Ashwin Madia is emphatic that we must change our economic policy in this country. The era of “borrow and spend”, ushered in by the Bush Administration must end. The Congress must return to the basic financial concept of “pay as you go”, meaning that every spending proposal must be matched to specific revenue sources or spending cuts. This method was instrumental in creating a federal budget surplus in the late 1990s.

The fact that Ashwin volunteered to join the United States Marine Corps after attending law school says a lot about his character. As a young lawyer, primed for a high paying position at a top law firm, he could have opted for the money. But instead, he became a Marine, and spent 4 years serving our country proudly. For that, he deserves our gratitude.

As it turns out, visiting the Republican National Convention is a lot like going to the state fair: There’s a lot of standing around, eating greasy food, prime people watching, home-made crafts and politicians, lots of politicians. 

Hello everyone,

What do you think of the Democratic Convention so far? I would love to hear your thoughts. Drop me a note!

Bill Lapadat

Madia: Emphatic that U.S. Balance the Budget

re: Debate 8/21 with Erik Paulsen

Ashwin's insistance that we balance the budget because "we don't need to borrow $2.1 trillion more," was met with loud applause from this mostly Republican audience of business leaders.

Republicans in the Third District are clearly fed up with the era of "borrow and spend" that was ushered in by the Bush Administration.

Erik Paulsen has consistently sided with Big Oil to oppose tough measures to fight Global Warming and promote energy independence.

Paulsen voted:
NO to Minnesota's participation in a regional greenhouse gas reduction program. [1]
NO to requiring that 20 percent of Minnesota's energy be produced from renewable sources by 2020. [2]
NO to requiring that renewable energy make up a minimum share of the electricity sold by utilities. [3]

Where were you when you learned that RFK was shot?" In Minnesota, it happened around 2:00AM, so most of us found out the next day.

Me? I was six years old at the time. It was one my last days of Kindergarten and my siblings and I were eating cereal at the coffee table. Something was on television...I wasn't paying attention. Suddenly, my mother yelled to my father, "Oh my God! Steve! They shot Kennedy!" my dad ran out of the bathroom with shaving cream still on his face.

I was little, but I knew right then that something terrible had happened...

Check out this story from our sister publication www.chaskaherald.com about Minnesota Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau's arm wrestling prowess.

Where do I start?