Some years back, Progressive Minnesota (PM) campaigned widely agianst a stadium. It was the best known issue. In screening Linda Higgins, they asked her if she agreed with all their issue positions. She said yes. They endorsed her, worked hard for her, and gave her her narrow margin of victory. Within a few days of winning, she announced for a stadium. It was an in-your-face breaking of a promise to PM. PM never issued a retraction of their endorsement, nor made any comment at all; a year later, her big sign was still prominently featured on PMs wall. I suppose the leaders of PM hoped to retain some influence with Higgins, even if she treated PM like dirt.
I lost respect for Higgins; and for PM, which I left shortly thereafter. It is all too typical for candidates to be against corporate welfare when they run, then embrace it after winning, thus betraying representative democracy. If reps regularly lie, then side with the corporations against the people, democracy is threatened. At every level, reps side with the ruling class, and against the people, eg on the Iraq war, hurricane readiness, Social Security, education, etc. We must watch our reps, and when they betray their promises, they should hear about it long and loud, and if they don't improve quickly, should be voted out or recalled. Anything less, and we are treated as spineless paper tigers, as Higgins treated PM. Staying silent is a declaration of surrender, and the word spreads rapidly to other opportunists. No Minnesota nice for promise breakers. -David Shove Roseville On Sun, 4 Dec 2005, Eva Young wrote: > I saw Greg Gray at the Minnesota Women's Political > Caucus annual luncheon. (I was actually rather > surprised that his opponent, Linda Higgins wasn't > there). > > I asked Gray about his position on the Hennepin County > plan for a stadium. He told me had he been on the > county board, he would have voted against the > Opat-Stenglein proposal that would exempt the stadium > tax from voter approval. Gray indicated to me that > when he was in the legislature, he had voted in favor > of some Twins stadium plans. > > I've written Linda Higgins about this on more than one > occassion, and have never gotten a reply that clearly > indicates her position. I assume this means she > supports a special exemption in referendum requirement > to increase the sales tax on Hennepin County Taxpayers > to pay for a Twins Stadium. > > > > Eva Young > Near North > Minneapolis > Blogs: > http://lloydletta.blogspot.com > http://www.outletradio.com > REMINDERS: > 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. > If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL > PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. > > 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. > > For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html > For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract > ________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn > E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:mpls@mnforum.org > Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls > REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@mnforum.org Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
