Hi all,
As I write this, the great state of Minnesota faces a government shutdown. If the government shuts down, almost all Minnesotans are going to be impacted for the worse. State parks will close (during the peak tourist season in MN), road construction will come to a halt (we already have a short construction time-frame), state universities could close (in the middle of the summer semester and during peak orientation time), among other serious disruptions that would occur.
Former GOP Governor Arne Carlson
I think Republicans state legislators ought to listen to one of their own: former governor Arne Carlson. On MPR’s Midday with Gary Eichten, Governor Carlson (who has some experience erasing budget deficits) had a couple of wise kernels of advice for GOP state legislators:
- Stop pretending to compromise and actually do some compromising. People can see right through the charade of pretending to compromise without actually compromising.
- Don’t be so dogmatic about taxes. The state was left in horrendous financial shape due to the eight years of the Pawlenty administration’s bizarre fixation on taxes. It is time to raise taxes.
You can help by using the District Finder to contact your the Minnesota State Legislators who represent you (assuming of course that you actually live in Minnesota). Here is a link to the district finder: http://www.gis.leg.mn/OpenLayers/districts/
The podcast of Governor Carlson’s conversation with Gary Eichten can be found here: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/06/10/midday1/
