Below the thread are my thoughts on Governor Pawlenty's Supplemental Budget.
I'd like to hear what you think.
Senator John Marty
DFL Candidate for Governor
http://www.johnmarty.org
Governor Pawlenty's supplemental budget proposal would cause even more harm to the sickest and poorest people in Minnesota. In addition to his previous cuts in General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC), he is now proposing to remove 21,500 working people from Minnesota Care.
Sick people get sicker, when you take away their health care. Some of them die. Hundreds of Minnesotans already die from a lack of access to affordable health care, and the governor's cuts will make the problem far worse.
Pawlenty is also proposing deep cuts in childcare to low-income workers. He cuts higher education as deeply as he is able to without losing federal funds. He wants to eliminate the General Assistance program, and replace it with an unspecified temporary program.
His deep cuts to local governments will cause even bigger increases in property taxes. Increasing the strain on already struggling cities and counties, it will lead to additional cuts in public services, from police and fire, to libraries and road repairs.
This budget would not only cause pain for the state's most vulnerable people; it would also weaken the state's future. It will cost taxpayers more in the long run.
There is an alternative to this harsh approach. We can build a humane, caring society, where we help people succeed, and we look out for each other. A society where all young children get the care and support they need, where students have an opportunity to receive an affordable higher education. We can build a society where health care for everyone is a reality, and where working people earn a living wage so they can afford to pay for food, housing and other basic needs.
As we struggle through the last painful year of the Pawlenty administration, it's time to start envisioning the future we want. Investing in the future of Minnesota is not only an economic imperative, it is a moral one as well.