from Texas would care to explain then what taxpayer resources are used to broadcast Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mike Huckabee, Charles Osgood, Ed Schultz and Alan Colmes (to name some) on Armed Forces Radio Network?

Don't get me wrong, our...

Posted on 03/17/11 at 05:36 pm in response to Minnesota Public Radio attacks KSTP's 'Welfare Waste' series -- who's right?

Three words:

"Smiley Face Killer"

Posted on 03/10/11 at 12:58 pm in response to Here's what the GOP's state budget-balancing plan could look like

Two words: Citizens United.

The ultimate payoff.

Posted on 03/08/11 at 07:51 am in response to Michele Bachmann's health-care 'cover-up' charges hard to fathom

Michele Bachmann has to be a gold mine for MinnPost and other mainstream media outlets with the web traffic she generates. She knows full well that the more outlandish she is, the more attention she gets.

At what point do producers from the MSM (excluding Fox News) take a pass on her act? After her Sunday performance with David Gregory on MTP, the only reason I can see her coming back there anytime soon is if NBC needs the ratings.

Posted on 03/07/11 at 11:53 am in response to At the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press, groupthink on a Vikings stadium

I tend to agree with Tevlin. Today's stadium debate is essentially the same as it was 30 years ago. The obvious difference between then and now is that the Gophers and the Twins have their own places, so the Vikings are the only ones left.

If Star-Tribune land is once again in play, many of us who followed the escapades of three decades ago have a pretty good idea of how the story ultimately ends.