I think we all know what it means to have “skin in the game”… to have incurred risk (monetary or otherwise) as the result of being involved (directly or indirectly) in a venture. Skin in the Game (February 2018) is also the title of Lebanese- American scholar Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s No. 1 New York Times bestseller. Nassim is not new... READ MORE >
Cook County officials recently concluded their series of Town Hall Meetings on the proposed 2019 budget. According to the press release, posted on the county’s website, County Administrator Jeff Cadwell, “encourage[d] residents to engage in the budget process as Cook County works toward setting the preliminary 2019 levy . . . an opportunity to ask questions and provide input to... READ MORE >
It’s September. The Minnesota State Fair, among other things, an exposition on everything imaginable that can be served up on a stick, has ended; the Labor Day grills have been scoured and stored away; kids are back in school–in most cases, donning new “threads”; and the Earth and sun have once again aligned in such a way that it is... READ MORE >
Anyone— other than the “askers”— paying attention to this year’s budget process? According to Jim Culotta, research assistant for the National Association of Counties (NACo), “The budget is one of the most important documents a county government prepares.” I think we would all agree that the purposes and manner in which public funds are spent are matters basic to our... READ MORE >
Ever since Plato invited Socrates and a few of his friends over to chat on the subject of virtue–following a little Greek tragedy–the use of the word virtue in our daily vocabulary has steadily declined to the point where it’s almost non-existent. Given its steady demise, we should probably reacquaint ourselves with its meaning, which Mr. Webster defines as “behavior... READ MORE >
In 1957, a committee led by then-Senator John F. Kennedy selected Senator Robert A. Taft as one of five great senators whose portraits would adorn the President’s Room off the Senate floor. Taft was also included in Kennedy’s 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning volume, Profiles in Courage, featuring short biographies describing acts of bravery and integrity by eight United States senators. While... READ MORE >
Counties across the country, that have a significant chunk of government-owned property within their jurisdictions, received sizable checks in the last few weeks. What for and why still remains somewhat of a mystery, however. John Ongaro, director of Government Relations for St. Louis County, said their county questions whether the money is real or not? In the state of Minnesota,... READ MORE >
As one might expect, there is considerable disparity, among Minnesota’s 87 counties, in the burdens local governments impose on taxpayers– ranging from a minimum of 2.8 percent of personal income in Winona County to a high of 7.5 percent in Cook County (2014 figures, most recent figures available from the Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence; but, believe me…the more recent... READ MORE >
Buckle up and hang on as this is going to be a bumpy read. Anytime you employ a lot of statistics, there’s the possibility folks will get lost in the numbers. Let me encourage you to stay with me until we’ve uncovered “the rest of the story.” According to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), in 2008, the average... READ MORE >
It seems fitting–an understatement–that we revisit a column I wrote just about a year ago, titled “A Tale of Two Counties.” Obviously, an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ novel, “A Tale of Two Cities” depicting life in England and France set in the 18th century: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” I used the widely... READ MORE >
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