Columns

Sandy Pappas 3 min read , ,

How Federal Funding Impacts Minnesotans

Until this January, I’d wager many Minnesotans didn’t spend much time thinking about the way our federal government moves money around. That’s what’s great about a government that works the way it’s meant to: only the people who are paid to think about it, have to think about it. But as we’ve seen since January 20, when the system starts to break down — or rather, is being actively destroyed — it becomes everyone’s problem. Problems like: Will I be able to feed my family this week if our WIC benefits are cancelled? Will I still be able to see my doctor if Medicaid funding is slashed? Will I have to quit my job to take care of my kids if Head Start shuts down? 

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Tim Johnson 3 min read ,

Grace, Beauty and Courage

On a sub-zero day, something more than anger is needed to get one to leave the warm comfort of home and join hundreds of protesters standing together by the steps of the State Capitol. Billed as a National Protest, with gatherings in all 50 states, this President’s Day event was both a rejection of the perceived authoritarianism of recent Presidential executive orders and an embrace of constitutional democracy. In his book, “Dare We Speak of Hope?,” Allan Boesak, South African theologian and a leader of the anti-apartheid movement, offers a quote from St. Augustine who said, “Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the same.”

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