News with Nuance: July 14, 2023

Your Friday dose of News with Nuance: the week's biggest stories, unpacked + more ..

Hi Readers,

Pulling this newsletter together a bit later than usual this week, as I’m accompanying my oldest to a basketball tournament. Youth sports, quite the journey, amiright? Hopefully, we are learning lots of life lessons, keeping things in perspective, and avoiding injury. Anything else is a bonus <she repeats to herself.>

I hope you’ve had a wonderful summer week wherever you are, and you’re finding ways to stay cool in our ever-warming world. We’re in the South, and boy, the humidity is a whole other thing down here. Grateful for air conditioning and access to water.

Let’s get to the news … with nuance …

Photo from Shutterstock.

The Headline: Minnesota Overtakes Texas In 'Top States For Business' Rankings

I’ve only been away from home one night, so I shouldn’t be homesick yet - but I do have two stories for you this week from my home state. In my defense, they both represent I think some challenges to preconceived notions about America, and one of my favorite things about Minnesota is how it challenges the way people think politically about the middle of the country and about white, rural Americans.

One of the top GOP talking points in recent elections has been that “red states are better for business,” in particular Texas and Florida. But this recent study contradicts that idea, instead showing how Minnesota, a relatively high tax state that recently passed a behemoth progressive political agenda with a Democratic House, Senate, and Governor - has nevertheless maintained and even improved its status as an attractive place for companies to do business.

One of the most tragic parts for me about living through COVID was seeing how often Americans want to excuse human suffering for the idea that somehow we have to sacrifice human lives and wellbeing in order to feed our cannibalistic economic engine. What’s even more tragic is that it tends not to be true. While Wall Street, hedge funds, and billionaires might benefit from the relative poverty of most ordinary Americans - it seems to be that in general countries do best with a robust middle class, and people who are able to be fulfilled in their work and yet still have time and money to raise their families and - somehow “pursue happiness.”

I’m not saying we’ve got it down right in Minnesota (we’re still one of the states with the worst disparities when it comes to economic outcomes for Black and Indigenous Minnesotans vs white Minnesotans) - but I do think there’s an effort here to support the economy without trampling on the human rights of the poor and the middle class, and without limiting the power of labor. So this article is worth considering - and the questions it raises about what it means to have a state that’s “good for business” are ones that American politicians should be wrestling with in general.

The Quote: "Our study is not an opinion survey. We use data from a variety of sources to measure the states’ performance," CNBC states. "Under our methodology, states can earn a maximum of 2,500 points. The states with the most are America’s Top States for Business."

Minnesota jumped up to no. 5 after being ranked no. 9 in 2022.

Story by William Bornhoft, Patch.com

The Headline: Minnesota public defenders to get as much as $66,000 raises under tentative agreement

Here we go with another article from my home state that - again - challenges some of my own knee-jerk reactions when it comes to political news and policy. Americans are generally leery of high-paying government jobs, especially in an era of grift and