MN Government Shut Down

See the words I bolded in your post for the critical problem with your take.

Here you go again, equating the party that rejects all compromise with a party that has already compromised and is simply unwilling to compromise further when they're not getting anything in return.

Also, this is not a microcosm of what's happening in D.C. The distinction is that while your article indicates that Dayton has reached his limit on compromise, no Democratic party leader has thrown down the gauntlet and set a limit on spending cuts. They (and especially Obama) remain open to compromise on spending but only if the other party will compromise too and allow for some revenues from taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

When one party says it must be 100% our way or we'll let the whole thing go to hell and the other party says no you have to give us something, almost anything, you have to be just a little bit reasonable, negotiations and compromise are not a one-way street, they are not "the same." In fact, they are opposites.

You need to cut this crap out. It's not real. It is false at its core.

 

Yes, I read the article. But all I needed to quote was the bit I did to make my point. One side says "any" and the other side says "further." "Any" does not equal "further." Did you even bother to read my post?

My vendetta is not personal; my vendetta is against equal time and respect for unequal behavior. It's true that you get a lot of the brunt for that vendetta because you seem to be the main water carrier around here for the idea that both parties behave fundamentally similarly, when they absolutely don't.

But it's not personal.

 

This is a great victory for the GOP and the Libertarians.

 

Texas still has Minnesota beat as home to the most ludicrous excuse for an elected state government in the country, but the Frozen North is trying to catch up. From NPR:

Minnesota Shutdown Hits Poor; Aid Groups Scramble
by NPR Staff and Wires

July 1, 2011

In Minnesota Friday, highway construction came to a halt, rest stops and state parks closed. And 22,000 state workers have been laid off. The reason: a protracted budget dispute between the state's Democratic governor and Republicans who control the Legislature.

In the absence of talks between Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton and GOP legislative leaders, the shutdown was rippling into the lives of people like Sonya Mills, a 39-year-old mother of eight facing the loss of about $3,600 a month in state child care subsidies.

Until the government closure, Mills had been focused on recovering from a May 22 tornado that displaced her from a rented home in Minneapolis. Now she's adding a new problem to her list.

"It just starts to have a snowball effect. It's like you are still in the wind of the tornado," said Mills, who works at a temp agency and was allowed to take time off as she gets back on her feet. But after the shutdown, she also has to care for her six youngest children, ages 3 through 14, because she lost state funding for their day-care and other programs.

Spoiler

Clash Over Budget, And Taxes

Minnesota is the only state to have its government shut down this year, even though nearly all states have severe budget problems and some have divided governments. Dayton was determined to raise taxes on the top earners to help erase a $5 billion deficit, while the Republican Legislature refused to go along with that — or any new spending above the amount the state is projected to collect.

Here, as in 21 other states, there's no way to keep government operating past the end of a budget period without legislative action. Even so, only four other states — Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Tennessee — have had shutdowns in the past decade, some lasting mere hours.

The shutdown halted non-emergency road construction and closed the state zoo and Capitol. More than 40 state boards and agencies went dark, though critical functions such as state troopers, prison guards, the courts and disaster responses will continue.

Revenue department worker Jenny Foster says she had given up hope there would be an agreement.

"They're just sitting there playing their games for show," she says. "I know what they're doing isn't for real. It's for show — to say that they're working. But they're not."

The financial impact of the closure is still uncertain. The state will save some money by not paying workers. But if the shutdown drags on, Minnesota taxpayers could be on the hook for millions in unemployment payments to public employees, as well as missed park fees and delays in construction projects.

A Tight Dispute On Party Lines

As frustration among Minnesota residents grew, there was no word Friday of any plans to continue budget negotiations. Instead, the heads of the state's Republican and Democratic parties blasted each other for Minnesota's second shutdown in six years.

GOP Chairman Tony Sutton called Dayton a "piece of work" and accused him of inflicting "maximum pain" for political reasons.

Democratic Farmer Labor Party Chairman Ken Martin laid the blame on Republicans, saying they drove the state to a shutdown to protect millionaires from tax increases sought by Dayton.

Dayton wants to raise income taxes on top earners to help close a $5 billion budget gap. Republicans, in charge of both the House and Senate for the first time in 40 years, say that's out of the question.

The GOP offered a last-minute stopgap funding bill, but the governor rejected it. And Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch placed the blame for the shutdown squarely on him.

"This shutdown is not necessary," she said. "And once again, we've proved that by laying on the governor's desk a temporary funding bill keeping government going for the next 10 days, while we finish these negotiations."

But Dayton said the "lights on" bill was just a publicity stunt, and that Republicans had plenty of time to help close the divide on taxes and spending.

"Anybody who wanted to avoid a shutdown today knew that there was one way to do it, and that was to accept a budget proposal that would bridge this gap," he said. "And the Republican caucuses rejected our offers to do so."

Service Groups Seek Help, And Alternatives

With the executive and legislative branches of Minnesota government at loggerheads, power has shifted to the courts for now. A judge has ruled that prisons, the state police, nursing homes, Medicaid, and other critical services must continue operating.

There will be more decisions soon, as nonprofit social service agencies that didn't make the cut petition the court for emergency funding.

Minnesota food pantries were scurrying to make sure they would still get 700,000 pounds of food — about 30 percent of their total volume — in the next two months through a federal program. Nearly 1 million pounds already in warehouses can't be delivered during the shutdown.

Colleen Moriarty, executive director of Hunger Solutions Minnesota, said the federal program's operation depends on a single state employee working in a data management system. She will ask a court-appointed referee next Tuesday to deem the worker essential.

Byron Laher, director of a program that runs food shelves in three northern Twin Cities suburbs, said the federal donations help those pantries feed 1,300 families each month.

"We're not in position to go out and buy food to replace that," Laher said.

 

Holy crap. That's a lot of kids.

 

That's $43000 a year worth of child care subsidies.

 

DAMN! Someone introduce her to some rubbers.

 

Yep, it would be better for 8 children to starve, and die.

 

And even better to just ignore the growing problem and let everyone suffer. While mommy of 8 is is employed 43k a year to take care of her children, the state gets to the point where it can no longer pay its entitlement programs, thus making thousands and thousands of legit state workers.

Again, I know this is very difficult for you to understand as you are not considered wealthy, but when the burden is placed on the wealthy, they will find ways around the system, including leaving the state or eventually the country. You can call them greedy or whatever you want, but the fact remains there will be another state or another country that will gladly give them a home for a lower rate (taxes).

 

WOW the hyper rich have done a good job brainwashing this country. "I have my freedom in America, made my fortune off the back of Americans but if they raise my taxes i'll move to France!" Well then go and I hope you die on the plane ride over. Traitors. Sell-outs. Scumbags.

Hyper rich people have figured it out, throw money at dumb people and get their vote = dumb people get poorer with higher taxes while the hyper rich get richer and richer and richer. Rinse and repeat. The New American Dream.

 

Just like Dayton himself. He took his business out of MN to a state w/ lower tax rates. But... He wants to raise taxes on other rich people that hasn't left the state yet.

 

Counted another way, we could support 29023 children for every F-35 the American Federal Government purchases, but instead could give in state aid to this purpose.

 

The tax burden on the wealthy is the lowest it's been for more than 5 decades. Please don't act like they are in danger of taking their ball going to another playground.

The Republicans held up all legislation to make sure the wealthy got their tax breaks extended. It happened, and the economy hasn't gotten better. Those tax breaks haven't done a thing to help society, or the deficit, and debt. They have hurt those things for all but a very few wealthy people.

Nobody would have left the country if those tax breaks weren't extended. It's BS. Everyone else is sacrificing, and doing their share. It's time for the wealthy to take part in the sacrifice this country needs to help set it right.

 

What, the problem of how getting hyper rich often harms the people around them?

I posit this is the case nowadays. There are precious few ways to accumulate that much money without doing some morally dubious things that harm many.

Soros comes to mind quickly. Oil tycoons, Wal-Mart type sweatshops, financial speculators...these are the type of people you'll find at the top.

 

The fact of the matter is that since all of these tax breaks and cuts for the wealthy have started happening, our debt has grown, the economy has tanked, and things have gotten worse in general.

Yet people are scared that if we don't keep giving more tax breaks to the wealthy that things will go worse?

It's laughable. It's already happened. They've been getting all the breaks and nothing good has come of it.

As I've said before, they aren't going to start hiring and expanding just because they are making profits and not paying taxes. The only reason for them to expand is if people are buying what they're selling. With the economy bad, people won't be buying more. The middle and lower incomes need more money so that they can increase demand, which will then allow the investors to expand, and it will help everyone. The idea that investors (which are already making record profits) need even more money is ridiculous.

 

Too bad that nice Mr. Obama doesn't have the stones to make the national GOP follow suit. You know they would.

Aside from the devoted Fox afficionados it would start to show folks who is on whose side.

 

guys, you're not going to get much sympathy for a mother of eight collecting welfare. and I don't know why you would even try. first of all, it is messed up that a mother of eight is living off the state, regardless of your political leanings.

second of all, its a red herring.