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1) Policy Focus: The Governor's Foreclosure Bill Veto
2) The David Strom Show
3) Sign up for our Action eLists and enter to win an iPod Nano!
4) Conrad deFiebre of Minnesota 2020 responds to David's comments in the May 15th update. David fires back.
5) In case you missed it: Recent columns and commentary from the Minnesota Free Market Institute
1) Policy Focus: The Governor's Foreclosure Bill Veto
On Thursday, May 29, Governor Pawlenty vetoed "The Subprime Borrower Relief Act of 2008." Given all of the media attention on mortgage foreclosures nationwide, this was a gutsy move. The Governor kept his eye on the bottom line and, on the law, both in terms of precedents that would be set and those that the Act, if signed, would have violated. From his veto letter addressed to the Minnesota Senate:
The bill also raises significant legal and philosophical concerns. The contract clause of the U.S. Constitution forbids States from enacting legislation that impairs existing contracts. This bill impacts existing mortgage contracts by statutorily changing monthly payment obligations and altering contracts in other ways. The Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Federal Constitution may also be violated by this bill.
No other state in the nation has enacted a bill like SF 3396. There is a reason for that--is not sound policy.
Good save, Governor! In addition to being unconstitutional, this bill would have increased the price of credit for the vast majority of Minnesotans who are paying their mortgages on time. Additional obligations on the lender are always passed along to the borrower. This is basic economics and common sense. It is good to see them win out over populism.
2) The David Strom Show
The David Strom Show sponsored by the Minnesota Free Market Institute is broadcast weekly on AM 1280 The Patriot Saturdays 9-11 A.M. Podcasts of the show are available at Townhall.com and also directly via iTunes. (See our radio show page for details). The show is now downloaded over 11,000 times a month!
Last week's show (5/31) was broadcast live from the State Republican Convention in Rochester, MN. After listening to the Governor's speech from the podium, the first hour guests were Ed Matthews, candidate for the 4th Congressional district and Felix Montez and Ole Hovde candidates for state house seats 59 A and B, respectively. In the second hour, Barb Davis White was our guest just before stepping up on the podium herself to give a speech. Craig Westover, Senior Policy Fellow of the Minnesota Free Market Institute joined us for a brief update on the Foreclosure Aid bill that was the subject of one of his columns and which the Governor vetoed last week. Andy Aplikowski, longtime Republican activist from Anoka county, delegate and blogger at Residual Forces gave us his thoughts on the convention and prospects for conservatives in the upcoming election. Lastly, Grant Cermak, a new Republican delegate and candidate for House district 58 A was gave his thoughts about the process.
3) Sign up for our Action eLists and enter to win an iPod Nano!
The David Strom Show will hold a drawing for a free 4MB iPod Nano on the June 28th show.
To enter, go to the Join pagefor our action e-lists and check the box for the iPod nano giveaway!
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4) Conrad deFiebre of Minnesota 2020 responds to David's comments in the May 15th update. David fires back.
In our last weekly update, David commented on an op ed written by Minnesota 2020's Conrad deFiebre which appeared in the Twin Cities Daily Planet, Minnesota in the transportation safety slow lane,criticizing the governor for vetoing the Transportation Policy Bill. Late last week, DeFiebre responded to David's comments, with a hyperbolic essay entitled "The freedom to die in your car." Here is David's latest salvo:
Minnesota 2020's Conrad deFiebre believes that the carnage on Minnesota's roads from unbelted drivers is the moral equivalent of war. Just as thousands of Americans die in Iraq in the name of illusory "freedom," each and every Minnesotan who dies without the benefit of a seatbelt has been sacrificed needlessly-our lawmakers having the means to prevent these deaths and have chosen to ignore their responsibilities in the name of a false sense of "freedom."
This freedom, deFiebre insists, is nothing other than a freedom to die. The only "benefit" acquired through retaining the right to drive unbelted without molestation of the law is the right to die a messy death on the road.
DeFiebre is perhaps so used to suggesting infringements on others' liberties and property that perhaps he has failed to note that they are not his-or Legislators'-to grant or withhold. In our Liberal Democracy our individual liberties are not understood to be grants from fellow citizens, but endowed upon each of us by our creator. Each of us has a right to expect deference from our fellows, even or especially when they believe that we are exercising our freedoms in ways of which they do not approve. As long as we are not hurting our fellow citizens, it is none of their business how we choose to exercise our liberties.
What I cannot understand (and I hope that someone over at Minnesota 2020 deigns to help me) is how deFiebre can't figure out the distinction between the casualties our armed forces suffer in war and the victims of car accidents. DeFiebre insists that both types of death are morally suspect, and both should be understood to be victims of right-wing fanatics who don't understand true freedom. I remain unconvinced. In fact, our soldiers are volunteers and hence not victims and unbelted drivers choose not to wear seat belts. DeFiebre's impulse is to wrongly infantilize them by suggesting they are victims.
In our view it is not the case that the test of whether a law is good or not is whether the world would be a better place if everybody obeyed it. Such a place would be a benevolent tyranny, not a liberal democracy. I often suspect that it is just such a government that my friends on the left pine for.
5) In case you missed it: Recent columns and commentary from the Minnesota Free Market Institute
The Minnesota Free Market Institute conducts research and advocates for policy that limits government involvement in individual affairs and promotes competition and consumer choice. By analyzing the actions of the past and applying the enduring lessons of the free market, the Minnesota Free Market Institute creates policy options for the future. The Minnesota Free Market Institute accepts PayPal! To donate click here.
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