February 16, 1998 - Today is President's Day, the day we honor the legacy of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. When Washington became President he appointed Alexander Hamilton as the first Secretary of the Treasury. These days politicians talk a lot about the importance of balancing the budget and reducing debt, but Hamilton had a different view. He called the national debt a blessing and Hamilton's Blessing is the name of a new book that looks at the role of the national debt through history. Author John Steele Gordon talked to Bob Potter about how this tradition of borrowing got started.
February 13, 1998 - Whatever the outcome of the Minnesota tobacco trial, the government is already tightening regulations on tobacco. After launching an investigation in 1994, the Food and Drug Administration decided smoking posed enough of a health threat - especially to teenagers - to warrant stricter regulation. Mitch Zellar is associate commissioner of the FDA. He says before the FDA could regulate nicotine, it had to show tobacco companies intended it to act like a drug.
February 11, 1998 - American athletes have begun winning gold in Nagano. American skier Picabo Street won the women's super giant slalom. And Jonny Moseley took a gold medal for the U-S in the freestyle moguls competition. Jay Weiner is a sports writer for the Star Tribune. He checks in from Nagano.
February 11, 1998 - President Clinton is expected to commit to a tough tobacco settlement today. The proposal would impose a $1.50 tax-per-pack and give very little protection from further lawsuits to the industry. Doug Cogan is director of the Tobacco Information Service, which tracks the industry for investors. He says the debate will come down to how much legal immunity to grant the industry.
February 9, 1998 - A House committee today will consider a bill that would make it more difficult for Minnesota cities to use public subsidies to attract businesses. The bill would penalize communities that use tax breaks or other financial incentives to lure companies away from their neighbors. We talk to DFLer John Hottinger, Senate author of the bill.
February 9, 1998 - It's deadline week at the state capitol. Legislators have until Friday to get principal policy committees to pass their pet bills; legislation that doesn't make it through committee is effectively dead for the session. Minnesota Public Radio's Martin Kaste joins us from the capitol to take a look ahead at this week's action.
February 9, 1998 - For decades, the rule was you couldn't win against big tobacco. The companies had deep pockets to wage legal battles. Juries and judges consistently blamed smokers for their own use of cigarettes and the harm they caused. Then, in 1994, a friend of Mississippi Attorney General Michael Moore came up with a new idea. If a state sued for money it paid out in medical bills for cigarette smokers, the companies might be found responsible. The tobacco companies could not claim that a state smoked a cigarette. In a new book about how the states took on the tobacco companies, The People Vs Big Tobacco, the authors follow both sides of the story that lead to the trial here in Minnesota. Co-author Adam Levy says its been difficult for individual smokers to make headway against tobacco companies.
February 5, 1998 - As the tobacco trial continues here in Minnesota, Attorney General Skip Humphrey is headed to Washington today to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on civil liability as it relates to the National Tobacco Settlement. Despite a lot of fanfare last year when the settlement was announced, no national settlement bill has been introduced in Congress yet. Joining us now with an update on where things stand in Washington is Minneapolis Representative Martin Sabo.
February 4, 1998 - Tracy Moos is the owner of an unusual property that's for sale in Saint Paul. She had a hard time finding a buyer for her work-of-art, a shoe-covered home...but now has two bidders lined up. HOWEVER, she is still holding out for her dream....someone to turn the place into a museum. She bought the house after her husband, Malcolm Moos, the former University of Minnesota president, died. Moos gave me a tour and told me how the building came to be part of an "Outside Art" exhibit in 1996.
February 4, 1998 - Yet another Twins stadium package has emerged at the Capitol. Senator Roy Terwilliger introduced a bill, yesterday, that would fund a 270 million dollar outdoor stadium. The private sector would have to raise a third of the money, the rest of the money would come from the taxes raised by player's salaries. In addition Twins owner Carl Pohlad would turn over the team to a charitable foundation which would sell stock to the public. Lobbyist and former State Senator Kevin Chandler has been following the activity at the Legislature this Session. He says this bill will have a tough road to hoe.