Posted on 06/18/2011 5:54:32 PM PDT by rhema
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Dayton's plan is appalling -- not only for the services it deems "critical" but, more important, for those it does not. For example, the governor plans to stop all aid payments to schools.
Additionally, health care providers who serve Minnesotans on medical assistance will also go without payment. And at a legislative hearing this week, an administration official acknowledged that bridge assessments also did not make Dayton's list, apparently failing to meet the governor's "critical service" standard.
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Dayton is hiding behind the state's courts and Constitution to justify a cynical and draconian plan motivated more by politics than principle. For evidence, contrast Dayton's shutdown plan with those that preceded it.
Contingency planning for a government shutdown is nothing new to this state. Gov. Tim Pawlenty developed one prior to the state's 10-day partial shutdown in 2005, and Gov. Jesse Ventura planned for a shutdown that was ultimately averted in 2001.
A comparison of the plans is telling. Dayton has deemed as "critical" not only his media and communications staff, but also staff at his official residence. Among those employed at the governor's mansion are Dayton's chef and gardener.
In 2001, by comparison, Ventura planned to all but shutter the mansion. Aid payments to schools? They were included in the Ventura and Pawlenty plans.
Bridge assessments? They were included in the Ventura and Pawlenty plans. Health care? Again, the Dayton administration is alone in its recommendation to stop paying those who provide care for vulnerable Minnesotans.
Dayton's omissions are especially glaring in light of some of the services included in his plan. The state's dentistry board would continue to operate under a Dayton shutdown. Maintenance at Giant's Ridge resort would also continue.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
DFL - Dumb F***ing Losers.
(No, I don't consider general security staff as being ‘household staff.’)
I mean, really, why are the taxpayers paying for this? I could see maybe gardeners, as a stretch, to maintain the government property, or maintenance to the mansion itself. But I don't think taxpayers should be buying cars, paying for drivers, hiring maids, paying chefs for day to day living. Special events are another thing entirely, but then again, doesn't Obama have a midweek party each week, plus all those staffers who get paid to play basketball with him?
Not to mention the costs for his frequent trips to the golf course...
Perhaps MN will see the last of this dingbat.
Politics.....it’s not about good governance, it’s about jobs. Jobs for every relative.
It’s entertaining to watch liberals go spastic when OP money is no longer available.
Ever notice how the local media stays away from sound bites from Dayton?
He sounds like a sputtering outboard...
“Perhaps MN will see the last of this dingbat.”
He’s just started his term. They just elected him. According to the powerline guys he’s a world class lunatic.
But, they are stuck with him for now.
I can’t believe he his keeping his own comforts paid for. That is truly despicable.
Minnesotans get the government they deserve.
He hasn’t got the cojones to go through with this, I can smell it on him. Shut it down and we’ll see how long he lasts before the unionized public employees and welfare cases drag him out and string him up. I listened to the speech on YouTube, he starts whining immediately about how mean the Republicans are and how he’s doing this to save Minnesotans from them.
This guy’s a coward, his shutdown is going nowhere. It is so spectacularly draconian he won’t be able to deflect blame after baldly stating it’s a political stunt (and then furiously denying that it is a minute later).
I should have said, perhaps MN will see only one term from this guy. I’m familiar with his career. His Dayton department store fortune has allowed him to buy several political offices. Why Minnesotans keep electing him is a puzzel to me.
enjoy what the private sectors has had for years: layoffs.
(only the private sector gets no back pay)
if you’re “non-essential” , IMHO, you shouldn’t be coming back at all.
We can’t afford luxuries any more, the country is broke as are most states.
There’s a reason ONLY 3 states in the nation are trying to RAISE taxes: MN, CT and CA.
Who works for who.
Producers hire government to do the peoples work or people work to maintain government?
Most of us know what the Constitution dictates however many live in fear of following it via lack of individual strength.
Freedom is the bottom line and it is dissipating fast to be replaced by a government that has NEVER survived financially via central control.
The proposed budget for the general fund passed by the legislature and vetoed in May by Gov. Dayton is $4 Billion higher in the next biennium than this biennium. The $34 billion you keep hearing about is the anticipated revenue for the 2013-2014 general fund. The general fund only represents about half of what we actually spend (should be about $65 billion). Here is a pie chart showing all funds. If you scroll down, you can see where where all the funds come from (federal grants, gas tax, fees etc.)
http://www.mmb.state.mn.us/doc/budget/report-pie/all-mar11.pdf
The total proposed budget (when you add in all funds) for 2013-2014 would, however, spend slightly less than this biennium-— unless Dayton wins this fight.
For a quick lesson in state budgeting, look at the pie chart above and visit the FAQs at the Minnesota Management and Budget website.
http://www.mmb.state.mn.us/citizen-faq
read this clown posting on the PP website:
Richard Broderick · Research Fellow at Thai Khadi Institute-
Not a single non-partisan study shows that states with higher marginal tax rates on wealthy people drive any businesses or rich folks away in numbers appreciable enough to cause any economic fallout. In fact, Minnesota is, and has been, one of the most prosperous and economically stable states in the Union not despite, but because of its high level of government services and a much higher income tax rate than those low tax Red States that, despite your bogus beliefs, suck up more federal money than Minnesota. You simply don’t know what you are talking about and, I suspect, are beyond the reach of rationale discourse. The citizens of Minnesota do not want to live in, or like, the citizens of Mississippi — or Virginia, for that matter. The GOP opposition to spending is entirely political in motivation. During the Bush disaster, the party had no trouble at all backing unpaid for wars, tax cuts, and a Medicare prescription program that is little more than a huge giveaway of public monies to Big Pharma. The hypocrisy, deceit, and sheer nastiness of the GOP disloyal opposition is as patent as your own ignorance
This is the same state, remember, that elected Jesse Ventura.
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