With news from Minnesota Public Radio on Greta Cunningham Wells Fargo plans to cut 1000 teller jobs at his Norwest Bank branches. The two Banks recently emerged in the cutbacks are part of a plan to reduce the bank's Workforce by 5% Bank officials say they don't know how many tellers in Minnesota would be affected their over 9200 full and part-time tellers at Norwest branches in the state and Wells Fargo spokesman says many of the jobs may be eliminated to Rich Russian. The greater Minneapolis chapter of the American Red Cross is breaking ground on a new permanent home today. The Red Cross was forced to evacuate its old headquarters building 3 years ago because of a fungal contamination in the building a problem was so severe that they had to demolish the old headquarters John sees it with the American Red Cross. He says the new fifty thousand square-foot headquarters building Ohio 70 staff members as well as classrooms and a permanent blood collection site.Bowers that that will make it convenient and we hope that people who work downtown Minneapolis will be able to come and people who are traveling in and around that area will be able to stop by blood donations are down nationally and there's a real need for blood going into the Fourth of July holiday weekend the forecast for the state of Minnesota today calls for partly sunny skies Statewide. There's also a chance of afternoon thunderstorms in northern and western Minnesota highest today mainly in the seventies tonight showers and thunderstorms likely in the north partly cloudy in the south of the chance of showers and thunderstorms low tonight in the 50s at this hour Rochester report sunshine and 62. It's partly sunny in Fargo and 66 Duluth reports, mostly sunny skies and 62 and in the Twin Cities partly sunny skies a temperature of 65 that's news on Greg Cunningham back and Gretel 6 minutes past twelve. Today's giveaways sponsor is Northwest Airlines Minnesota's Hometown Airlines serving more than 500 cities in nearly 100 countries on six continents.I told you this one would be. Love you guys. Gracious what we need is a phone call your friends. If you're waiting for us to say that magic word odds are good that neither Laura McCollum nor I will come across it. Here's the deal. This is the end of the fiscal year. And what we need to do is to convince at least to 2353 more of you by tomorrow night to call in your membership Seether to become first time members a new members or renew your membership lot of people that's a lot of people no question about it. We we like a little bit too behind where we should be at this point, but it's still doable. 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We always have a little of that wiggle room that we were talking about with our fall drive and our earliest Spring Drive because we have months to make up the difference, but now we're down to the crunch fiscal year ends tomorrow night at midnight and we need your support one 800-227-2811. Well the US Supreme Court finished up at work last week with a flurry of rulings that some experts say could dramatically change the balance of power between the federal and state governments could also handed down several other important released this year and Putting the Indian rights decision that was followed too closely here in Minnesota University. Minnesota law professors is Ana Cheri is come by this hour to discuss some of those rulings what they mean and it probably what they don't mean as well and we invite you to join our conversation. If you've got a question about some of the court rulings from the US Supreme Court this year give us a call on our regular call in line. Now don't use Pledge Line Rider call in number as you know is 651-227-6065 1227 6000 outside the Twin Cities 1-800. +242-282-865-1227 6001 802-4228 to a professor Susanna Sherry. Thanks for coming in today. It's my pleasure are the program about Justice Harry blackmun who passed away in before we get into a and all the rulings. Just wondering where will he fit in the big scheme of things? Is he going to be remembered as one of the great just To serve. Well, he'll certainly be remembered primarily for a Roe versus Wade. I'm and there's no getting around that and so some people will remember him as one of the best justices and some people will remember him as one of the worst but he really should be remembered. Although I don't know whether he will but he should be remembered for a lot more than that. You remember when he was appointed. He was appointed by Richard Nixon. He was supposed to be quite conservative. In fact since he like the then chief justice Earl Warren Burger came from Minnesota. They were called the Minnesota Twins and he was expected to be a pretty solid vote for the conservatives. But as the years went by by the time he he left the court. He was definitely a liberal on most issues. And so he's an illustration of how judges can grow and change in the job and all the issues. That one president uses to pick justices may not be the issues that arise later and so on and also we should remember that although he wrote Roe v Wade five other Justice. Jointed it was a 6232 Susan. So it's it's hardly fair to rest. All of it on him was supposed to come to a screeching halt all of them were some predictions that with the impeachment trial and the need for the Chief Justice William rehnquist preside why that would be at the court would get nothing done stalemate would result and the legal system as we know it would come to a crashing halt that none of that happened with two things happened to forestall that one is that the impeachment hearings were mercifully short so they did not interrupt the the Court's term for very long and the other is that chief justice rehnquist insisted and and I understand that this was almost entirely his doing that the he insisted that the hearings be held only in the afternoons the Supreme Court holds its hearings. It's oral arguments only in the And as you recall the Senate held the trial only in the afternoon starting at about 1. My understanding is that the the Senate itself wanted to to hold hearings all day and regular simply refused and said he was not going to leave his job at the court on done just for the impeachment trial. I think I sent it was a little miffed at that but it did succeed I think in keeping the cord on track. And in fact, I finished earlier this year than they have in 30 years at trial leave any lasting legal precedents in terms of how it was handled by the court any anything that will have any permanent impact or was rehnquist primarily there as a bus driver just to keep things going well as a bus driver, but as you probably know he's also a scholar of impeachments. He has written one of the major books on the Johnson impeachment and also the impeachment of an earlier Supreme Court And and so he was very into the president. I think so in terms of exactly how everything worked. It was very similar to the way that the prior presidential impeachment trial work Johnson impeachment in the 19th century, and so in some sense, there's there's very little new precedent that was set. We're talkin the shower about some of the decisions handed down by the US Supreme Court are guess this hour University Minnesota law professor, Susanna Sherry and again love to have you join our conversation here. If you have a question about some of those decisions, the number to call would be our regular call in line. And that's 651-227-6006 51227 6,000 if you're calling from outside, the Twin Cities of the number is 1 800 +242-282-865-1227 6001 800-242-2828 now in terms of the decisions that came down from the court. What would you consider? Maybe the most important one was there a didn't seem like it was a real Blockbuster that people have a hundred years from now look back at it. You'll notice that I had no abortion cases on their docket. They had no affirmative action cases on their docket. No big race cases at all. No religion cases on their docket and only a few very minor Free Speech cases. Those are the kinds of cases that would normally make the headlines and people would say, yeah. This is going to be remembered in a hundred years. But in fact on the last day of the term, I think they handed down three decisions that will have lasting effect that are part of a continuing trend on the cord in the federalism area that is cases that are essentially stripping power from Congress and giving it back to the States these cases involved whether States could be sued under various federal law now Federal Law requires, for example, that employers pay their employees time and a half for overtime. It's a standard federal law part of the minimum wage and so on and the state of Maine like all states has employees in the state of Maine decided not to pay its employees time-and-a-half for overtime. So the employees Sue and what day is this set of cases on the last day how old is that? Essentially those employees are out of luck. They can't sue in federal court and they can't sue in State Court. There were a couple of other cases are other statutes that were involved in the other cases. One of them was the patent infringement patent statute that prohibits people from infringing other people's Pattinson. In this case. The State of Florida was alleged to have infringed somebody's patent and this to the court said well, sorry the patent holders out of luck can't sue in federal court can't sue and State Court and I think that these are quite serious inroads into Federal congressional power basically says, even if Congress wants to pass a uniform National law that applies to everybody including not only private employers but States when they choose to employ people not only private marketers of inventions and so on but States when they choose to Market inventions Congress can't do that state employees or or a patent holders whose patents are in French by the state are just there. They're in a different category. They can't sue will you know, I was I've read a lot about those relays and I have to confess to being utterly mystified by does this mean now that essentially there is no federal law that's enforceable if it's state chooses to ignore it. Why? Well, it's not quite that extreme but it's closed. Most of these laws allowed the United States itself for an agency of the United States to step in for example, the fair labor standards act the United States the labor department could step in and say you know what the state of Maine isn't paying its employees, right? We're going to we're going to sue and they're not the states are not immune from suit by the United States. So if the United States decides to police that I think that is something like forty million state employee 4 million. I'm sorry state employees and what they're being paid. Well, then the United States Government Can infect step in and Sue the other possibility is that states could waive their sovereign immunity and allow their employees to Sue. There is also a third possibility that's a little unclear and it might be that these state employees can sue essentially not the state but their supervisors the people who make the decisions, but the money would have to come out of their pockets and it's not exactly clear that the court would allow that to happen either. So so there are a few possibilities but none of them were very likely civil rights laws and environmental laws and and all those things that we Taken for granted. Well, some of them are and some of them are the basic civil rights laws on race and gender are not up for grabs. There is no question and the court didn't question. Thus it all in its decisions at the end of the term that Congress can subject the states to suit when they discriminate on the basis of race gender or religion because in passing the statute the fans race discrimination and gender and religion discrimination Congress was acting under the powers given to it by the Fourteenth Amendment. It was acting to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment and the court has said that when Congress is enforcing the Fourteenth Amendment, it can eliminate the state's immunity from suit. So as long as Congress wants to do it it can the hard question is what's the scope of congress's power their how far can they go in enacting statutes and say oh, yes, this is the Fourteenth Amendment we can do this week and I ever get the state's immunity and in in the case involving. Patent lost the person who has the patent holder argued that the state had basically taken their property by infringing the patent and that therefore when Congress tried to suggest the stage 2 suit Congress was enforcing the fourteenth amendment's ban on The Taking of property and the courts to know the court said no Congress didn't have any evidence that states were infringing patents violating the 14th Amendment not enough to show that Congress was enforcing the Fourteenth Amendment weird that takes us is to leave environmental legislation and doubt and certain kinds of anti-discrimination legislation in doubt. The Supreme Court already has accepted to agree to hear a case for next term on whether the age discrimination in Employment Act weather employees of a state can sue the state for violating that law for discriminating against them on the basis of age rather than race or gender difference statute different justification. Maybe a different result. We don't know that yet. So some anti-discrimination statutes are in danger a few are not and certainly things like environmental law labor law. All of that is in danger sounds like one of those really up to so difficult to understand issues that has profound implications. I think that's exactly probably 3 weeks to teach this in an upper class course just this one little issue about State sovereign immunity and it's been brewing for about 20 years as the Supreme Court has heard of woven its way through Doctrine. The main case came about 3 years ago made without the e. The state case. The primary case came about three years ago when the court finally said that unless Congress was enforcing the Fourteenth Amendment. It couldn't eliminate sovereign immunity these cases today are acai mean this term are essentially elaborations on that theme and as we get more and more elaborations it gets more. Complicated but it also has broader and broader impact as more statutes are in Jeopardy or as in the patent case or the the overtime casemore statutes actually on the one hand. The court was holding a states rights essentially in these cases, but in the Minnesota case hear the Indian treaty rights case the court said well, the the tribal treaties take precedence over state power is that it is that an accurate interpretation of the Court ruling in the big Indian rights case here in Minnesota. That's a pretty accurate description. The core was faced with several questions about the enforceability of treaties. And also mostly the the revoke ability of treaties that is one of the arguments that the state made was that the president had revoked the treaty and the Court held that he didn't in fact revoke it and and probably didn't have the power to Self that tastes actually wasn't too surprised and it wasn't even that important the case after all the Supreme Court simply affirmed what five other federal courts had done didn't disagree all the courts including now the Supreme Court all agreed that there was a treaty and it was enforceable and it was continuing and that was basically consistent with Doctrine in the area for a hundred years. And so it won't it would have been a major case if the Supreme Court had gone the other way, but mostly this was just sort of confirming that the lower course got it right. Were you surprised at once to the ruling came down of the issue essentially? Felt resolved here in Minnesota that it had engendered so much passion leading up to the court final Court decision decision came down here by 2. Okay. Well that's record said that's fine that shows that the respect that the court is still held in I'm just by controversy over some cases like Roe v Wade, which has never settle the issuing and even when the court reaffirmed throw a few years ago in the Casey case, it's it obviously hasn't settled the issue. But but this time it did and I think that's partly because this really is a legal issue the question of interpretation of a 3D or whether the treaty is still valid if the cord stump decided who can University Minnesota law professor Susanna Sherry is with us this hour and she's here to talk about some of the big decisions handed down this year by the US Supreme Court. And if you'd like to join our conversation again, give us a call here on our phone in number 651-227-6006 51227 6000 outside the Twin Cities one eight hundred two for two. 282-865-1227 6001 800-242-2828 the Americans with Disability Act. Now that became the subject of a what appeared to be an important role in here right toward the end of the court session deprecation came last term when they held that HIV positive status was infected disability. But this term as a narrow of the reach somewhat and held in a in a series of cases that if you have what might be called a disability that is correctable such as being nearsighted which is correctable by glasses or if you have high blood pressure, but it's correctable taking medication and so on that if you are essentially functioning normally with the correction, then you're not considered disabled and you're not protected by the statute which relieves the Sun. What animal is a situation that an employer can discriminate against someone because they wear glasses and that doesn't violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. I think it's a fair way to get the statute. That is the statute itself is is not very clearly written and it's it's certainly plausible to reach the result of the Court did it would have also been plausible to reach the other result. I think part of the problem with the statute. And of course all these cases were 5 to 4, so we don't know what's going to happen in the future and there are a lot of questions still open about about the Ada Americans with Disabilities Act. The biggest one of course is what what counts as an accommodation employers are required to accommodate disabled employees if they can do so reasonable and so far we don't have any Supreme Court ruling on what that means and do we know and I'll go what at least a disabled person is. Are cited but it's correctable with with glasses that is not is not a disabled. We also know from last term that someone who is hiv-positive is disabled but there are still a lot of questions. I think at the margins about exactly how disabled you have to be in so on and one of the questions it's a percolating up through. The lower Court's is the question of people who are undergoing treatment for cancer whether they are disabled because sometimes they are not functionally disabled in the sense that they can do anything that most people can do and yet they are clearly sometimes the subject of discrimination the object of discrimination and they are all so clearly a group of people for whom Congress intended the statue to offer some protection Congress used for cancer patients as an example of irrational discrimination against the disabled and yet the courts haven't quite resolved this given how the statute is is written again more problem with the statute than with the courts. Play with any other ruling sweet. We keep talking about all these 524 decisions. There's so many of them seem so important especially the ones with the state and federal relationship. Is it conceivable that a year from now to years from now, they're just change their mind and both the other way 5'4 and and will be back to the old way of looking at the federal and state relationship. And if so how in the world can people plan their lives. Well, that's a problem. Now if the individual Supreme Court Justices changing their mind, that's highly unlikely but Justice souter in his very long descent in one of these federalism cases basically did threaten that as soon as we get one more vote. We're going to reverse this case and and so if one of the more conservative justices does retire and President Clinton or any possible Democratic successor does get an appointment to the court replacing one of the majority of five rather than one of the minority then certain It could go the other way this the question of the enforceability of the fair labor standards act the minimum wage and overtime statute against the states has actually flip-flop several times. This is the first time it's been a question of whether they could be sued but back in the early 1970s the Court held that Congress didn't have the power to pass the statute as applied to the states at all. And then they reverse themselves in the early 1980s and now holding the states can't be sued if they violated it is essentially essentially reversing themselves again, so this particular statute does make it very hard not only for individuals to plan their lives, but four states the claim their budgets, it would be nice if we had a little more stability on the other hand this trend toward strip and Congress of power has been going on since the early 1980s basically since the first few appointments by President Reagan and so it would be Hard to reverse it quickly as our guests this our midday talking about Supreme Court rulings handed down this year. And if you'd like to join our conversation 651-227-6802 for 22828 Bill. Go ahead. I'm wondering how the how you think the rehnquist court would Define judicial activism because it seems like they're pretty darn active and I'll hang up and listen. Thanks. That's a really good question since obviously one of the things that this court and the people who appointed the presidents who appointed many of its majority members are against is judicial activism. And one of the things that the dragon campaign Don was to say, we're going to get the activists off the court. We're going to put on strict constructionists and yet as you know, the court has been striking down. If you Federal statutes and not as many state statutes, but they have been striking down quite a few Federal statutes. I think what this court would say is that they are not activists because they are only enforcing the Constitution that is they are only doing what the Constitution tells them to do and the majority tries to back this up and several of the federalism cases by looking at the history. I've read these cases and I can't say I'm persuaded by the history in the majority opinion or for that matter by the history in The Descent. It's it's such a messy area and such a messy historical question that I think trying to glean from what we have left of the 18th century history, whether the framers intended the Congress be able to pass minimum wage laws and impose them on the states and make them suitable in state or federal court. I think that's basically an impossible task where this is leading is What's a good question? They would say they're not activist because I'm out there on the policing the Constitution. I guess I would say that the constitution isn't that clear and they like all courts before them are being an activist. I was going to say I wouldn't the the old style liberal justices make the same argument just interpreting that Constitution and the back it up with a history particular one. We're talking about social issues rather than federalism federalism hard enough, but when we talk about things like abortion or the right to privacy or even flag burning those are things the framers just didn't think about at least I thought about the relationship between the states and the federal government in so you can pick up little bits of history and throw it into your opinion or help me out with one of the Rolling sore from the court said that it's illegal for states to impose residency requirements essentially on welfare recipients. So if if a person moves from Alabama to Minnesota, we can't say to that person. Well for the first year that you're living in Minnesota will will give you the same benefits. You would have gotten in Alabama to avoid your moving here for the for the better benefits. We offer Court said you can't do that. How does that square with this ruling that all this the strands were letting the state's going to go their own way. Only letting States go their own way where Congress tries to interfere. The the welfare case was really constitutional case what the court said and this was not unanimous but it was 7 to 2. It wasn't that a slim majority what the court said is that the privileges and immunities clause which says that the citizens of each state shall have the privileges and immunities of all the of the citizens of all the states basically that that Clause prohibits States from discriminating among their residence based on either how long they've been to the state or where they came from and I know that ruling got a lot of press and in terms of welfare, it's it's significant. I mean, it means that states cannot try the experiment the California tried to have to do something else but aside from welfare, I don't think it's going to have much impact because the court was very careful to write it narrowly and to distinguish every possible situation. For example, what about in-state tuition for the University of Minnesota? You might think that if a student moves to Minnesota to go to school that they should that automatically be considered a resident and be given in-state tuition does the is that what this California case means? The answers know the court quite explicitly said well in-state tuition is different and they started an old case and different license fees are different and they cited an old case. So this was really just about welfare. It's enough to make the mine spin. We don't have a lot of time left here. But I want to run through some other things just said there was a ruling about that that said that at least under certain circumstances school districts can be sued if they don't act properly in in raining in sexual harassment among students expected follow-up to last turns case last term. You may remember the Court held that if teachers harass students and the students complain about it and the school does nothing then the school district is liable. And this was basically the same thing for students if students harass other students and the the victim's complain about it and the school district does nothing they're liable. Now. There are two things that will keep this from becoming just one massive litigation. First of all, the court says that the harassment has to be so pervasive and so extreme that it interferes with education, so we're not Talking about a little bit of teasing or a little bit of pushing and shoving we're talkin about constant sexual innuendo and sexual touching and so on by one student of another and second victim does have to put the school district. Notice the victim does have to complain to a teacher or principal and it's only then if the school does not that the school is liable as if the victim compliance and then the school disciplines that the perpetrator the school district not liable then General drift. Is it is there any any direction that this card is moving? Is it right word? Cuz I kind of lingering in the middle of no more so than it has been in in past terms in terms of federalism. That is it is taking power away from Congress and giving it to the states. Otherwise, I think it's pretty well Treading Water right in the middle and in particular, this was a very lawyer liter. Other than the federalism decisions, they did with courts everywhere. Do they interpreted statutes and mostly badly drafted statutes by Congress date police the litigation process. There's a whole bunch of cases that neither you nor our listeners are going to be interested in having to do with when you can take a case from State Court to federal court and how long you have to do this that or the other thing and whether you can appeal a certain ruling directly or whether you have to wait those sorts of things that are really the heart of what courts do and the Supreme Court did it so it's almost like they're acting like lawyers any justice is likely to retire in the next year or so has the oldest and he appears to be in pretty good health. So they're there have been no rumors. There are persistent rumors that Justice rehnquist will retire with those rumors have been going on for 10 years. And so I just count them and I haven't heard anything. Hang on especially the more conservative justices if they were thinking about retiring to try to hang on until after the presidential election in the hopes that a republican would be would win the White House. I certainly heard that as speculation on the other hand if somebody is getting old and is not in good health and if the job is really getting to be too much for them, but how much is there the future of the Supreme Court going away against that I'm not sure whether individual Justice is take that into account as much as we think they do big Blockbuster Clayton cases lurking next year. Are there any that are going to really grab the headlines but I've got the school vouchers case. They got a case that's decided whether it is constitutional to fund private religious schools, or at least a fun students who are going to private religious schools. Also, there's a case that they have not yet agreed to hear but I can't imagine that they won't agree to hear it and that's the case in which court in Virginia. Down the violence against women act as Beyond congress's power. And so I think they'll probably hear that one and that one will probably be a blockbuster headline-making case. Well, we'll be watching and I'm guessing that will have you back on to talk about it. I'll be happy to come back and I did want to say that I am a member. Well, you know, you can upgrade that membership. No, thanks a lot. Really appreciate your coming in University Minnesota law professor stopping by our midday program today to talk about some of the important rulings handed down by the US Supreme Court which finished its term last week with a flurry of cases a lot of attention. As you heard being paid to cases affecting of a relationship between the federal government Congress and the states little esoteric Laura McCollum, but potentially very very important. There's three of you on the line right now three of you have called one 800-227-2811. And the reason we are coming to you today is it is the second to last date of our end of the fiscal year drive. This is a probably the most important drive because as our accountant said earlier, she does have to balance the books and she's not giving us any wiggle room. She's not helping us out about Gary and you know, we need 51 more people in the next 15 minutes. I think we can do it. We did it last hour. We made the goal. Midday listeners came through but we really need to have that again about a 1-800 to 72811. And again, you know what you would like to just stop for awhile give you a break give ourselves a break here, but time is of the essence snow tomorrow night at midnight the fiscal year does come to an end. We do need to balance our books at this point still 2314 members left to sign up. Or to get to renew you may be one of those folks. If so, we're urging it'll give us a call right now at 1 800-227-2811. Laura said that we stay on track here. We should try to get at least fifty one more of you to call us here in the next 12 minutes now absolutely nothing you can do about the other 50 people but we'll keep working on them. Just take care of your own business here one 800-227-2811 everybody who calls gets a chance a chance to win a trip to the Mediterranean Cruise screwed you start out at Athens you go to Greek island Scenic Resort towns fishing villages. Sounds like I just a fabulous get away and when you call one 800-227-2811 your automatically registered for that. We really hope when you call that number, you also pledged some whatever level of support you think is appropriate to NPR. There's seven of you on the line right now. Hear from 50 more of you in the next 10 minutes and let's be frank and I are news people. This is not our area of expertise and I are more comfortable talking about Kosovo and the state capital and legislative news than this but we think this is important enough to break into programming couple times a year and come directly to you the listener and ask you for your support. This is the most effective way. We know you appreciate this programming or you wouldn't be tuned in 91 one on the dial in the Twin Cities and wherever else across the state of Minnesota and surrounding border states 11 of you have said hey, I'm going to start my day. I'm going to call one 800-227-2811 despite the fact that the Gary and Laura maybe aren't saying it exactly right. We know the sentiment is there they're calling in one 800-227-2811. If you're waiting for us to say just the right things to get you to call don't don't wait any longer you're going to have to have a long way to hear you laugh. Yeah, just make the call for 10. We said what we were supposed to say and get it over with one 800-227-2811 a nice tidy 12 people on the line right now. We can handle 50 calls at a time though. And that's about what we're going to need to get to our hourly gold here still 49 more memberships to go. We're about halfway to where we need to be 90 all together make your call it is it time to renew? I know a lot of you signed up last year this time of the year and it's time to renew you probably gotten a little reminder in the mail ship. We haven't gotten to it yet will give us a call here and get your membership renewed take advantage of a Nifty premiums were offering that this blue bag special will tell you about that in just a moment get your name and heard in the drawing of for the Mediterranean Cruise 7 Days 7 Days complements of Dayton's travel you'll spend seven days on the Clipper sailing ship visiting Mediterranean ports of call the star. Wire clipper ship stop a lot of Greek Islands Scenic Resort towns fishing villages and all the rest. All you have to do is call us and we'll enter enter your name in the drawing will hold the drawing on Thursday. And we want to remind you other two reasons to listen on Thursday over the noon hour one to find out if you won this trip have you call in the other? It should be a great program very informative. Universe and miss her present Mark yudof over here. So I make sure you join us that's coming up on Thursday over the noon hour programming that you've come to expect on this station. I think of you dial around you find out that there is not a lot of there not a lot of other programs quite like this. Where do you hear a lot of documentaries and full-length speech is National Press Club broadcast call ins with the top news makers in the rest. It's made possible by people like yourself who have made that membership contribution. There are millions of you. So, you know, If we had to depend on those ratings, I was all-important ratings. We would be toast Laura McCollum and we depend upon listeners who listen and help pay for programs. When do procrastinate till the last day of the drive. I mean, yes, there is tomorrow during mid-day, but you're going to want to listen to the programming tomorrow to call now you get it out of the way. You don't have to feel guilty every time you hear one of these breaks cuz people will say that I felt guilty as for so long so I finally called just do it now call one 800-227-2811 pain of you have said and I'm sick of feeling guilty. I'm going to pledge for the first time or I'm going to renew my membership. It's it's not a big step. You're going to feel so much better after you do that. You can say what what are they? Wait for? No big deal. Call one 800-227-2811 leave and let you decide how much you want to pay. The water bill is like that your cable company is not going to say pass. Whatever you feel like NPR says, hey, what whatever value you place on this service you decide you tell us. We say great you pass it whether you want to pay by credit card or the easy pay plan work comes directly out of your checking account and you don't even have to worry about writing out that check or signing that credit card bill. This is the best way to do it one 800-227-2811 and we need to hear from 49 of you in 8 minutes. I don't know I think Jennifer is going to call back and starts panicking late. We were talking earlier this hour with the with one of our accountants. One of those folks who is going to be adding up the memberships comparing that to the Berrington go in the out go tomorrow night at midnight as we come to the end of the fiscal year and frankly. She was kind of nervous. We were trying to reassure best we could cuz we're still confident that enough of you will make that call. We got 7 minutes left to go here during this midday broadcast 7 minutes to go still needing to hear from 49 more of you with your membership pledge renewals new memberships additional contributions. Call one 800-227-2811 1 800-227-2811. No Busy Signal's you'll be able to get right through absolutely Tennessee Volunteers have to come to work here Laura wave your magic wand we need a magic wand something here 6 minutes to call one 800-227-2811 many of you listen to mid-day day after day or two and then you want to hear Laura mccollum's reports from the state capitol. You want to hear the other find programs on this station? Well now's the time when the bill comes due item. You hear a lot of Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura over our noon hour. You've had him on many times when he went out to California and his book tour. We are the speech of him at the Nixon Library on the people. I think have come to depend on this program for in-depth coverage of what our governor is doing on lots to keep up with their and you've heard it on Monday. I know the two of you have a fine friendship going at this point. To just get along great. Every time you have in mind 10 of you on the line have said hey, we support mid-day. We support the kinds of programming at we know you're not calling in sick because Gary and I are asking you to your calling in because you appreciate this programming you prefer to hear the programming. We know that but this is sort of the best way to reach all of you who appreciate the programming just sending out Mass mailings does do it because there are those of you who appreciate this programming and you made that decision by tuning to this spot on the dial is call one 802-2728 11:47 to go the blue bag special kind of a last call for a blue bag specials. If you'd like to take us up on the that's special offer. It's available at the $10 per month level you here is what you get to get the blue and Minnesota Public Radio tote bag. You get a copy of the CD called the only American album you'll ever need chock-full of Great American Music you'll get a certificate for dinner for two at the Green Mill and and we'll send you out this morning monthly supply of Breadsmith bread fabulous magazine all about life in Minnesota and your contribution means that ten bucks will go toward Habitat for Humanity. You're helping to build a house for someone that's willing to put some Sweat Equity into it and build a house and try to rebuild the neighborhood and in our region. All of that is important to go to the phone call one 800-227-2811 every single call matters membership is the single most important source of revenue for Minnesota Public Radio. Not a lot of places you can say that about and you know, when you turn the other places on the dial, not only do you find not find it. Kind of programming. What do you hear a lot of commercials lot? Of course no commercials here. This is as close as we get just us coming on here saying Help support the programming that you listen to every day why we need those phones ringing one 800-227-2811 right now about 3 and 1/2 minutes left to go and we still are quite a ways from our goal 42 memberships. Shy where we need to be now. We can get there in three minutes quite easily. If all of you who are listening right now who are if you're not yet a member or if it's time to renew if you just make that call, it'll take Just two or a minutes of your time literally will be able to get you in before I want to hear stay on track tomorrow night. Midnight is the bewitching hour. That's when the books are closed and we'll find out when we balance the books 800-227-2811. We've got three minutes to go $12 on the line waiting to hear from you. You'll be number 13 and hopefully we'll get 14 and 15 on the line one. 800-227-2811. What do you think? Laura all pokeo Gilt do people know in fact that they're going to be entered in this drawing for the Mediterranean cruise and we got mad across come on. This is not your average vacation. This is not going to a Minnesota lake for a week. This is going on a cruise of the Mediterranean and not that of Minnesota lake for a week wouldn't be nice. That sounds kind of nice right now, but Cruise What's the Mediterranean for a week is valued at more than $7,000 and one of you might as well be one of you listening right now. They gets it call one 800-227-2811 will sign you up for the dry depending on what level you pledge. We will give you a nice incentive. Whether it's the NPR tote bag or we have a long list of little incentives and thank you gifts. And if you want you can check out our website NPR. Org you can pledge online if that's easier for you while technically proficient people that maybe would prefer to do it that way and love you. Just rather pick up the phone call one 802-2728 11/16 folks on the line. Okay, if that continues shouldn't be a problem. But you know, if you call now and teen to call now will have you on and off the phone and plenty of time to hear Talk of the Nation that's coming up quickly things considered after that. We got a great lineup today. If you call now pledged, then you can listen it guilt-free for the rest of the drive. Dollars on the line with got a minute left to go. Are you in the tent you have $19 on the line waiting to hear from you at one 800-227-2011 1 800-227-2811 21 callers are here and calling in waiting to hear from you. We're going to ramp up here thanks to all of you who called our volunteers are standing by waiting to take your call. We can still get you in under the wire do give us a call one 800-227-2811 on the next All Things Considered mongrels experience the Girl Scout life in a new troop for East Asian girl. That's right was all today's news on the next All Things Considered weekdays at 3 on Minnesota Public Radio. Can o w FM 91.1 You're listening to Minnesota Public Radio. And we have a partly cloudy Sky 69 degrees at Contra W FM 91.1 minute.