Hi, Paul! Since you're a policymaker who is too busy during the Senate break to read or look at any data or analysis to inform your decisions or thinking as a policymaker—let me help out a very busy man like you!
First, let's look at the economic impact:
I think you know school lunches were already free for those who could not afford them. Walz gave “free” breakfast and lunch to every student. Paid for by increased taxes.
Research shows universal free school meals (breakfast and lunch for students regardless of income) have 2.5 to SEVEN times the return in human health and economic benefits in comparable high-income countries.
Dang, Paul. That's a huge ROI! LOOK!
The federal program in the US shows similar outcomes. The $18.7 billion spent annually means nearly $40 billion in human health and economic benefits annually. Wow! That's nearly DOUBLE the ROI!
Now, as a smart businessman I imagine you probably are an investor. In stocks. Real estate. And I am pretty sure you know what it means to invest $1 and get $2 in return. That’s a huge economic return! Stock market analysts call this "paying in dividends." And boy, does it!
Now, we know other states are investing in free food programs are not only investing in the health of children, they're investing in the health of the entire state's future. The economic and social impact of hunger and food insecurity is costing taxpayers too much!
OPE and yes, I DID forget you stepped down from your Senate seat to run a failed campaign for governor in 2021! It's so hard to keep y'all straight sometimes!
But please do hand this off to your friends in the House and Senate to ensure they are critically informed!
I don’t think I’ve ever in my life seen kids so deeply and publicly show love for their father the way Tim Walz’s kids show love for him—and he for them.
It’s so healing to see it, honestly.
For people with complicated relationships with their fathers—it’s so powerful.
Now, let’s look at what food insecurity looks like for Minnesotans. As a common sense legislator, you know it's critical to our state's economic future that we build policies to ensure a robust, healthy state. And that also means working to address Minnesota's deep disparities.
For example: In 2019, American Indian 8th graders were three times as likely as White students to report skipping meals in the last 30 days due to lack of money, and Black and Hispanic/Latino 8th graders were twice as likely to do so.
Minnesota's student demographics are rapidly changing. 32% are students of color. Now, Paul. As a common sense legislator, you know this disproportionate impact on students of color, Indigenous students, and immigrant students puts the health of our state's future at risk!
For example: Conservative estimates show the healthcare impact of hunger and food insecurity costs the U.S. $160 billion a year. That’s just in terms of health outcomes! This doesn’t even include the long-term economic impact of children experiencing hunger and food insecurity.
Oh, there's another beneficiary we didn't consider yet. Minnesota families! Research shows that free food in schools saves families as much as $150 per child! That’s more money families can put back into Minnesota’s businesses, and more money back in Minnesota’s economy, Paul!
Now, let’s consider an entirely different beneficiary than the students themselves. Minnesota farmers and food suppliers. Distributors. Transporters. That’s real jobs, Paul! That’s more earnings for them, more $ for local businesses, and more tax dollars in the coffers.
Research shows this leads to reduced educational outcomes; reduced life-time earnings; increased use of state public assistance; and less $ in economy. You know who will have to address that long-term bill in the future--one that is likely to grow exponentially? The taxpayers.
As a fiscally conservative policymaker, Paul, you now have some clear data and evidence to bring to the Senate next year that shows why this investment is so critical--for students, families, taxpayers, and the health and future of Minnesota! And that it pays off in dividends.
If you need anything else, let me know! I am happy to support you as a policymaker in any future investing decisions to ensure you can lead effectively and wisely!
A Plea to Mpls & Suburban District 5:
Please vote for Ilhan Omar tomorrow—and urge others to do the same. Even if you don't agree with everything she's done, it's vital to oppose the dangerous game Samuels/JoeRad are playing with conservative influencers.
Here's the reality:
I have immigrant friends who have run/currently run restaurants in the Twin Cities. They all had to change up their original recipes for dishes bc Minnesotans said it was “too spicy.”
So now “Level 1” is zero spice/heat and they’re like, “It’s not even Tibetan food anymore.” 🤷🏻♀️
Who is the Strib photographer who took this photo bc I want a framed copy?
While it feels good to see Don lose in even even Republican-leaning areas, it feels *really* good to see someone who traded in all ethics and used dangerous right-wing rhetoric and tactics lose so badly.
The biggest question I have for people living in Mpls/St.Paul is always: How did so many people get so rich? Like what do all the people who live "around the lakes" do? What "work" does everyone do to make that life so attainable? Like what JOBS pay everyone that much?
Imagining MN media questioning Walz tomorrow morning.
WCCO (probs): “As VP, can you address all this rain?”
Walz: “Boy, I tell ya. We’ve had a deluge in Minnesota these past few weeks. And I don’t mean the rain. I’m talking a storm of support for our next president Harris…
Sure, Target, with one of the world's top loss-prevention programs and FORENSIC LABS even the FBI can't match. "Theft and crime" are the main reasons you're closing these stores.
PSA: We are not in “daylight savings” right now. We fell back to “regular old time.” So we shouldn’t abolish Daylight Savings, but instead abolish soul-crushing regular old time and capitalism and cops. Thank you.
I am curious about all the white Bros in a residential area of S Mpls gleefully lighting dumpsters and pallets in the street near homes and apartments. Who are they? Where are they from? Why are they here?Can you ask them
@wcco
?
🧵 I wasn't planning to respond to yesterday’s
@StarTribune
story about “rising attacks on law enforcement” and its deeply flawed, misleading data analysis. But I couldn’t sleep thinking about it. So here we go.
Minneapolis voters deserve answers.
1. First, we deserve transparency in Frey Family financial ties to the Samuels.
Frey’s wife, Sarah Clarke, is a lobbyist for Sondra Samuels’ Northside Achievement Zone. Sarah lobbies for them on “education issues.”
I walked down to Lake Street. You know what they say: find the helpers. My heart is so full from seeing the community coming together with a response of love.
There’s some bitter irony in an organized neighborhood watch of people being on the lookout for white guys in hoodies and alerting each other all night about any spottings of suspicious white people.
This is what Don Samuels told the Washington Post today. That groups “benefited from the drama around George Floyd crisis.” This is what a right-wing Republican would say. And yet he ran a very close race against
@IlhanMN
in the primary.
was curious about st. paul zillow yesterday and sad to learn that you can get a really nice home out there for like $300-400k. some pockets are also very walkable, although i dont know how this maps onto real estate prices.
Do you ever go on Nextdoor just to find someone to mow your lawn and in less than two
minutes realize the worst people on earth are actually living all around you, infesting nearby homes block my block?
Grief thread:
Tomorrow is the anniversary of my sister’s death. She died unexpectedly in 2017. Her boyfriend found her. On the morning she was scheduled to see finally see a doctor for the first time in years. She never woke up for the appointment.
The Strib choose this photo, of Potter “sobbing” on the ground and cops consoling her after she shot and killed Daunte Wright, for today’s lead story about her trial for manslaughter charges. Imagine this sort of sympathetic treatment for anyone who isn’t a cop.
Already cops are leading with misinformation. They didn't shoot and kill someone "near an apartment building" They shot and killed someone INSIDE a residence that they used to enter with a key fob.
Flags have been used as a way to communicate since at least the 11th Century BC, detailing origin stories, histories, and traditions, among other things.
Now MN can have a rich story that says, "Someone made this unremarkable flag on Canva in 10 minutes."
Our city is being taken over by a militarized police presence. People are feeling terrified, and rightfully angry.
@MayorFrey
hasn’t tweeted in 5 days. He hasn’t spoken to the community. He didn’t even show up to the City Council meeting. What is even happening?.
#WhereIsFrey
St. Paul, a mirror city to Mpls in terms of police per capita & square miles, saw a 25% increase in crime. Minneapolis saw a 21%. St. Paul has had same # of police. Mpls saw "200 officers quit." A social scientist would say "this is not about police."
I just saw a dude wearing a Matt's Bar t-shirt eating a Matt's Bar burger while carrying a to-go bag of Matt's Bar burgers just two blocks away from Matt's Bar.
Here's the letter I sent to State Fair officials along with the petition to remove The Minnesotan--a racist vendor--from the State Fair. You can still sign the petition!
This is my block Powderhorn Park, in South Minneapolis. We've been having gatherings on our block since the uprisings to connect with one another, celebrate our artist community, and to work together for racial justice and equity. ❤️
Thread: So I know folks are calling for Gov Walz to resign over the current militarized police response. But as it was created for the "response to the Derek Chauvin trial," Frey and Arradondo were leading
@MinnesotaOSN
, not Walz.
Oopsie, Donny.
Hey, also remember how Frey’s campaign was basically All of Mpls PAC? You might have just made it possible to expose their coordination and shut them down, too.
Thank you for your service, sir. 🫡🇺🇸
I am going to keep asking these questions here. I know they won't answer me, but maybe some journos could ask them and get answers...or non answers.
1. Who is running communications for
@MinnesotaOSN
, specifically the social media account? Is it someone in the city of Mpls?
Minnesota State Rep. Brian Johnson (R-Cambridge) worries that cannabis legalization will impact police dog jobs: "Can you tell me how much money is in this bill ... for the cost of the retirement of the dogs? ... I did not see anything ... dealing with our K-9 units."
Real vs. perceived: Crime data and Star Tribune reporting. Using newspaper archives and the Mpls Crime Dashboard, I compared the words "violent crime" per year in the Star Tribune with the total number of violent crimes.
Welp, the Strib won't publish my Op-Ed about how the State Fair needs to take action against vendors selling racist wares and develop standards for Fair vendors. So here it is. You can also sign the petition to tell State Fair officials to take action:
MN conservatives coming at me with abuse and hate because I am *calling on the State Fair to ensure vendors don’t promote and profit from racism.* These people are proudly, unabashedly racist and it’s disgusting the way Milquetoast Minnesotan politicians turn a blind eye to it.
Hey,
@wcco
and
@kstp
: Stop terrorizing our neighborhoods with your helicopters. This is traumatizing. It’s disruptive. It’s violence. You terrorize people so you can both compete over an aerial view, instead of focusing on the real story of injustice. Stop. Now.
The MPD is problematic in so many ways—including in how they communicate to the public and victims and families of crime. They didn’t tell the mother of Adam Johnson how he was brutally murdered. She learned of it on the news.
Forcing people to work in downtown buildings when their job doesn’t require it—and that is what he is asking business leaders to do— so that other business owners can also profit from them is such a twisted and antiquated way to “lead” on building vibrant, healthy communities.
If you don’t want your favorite downtown sandwich shop to close, there’s a solution for that… come back to work downtown and eat there for lunch! We’re all in this together. Let’s continue to bring downtown back.
Y'all. Do you know how long this has been happening? I have research, phone recordings, and calls and letters to
@AGEllison
office about this. I have called journalists and attorneys and tried to file a class action suit. And NOTHING.
Apparently I can't make any doctor appointments until I pay my $6500 to Allina IN FULL, since my monthly payments weren't enough, despite there being no notice of any of this in MyChart. So I guess I can't see that vascular specialist for my brain aneurysms.
Target's sales declined for the first time in six years--by more than five percent. "Shrinkage" rates--loss due to theft--increased by one percent over same period last year. Maybe Target isn't being honest and reporters are just running with their "crime" narrative?
I would like to see *this* headline in the Strib tomorrow: "Group of Minneapolis voters question Frey's financial connections to Samuels; demand investigation into collusion in voter suppression"
Here’s what still hasn’t been made clear in any of this: Who shot the kids?
Everything I have seen so far is focused on the actions of young kids in a stolen car.
But isn’t the bigger story here, Who was shooting at the kids and were they arrested?
What’s a Twin Cities restaurant you love so much you could eat it every day? For me it’s The Himalayan on Lake St. Been going there since they very first opened, originally on Franklin. ❤️
My friend Amy (firsthand/I know her) posted this about Bogdan Vechirko. Lonnie, her partner, is black, and I assume owns a gas station. I am posting this here as context, as this whole story unfolds and we continue to search for answers and justice and healing.
What's also important to note is how the communities that abut George Floyd Square voted for a new Dept of Public Safety.
Ward 9 precinct 7 (my precinct) Powderhorn at Chicago Ave. and 38th: 516 to 311
Ward 8 precent 3, Bryant at Chicago Ave. and 38th: 494 to 287
#YesOn2
We said goodbye to Scoobi today. He jumped up and wagged his tail in circles when the vet came. Even at the end, he met a stranger he loved and who loved him right back. He went peacefully and surrounded by so much love.
I keep thinking about how Frey said that “calls to defund the police have resulted in a spike in crime.” This isn’t just one of many stupid things he has said, this is actually next-level Trump-style dangerous rhetoric.
I am getting vaccinated today. The one-shot J&J. I fall under the guidelines. I have two pre-existing conditions that put me at risk. The sense of relief is pretty huge, and I didn't expect it to feel like this. It's emotional for reasons I didn't realize are sitting in me.
I still cannot read or watch anything on
@WCCO
news or its affiliates until they make a public apology for employing Liz Collin and issue retractions on everything she ever did while employed there, given the knowledge of her racism, conspiracies, and deep conflicts of interest.
The most damning thing about the DOJ report: This is what Black & Indigenous people have been saying for years. Decades. And not a damn thing changed. Their voices were ignored. Erased. Why weren’t their voices and experiences enough?
I don’t have anything to promote, other than this factcheck of JD Vance’s speech that I hope y’all share, bc it’s critically important to understand how Trump policies led to record housing costs and record profits for Chinese real estate investors.
Fact check on Vance speech part 2: While they blame Biden and “China,” Trump policies in fact directly contributed to record housing cost increases, investor wealth and concentration of ownership, and record profits for Chinese and US real estate investors.
It’s increasingly evident that most of the local TV news anchors and reporters don’t live in the cities and still don’t know the city or neighborhoods, as evident in how utterly lost they seem in the protests and can’t define or give specifics about even some of the aerial views.
The strong scent of dank-ass weed stuck to winter jackets that hits you the minute you walk into Walgreens is the official sign of winter in Minneapolis.
Please,
@MayorFrey
. You need to come into the community and address why you're using helicopters to *patrol our communities.* Aerial surveillance has is a tool of oppression--used by dictators in places like Venezuela to exert control and manipulation. And you are using it here.
@JimForMN
Your campaign is funded by multi-millionaires from out of state. I am going to just start at the latest filing, and make my way through all of them.
1. Adam and Ellen Berren, from Wichita, Kansas. Donated $5k. Adam is President of Berexco, an oil and gas company.
This is embarrassing “reporting.” A non-story used to reinforce white NIMBY-ism and fear. So you’re going right into people shooting fireworks and then acting incredulous when one goes off by you?