Minnesota Closes... Who To Blame?

The State of Minnesota is CLOSED. Unable to reach a "budget compromise" deal, the state government has shut down.

The Democrat Governor, Mark Dayton, is blaming the GOP-controlled Legislature for the budget impasse. You see, the GOP took control of the Minnesota legislature in 2010, and they have refused to accept tax increases to close the state's $5 billion budget shortfall.

The Governor is outraged, and places the blame squarely on their shoulders.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/58184.html

At a late-night capitol press conference attended by the very GOP legislators with which Dayton was sparring, the governor blamed Republicans for refusing to budge from a no-tax increase position.

“They would prefer to protect the richest handful of Minnesotans at the expense of everyone else,” Dayton said. “Instead of taxing their friends, they would prefer very damaging cuts to healthcare, public safety, mass transit” and other state services.

So that's it. The Governor is blaming the GOP because they are too stubborn to abandon their no-tax-increase position. That's strange, since he is, at the same time, announcing his refusal to budge from HIS raise-taxes-at-all-costs position. You see, it takes two stubborn sides to create an impasse... so where does the blame really lie?


The budget shortfall didn't come about because of falling revenue, it came about because the Minnesota government is spending too much. The best solution, then, is to reduce spending. Raising taxes would do little more than encourage lawmakers to spend even more, since they can do so without consequences.

And do they REALLY want to raise taxes and punish people in our current economic climate?

This debate carries over to the national stage, where the Democrats in control of the Senate and the White House are making $3 billion (over 10 years) in tax increases (on private jets, no less) a make-or-break issue over the debt limit increase. The GOP is demanding spending cuts (whether they'll be real or accomplished via accounting gimmicks is a different story) in large amounts, which PresBo appears willing to grudgingly accede to... maybe. But, by golly, if they don't agree to fiscally inconsequential tax increases that are so small they make no real difference to the budget figures being discussed, then there will BE NO AGREEMENT!

Now tell me, who is to blame, again?

If you answered both sides, I give you five points for straddling the fence. Ten points if you can do so and avoid picking up any splinters.

The problem here, is that the GOP (both in Minnesota and in DC) can at least make the prima facia case that their position not only addresses the budget problems BUT ALSO corrects the underlying problem (too much spending) without raising taxes in the middle of a recession. The Democrats' position is simply to demand tax increases because they want them, and economic repercussions can go hang.

So maybe we should rephrase the question. Instead of asking who is to blame, maybe we should ask who is being unreasonably petulant in their strident demands.

Phrased that way, there's only one answer. Right?