log072809

On the homepage

Scanners

Full-body scanners headed for MSP

Out There

Gas lines

10 years later, same fire, anger

Club Outdoors

Behind closed doors

Home | Opinion Exchange | Commentary

Lori Sturdevant: Pogemiller picks up the ball

Last update: July 27, 2009 - 7:06 PM

Print this story

Follow Opinion Exchange on Twitter

A STATE FISCAL SUMMIT

Pogemiller picks up the ball

Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller is taking to heart a call on these pages July 24 by former Republican Gov. Arne Carlson and former Independence Party gubernatorial candidate Tim Penny for action this fall on the state's looming fiscal crisis.

Late Friday, Pogemiller issued a release saying that he and House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher, both DFLers, would invite Gov. Tim Pawlenty, all living former governors, former House speakers and former Senate majority leaders to a summit meeting, on a date yet to be scheduled, to consider measures to avert a state deficit that could run to more than $7 billion in 2011.

Pogemiller, a legislator for 29 years, indicated that he took the lead in calling for a summit in part because "I'm not running for any other offices." Kelliher,by comparison, is exploring a gubernatorial bid, as is former GOP House Speaker Steve Sviggum, who would be invited.

The meeting Pogemiller and Kelliher contemplate would be a rare bipartisan assembly of leadership talent, befitting a nearly unprecedented state fiscal situation. By applying more than $5 billion in one-time measures to closing a $6.4 billion budget gap this year, Pawlenty and the Legislature have pushed a huge financial problem forward to 2011 and beyond.

If nothing else, a summit such as the one the DFLers envision would attract public attention to the depth of the problem that confronts the state. With luck, it would help the state's 2010 voters understand that their political judgments will determine whether and how Minnesota can avoid a California-style state financial meltdown in years ahead.

LORI STURDEVANT

FROM NETLETS FOR JULY 27

The professor and the cop:

A discussion continues

"Stupid" or any derivation of the term used publicly by our president isn't going to be swept into oblivion by spins such as "calibrating those words differently." The only way it will go away is for Obama to say something like this:

"I was the stupid one. I never should have commented on something for which I did not have all the facts, even if Professor Gates is my friend.

I am sorry, and I sincerely apologize to Officer Crowley, to the Boston Police Department, and to the police forces across our land who often labor in extremely difficult and danger circumstances. The 'teachable moment' is mine."

CAROL JOHNSON, EDEN PRAIRIE

•••

What happened to Prof. Gates also happened to me and I am white. I cooperated with the police and was not arrested.

MICHAEL RESIG, CRYSTAL

Recent Commentary stories

Google roundup: Hear, hear, for standing up against evil - July 27, 2009

Google roundup: Hear, hear, for standing up against evil - Google may not win its fight against the Chinese government, but bless it for trying. More

Comment on this story | Read all 3 comments | Hide reader comments

About Opinion Exchange

Opinion Exchange is produced by the Editorial Department, which is dedicated to hosting the discussion on a range of issues of interest to Star Tribune readers online and in print. In its new format, it's our hope that Opinion Exhange will create a more dynamic dialogue between Star Tribune readers and the Editorial Board. Many individual posts will be written and signed by members of the Editorial Board and will reflect their own opinions. Daily editorials will continue to represent the institutional voice of the newspaper and be researched and written by the Editorial Department, which is independent of the newsroom.

Subscribe to RSS|Learn more about RSS