Thursday, May 26, 2011

Human services budget seemed hijacked

Reviewing what the Legislature passed as a health and human services budget and Gov. Mark Dayton's veto of the plan, I get the feeling some good Republican ideas were sort of hijacked by over-reaching policy provisions that supported a national political campaign against the Affordable Health Care Act.

Whenever I've seen or heard Republican Chair of the House Health and Human Services Committee Jim Abeler, I've been impressed with his thoughtfulness. I've been convinced he sincerely wants to help people who can't afford health care to get treated and keep the costs reasonable to taxpayers.

That's why I was surprised to see things in the bill like the repeal of Gov. Mark Dayton's executive order on the early opt-in on Medicaid, something that would save the state millions and allow Minnesota to lead in health care cost reform.

It was disappointing to see provisions in the bill that Dayton described as "divisive policy provisions" that included prohibitions on stem cell research and provisions to somehow prevent the state from participating in the federal health care law.

Clearly, these were provisions that Dayton told legislators would draw a veto. They were in there anyway.

Abeler actually had some pretty good ideas in terms of controlling costs of state provided health care for the poor.

The experiment last year with GAMC patients that provided block grants to participating hospitals who worked with all providers as a team and improved outcomes at lower costs showed some success.

It's downfall was that outstate hospitals didn't participate because they said they couldn't afford a 50 percent reduction in their reimbursements.

That's the kind of reform that could have advanced the ball forward on this huge part of the state budget. But for some reason, all these controversial, divisive policy provisions got in there and scuttled the bill.

Obviously, a final bill needs to be reworked. Let's hope the political forces of the Republican Party let a smart guy like Abeler do his work.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

State budget dilemma: here's the crucial info

Outstate would be hurt more by GOP all-cuts budget.

14 Chambers of Commerce, many from outstate took the unusual and politically risky move of opposing Republican budget plan. Here's the story.

And here's a great backgrounder from Arne Carlson on the kind of fiscal situation Gov. Tim Pawlenty left us with. (Gives whole new meaning to Pawlenty's pronouncement in recent presidential bid that we have too much debt. He was the king of taking on debt!).

Carlson makes a key point: some budget cuts cost more in the future. Take cuts below needs to road funding during Pawlenty's administration.

Some 700 miles of highway are now in "poor" condition because we've never met the goal of 2 percent in poor in the last eight years.

When a state highway needs an overlay, if it's not in "poor" condition it costs about $130,000 per mile, according to MnDOT. When it goes to poor condition it costs three to six times more per mile, again, according to MnDOT.

The same thing can be said for health care. When Republicans reformed GAMC last year, they had to set aside $30 million for hospitals to draw from for all the folks that no longer qualified for GAMC as they came to hospital emergency rooms.

Some budget cutting does make sense - duplication of programs etc - but some absolutely makes no sense because we're not analyzing how it creates higher costs in the future.

Here's Dayton's detailed responses to Republican budget and story on same. His veto messages are unusual in that they carry very specific numbers, estimates from revenue and are worth reading.

Story with links to veto messages.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Sister paper in Joplin in the eye of the storm

Eighteen staffers who work at the Joplin Globe lost their homes Sunday. Another eight sustained severe damage.

Many came into work Sunday night to put out the newspaper nonetheless.

Here's a first person account of surviving storm by Joplin reporter.

The Globe is owned by The Free Press parent company, CNHI, and I've had different conversations with the staff and editors there over the years.

They are now dealing with battles on two fronts: many have friends and family whose homes and families have been devastated by the tornado, but as always, they're dedicating to informing their readers at this very critical time.

They're no doubt working tirelessly around the clock. Here's their web site http://www.joplinglobe.com/

I can only imagine what they are going through. I remember when the St. Peter tornado hit in 1998, though Mankato was not damaged, we had staffers who lived in St. Peter.

Newsrooms, like other places, can get a bit chaotic during these times. Who's available to cover what? How do we split it up? How do we convince authorities to let us through? Is the equipment and machinery working?

It's a very difficult time when newspapers have to cover the disasters that affect their staff personally. But it's no surprise they rise to the occasion. We often see the need to inform the public at these times are paramount. People need to know what happened, and more importantly that help is on the way.

The newspaper gives them something that is familiar, and it is one of those times when the community is drawn together by ink and paper.

We suspect the folks at the Joplin Globe will leave bundles of papers on downtown corners where they can be picked up by anyone, subscriber or not.

We've offered our help in whatever ways might be needed. Our company executives have also started a fund for families.

We can only keep our colleagues and the folks in Joplin in our thoughts and prayers.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Vikings stadium battle intrigues

For more than 10 years, the Vikings under various owners have petitioned the Legislature to approve a stadium bill, now, among some of the toughest economic circumstances and the worst Legislative imbroglio, we have two proposals getting political support.

Go figure.

I like the Minneapolis Metrodome revamp proposal because it seems less costly and offers higher value for taxpayer money. On the other hand, I like the idea of options for tailgating at the Arden Hills site.

Thinking about where Vikings owners come from - New York Giants fans, ala Meadowlands, I'm not surprised the went for the more "romantic" option, the option the brings football back to its blue collar roots.

You presumably won't have to buy an $8 beer going to the game at Arden Hills, or at least you won't have to buy as many of them. You can bring your food and coolers to the tailgating party.

And we can even compete, in that respect, with Packer fans.

I also remember tailgating and excessive drinking gave Minnesota the reputation for the most high profile injuring of an NFL official. Somebody hit the ref with a whiskey bottled tossed from the seats. It was ugly.

The big money hangup appears to be the road infrastructure costs would exceed by in some estimates $100 million what the state was willing to pay into the project.

But if the commissioners in Ramsey County and road engineers are worth their salt, they'll find a way to come up with the money IF they really need that much.

StarTribune has been noting in its editorials favoring the Minneapolis site, that it has a land interest near the Metrodome site and the value of that land would be "affected" by that. They don't say how much.

So I'm torn. I like the idea of tailgating, and Arden Hills is not far from some of my old stomping grounds. And since Hennepin County said it couldn't afford another stadium, it may be Ramsey County's turn.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Quarterly review of the truth of politicians

I thought it might be useful to every once in a while just help debunk the half-truths, lies and misleading statements various public figures propagate from time to time.

As Mark Twain once said: A lie can make it halfway around the world while the truth is just getting on its shoes.

That's mostly because the truth sometimes takes a lot of work, and most of it is done by journalists not beholden to political causes (bloggers) or corporate interests (we'll let you decide who that might be).

There's an oft repeated figure that Gov. Mark Dayton's budget is increasing spending 22 percent to 29 percent.

Minnesota Public Radio's Catherine Richert has done a great job debunking this claim on MPR's "Poligraph" feature. Here it is.

Essentially, her research, done in conjunction with the Humphrey Institute shows the real increase in Dayton's two-year budget from current two-year budget is about 8 percent.

That's because the Republicans and others who cite the 29 percent figure don't consider $4 billion or so in one-time federal stimulus money that was used and the school funding shift that we didn't put on the books, but we are nonetheless committed to pay.

Richert describes the 22 percent claims as "misleading." I agree, and think that is a rather generous assessment.

What people also don't understand about this raw number is that a lot of the increases are increases for more people accessing programs for which they are eligible. And the eligibility standards were often agreed to years ago by both parties.

So for politicians of either party to assess blame on one party or the other is also a bit misleading. Their colleagues, at one point or another, agreed to this level of eligibility.

If we're going to blame someone for out of control spending, blame those who set the eligibility standards years ago. You'll likely find blame with lots of folks from both parties.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Bin Laden's dead body photos: Are we CSI?

There's been a long running debate if newspapers and media should publish images of death.

What makes a photo of a dead body newsworthy?

The issue has once again been raised with the possibility of the U.S. military releasing photos of a dead, and mostly likely bloody, shot-up Osama bin Laden.

Of course, there are no rules, only guidelines and judgments.

Without seeing the photos, it is always tough to make a decision. If the photo is extremely graphic, for example, one contemplates either not using it at all, or using it on an inside page, where it will not ruin the breakfast appetite of our readers.

On the other hand, the death of bin Laden was no ordinary death or even ordinary homicide. This was the most sought after terrorist in the world.

Would we expect our readers to endure more death images and more gore when we're mostly glad the man is dead?

We ask ourselves: What does this photo tell the readers that the story and the print can't or don't tell?

With conspiracy theorism on the rise in the U.S. (i.e. Obama's birth certificate), should we publish the "real McCoy" dead Osama photo to prove to such theorists they're wrong, and silly? Do we have to prove bin Laden is dead? Will a photograph in the newspaper prove that?

Maybe the photo tells us the degree to which bin Laden was shot. Once, twice, multiple times. Would that tell us the nature of the military tactics involved or shed light on the people who did the shooting?

Would the photo show us bin Laden was gaunt and skinny and weak or fat and sedentary? How much of this do we need to know?

Will we be able to sell more newspapers if we run the photo? Will our competition run it and we'll look stupid by not running it?

I can tell you that it would be my bet that more people would buy our newspaper off the newsstand (about 10 percent of all sales) if we had a picture of a dead bin Laden on the front.

Just my hunch after about 25 years experience in this business. That isn't always a reason to publish. Some of our longtime subscribers (90 percent of our circulation) might be offended and cancel their subscription.

Tell us what you think. We've set up a discussion on our Facebook page, (Facebook.com/mankatofreepress) or e-mail us at editor@mankatofreepress.com

Monday, May 2, 2011

Editor's picks: Bin Laden coverage

Roving the wire all day today and finding what seem to be interesting tidbits on the Bin Laden coverage.

I'll update regularly

Here's a Politico story quoting Rudy Giuiliani saying the "elation" feels strange. 

Bin Laden story getting reaction from Minnesota political leadering, including Rep. Tim Walz, John Kline

Interesting AP story: Inside the Bin Laden raid

Interpol's take on future of Al Qaida

Politico: Bin Laden used wife as a human shield

Politico reporter gives a few details on Bin Laden's burial at sea.