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Let independent panel investigate Jan. 6 insurrection

When a mob of Trump supporters broke into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, trying to stop the members of Congress as they tried to validate the results of the November presidential election, it was an act of insurrection unlike anything since the Civil War. Now, as some members of Congress try to set up a non-partisan, independent panel to investigate the events of that day and try to determine ways to prevent such an attack on our government from happening again, other Congress members are standing in the way. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday he is opposed to such an ...

State budget deal

If it wasn’t for deadlines, some things would never get done at all. It’s true in newspapers, and it’s true in government as well. State leaders agreed early Monday morning on a $52 billion budget plan, hours before the scheduled end of the legislative session. By having a May 17 deadline for the end of the session, the legislature and Gov. Tim Walz are at least guaranteed of getting a budget passed by June 14 — well past the deadline, but well ahead of the end of the fiscal year on June 30, after which the state government would have to shut down. The broad agreement ...

Israel, Hamas should heed calls for cease fire

Israelis and Palestinians are in open war with each other in the Gaza Strip. Hamas, the Palestinian leadership organization, has been firing rockets into Israel, and the Israeli forces are responding with air raids to destroy buildings and tunnels it says are housing Hamas military operations. This is the deadliest outbreak of violence in Gaza in years. It was sparked, apparently, by an intrusion into a mosque in April by Israeli forces who cut the wires to loudspeakers calling Muslims to prayer, to prevent them from drowning out a nearby Memorial Day speech. Tensions accelerated and ...

Act locally on climate change initiatives

The concept of thinking globally while acting locally is as necessary in slowing the effects of climate change as it is with any other major challenge. That means we individually make good choices to do things we can practically afford to do. But increasingly cities are making climate change a priority. The Duluth City Council recently passed a “climate emergency” declaration. As much as any city, Duluth has seen the damage brought on by climate change and knows worse is to come. The city’s famed waterfront boardwalk has been repeatedly destroyed by rising lake levels and more ...

Stimulus — may be doing more harm than good

Policymakers at the state and federal level have a conundrum on their hands. While trillions of dollars are being handed out to boost our economy’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, some are beginning to wonder if all that stimulus hasn’t reached the point of doing more harm than good — to the job market, anyway. U.S. employers posted a record number of available jobs in March. Job gains are weak not because there is not potential, but because employers can’t find people to fill the jobs they already have. Job openings rose nearly 8%, to 8.1 million in March, the most found ...

What will GOP unify behind?

Having dumped Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, from her leadership post in the House, the Republican Caucus is now free to unite. That has been the goal, according to other Republican leaders. Cheney was ousted not because she keeps saying Donald Trump is lying when he claims he was robbed of the 2020 election, according to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, but because the party wants to present a united front to voters in the 2022 midterm elections, when they hope to take control of the House and Senate, and in 2024, when they hope to win back the White House. Unity is a good thing in ...