Minnesota IS red (deficit red that is!)

"I know many on the Right would like to have Minnesota red again. Red as in conservative (NOT REPUBLICAN!). We don't want Minnesota to be red as in deficit red. But that is the direction we are headed - unless we all come to our senses and fast."

One of the things we will always remember the Reverend Jeremiah Wright for is his now infamous line - "America's chickens have come home to roost." I would like to modify his line just a bit to say, "Minnesota's tax and spending issues have come home to roost." To see how this state has squandered a big surplus down to a deficit (and a growing one at that), is nothing less than either shameful or criminal.

So what is the problem? First off, the new sheriff (and his posse) in Washington has decided our run away federal spending is out of control. Cutbacks are either in place or coming. Tax cuts are coming. A more common sense budget is coming. Entitlement reform is coming.

Meanwhile in Minnesota, it is operations normal. Our taxes remain high, and our state spending is still way, way out of control. Bottom line? Programs which have been giving Minnesota a teat to suck on (like CHIP) are not going to be there anymore. And that is just the first wave. Wait until the federal Medicare cuts happen.

Here is the next problem. Even though many (including myself) have been shouting this for years from the rooftops. Money is leaving this state. Because of the inability to fix our sky high income tax rate, high income earners are looking westward to South Dakota, eastward to Wisconsin, or southward to Texas or Florida to relocate. Plus (and this is a big one for folks like me), because we still have this festering wound with punishing many of our Minnesota seniors with taxing Social Security, they are also are leaving this state. 

But the big whopper is just on the horizon. The "lesson to be taught to high SALT states" will be coming shortly. I have heard this from many sources. One of the reasons the state and local tax deductions are going away in the new tax bill is to force high SALT states to reduce their tax and spending. Plus that deduction is unfair to lower SALT states.

Because of Marx Dayton and his DFL henchmen (and women), Minnesota has been lumped in with socialist states like California, New York, New Jersey and Illinois. In 2018, we are going to pull down our trousers, bend over, and get ready for a real federal whipping.

Changes are coming. Reality is setting in. The long promulgated myth in this state that a grove of money trees is growing in Washington and St. Paul is coming to an end. Until Minnesota can learn to rightsize (that be downsize) its state budget, money will continue to flee elsewhere. And Democrats - as much as you would like to, you can't force people to stay here. You can only entice people to stay here by making the state affordable. Right now it is not.

I know many on the Right would like to have Minnesota red again. Red as in conservative (NOT REPUBLICAN!). We don't want Minnesota to be red as in deficit red. But that is the direction we are headed - unless we all come to our senses and fast.