MN leaders say drought aid for farmers likely next month
Good evening,
The Senate DFL has requested an outside investigation after public complaints made by former DFL staffer Cynthia Callais about how her complaints of being sexually harassed were handled. [ Read more from Brian Bakst]
The Minnesota Supreme Court unanimously upheld Minnesota's law requiring a government permit to carry a handgun in public. The case may end up before the U.S. Supreme Court. [Read more from The Associated Press' Amy Forliti]
The Legislature will likely take up a drought relief plan for farmers in next month's special session. The idea got support from DFL Gov. Tim Walz, DFL House Speaker Melissa Hortman and Republican Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka. [Read more from the Forum News Service's Dana Ferguson]
Context: The immediate bipartisan support for aid for farmers stands in contrast to the partisan fight over aid for Minneapolis businesses damaged in riots after George Floyd's death last year. Senate Republicans opposed this aid, saying it was wrong to bail out Minneapolis for damage they argued was caused by bad decisions made by local (Democratic) leaders. The explanation may just be raw politics: right now Democrats need votes from ag areas more than Republicans need votes from Minneapolis.
DFL state Sen. Chris Eaton, DFL-Brooklyn Center, will retire at the end of her present fourth term. She's endorsed Brooklyn Park Council Member Susan Pha to replace her. [Read more from the Minnesota Reformer's Max Nesterak]
Dig deeper: Eaton represents Brooklyn Center, where unrest erupted this spring after the police killing of Daunte Wright. It's noteworthy that Eaton is on the opposite side of Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott in a local DFL factional dispute, with her husband having lost to Elliott in the most recent mayoral race and Eaton having criticized Elliott's response to unrest by saying she is "not sure he's qualified." [Read more from Axios' Nick Halter]
Congressional Democrats have decided not to put a provision raising the U.S.'s "debt ceiling" into upcoming bills that can pass without Republican votes. Instead, Democrats are planning on a standalone debt ceiling bill that will require Republican votes to pass the Senate, setting up showdown at the end of September. [Read more from Politico's Caitlin Emma and Jennifer Scholtes]
President Joe Biden issued a new eviction moratorium after a Supreme Court decision blocked the extension of the old one and Congress didn't pass a law authorizing it. Biden's administration had previously suggested he might lack the constitutional authority to unilaterally extend the moratorium but changed course following vigorous criticism from many congressional Democrats. [Read more from NPR's Barbara Sprunt]
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is finding few allies in the wake of an explosive report accusing him of repeated sexual harassment. President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (of New York), along with a host of other New York politicians, have all called on Cuomo to resign. So far Cuomo is defending himself and refusing to resign. [Read more from NPR's Domenico Montanaro]
Something completely different: What was the biggest empire of all time? There are lots of ways to calculate this, from land area to total population. But perhaps the best way to compare this over time might be looking at the share of the world's population each state controlled. By this model, historian Walter Scheidel estimates there have been five countries to rule over 30 percent or more of the world's population, led by three Chinese states separated by nearly two millennia. The medieval Mongol empire and Rome during the reign of Antoninus Pius round out the list. The only modern entrants to the list: the British Empire on the verge of World War II and the empires of Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany at their maximum territorial extent during World War II. | |
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| Listen: Not on the above list? Napoleon's First French Empire, which at its peak in 1812 controlled just 8 percent of the world's population. But that wasn't for lack of trying. Check out the British metal band Forlorn Hope — sympathetic to the British opposing Napoleon — giving Bonaparte a villain song in "Vive L'Empéreur." [ Listen] | |
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