Green Party Sees State Government Shutdown as Failure of Both Republicans and Democrats to Represent the People of Minnesota

The recent stalemate between the Democratic Governor and Republican controlled legislature in not being able to reach agreement on closing the State’s $5 billion budget deficit is yet another example of the failure of two parties funded by corporate and special interest dollars to represent the people of Minnesota. The Republicans continue to carry forward the failed policies of former governor, Tim Pawlenty, cutting tens of thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for already beleaguered social service, education, and environmental programs, as well as essential local government services, and offering no options for new revenue to replace the resulting losses in consumer discretionary income. At the same time, these policies have filled corporate coffers and continue to contribute to the quadrupling of executive salaries that began in the mid-seventies, compared with a net loss in real income for middle and working class families during the same period. Instead of putting forward strong progressive policies that give jobs and dollars back to the citizens of Minnesota, Governor Mark Dayton and the Democratic minority have compromised away any opportunity for real economic growth for working and middle-class people by only offering in the 11th hour before the July 1st deadline a paltry $700 million dollar tax increase on the state’s 7,700 millionaires, which doesn’t begin to address the inequities in salaries and benefits for hardworking Minnesotans. Subsequently, the Republican rejection of even this inconsequential attempt to generate a small portion of the revenue required to balance the budget, brought about the shameful state government shutdown that occurred on July 1, 2011. This shutdown was clearly the result of two-party politics as usual that treats ideology as more important than the needs of the people as thousands of jobs and millions of dollars of revenue in both private and state sectors disappeared every day that the two parties played chicken with people’s livelihoods at stake. The Minnesota Green Party stands for a state economy in which wealth and economic power is distributed fairly among all citizens rather than being concentrated in the hands of its wealthiest, as is the case under the current economic models offered by both Republicans and Democrats. Certainly excesses in spending exist and must be cut; this can be done through rigorously and impartially evaluating all expenditures to assure measurable, demonstrated results. At the same time, most reputable economists recognize that new revenue is also necessary to sustain a balanced budget, and that can be accomplished in part through a progressive tax structure, relying on income and inheritance taxes, that eliminates loopholes that benefit corporations and punish the people who furnish the labor that produces their profits. As is being demonstrated in more progressive states and countries across the world, additional revenue can also be generated by an investment in green energy, education, health care, and transportation infrastructure, money that can be put back into the state budget to create a sustainable surplus for years to come.