| FFM to host 2010 Election Preview with John Fund on October 25 The Freedom Foundation of Minnesota will host a 2010 Election Preview on the evening of Monday, October 25 featuring John Fund, columnist for the Wall Street Journal. The event will be held at the Double Tree Park Place in St. Louis Park and will also feature an interactive Q&A session moderated by Congressman Vin Weber. Look for more details on this exciting event in the coming days and weeks. |
FFM in the news Last week, FFM released its report on taxpayer-funded federal lobbying by Minnesota’s local governments. It was picked up by the Star Tribune, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Rochester Post-Bulletin, MinnPost, BigGovernment.com, and many others. FFM discussed the report on the Say Anything Morning Show on AM 1100 (interview begins three minutes in). It’s worth noting that at least two counties featured in the report have stated that they actually spent significantly more on federal lobbying than official records indicated. These discrepancies help underscore our main point, which is that there is a troubling lack of transparency related to taxpayer-funded federal lobbying. |
Short Takes The Wall Street Journal explores how cities and states across the country are increasingly turning to privatization in an effort to fill budget gaps. Excerpt: “In many cases, the private takeover of government-controlled industry or services can result in more efficient and profitable operations. On a toll road, for example, a private operator may have more money to pump into repairs and would bear the brunt of losses if drivers used the road less.” The Duluth News-Tribune did a great investigative piece on the University of Minnesota-Duluth’s School of Fine Arts, where “spending has increased by 44 percent since 2004. And the school’s dean has spent thousands of dollars yearly on overseas travel, including trips to Turkey and Italy, that faculty and student critics say has brought little benefit to the school.” |
