Minnesota Lawyer

President Obama is receiving congratulations for moving to the center on the tax agreement with Republicans last month.

Well, now we have the public officers in place who'll soon begin cutting the Gordian knot that is Minnesota's fiscal situation: DFL Gov. Mark Dayton will roam the executive branch, while Republican leaders will rule in the Legislature.

Welcome 2011, and all that you offer as a New Year: a chance for a fresh start and the promise of new opportunities.

Over the years, many items in the state budget have been scrutinized with a fine-tooth comb. Even relatively small expenditures and contracts are reviewed to see if there is a way to save money or perform the task more efficiently. Sometimes, however, there are big-ticket items that get nowhere near the scrutiny they deserve.

Former ABC "Nightline" host Ted Koppel and MSNBC host and pundit Keith Olbermann recently exchanged sharply opposing views about the state of the news business - as they see it.

Do you recall that ironic twist on an old saying that goes like this: "No good deed goes unpunished?"

As we look in the rear view mirror at the 2010 race for governor, one has to ask how did Mark Dayton achieve (apparently) what no other Democrat has been able to accomplish in the last 20 years and win Minnesota's governorship?

From Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson's ad in Florida demonizing Republican Dan Webster as "Taliban Dan" to Republican Sharon Angle's ads in Nevada demonizing Latinos, negative campaigning reached new lows in the 2010 election cycle.

It seems impossible that we don't know everything there is to know about the three major-party candidates running for governor. But if we turn off the television, put down the newspaper and take time to review the record, there are some key pieces of the puzzle missing on each of the candidates.

Thomas Jefferson may be an iconic Founder today, but in the 1800 presidential campaign he was widely condemned for being an "atheist in religion and a fanatic in politics" who (it was rumored) had a secret plan to confiscate all the Bibles in the land.