State Shut Down

**Debbie-cat** · 07-02-2011, 08:30 PM

This sucks. No state parks, no fishing licenses, no state patrol, nothing. I can't believe they can do this. So many people laid off because the dumb politicans can't come to an agreement. They need to come to Frugal Village. They would learn something.

**mh3rdwheel** · 07-02-2011, 08:38 PM

Debbie-cat, I feel for you, WV doesn't seem to have suffered as bad as the rest of US. probably because we are taxed to death on everything.

**NicJean** · 07-02-2011, 08:47 PM

Wondered what effect this would have on folks - - we're thinking of ya! *hugs!*

**Spirit Deer** · 07-02-2011, 09:13 PM

We've lost three days' pay already. It sucks. I'm so mad I could spit, particularly since the [expletive deleted] decided to go home and enjoy their three-day weekend instead of staying in St. Paul to actually do the work they were supposed to have completed so this mess never happened.

Troopers are out, DC. They and some others are essential personnel, such as firefighters.

The lottery is shut down, and that alone is supposedly costing the state nine million per week.

Prepping for the shut down has already cost millions, and it will be millions more to get everything back up and running again. Not to mention all the tax revenue lost because 20,000 employees will not be paying taxes on the income they're all losing, plus the millions that won't be circulating in the state economy due to wages not being paid. The work they all would have done will still have to be done, so it's not like not having to pay them will actually save the state anything. Plus I think they'll be able to get unemployment for the lost days, which costs not only the monies 20,000 employees will receive, but the costs of processing 20,000 claims. Way to go, [expletive deleted]!

State parks are shut down, so the revenue from thousands of campsites on the biggest weekend of the year is now lost. And there's a lot of ill will towards the state now, not just from Minnesotans, but from people from elsewhere whose plans were ruined.

100,000 meals from food banks are ready to feed to people who need them, but they can't be distributed due to the shut down.

The dumbest thing is they shut down Revenue, the only department in the state that actually brings in money. How the heck does that make any sense?

We have personally already lost enough money to pay for half the deck we wanted to build this year, and this crap is just getting started.

We have a full tank of gas in the truck. The van is empty. Filling either of them costs us $100. We will be sitting home. Our goal is to make that one tank stretch till this insanity ends.

I'm beyond furious, but still trying to see the bright side:
~It's not last year, when we would have had to cancel trips to Yellowstone and Missouri and probably some others.
~He will have a job to go back to once this gets straightened out.
~We hate having no income, but will not starve, lose our home, or not be able to meet our bills.
~They threatened to suspend our health insurance, but decided not to, so we are still insured.
~We are still eligible to VOTE!

**NicJean** · 07-02-2011, 09:18 PM

Yes, please remember this/these days, come election-time!!

**frugalfranny** · 07-02-2011, 10:45 PM

Was reading about that DC....and thinking of you.

Yep........politics!

And think other states will be doing close to that, ours is almost there, hefty fee for using parks......$60 annual or $10 a day--fine with no pass. Cities are almost as bad......but they always cut the police......better/hurtful politics with that!!

Hope this is all over soon for you in Minnesota!!

**Spirit Deer** · 07-02-2011, 11:02 PM

The core of the issue here is partisan politics. The [expletive deleted] on both sides are acting like spoiled children. They meet for an hour (maybe), then stomp off because they didn't get their way, then finger-point and try to shift the blame to someone else. They remind me of little kids.

IMO, they should be locked in a room till they can agree on the budget, period. Someone could slide a few pizzas under the door once in a while, and they could have bathroom breaks every few hours, but otherwise, they should have to sit there together till they DO THEIR JOB.

**Nishu** · 07-03-2011, 07:52 AM

I'm really sorry to hear that, Spirit Deer. It really makes me sick to my stomach to think of all the people that are going to be affected by stuff like this.

I was wondering about the state patrol though. It does make more sense that they'd be out. (They're probably not getting paid though.)

**ladytoysdream** · 07-03-2011, 08:00 AM

Here in NY, most of the state budgets have been late. Last year the governor had to pass little parts of the budget each week to keep things going. Kept threatening shut down. The legislature kept dragging things out and going home on vacations and not finishing their work in a timely manner. This year the state budget got passed on time. Different governor.

I did a google search last night for Michigan shutdown. Not good.

**Spirit Deer** · 07-03-2011, 09:43 AM

Nishu, the state patrol is essential personnel. They are out doing their jobs as usual, paid as usual, doing what they do every day. So is the law enforcement section of the DNR such as game wardens, because they are patrolling the lakes as usual. Anything less would be a huge public safety problem. Other DNR employees such as park rangers, park maintenance staff, etc, are laid off for the duration.

I don't think people can do their jobs on a volunteer basis, due to various laws. The departments can't decide on their own to continue working either. Those decisions have to be made by a judge.

The court system is up and running because of Constitutional rights that could not be met if they shut down.

Road crews are laid off. Some prison personnel are laid off, but most are working.

Revenue, where my husband works, is shut down. During the last shut-down they were considered essential personnel.

Our governor, in spite of his campaign promise not to shut down state government, refuses to sign a lights-on bill. On the other side of the aisle, they're trying to force things into the budget that are even worse than that. The way I see it, both parties are equally to blame.

This is impacting a lot of non-government people. Many day cares receive state funding and have had to close, leaving 26,000 kids without day care. I already mentioned the food banks. Area loggers, who have contracts to log in the state forests. They were laid off last week, and the logging companies sued the state for breach of contract. They won, so at least they'll be back at work soon.

The Minnesota Zoo is shut down. This is a world-class zoo near Minneapolis, and I'm sure it was a destination for many people this weekend. Somehow I don't think a trip to the Mall of America would be the same thing.

Minnesota is short on cash, like almost everyone else. But the state is not broke. The issue is how to spend the money, and whether or not to raise taxes on the richest two percent of the citizens here. Republicans favor even more program funding cuts, which we've suffered under for the past few years with the last administration which promised no new taxes and stuck to that, forcing cuts that have pushed local governments to find funds or cut services, all of which has harmed us in many ways. And instead of raising taxes, the last governor chose to raise fees on everything and add some new ones, like we're too stupid to realize they're going to get more of our money whether taxes get raised or not. The new governor is at least honest enough to say taxes have to go up or things have to be cut. Really, what other options are there?

**Imarachne** · 07-03-2011, 09:48 AM

Is this going to be our future ? Politicians fussing and fighting while the folks are the ones suffering ? I'm going to be pretty choosy when election time rolls around !

**Spirit Deer** · 07-03-2011, 10:06 AM

It's not the future. It's been here for a while. I'm sick of partisan politics on all levels. I'm also sick of the stupid 24-hour ~~news~~ political opinion channels whose ratings depend on keeping the voters in both parties ill-informed and whipped up in a self-righteous, indignant froth for their own selfish purposes, rather than just reporting the truth so we can all make up our own minds. And I'm sick of the voters who fall for that crap and base their opinions on what some jerk on a TV or radio show tells them to believe instead of applying a little common sense and using their own judgment.

If we'd all start thinking for ourselves for a change and quit focusing on just a handful of issues, we'd all be so much better off.

Sorry for the rant but I'm pretty cranky over this entire issue.

**Debbie-cat** · 07-03-2011, 10:29 AM

I'm cranky too SD. Was at walmart yesterday and people in there were wild, talking that they had plans for camping this weekend and they were just going to push their way through into state campgrounds. All I could think was ....RIOT!

I agree with the idea of locking them in a room but then throw away the key.

**Spirit Deer** · 07-03-2011, 10:37 AM

The state parks shutting down has lit up the camping boards, as you can imagine. One guy from out east somewhere was stuck in Wisconsin, headed for the Black Hills, with reservations for MN parks that were closed. He couldn't find a park anywhere in MN or in IA or SD, and he couldn't stay in WI with the weekend coming and all the sites there booked. What the heck was he supposed to do? Minnesota makes a ton of money on tourism, and there are going to be loads of people vowing never to come back here, and who can blame them? And then there's the issue with the fishing licenses. Up here in lake country, it's a huge reason people come here from all over the US and even farther away, and now once they've spent their hard-earned money to come up to fish world-class lakes, they can't buy a dang license. Again, how many will never come back? How much present and future tourism revenue will be lost because Dayton wouldn't sign the lights-on bill?

OTOH, from what I've heard the people drafting the lights-on bill weren't doing so in good faith, so it's possible it would have caused more problems than it solved.

The whole thing on both sides is so unbelievably short-sighted.

It makes my head hurt to think about it.

**Spirit Deer** · 07-03-2011, 10:52 AM

We talked to our librarian yesterday. She said they have funding to cover the library for a while, but if this mess goes on too long, they may have to close too. There was a children's program they had to temporarily cut, but at least the doors will stay open. For now.

I don't think most of us really consider all the services we all take for granted every single day, or even realize what businesses get some funding from state monies, like day cares, that have become essential to our modern lifestyle. As the old saying goes, you never miss the water till the well runs dry.