Minnesota Shuts Down So Republicans Can Protect Millionaires

Posted by | July 1, 2011 10:22 | Filed under: Top Stories


Democratic Governor Mark Dayton couldn’t reach an agreement with the Republican legislature.

The governor said his last offer would have raised income taxes only on those earning more than $1 million a year — an estimated 7,700 Minnesotans, or 0.3 percent of all taxpayers, according to the Revenue Department.

Republicans rejected the proposal, Dayton said, because they “prefer to protect the richest handful of Minnesotans at the expense of everyone else.”

Republicans even tried to jam abortion and the voter ID issue into the negotiations.

Talks may have also broken down because an earlier GOP offer asked Dayton to accept controversial policy positions the Republicans pushed for this year, including photo ID requirements at the polls and abortion restrictions. An offer sheet provided to the Star Tribune said the policy adoptions were in exchange for “new revenue in a compromise offer.”

Is this a microcosm of what would could happen nationally?

…more than 23,000 workers prepared for life without paychecks and the state began shooing people from state campgrounds and closing rest areas. Even before the shutdown, Minnesotans got an early peek at the inconvenience from the mothballing of many state services. Minnesotans could no longer check if their optometrists, barbers or veterinarians had valid licenses to practice. Licensing board offices and various other state agencies pulled the plug on their agency websites hours before the scheduled shutdown.

Governor Dayton made this statement:

Click here for reuse options!
Copyright 2011 Liberaland
By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.

Leave a Reply