Category: Latest News

DFL Chair Ken Martin on Donald Trump’s Hold on Minnesota’s Republican Party

“On Thursday morning, Speaker Kurt Daudt said that Donald Trump is great for the Minnesota Republican Party. I am constantly astounded by the Party’s acceptance and support of a candidate whose campaign is built on bigotry and discrimination.

“On the heels of Trump’s racist comments about a federal judge, and the prejudicial statements made by Rep. Tony Cornish and candidate Ali Jimenez-Hopper, the Party’s embrace of this toxic rhetoric is a troubling trend that has no place in Minnesota.

“These tone-deaf statements minimize the very real issues that many Minnesotans face. It’s time for Speaker Daudt and Minnesota’s Republicans to stop blindly following Donald Trump’s divisive lead and prioritize the needs of Minnesotans they are running to represent.”

Longest period of private-sector growth in U.S. history

In the six months before President Obama took office the stock market lost half of its value, and through the Great Recession millions of Americans lost their jobs, homes and savings. Today’s jobs report showed that under President Obama, our unemployment is the lowest it’s been since 2007 and we have now had 75 straight months of private-sector job growth – the longest stretch on record. Clearly we still have more work ahead to expand opportunity for all Americans and ensure wages grow to meet the needs of hard-working families, but this is progress that the American people can be proud of.

America’s CEOs Saw Big Bumps in Pay, Even if Stocks Didn’t

The Associated Press released the following article posted on the NBC News website May 27, 2016:

Income Inequality Cant Do ItCEOs at the biggest companies got a 4.5 percent pay raise last year. That’s almost double the typical American worker’s, and a lot more than investors earned from owning their stocks — a big fat zero.

The typical chief executive in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index made $10.8 million, including bonuses, stock awards and other compensation, according to a study by executive data firm Equilar for The Associated Press. That’s up from the median of $10.3 million the same group of CEOs made a year earlier. Continue reading “America’s CEOs Saw Big Bumps in Pay, Even if Stocks Didn’t”

CEOs Are Making 335 Times More Than Their Workers: Report

The following article by Mary Thompson with CNBC appeared on the NBC News website on May 18, 2016:

CEOs-Paid-335-Times-Average-Rank-and-File-Worker-Outsourcing-Results-in-Even-Higher-Inequality_blog_post_fullWidthThe average pay for an S&P 500 CEO was $12.4 million in 2015, or 335 times the pay of a rank-and-file worker, according to a new report from the AFL-CIO.

That gap is actually narrower than the one posted in 2014, when CEOs earned $13.5 million, or 373 times the pay of the average worker.

The 2015 AFL-CIO Executive PayWatch compares average compensation of S&P 500 CEOs with the average pay of nonsupervisory workers as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nonsupervisory workers earned $36,875 in 2015.

The survey also compared CEO pay to that of union workers. Here the gap between CEO and average worker pay was less at just more than 242 times, while the typical CEO earned more than 819 times what a worker earning minimum wage would take home in a year. Continue reading “CEOs Are Making 335 Times More Than Their Workers: Report”

Rocks record Totten Glacier’s rapid retreat history

The following article by Jonathan Amos appears on the BBC.com website on May 19, 2016:

totten_esmeevanwijk_aad
Warm ocean water is getting under the floating front of Totten to melt it. Photo: Esmee Van Wijk/AAD

Unchecked climate change could put Antarctica’s huge Totten Glacier into an unstable configuration over the coming centuries, a study has warned.

If that happens, the ice loss could push up global oceans by 2m, or more.

The claim is based on an assessment of the rocks underlying the ice stream.

Scientists tell the journal Nature that should the front of the glacier retreat about 150km from its current position, it will then enter a runaway reversal that takes it 200-250km further inland. Continue reading “Rocks record Totten Glacier’s rapid retreat history”

Minnesota House Republicans Bringing “Trump Agenda” to Minnesota

Photo: Dominick, Reuter
Photo: Dominick, Reuter

House DFL representatives are calling out House Republicans for bringing Donald Trump’s extreme agenda to Minnesota. This session House Republicans have taken votes that put them squarely in line with the Republican Party’s presumptive Presidential nominee, including efforts to defund Planned Parenthood and restrict access to basic health care for women. And despite the economic challenges facing Minnesota families, they have blocked progress on things like paid family leave and efforts to reduce the cost of child care. 

“House Democrats have been working for two years to increase access for basic health care for women and to support Minnesota families who are being squeezed, but this House Republican Majority has shut us down and instead pushed a divisive agenda that puts women and Minnesota families at risk,” said House Deputy DFL Leader Erin Murphy. “House Republicans may want to distance themselves from Donald Trump, but the reality is they can’t distance themselves from the Trump agenda they are trying to force on Minnesotans.”

Donald Trump has laid out an extreme agenda that would take health care access away from women and make children and families less safe. He said, “Planned Parenthood should absolutely be de-funded.” Trump has refused to support paid family leave. Trump opposes universal background checks, even saying he will ban gun free zones at schools on his first day in office. And Trump’s tax plan includes massive tax breaks for the ultra-rich. On each of these issues, House Republicans have closely aligned with Donald Trump’s extreme and divisive agenda.  Continue reading “Minnesota House Republicans Bringing “Trump Agenda” to Minnesota”

There’s no evidence that ultrarich are fleeing Minnesota

The following article by Adam Belz and J. Patrick Coolican appeared in the May 7, 2016, StarTribune:

rent-clipart-canstock1231530The ranks of the very rich are growing in Minnesota, despite a controversial tax increase that singles out the biggest earners to pay more.

Critics predicted that the ultra-affluent would flee after Gov. Mark Dayton secured 2013 passage of a new income tax tier of 9.85 percent on individuals who make more than $156,000 a year. But the latest data show that the number of people who filed tax returns with over $1 million in income grew by 15.3 percent in the year after the tax passed, while the new top tier of taxpayers grew by 6 percent.

No doubt wealthy Minnesotans have changed their residency since 2012, but either more have moved in or more who were already here gained enough income to reach the top bracket.

Dayton argues taxes are not the driving force behind migration into or out of Minnesota. A change in residency is a decision involving weather, jobs and family, he said. Even if taxes figure in, they were already high in Minnesota before 2013, when the rate on top incomes was 7.85 percent. Continue reading “There’s no evidence that ultrarich are fleeing Minnesota”