State of Shutdown--Week 1

Image via WikipediaOne week into Minnesota's budget shutdown, which has paralyzed government as we know it, there's no agreement between Democratic Governor Mark Dayton and Republican legislative leaders on a way to end it.  Oh wait, they did agree on something.  And that's not to agree on anything.

After a break for the Fourth of July holiday, the two sides met behind closed doors without deciding anything of consequence.  Dayton did propose temporarily taxing Minnesotans who made over $1 million, as well as raising taxes on cigarettes by as much as $3 a pack.  The GOP leaders rejected both while offering no new proposals of their own.

The situation has become so dire that a commission to help solve the impasse has been formed, led by two old political pros.  They are former Senator and Vice President Walter Mondale and former Governor Arne Calrson.  But the Republicans are so knee-deep in the "no new taxes" mire, and ensconced in their own arrogance, that they won't listen to what Mondale (because he's a Democrat) or Carlson (who they never trusted anyway, even though he's also a Republican) have to say.  For the record, the commission pretty much endorsed the same things Dayton did.

Meanwhile, out here in the real world, more and more Minnesotans are getting pissed off at both parties as services are shut down or cut back.  Highway construction season has been halted.  You can't buy a fishing license or a lottery ticket.  Some of the state parks have been vandalized.  When nature calls and you're on the road, you'll have to find the nearest fast food joint instead of a rest stop.  Those who get paid to worry about where others' next meals are coming from now find themselves in that position.

On the bright side?  The Minnesota Zoo has reopened. (Insert your own joke here.)

For each day that there isn't a solution to Minnesota's budget crisis, the state gets a little more into the red.  We have overgrown grade schoolers standing their ground in thrall to their GOP masters, not caring one whit about the people who helped get them elected.  Governor Dayton is becoming a modern-day Don Quixote, keeping up the noble cause of taxing the richest two percent.  Sooner or later, both sides will have to face reality and come up with some kind of deal they can live with.  If they don't, Minnesotans are going to start seeking greener pastures elsewhere.