Free Republic

Employees of the City of Minneapolis were advised Tuesday of the “extremely damaging” effect Governor Tim Pawlenty’s proposal to solve a $1.2-billion budget deficit could have on “core services.” Pawlenty’s plan would “take another $29 million out of Minneapolis’ 2010 budget,” an e-mail from Mayor R.T. Rybak and City Council President Barbara Johnson stated. On top of $21 million in previous aid cuts, the governor’s proposal would “represent a 56% cut in the Local Government Aid that Minneapolis was supposed to receive from the State in 2010.” The text of the e-mail seems intent to incite the passions of city...

We each know who puts food on our table, be it an employer, customer, or some other patron. To keep the milk and honey flowing, we humbly serve. We understand that offending the boss risks vagrancy. This is a lesson taught from childhood. It is not uncommon for fathers to answer the objections of their children with something along the lines of, “Because I said so. Because this is my house. You live under my roof. I put food on the table,” etc. The underlying sentiment is irrefutable; if you rely upon another for sustenance, you are subject to their...

BLOOMINGTON, MN – As President Obama delivered the State of the Union address in Washington, a gubernatorial debate took place in Minnesota hosted by the Minnesota News Council and the League of Women Voters. A clear dichotomy emerged surrounding the issue of local government aid (LGA), a state-level redistributive funding mechanism which could be characterized as municipal welfare. WKBT, a local CBS affiliate, reports many Minnesota cities rely upon local government aid from the state to hold down property taxes and fund essential services like police and fire departments. In the gubernatorial debate, which was recorded Wednesday by the New...

Fightin Words debuts on US Web Talk Radio, featuring a candid interview with Minneapolis firefighter and paramedic John Ackerman regarding the city’s incestuous dependence on “local government aid” which continually threatens the funding of essential services and the safety of the tax payer. We examine how local government aid works, how it affects the budget process, the history of the 911 system, and how it all combines to model society’s incremental trend away from individual sovereignty toward utter dependence on the state. Also, audio from the Can You Hear Us Now rally at the local NBC outlet in the Twin...