Looming Shutdown Reminder That All of Us Must Live Within Our Means

In less than two weeks, the state of Minnesota will shut down all non-essential government operations. Why? There simply is not enough money to go around. How could this happen? The answer, although extremely complicated, is also very simple; When you run out of money, you can not pay for things you want to do.

The truth of the matter is that Minnesota is broke. Instead of fixing the budgetary problem, our governor and local representatives have been busy talking about a new football stadium or creating official state pipe bands instead of focusing on the budget problem.

For too long, politicians in Minnesota have been increasing the budget with the hopes that the state will come through with more projected revenue by the end of the budgetary cycle. We have seen how this path is not the proper one; as Minnesotans have had to tighten their belts, so must the legislators in the capitol.

This session again sees a power struggle and a stalemate. However, Gov. Mark Dayton and the DFL did not produce a proposed budget for the next biennium. Instead, their focus has been on calling out Republicans for not increasing taxes on the wealthy. The Republicans did in fact propose a balanced budget and presented it to the DFL and Governor Dayton more than six weeks ago.

In the proposal, Republicans have provided a 6 percent increase in state spending, making this proposal the single largest budget in the history of the state. This is not enough for Gov. Mark Dayton however, who apparently does not fully understand what it means to live within his means. Under the $34 billion proposal, state government would continue to function and provide sufficient services to all government agencies. In fact, most government services would see an increase in their budget over the next two years.

The sad reality of the possible government shutdown means that our friends and family will have to tighten their belts even further. Our neighbors in Inver Grove Heights may receive a layoff notice with no certainty of when they will be able to return to the job. Dayton is trying to play a cat and mouse political blame game with the Minnesota state budget, in hopes that it will win him points in the 2012 election cycle. This is not the way to effectively govern a state. It is time for Governor Dayton to put the people ahead of his political games. Minnesotans deserve more form their elected officials.

Let me put it another way. A man goes to his local drive-through and buys a $3 cheeseburger. The next day, he realizes he overdrew in his account and is slapped with a $30 fine. The man has two choices. He could choose to go back the following day and purchase essentially a $33 cheeseburger, or wait until he has enough money in his account before purchasing another burger. Sure, the burger might taste good in the short run, but what will the effect be on him and his family if he repeats the same mistake over and over again?

We are at that point in Minnesota. Are we willing to fix the problem and work within the confines of a balanced budget, or are we going to continue down the path that leads to another government shutdown next year and the year after because we simply can not afford to pay for everything we want? If we do not live within our means now, Gov. Mark Dayton, Rep. Joe Atkins and Sen. Jim Metzen, we are setting ourselves and our loved ones up an economic failure the likes that this state has never seen.

Mark J. Westpfahl
Chair, HD39B Republicans
chair@hd39b.com

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