Overview: What I represent
I want what is best for the majority of people, the majority of the time. My major issues revolve around the 5-E’s: Energy, Economy, Education, Essence of Health Care and Environment.
Issue 1: Energy drives our economy
Key Point
Since energy drives our economy, Minnesotans and the Minnesota State Government need to partner in a pro-active, 30-year transitional plan that outlines ways for people of the state to support sustainable energy resources and adopt adjusted life styles.
Acknowledgment
Oil is the foundation of our economic system. When this foundation begins to diminish and becomes expensive (as it already has), I believe the economy will contract. This contraction will have ups, downs, stops, and starts but generally will continue until the energy resources, the population, and the environment of the planet come into sustainable balance.
Understanding
History shows us that since World War II, oil production and consumption have been rising steadily, along with that of gross domestic product (GDPs). Now we are at or near peak oil production, and the shift we are beginning to experience is an imbalance in supply and demand.
Regaining balance will not be an easy task, nor will it be without some sacrifices. For the most part, neither our state nor our country has ever experienced this dilemma, and I believe it will take state mandates to keep us on track.
Solutions
I believe Minnesotans and the Minnesota State Government need to develop a pro-active, 30-year transitional plan that will lead our communities to become aware and understand that we are facing a changing world where we need to make conscious choices that lead to adjusted lifestyles.
It has taken me a long time to learn that I cannot do everything by myself. A 30-year transition or mitigation plan will involve a lot of people and input. Our state legislature will not be able to put together this plan alone. I believe that the use of “open sourcing” will be the key to a 30-year plan.
Let me give you an example. Bill Gates developed the web browser “Explorer” for which we have all paid dearly. Mozilla Fire Fox is (some say) a superior browser and it is free. It was not developed in a corporate for-profit context. It was developed by some very adept people communicating their ideas over the internet until the ideas morphed, and the browser emerged. People did this for free because of their beliefs.
I believe the 30-year plan must follow a similar path. While for-profit institutions should have input, they must not be the sole developers of the 30-year plan. more
Issue 2: Economy and budget mirror energy availability
Key Point
The economy and budget of the state of Minnesota are a function of energy availability.
Acknowledgment
I see serious economic changes on the horizon, unlike any we Minnesotans have ever experienced. Similar to Issue 1, Energy drives our economy, I believe we will have an economic contraction that will continue for many years until life adjustments are made within an economy that functions with little or no fossil fuel use, life adjustments that embrace alternate forms of energy.
Understanding
I believe the state economy and state budget are a function of energy availability. As the energy declines, so will our state economy and our state budget. The economy we have experienced over the last 60 years has been almost totally oil driven. As oil supplies become tight and prices rise, our economy will falter. Every day, the increased fuel prices are taking hundreds of millions of dollars out of disposable income. I believe the peaking of world oil production is a fact. All of the past stopgap measures and manipulations to economic factors will not work this time. We will have to change our thinking to change our actions.
Now someone might say, “If I don’t use fossil fuels, someone else will.” I believe that to be a true statement. However, the “someone elses” will not be transitioning to a new era, and their reality will be most likely “a fall off a cliff,” while our transition will be more like “a controlled slide down a steep hill.” And we will be many years ahead of them.
Solutions
Our economic survival will depend upon a 30-year transitional plan that provides a blueprint agreed upon by both Minnesota residents and Minnesota state government, working together. more
Issue 3: Education exists in many forms
Key Point
It seems to me there is a never-ending demand on the state budget and local taxpayers for more money to deliver a better education to Minnesota’s youth. Well, I just don’t buy that philosophy. I do not believe that more money equals better educated people. I believe there are studies from the east and west coasts that have come to the same conclusion.
Acknowledgment
I believe we need to acknowledge that we are overpricing Minnesota education. When anything becomes overpriced, alternative solutions and replacements arise.
Understanding
Unions have a place. Everyone wants to make a livable wage with stability, consistency, and longevity. One must remember that market forces, economies and laws can, and do, have significant influences on job value, stability, consistency, and longevity, especially in this fast-changing world. With so many options to get things done, I believe union management and members must be careful to consider the entire picture. With this knowledge, they can act prudently, enhancing their credibility.
Solutions
I believe that the continued grinding by the Minnesota teachers’ union for additional money as the answer to everything in education will result in serious backlashes, whether or not the economy contracts, as I predict. Nobody on the planet likes being required by a state-mandated law to pay a guaranteed wage to a certain group of people. I believe the teachers and their union should consider the positions for which they are currently funded. In the future, these positions may be some of the most secure positions available to the workforce.
Finally the teachers’ union needs to look into the internal workings of the school districts to find creative efficiencies that could work elsewhere in the organization, and then act accordingly. Otherwise, outside forces will correct the imbalances.
Issue 4: Essence of Health Care is a basic human right for all
Key Point
Health care today has become an exclusive privilege.
Acknowledgment
Those who can afford health care, receive it; yet, many of them are unhappy about the increased costs. Those who are unable to afford health care are suffering. We are our brother’s keepers, and all need to work together to make changes in the current health care profile.
Understanding
Although health care professionals are doing their best to provide excellent care, there are just not enough professionals, supplies and funding to make it possible to help everyone. That is why we need to offer health care through a national program, similar to that of other countries like Britain and Canada.
Solutions
I believe that we need to start looking at ways to cut health care costs and take action. A first move could be that Minnesota ban all forms of prescription drug advertising. The money saved on advertisement costs would would lower drug costs in Minnesota.
Secondly, many of our people are serving in our military and have been directed to serve in a war zone where there is high risk of loss of limb, life, or of having to kill another human being. At the very minimum, these defenders should receive the same type of health care offered to our U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives. more
Issue 5: Environmental issues are highly complex
Key Point
The state of our environment reflects the energy choices our planet has made. It also reflects our attitudes and our insatiable quests for bigger, better, more. I believe that global warming and climatic change are happening.
Acknowledgment
There are people who are on record as saying that water is a larger issue than peak oil and climatic change. That could very well be. I have not studied the water issue as much as I have studied peak oil and climatic change. Documentaries by Al Gore and Will Steger paint a pretty grim picture of what is happening to our environment.
Solution
I have experienced two years of drought on my farm, and the drought has cut my yields by at least 40%. This has been a reality check regarding how important water is to our food supply alone. The water usage in ethanol production is the greatest reason I do not support ethanol. Water and its 3-C’s: care, custody and control will naturally be a part of the 30-year transitional plan. We need to tap into local community groups that are already studying this challenge.