GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 9, 2025: * * * Written by John Phelan 'We are all Americans': Appomattox, 1865 On this day 160 years ago, Confederate General in Chief Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia surrendered to the Union Army of the Potomac under the Commanding General of the United States Army, Ulysses S. G  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 8, 2025: * * * Written by John Phelan A tale of two food halls "Downtown is back," Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey announced on March 25. The trigger for this euphoria was the news that a new food hall was coming to the space on the first floor of LaSalle Plaza formerly occupied by Rock Bottom Brew  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 1, 2025: * * * Written by John Phelan Accounting for Growth: Human capital and 'raw' labor Last week, I wrote about how the growth rate of per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) can be broken down into the share that comes from growth in human capital, physical capital, or Total Factor Producti  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 10, 2025: * * * Written by John Phelan Another audit blasts Met Council's management of disastrous SWLRT project We at Center of the American Experiment have long chronicled the disastrous Southwest Light Rail Transit (SWLRT) project. Indeed, this boondoggle -- nine years behind schedule and a b  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 5, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn Anti-fraud bill advances at legislature This week at the Capitol, HF 1837 was voted out of the House of Representatives' State Government committee. The legislation represents the committee's policy bill for the year. Authored by committee co-chair, state Re  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 8, 2025: * * * Written by Sarah Montalbano Breaking: Trump to sign coal executive orders today President Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders at 3 p.m. ET today relating to coal production. The EOs are expected to allow coal-fired generators to stay open past their planned retiremen  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 7, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Walsh Capitol Watch: Four positive signs from St. Paul Capitol Watch is taking a break from all the negativity and polarization in state government to bring you four positive developments we've observed in St. Paul. Next week we will return to our regularly schedul  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 31, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Walsh Capitol Watch: Legislative leaders agree not to balance the budget Last week we wrote about Gov. Walz's budget proposal to the legislature and how it remains unbalanced. If adopted, his budget would spend $1.838 billion more than it takes in for 2026-27 and   more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 10, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Walsh Connect the dots from teacher union dues to student failure Wisconsin implemented the first school choice program in 1990. Iowa passed school choice in 2023 under the leadership of Gov. Kim Reynolds. North Dakota is about to pass school choice with help from  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 1, 2025: * * * Written by Catrin Wigfall Education Savings Accounts: Flexibility and innovation for Minnesota education Legislation introduced in both the Minnesota House and Senate would bring flexibility and innovation to students' K-12 education journeys. Under H.F. 19 and S.F. 244, Minnesot  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 10, 2025: * * * Written by Sarah Montalbano Energy transition has a global shipping problem, report finds A new report from the National Center for Energy Analytics examines a little-studied problem for a so-called U.S. green-energy transition: Where will the ships come from to ship critical min  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 1, 2025: * * * Written by Tom Steward Feds cancel MN pandemic grants funding renovations, other projects It's difficult to get a handle on the scope of the federal budget cuts coming down from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). But the cancellation of billions of dollars in COVID gr  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 2, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn Feeding Our Future: bribery case guilty plea #3 On a cold, rainy morning, a third guilty plea was entered into the juror bribery case arising out of the first Feeding Our Future trial. Your correspondent was there at the federal courthouse in downtown Minneap  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 3, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn Feeding Our Future: Exhibit 710 An audio recording of MN Attorney General Keith Ellison was included on the exhibit list of Feeding Our Future's Aimee Bock in the recently concluded trial. It was not introduced during the six-week trial that concluded last m  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 9, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn Feeding Our Future: Keith Ellison caught on tape! Keith Ellison, Minnesota's Attorney General, can clearly be heard pledging his support to individuals who would soon become his family's campaign donors and later Feeding Our Future criminal defendants. His r  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 3, 2025: * * * Written by Martha Njolomole Gov, Senate, and House budget proposals miss the mark There is an agreement in St. Paul that the state budget is out of control. Gov. Walz and both chambers of the legislature have proposed lower spending in the next four years. Proposed reductions for  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 3, 2025: * * * Written by Catrin Wigfall Homeschool freedom and Education Savings Accounts -- What happens? As states across the country expand educational freedom through policies such as Education Savings Account (ESA) legislation, some in the homeschool community have raised concerns and are   more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 31, 2025: * * * Written by David Zimmer Husayn Braveheart -- free once more Husayn Braveheart is just twenty-one. But he's making quite a name for himself by repeatedly escaping consequences for his violent and destructive behavior -- his most recent escape coming at the hands of a Dakota County  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 4, 2025: * * * Written by Sarah Montalbano If you like your appliances, you can (actually) keep them The Trump Department of Energy just last week withdrew four standards on electric motors, ceiling fans, dehumidifiers, and external power supplies. Congress is also working to disapprove of many   more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 2, 2025: * * * Written by John Phelan It's official: Minnesota is now a below-average GDP per capita state In American Experiment's 2021 report, "The State of Minnesota's Economy: 2020 -- A focus on economic growth," we wrote: What matters for economic welfare is per capita income. This is a ge  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 4, 2025: * * * Written by David Zimmer Latest 'mass shooting' study strains credulity The claims In March 2025, the University of Colorado, Boulder (UCB) published a study claiming 1 in 15 U.S. adults had been on the scene of a mass shooting, and that 1 in 50 had been injured during a mass shoo  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 1, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Walsh Mankato YMCA caves to activists, reneges on hosting education expo Here we go again! Another venue reneged on their agreement to host an event for Center of the American Experiment at the last minute after being bullied by local activists. This time it's the   more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 8, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Walsh MDE pays $7,000 to American Experiment for stalling data request The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) agreed to pay Center of the American Experiment $7,000 to settle a lawsuit over their failure to fulfill a data practices request. American Experiment  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 31, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn Media support for the fake town hall craze Around the nation, Democrats are organizing "town hall" meetings in the districts of Republican Congressmen, in the hopes of regaining control of the chamber in the 2026 election. Nothing wrong with that. That's wh  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 7, 2025: * * * Written by David Zimmer Minneapolis homeless encampments -- a thing of the past? The role policy advocacy may have played The impetus for change Advocating for public safety policy change is a "win some, lose some" venture. Even the wins are often difficult to recognize, coming a  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 7, 2025: * * * Written by Matt Dean Minnesota bill kicks dead people off Medicaid Rep. Jeff Backer, Chairman of the Health Finance and Policy Committee in the Minnesota House, moved House File 2604, which would stop payments to managed care organizations (MCOs) that pay for Medicaid recipients w  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 4, 2025: * * * Written by Catrin Wigfall More bad news: Gov. Walz's budget proposal also impacts charter schools More schools and students will be negatively impacted if Gov. Tim Walz's proposed education cuts for the next biennium get incorporated into the Minnesota Legislature's state budget.   more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on March 31, 2025: * * * Written by Tom Steward North Dakota law requires annual review for tenured faculty For decades, students and faculty have been the ones questioning the status quo on college and university campuses. But a decline in enrollment, a rapidly changing workforce and uncertain funding h  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 4, 2025: * * * Written by Sarah Montalbano North Dakotan vandalizes Cybertruck on video A Tesla Cybertruck was keyed in the West Fargo Costco parking lot just before 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 29. The same folks that, not so long ago, advocated for a de-facto mandate forcing consumers to buy EVs   more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 1, 2025: * * * Written by Bill Glahn Paving over paradise The state Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) is on the brink of approving two massive new electric transmission line projects. Next week (April 10) the Commission will meet to take up just two agenda items. First is the Big Stone to Alex  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 1, 2025: * * * Written by David Zimmer Progressives demand information from ICE -- oh, the irony The message sent For years, several progressive-led cities, counties, and campuses in Minnesota have had "sanctuary" policies that have prohibited sharing information with Immigration and Customs En  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 7, 2025: * * * Written by Tom Steward Proposal requires grads to work in MN for each year of free tuition The Minnesota Office of Higher Education calls the free college tuition program initiated in 2024 to stave off the decline in admissions the North Star Promise. Not surprisingly, nearly 17,0  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 7, 2025: * * * Written by Sarah Montalbano Solar power equipment vulnerable to hacks The three largest manufacturers of solar inverters have been found vulnerable to remote sabotage that could have produced large-scale power outages if exploited. It's lucky that a cybersecurity firm identified t  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 5, 2025: * * * Written by John Phelan The frozen north -- Canada's economic stagnation Canada's Growth Problem Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita is a key metric of economic performance which tells us how much per person is available to be consumed, invested, or put to some other use. Unde  more

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minnesota, April 10 -- The Center of the American Experiment, a civic and educational organization that says it creates and advocates policies, issued the following commentary on April 8, 2025: * * * Written by Sarah Montalbano U.S. electricity demand to grow 50% by 2050 The U.S. is expected to see electricity demand increases of two percent annually and 50 percent by 2050, according to a new study commissioned by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association. The growth   more

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, April 10 [Category: Education] -- The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities posted the following news release: * * * HACU appoints director of Midwestern Regional Office April 10, 2025 # SAN ANTONIO - The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities has announced the appointment of Gilberto Ruiz as director of state government relations of its Midwestern Regional Office in Chicago. Ruiz will oversee HACU's legislative agenda on state government issues  more

WASHINGTON, April 11 -- The New Civil Liberties Alliance issued the following news release: * * * NCLA Seeks to Reinstate Professor Terminated for Refusing Gov. Walz's Illegal Covid Vaccine Mandate The New Civil Liberties Alliance has filed a Complaint challenging the unlawful firing of tenured Lake Superior College (LSC) ethics and philosophy Professor Russell Stewart. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and LSC forced Prof. Stewart, who had worked at the college for 30 years, to choose between losing h  more