So much easier to just criticize

As I open the Pioneer Press on a daily basis, there is one thing that I can be sure of, there will be a front page story detailing how budgetary cuts directed by President Trump and the DOGE team, led by Elon Musk, are causing hardships among Americans.  There will also be similar stories sprinkled throughout the paper. I am hard pressed to find any articles detailing the consequences of inaction on the part of our budget deficits.

If our budget deficits continue at its current pace, in 20 years the U.S. government will default on its loans and there will be nothing that can be done about it.  No more Social Security, no more Medicare, inflation will be rampant and at the very least a recession will ensue. The dollar will probably lose its status as the world’s primary reserve currency with all of those consequences.

Also, who now is going to loan the U.S. money needed to keep all of its obligations going? This should be a bipartisan issue, with both parties working to find a solution. Instead the Democratic Party offers nothing but criticism. Where are their solutions? What are they planning to cut? It’s so much safer to just criticize.

Please, Minnesota senators and members of Congress, what are your plans for cutting the deficit?

Don Lohrey, Shoreview

‘I don’t know’

President Trump’s deferral when asked on “Meet The Press” recently whether he is obligated to abide by the Constitution is predictable, troubling and reflective of his failing memory or mendacity.

His answer to the question — “I don’t know” — underscores many of the actions his administration has taken, which have drawn the wrath of a number of judges, even including some he appointed to the bench.

The non-committal response also belies the oath he took when entering the presidency 3-1/2 months ago as  well as in 2017, as prescribed in the Constitution that he would “to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

His ignorance of that provision indicates that his ability to carry out his oath is limited or he was not being truthful when he swore he would do so.

In any event, his behavior would disqualify him from membership in the right-wing Oath Keepers group that supports him.

Marshall H. Tanick, Minneapolis

 

A missed Messi opportunity

I attended the Inter Miami vs. MNUFC match recently and was deeply disappointed by the treatment of fans in the supporters section — particularly children — who were told to remove or cover up their Lionel Messi jerseys. According to ushers, only MNUFC gear was allowed in that section. This policy, if it exists, is not only misguided but was inconsistently and unfairly applied.

First, Messi is the greatest soccer player of all time — a global ambassador for the sport. For many fans, especially kids, watching him play is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Asking them to hide their admiration for him is not only petty, it’s contrary to the spirit of the game.

Second, MNUFC is not a storied club with the legacy or stature to demand this kind of tribal loyalty from a quarter of its stadium. If the team wants a small contingent of hardcore supporters to follow certain rules, that’s one thing. But enforcing it on casual fans — who were fortunate enough to get tickets — is something else entirely.

Third, Messi’s presence brought the club unprecedented attention and revenue. By my estimate, this match generated 8–10 times the typical game-day revenue. Instead of embracing the moment, the team chose to alienate fans who helped make it special.

Finally, I’ve attended many MNUFC games, and I’ve never seen this policy enforced before. If the club truly believes in it, it should apply it consistently — not just when one of the greatest athletes of our time is in town.

This was a missed opportunity for the club to celebrate a unifying moment for soccer fans in Minnesota — not a time to police jerseys.

Joe Trenzeluk, Wayzata

 

The cure? Midterm elections

People, what is happening to our elected representatives? I fear there is an unreported health crisis in the halls of Congress as well as our very own state Legislature. What could it be? Have lead paint chips been drifting down upon the balding pates of our nation’s and state senators and representatives, or perhaps mixing in with their modest cafeteria lunch soups? What could be causing this cranial malaise, this mind-numbing brain fog that seems to have become endemic to legislative halls?

I have only the symptoms of this condition to know of its existence. What other possible reason could there be for them to forget the tenets of “public health.” For instance, I read that our state leaders wish to leave a segment of Minnesota residents without the means to access reasonable health care. Allowing sickness and disease to develop and fester, threatening the public health. Or, as in our nation’s halls of state, they are debating how to cut Medicaid benefits to provide tax cuts to the already wealthy. Another threat to public health.

These can only be symptoms of some form of undiagnosed brain disorder that must be cured. I believe that can best be done by midterm elections.

Bob Emery, Mendota Heights

 

Before either of us departs

I’m no fan of memorials. I’m not against them. I just wonder what good it does for the dearly departed. They needed to hear what’s said when they’re alive and wondering what it’s all been about. To me, they’re just another contest: “I know more good things to say about them than you do.” We make competition out of anything.

There is an exception, though: that these mourners create something worthwhile and lasting in their name – a donation to their favorite cause, an endowment, a scholarship – a way for the deceased to live forever, still alive after death.

So, Don, because I believe you don’t know you don’t know, I want to enlighten you about what you think you know about me. And tell you what your being part of my life means to me now. Before either of us departs, that is. This is my paean to you, a word I didn’t realize was in my ken until I began typing.

When I started in the writers group, your remarks led me to believe you’d been an English teacher. I liked what you said about my stories, ever encouraging, showing me subtle nuances I didn’t see in phrases. I’d watch you out of the corner of my eye, measuring your facial reactions when you silently read my story. An English teacher after all and unwitting mentor. You helped me get in touch with parts of myself that I had lost, to realign puzzle pieces that made no sense, that didn’t quite fit.

And you introduced me to the Bulletin Board in the Pioneer Press. I was able to make an item from my bucket list come true. I saw my name in print in a publication people paid for. Wouldn’t have happened without your encouragement. A major boost for me.

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All the friends I grew up with who gave my life meaning and purpose are gone now. Connecting with you has renewed my sense of looking forward to another day with anticipation rather than antipathy,

I keep a message on my fridge, a reminder of what’s most important to being alive and well. It presented itself to me when I needed a helping hand with relationships gone awry: “Stay in touch with those people who make you feel good about yourself, and distance yourself from those who do not.”

I’m happy we’re in touch, Don.

Milan Mockovak, who describes himself as 94 years of age (not old yet) and an Episcopal Homes resident

By JILL COLVIN and CHRIS MEGERIAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — Between a barrage of executive orders, foreign trips and norm-shattering proclamations, Donald Trump has also been busy raking in cash.

The president has amassed a war chest of at least $600 million in political donations heading into the midterm elections, according to three people familiar with the matter. It’s an unprecedented sum in modern politics, particularly for a lame-duck president who is barred by the U.S. Constitution from running again.

Trump is keeping an aggressive fundraising schedule with the ultimate goal of raising $1 billion or more to back his agenda and hold the House and Senate next November, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to share internal details of the fundraising efforts.

The preoccupation with fundraising might seem highly unusual for a president who was notably averse to dialing for dollars when he first ran. But according to people familiar with his thinking, it makes perfect sense: By amassing money, Trump amasses power.

Trump is eager to reverse the tide of Democrats routinely outraising GOP candidates and wants to maximize his own impact as president. Any money left over after his term could help him maintain enormous influence over the Republican Party, cementing his status as its most influential kingmaker — and potential patron — through 2028 and beyond.

“It’s leverage,” said Marc Short, who served as Trump’s director of legislative affairs during his first term and later as Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff. “It’s a reflection of the power that he still holds.”

Inside Trump’s money operation

The day after winning November’s election, Trump began calling top staff with a surprising plan, according to two people with knowledge of the conversations. He wanted to start raising money again, immediately, not just for the transition and his inauguration, but for political committees that would demonstrate his clout throughout his second term.

Trump made calls to donors himself. One of the people described the message as “double up.” If a donor had given $1 million before the election, Trump wanted another $1 million now.

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People in Trump’s orbit describe him as someone with a strong sense of timing, and he knew that his influence was at its peak right after winning his comeback campaign. He had yet to make any personnel or policy decisions that could alienate key constituencies, and there was no shortage of people who wanted to get on board with the victorious team.

He has continued raising money at a rapid pace while president, headlining a series of high-dollar fundraisers, including a $1.5 million-a-head event on May 5 at the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia for “crypto and AI innovators,” and a pair of “candlelight dinners” at his Mar-a-Lago in Florida on April 4 and March 1.

Democrats and campaign finance watchdogs have long complained about Trump’s blending of official and campaign business. Many of the attendees have potential business before the federal government. But a conservative Supreme Court and Republicans who control Congress have for years weakened campaign finance rules.

The money is spread across a number of different committees, including MAGA Inc., Trump’s longtime super PAC, and Securing American Greatness, a nonprofit 501(c)(4) that earlier this month began airing a commercial backing Trump’s economic agenda and encouraging the passage of his tax plan “to get our economy back on track.”

The operation is being overseen by Chris LaCivita, Trump’s 2024 co-campaign manager, and Tony Fabrizio, the president’s longtime pollster. There are also other entities, including Never Surrender, Trump’s renamed leadership PAC, and outside groups like the Elon Musk-backed Building America’s Future, which LaCivita and Fabrizio have also joined as senior advisers.

There’s also the fundraising for Trump’s eventual presidential library and the nearly $240 million raised for his inauguration festivities.

‘I’m going to be very active’

One of the goals of the groups is to back Trump’s agenda and help push his legislative priorities through Congress. Securing American Greatness plans to spend more than $10 million on its ad, which has been airing across the country.

Most, however, is being held in reserve as they prepare to spend big in the 2026 primaries and midterms, with a particular focus on holding and expanding Republicans’ majority in the House. Aides are eyeing advertising, rallies and travel to back favored candidates. They may also challenge incumbent Republicans who have crossed the president or failed to back his agenda.

Trump has made clear that he intends to play an outsized role in next year’s midterm elections and has already begun issuing a flurry of endorsements in races across the country.

In 2018, Republicans lost control of the House in his first term to Democrats who went on to block much of Trump’s agenda and then impeached him twice, first in 2019 over his efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate former President Joe Biden, and then for his role in the Capitol insurrection after he lost the 2020 election.

Trump, according to people familiar with his thinking, is particularly focused on avoiding another impeachment and maintaining his power through the end of his second term.

“I’m going to be very active,” Trump said of his plans for the midterms in a recent interview on “Meet the Press,” where he noted he’s “raised a lot of money for congressmen and senators that I think are really good people.”

Trump and his aides are aware that the party in power typically loses seats in the midterms. But they hope that by ramping up spending before Democrats, they can break that trend.

“We’re not going to let that be a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Trump said at the annual National Republican Congressional Committee President’s Dinner last month.

He is also using official levers of power against Democrats ahead of the midterms, including with an executive order demanding immediate changes to how elections are run. He ordered the Justice Department to investigate ActBlue, the fundraising platform that has supercharged Democratic campaigns.

Will he follow through?

It remains to be seen how much Trump will ultimately spend on other candidates. The president has a long history of being stingy with his money, choosing instead to wield his influence by bestowing endorsements and staging rallies that energize the Republican base.

In 2022, as Trump prepared to run for president again, Republicans repeatedly griped that he was hoarding money for himself and not spending more on his endorsed candidates.

In the end, MAGA Inc. spent $19 million during the 2022 midterms, mostly opposing Democrats, including $3.4 million targeting now Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman, $3 million opposing Arizona’s Mark Kelly, and $3.4 million against Georgia’s Raphael Warnock. All three won their Senate races against Trump-favored candidates.

That sum was far eclipsed by the $260 million spent by the Congressional Leadership Fund and the $290 million spent by the Senate Leadership Fund, the campaign arms of House and Senate Republicans.

This time around, however, one of the people familiar with his operation said that they would not be surprised if Trump’s groups end up outspending them. Those who think Trump will be more generous say he has little else to do with the cash, even as he muses publicly about trying to run for a third term in defiance of the Constitution’s 22nd Amendment.

Others are more skeptical.

At the National Republican Senate Committee, for instance, staff have emphasized to incumbents that they are expected to build their own professional operations, with sufficient staff and infrastructure, so they won’t need to rely on the president or other outside groups for help.

“I would be shocked if that changes,” said Short, the former Trump and Pence aide. “I don’t think anybody’s sitting there thinking: Maybe he’ll give me some of that.”

Megerian reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Zeke Miller contributed to this report.

For generations, our state was a beacon of prosperity, innovation, and opportunity. We built world-class companies, maintained excellent schools, and fostered safe communities where families could thrive. That Minnesota – the state that dazzled the nation with its quality of life and economic vitality – has been slipping away slowly for nearly 20 years.

Last week, I announced my candidacy for governor of Minnesota because I refuse to stand by as our great state continues to decline.

At the heart of my decision is the oath I gave as a 19-year-old Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army to protect our country, my Christian faith to stand up for what is right and my devotion to my family and other families to make our state a place for our children to raise their family in a state they can be proud of. I find it abhorrent that so many Minnesotans feel they were forced to flee the state they love because of high taxes, rampant crime and substandard public schools.

My journey to this moment is anything but conventional; I wasn’t born into privilege or political connections. Just the opposite. I was raised in the projects of Harlem and later in a trailer park in Oklahoma, surrounded by poverty, crime, and limited opportunities. By all statistical predictions, I should have remained trapped in that cycle. But America offered me something powerful: a pathway forward through public-school education, personal responsibility and hard work.

I rejected the message that my circumstances defined my future. Instead, I became the first in my family to graduate from college, served proudly as an artillery officer in the U.S. Army, and built a successful career leading teams in healthcare and technology companies. The American principles that guided me, discipline, independence, accountability, and belief in human potential, are exactly what Minnesota needs and what I will deliver. I’m not a politician; I’m an experienced leader just here to serve my state.

Under Tim Walz’s leadership, our great state is struggling. His focus on bureaucracy inserting the government into families’ lives is making day-to-day decisions harder for families from the gas pump and grocery stores to where they send their kids to school. The financial picture tells the whole story: an almost $6 billion deficit where once stood a surplus, burdened further by $10 billion in new taxes. Murders are rising again in Minneapolis despite falling across the nation. Educational test scores are appalling. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, there are 68 percent of fourth graders who are not proficient in reading at grade level. That’s unacceptable.

As your next governor, I’ll restore something that’s vanishing in Minnesota: hope and a sense of pride in our state that has been absent for far too long. The belief is that through your own efforts and with a fair system, you can build a better life. My story wouldn’t be possible in the Minnesota that Tim Walz is creating – where victimhood is celebrated over victory, grievance over growth, and dependency over determination. But I know a different path exists because I’ve walked it. I am grateful to have made it here today, and I want to make success achievable for every person in Minnesota, regardless of their background. In November, America demanded that we return America to her state of success and prosperity; 77 million Americans voted for President Trump to reinstall America-first policies, strong national defense and less government bloat. Under my leadership, we can create a similar mandate here in the Gopher State.

Some say Minnesota is too far gone for Republicans to win statewide. They’re wrong. The electorate is changing. Just ask folks in Carlton County, who voted Republican for president for the first time since Herbert Hoover in 1928. Working-class Minnesotans across the state are rejecting failed progressive policies. With the right candidate, someone who speaks authentically to their concerns and offers real solutions, we can win. I am that candidate.

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I understand both struggle and success. I’ve led complex organizations through challenging times and emerged stronger, and I believe in Minnesota’s potential with every fiber of my being. And, like President Trump, I’m willing to fight tooth and nail to get our state back on track. This campaign isn’t just about defeating Tim Walz; it’s about reclaiming Minnesota’s promise for every family, every worker, every student, and every entrepreneur who calls this state home.

Join me. Together, we’ll write Minnesota’s next chapter – not as a story of decline managed by politicians out of ideas, but as an American comeback story that inspires the nation.

Kendall Qualls, of Medina, is a candidate for Minnesota governor, a U.S. Army veteran, and former business leader. He is also the founder and president of TakeCharge, an organization devoted to uniting Americans of all backgrounds around a shared history and common set of beliefs.

 

“New York City needs to show it can build housing that isn’t prohibitively expensive and comes in without years of delay. EDC can help get it done at the Brooklyn Marine Terminal.”

City and state officials announcing plans to redevelop Red Hook’s Brooklyn Marine Terminal last year. (Caroline Rubinstein-Willis/Mayoral Photography Office)

New York City has a crushing housing shortage. With federal housing subsidies on the chopping block, the city needs competent organizations like the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) to step in and quickly scale up affordable housing at public sites like the Brooklyn Marine Terminal.

In recent years, EDC has helped deliver 560 affordable units to the Lower East Side as part of the Essex Crossing redevelopment, 740 affordable units to the South Bronx at the former Spofford Juvenile Detention Center, and an impressive 2,500 affordable units are underway at Willets Point in Queens.

Now, EDC is attempting to revitalize the Brooklyn Marine Terminal, a decaying 122-acre waterfront site in Red Hook. Last year, the city agreed to take operating control of the terminal. The redevelopment vision calls for modernizing the container port and piers—half out of service or nearing the end of their useful lives—as part of a “Blue Highway” supply chain that moves freight around the city by water instead of trucks.

One scenario under consideration includes around 8,000 housing units, roughly 35 percent permanently affordable, new public parks around the waterfront, retail and commercial options, and expanded bus and ferry service to transit-starved Red Hook.

There is an opportunity to advance the Brooklyn Marine Terminal project at a pace New Yorkers wouldn’t have been able to fathom a few years ago. That’s in part thanks to the leadership of a Task Force, chaired by U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, that has guided the development of the plan.

EDC has held numerous meetings with community groups, reaching over 3,000 neighborhood residents. Red Hook West Tenant Association President Karen Blondel, a longtime advocate for NYCHA residents, has endorsed the project, saying, “We have an opportunity to create a more equitable Red Hook and I hope we seize the moment.”

Nevertheless, the Brooklyn Marine Terminal project has generated significant opposition from some community residents, lawmakers and others concerned about the reduced port area, waterfront job losses, gentrification and other impacts of dense housing. A local coalition, “Voices of the Waterfront,” has called for a pause to the general project plan process, and for it to undergo the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) to allow for more community engagement.

This risks making it more expensive to build and could derail the affordable housing component.

Separating housing from the broader redevelopment project would be a missed opportunity, as a port built a century ago can more efficiently handle today’s cargo on a much smaller land area.

Delaying the project for ULURP would also raise costs, just as Donald Trump’s tariffs kick in and push construction prices even higher, and is not guaranteed to produce better projects—just look at Hudson Yards. Scuttling the project would be another blow to addressing the city’s housing crisis.

Community leaders should continue negotiating directly with EDC for a limited, defined period and push for specific public benefits, such as more frequent bus and ferry service to Red Hook and protections against flooding and rising sea levels. However, keeping EDC at the helm is worth the squeeze. EDC answers to city control, builds fast and well, and has earned trust through projects like Willets Point and Spofford.

EDC-led projects have relied on private sector capital and efficiencies to create projects with public benefits, including permanent affordable housing, parks, job training, ferry service, and community centers. EDC’s mixed-use approach is distinct from many affordable housing projects of the past, which often isolated residents in large towers.

New York City needs to show it can build housing that isn’t prohibitively expensive and comes in without years of delay. EDC can help get it done at the Brooklyn Marine Terminal.

Nicholas Bloom is a professor of urban policy and planning at Hunter College. He is the author of “Public Housing That Worked: New York in the Twentieth Century” and co-editor of “Affordable Housing in New York.“

The post Opinion: The Brooklyn Marine Terminal Can Help Solve NYC’s Housing Shortage appeared first on City Limits.