It’s you who screwed this up Mr. Dayton

To the Editor:

The state of Minnesota is proving only in government can one just turn up one’s overpaid communal noses and shun the needs of the body politic. Like two unruly sides at a playground fight our elected officials are acting like spoiled brats. While the government is shut down officials manage to retain paychecks while many Minnesotans try to get by on discounted unemployment benefits. Money making state fixtures from the lottery to fishing licenses and necessities like rest areas and road construction projects for holiday travelers remain closed.

Does that make sense?

We need to fix the budget. Shut down all lottos and rest areas! It’s insanity. When I first saw the barricades by the Frazee rest area it was all I could do to keep from swearing. Forget it. I cursed for at least a mile or two. Asinine. At the very least, I’m sure convenience stores along major highways and interstates saw a boom over the Fourth of July that hopefully covered the expense of the extra paper products being massively consumed in their public restrooms.  All because of a $5 billion deficit. Imagine running your business or working for a company that was that deep in the red.

Who is steering the ship?

Nobody. There’s one giant mutiny about the fact there is little to no bounty. The alleged captain of this mess, Governor Mark Dayton, has proposed with even greater lunacy a small band-aid in his latest attempt to appease Republicans.Hey smokers. It’s all your fault. You fix it. According to a Reuters report, Dayton offered proposals for either a temporary income tax increase on people making more than $1 million per year or a $1 per pack tobacco tax increase along with healthcare surcharges and a delay in school aid payments. What grand ideas.

Hit a few millionaires up for a few bucks while going after those consumers of exuberant luxury, the smokers. Taxing smokers has become the new safety valve. It’s you who screwed this up, Mr. Dayton. You and that merry band of nitpickers, naysayers and no good faux-do-gooders in the House and Senate. It’s your job to fix it. So get your heads out of the sand and the other dark places you’ve been keeping them. That goes for all of you.  People need to work in this capitalistic joke. These are real people and you’ve taken their jobs away.  Elected officials in this state should be ashamed to show their faces in public. They should be locked up without pay, holiday or not, and kept there until they come out with a unified and agreed upon budget that acknowledges the fact they’ve kept many families living at a discounted salary or no salary for over a fortnight.
I want to see a public showing that this basic and shameful fact actually matters to those who were elected by those who are now suffering. Reuters also reported, a bipartisan panel formed by former Vice President Walter Mondale and former Republican Governor Arne Carlson released an independent budget plan that much more closely resembled the governor’s proposals than Republicans.

The panel recommended a budget of about $35.4 billion with a temporary 4 percent across the board income tax increase. That’s a higher percentage than I put in my 401k. Sure, fix your problem by digging into my wallet.  The people in charge of Minnesota caused this shutdown and the $5 billion deficit. The only decision put to the people was to pick who would do the scheming between the slicked handshakes of smiling liars from all parties. We the people need to make those who make these decisions bear the brunt of their stupidity.  I, for one, am thoroughly disgusted and I’m quite sure the majority of Minnesotans of every background are with me.  Allegedly, this impasse derives from a $1.4 billion difference in the offerings of both sides.  Grow some spines.  Think of the big picture instead of your little squabbles.

This is an utter embarrassment and it needs to be fixed today.

-R.P. Williams
Detroit Lakes, MN