Skip to Content

scott gibson

paynesville, MN
Commenter for
4 years 50 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 08/22/11 at 11:21 pm in response to Hefty property tax hikes loom

If I made or was worth a million dollars I would, certainly, consider myself wealthy. Folks who defend a different view are out of touch with the VAST majority of hard-working Minnesotans. This would include ingrates like Jared Allen. He is handsomely compensated. The venue where he plays home games has a new roof and a new rug. It was built for football. It sells out. It makes money for the owners. Apparently, though, not ENOUGH money. We should pony up for them, even though it...

Posted on 08/13/11 at 12:37 am in response to Pawlenty debate performance gets largely negative reviews

re: d braun. I think you're being just a tad hyperbolic (sarc). Please explain why our country would not SURVIVE if Obama is reelected. I need to know this.

Posted on 08/05/11 at 09:06 pm in response to KFAN to become FM station; KTLK goes AM

Doesn't anyone care about signal strength when it comes to radio? KFAN was undetectable after sundown where I live (100 mi. west of MPLS). FM would be worse. WCCO-FM? Same problem (except they're losing all their teams). AM was the home of statewide sports broadcasting that EVERYONE could pick up. Yes, there are a network of other stations, but if you drive any distance in greater MN, you lose the signal. FM would be worse for every team. There are many times when I'm in my car that...

Posted on 08/04/11 at 10:46 am in response to Minnesota's county highway funding system supports roads to nowhere

We who live in 'greater Minnesota' know full well that the metro area would prefer to ignore our quality of life, unless it impacts theirs. Government is NOT efficient. That is by design. It is not a fault, in and of itself. It exists to provide for the greater good for ALL. I am not convinced that the numbers presented are somehow unbalanced, considering the vast area of Minnesota. We pay taxes, too. The trend to curtail services for rural areas (note the congressional effort to...

Posted on 07/14/11 at 06:46 pm in response to Has Dayton caved?

Dayton has always been in this fight alone. Where were any other Democrats vocally supporting him? There weren't any. He also has had very few ways to leverage his agenda, since spending bills must originate with the legislature and not with him. It is the reverse of Pawlenty's power to arbitrarily cut the budget if the legislature didn't capitulate. Dayton has been the proverbial "one-man wolf pack" all along. He got the nomination without party help and became governor when folks...

Posted on 06/06/11 at 03:38 pm in response to Four-day school weeks produce negligible savings, report says

One reason that extra-curriculars are not often slashed in budgets: competition. I teach in a rural district that is moving to a 4-day week next year. If we were to slash extra-curricular offerings, parents would be more likely to open enroll their students to other districts, costing us even more dollars. It is a risky move. Every district is in competition for student bodies. If your programs don't match up with your neighboring districts, your enrollment will suffer. I am not...

Posted on 06/06/11 at 08:33 pm in response to Four-day school weeks produce negligible savings, report says

Ray,
I can concur that many districts, like mine, air condition only parts of their buildings. Oftentimes those are not classrooms. Also, your prep school experience may be laudatory, but is it a realistic model for the vast majority of young people who will be educated by public schools? Is there anything near the will of the public to have that kind of school as a norm? I doubt it. The agrarian school calendar persists despite many decades of folks saying it should be eliminated...

Posted on 03/22/11 at 07:27 pm in response to Education funding bill is packed with political dynamite

Ron,
Minnesota has had open enrollment for many years. Minnesota has post-secondary options and free online schools. Most high schools offer college credit courses for their students free of charge. Nothing is stopping you from 'releasing' your kids from 'failing schools'. Of course, much of the movement is for less than lofty reasons, such as sports. There is plenty of choice in education today.

Be honest. What you want is all of your tax dollars back. You no...

Posted on 12/24/10 at 12:21 am in response to What's Pawlenty's legacy? Some surprising answers

For me, Pawlenty's legacy will be one of insincerity and 'meanness'. He holds grudges and refers to those he feels are his enemies through clenched teeth and a false smile. As an example, in an outgoing interview on MPR this morning, Timmy felt it necessary to single out the teachers' union as one of his most evil adversaries. Minnesota is regarded as having one of the best public school systems in the nation. You'd never know that by listening to anything Pawlenty has said during his...

Posted on 11/30/10 at 01:54 pm in response to ShelbyFest propels WCCO to first 10 p.m. demo win in 24 years

I'm sure CBS, not Don Shelby, decided the shape of the news broadcast. People tuned in because they USED to watch Shelby give the news with those other people. If they are like me, they have probably abandoned much of TV news because of how inconsequential, un-newsy, or sensationalized it has become, without regard to a particular channel. They are all varying degrees of BAD. And, for myself, this includes the cable news outlets, which have polarized a portion of our country without...