After one week, how is the state shutdown affecting you?

Enough already.

I got laid off over a year ago and due to the technical nature of my job have not been able to find a replacement. I’ve learned to live cheaply and get by with the bare essentials, yet all I am hearing on MPR are sob stories from people who have been out of work a whole WEEK.

If our life is good, our family has what it deems necessary for that good life, why would we begrudge others enough to eat, a place to sleep and live? Would the increase in taxes truly be that much of a hardship? All I can do is vote and, to be sure, I always vote. Incombents will receive NO support from me. that is my promise to these stiff-necked politicians. Enjoy your job, you could be unemployed very soon.

I’m getting increasingly irritated with the right wing of the so called Republican Party. Just a few years ago they were a nuisance minority but now they’re pulling the wheels off the vehicle. Jobs & budget is not their goal… just damage civil society enough they can more freely deregulate enough to transfer more wealth from the many to the few. This represents a huge step forward in the conservative/business war against the American people. I’ve always wondered why working class conservatives increasingly vote against their own self interest. Low taxes = more jobs is a myth. What kool-aid did they drink?

I work in healthcare. I have not felt directly affected at this point. HOWEVER, I know many people who are. Coworkers who have licenses that expire this summer are looking into getting licensed in other states (a significant burden in time & expense). My husband works in construction & may be laid off if state inspectors cannot do their jobs. The clientele with whom I work are also affected, as many of them depend on some state resources.

It’s appalling that our state government 1) can’t come to some kind of compromise that includes both spending cuts and revenue increases; and 2) continue to take paychecks during a shutdown that resulted from their failure to do their jobs (roughly 2/3rds of them per MPR’s stats).

I can’t believe that there are elected officials that have chosen to still get paid while their inaction has caused such an impact on the people that gave them their jobs. I hope people remember this during the next election . I would be fired if I didn’t do the job I was hired to do.

Um, Duane. Your facts are wrong. When the Legislature sends a bill to the Governor, he has three days to sign or veto it. So there’s no way he sat on any budget bills for six weeks.

What actually happened was the Legislature sent some budget bills to the Governor, he vetoed them and then instead of working with him to find a compromise, they goofed around with silly Constitutional amendment foolishness for several weeks and then scraped together more lousy budget bills that they knew wouldn’t pass muster with the Governor at the end of the session.

And then instead of negotiating and compromising since the session ended, the Legislature has rejected seven(7!) proposals by the Governor to resolve the budget impasse without making any offers of their own. This shutdown is fully and completely the fault of the MNGOP, not that they care one iota about who they are hurting.

My Metro Transit route is an express to downtown St. Paul. The route has been less than half full sometimes this week. Granted the holiday weekend hasn’t helped. However there are bus stops near State office buildings now where no one gets on.

I know that Metro Transit has said that they will need to cut routes if the shutdown goes on much longer, and I’m pretty much betting that my express route will be cut, since it’s ridership now makes it much less attractive to keep in operation.

We are in a condo without a working elevator. MN law requires elevator upgrades by Jan. 2012. Our elevator went out to comply with the law June 13 and was to be running July 18. The work is on schedule, but THERE ARE NO STATE INSPECTORS TO OK THE WORK. This means we don’t know when we will have an elevator. My husband is in a wheel chair and we were lucky to be able to rent a ground floor unit. There are several people in their 90s on high floors. This repair is a tremendous burden. The cost is high both financially and physically. The repair is required by the state and now the state is adding to the tremendous burden.

My wife and I both work for the State and are laid off. Luckily we have very little debt so the unemployment will cover all of our bills. That said, I am constantly worried about some of the people that work for me. I know many of them, especially some of the newer employees, are going through a very tough time. I’m keeping in touch with some of them during the shutdown and it’s not looking good for a lot of them.

My employees are in a very skilled field, accounting, with a fairly strong job market. We have a fairly high turnover under normal conditions due to offers from private companies. If this goes on more than a month or two I really worry about how many of the experienced employees will be coming back.

I will say that the administration went out of its way to help by offering the Memorandum of Understanding to the unions before the shutdown. It extends insurance coverage for all employees instead of the original set of employees with more than 3 years of service. Without that provision a lot of my employees would be losing health insurance for their families.

The only change is an increased disgust with the completely intransigent Republicans. Their unbelievable immoveablity while so many are hurting in Minnesota is unconscionable. They dismiss reasonable solutions out of hand, and, I am beginning to think, out of a misguided desire to put party and power before people.

For the next week the shutdown won’t affect us too much as we are taking our vacation dollars and going out of state.

A suggestion to end this mess is to have these budget meeting between the governor and the republican bosses televised. There could be two cameras in the room – one on each party and a microphone at each persons seating area. At the beginning of each session, each person there would have to give their name, what party they represent and how much they are being paid for that session. The results of these negotiations are of great importance to the citizens of Minnesota and should be considered something like a public meeting. And why would these people want to “hide” what they are doing?

The lack of payment for childcare assistance is incredibly harmful to children, parents, and providers. I work at a small center licensed for 49 children about 85% of our families rely on child care assistance to make payments. Our mission is to serve low-income families in need. We are not willing to tell parents that they must pay the cost out of pocket or find someone else to care for their child. We know that they do not have the resources to pay and could be forced to quit their jobs.

I know of many centers who have already closed or kicked out families for their inability to pay. We do not know how much longer we can hold on. If the shutdown goes past the end of the month, we will be forced to layoff employees and operate on a much smaller scale. This problem is not solely ours. Over 20,000 families receive childcare assistance through the state. Parents cannot go to work without a safe place (that they can afford) to send their children.

For many families, child care assistance is what keeps them afloat in the struggle to reach self sufficiency. Without it, they may be forced back into situations of unemployment and poverty. This simply cannot continue for much longer before reaching a breaking point.

This shutdown is affecting the most vulnerable people in our society and putting them in positions of absolute desperation. What a shame it is our elected officials have so hugely failed us.

I agree with another commenter that my morale as a Minnesotan is taking hits every day.

Everyone can point to parks closing, and of course the neediest Minnesotans will be the first hit by pain because they have no buffer.

However, the shutdown, the length of the shutdown, and the proposed budgets are all a part of defining who Minnesotans will be. And all of the planning and resources that go into a state that improves quality of life and makes this place habitable and – actually – quite wonderful during my lifetime is on the chopping block.

This makes me profoundly sad, and I guess I always thought that we were about the public good – about a society that tried to create equality, that made life better for everyone. We’re not broke as a state, we’ve veered away from acting as a community in favor of too many tax breaks and isolation.

I’d like to think we can return to quality, but all I hear right now is selfishness and short-sightedness. It’s a terrible time to be a Minnesotan.

My more privilege friends are out of state jobs and without a place to camp on a beautiful weekend.

My less privileged friends cannot rely on the non-profits that supported them because the state shut them down.

One group is out of luck, the other is out on the street.

The two biggest problems for me is

1. The HOV lanes along 394 don’t switch. Going to work in the morning takes significantly longer now.

2. The state parks are closed.

3. I can’t buy a fishing license for an upcoming BWCA trip.

The shutdown in Minnesota foreshadows a federal shutdown due to failure to negotiate a settlement on the federal debt limit. The common denominator is the myth that tax cuts and reduced services promote broad-based prosperity. Fortunately, ensuing bank failures and economic collapse also damage Swiss bank accounts and precious metals owned by the top one percent. They pay either way.

I have two close friends who are laid off due to the shutdown. I have hired them to do work that I would normally do myself. While I have a job, I have two kids in college and have had my salary frozen for the last two years and probably will see a decrease in the next two. Hiring these friends has made it hard on me financially; but they are worse off right now.

Where are all these jobs the rich, that the GOP is so worried about, are supposed to be creating? The GOP shutdown has cost me more than even the 4% tax increase would over the next four years. I hope there are going to be a lot of job openings at the legislature next fall. I plan to work hard to create as many among Republicans as they did this spring among the middle class.

I tend to be on Richard’s side of the fence, concerning your state governments dilema.

Being an outsider, out of state(r), I took a keen interest when I read of the prospect of a state government shutdown.

It’s obvious to me, 2/3 of your residents appear to be at a complete loss in regards to self reliance. At this point, it should become obvious to ALL of your residents, that your reliance upon the GOVERNMENT for any or all portions of your daily existence speaks volumes about your lack of FREEDOM. Can anybody say at this point that ‘community’ and socialism are not one in the same term?

It cannot be apparent only to me, that government workers who are now to rely soley upon unemployment compensation, at half their wages, and who apparently don’t seem to have the financial reserves to float them through this ordeal, have grossly overspent beyond their well compensated union means up to this point. Which would explain why when revenues to the state were cut, those in charge couldn’t fathom they had and are continuing to overspend beyond their means.

Perhaps a well deserved pat on the back for your Governor at this point in time. For showing all your states public employees what it really feels like to work for a private company who moves your job overseas.

Oh, I can see your pain. Now, you can feel firsthand, theirs.

I”m still searching for a state worker (oh, heck, ANY government worker) in this country whose health care requires them to pay $6000 a year in premiums(family coverage), plus ALL their doctors visits, ER visits, prescriptions and anything other than preventive visits up to their $5,000 a year deductible per person, before the $3,000 a year coinsurance kicks in, making their out of pocket expenses $8,000 a year before Obama’s mandatory health insurance requirement starts to pay something. Co-pay? What pray tell is a Co-pay?

Minnesota’s state government shut down.

Who does it really affect? The self reliant?

The free? Oh, yes, it does affect the free ride, doesn’t it?

I tend to be on Richard’s side of the fence, concerning your state governments dilema.

Being an outsider, out of state(r), I took a keen interest when I read of the prospect of a state government shutdown.

It’s obvious to me, 2/3 of your residents appear to be at a complete loss in regards to self reliance. At this point, it should become obvious to ALL of your residents, that your reliance upon the GOVERNMENT for any or all portions of your daily existence speaks volumes about your lack of FREEDOM. Can anybody say at this point that ‘community’ and socialism are not one in the same term?

It cannot be apparent only to me, that government workers who are now to rely soley upon unemployment compensation, at half their wages, and who apparently don’t seem to have the financial reserves to float them through this ordeal, have grossly overspent beyond their well compensated union means up to this point. Which would explain why when revenues to the state were cut, those in charge couldn’t fathom they had and are continuing to overspend beyond their means.

Perhaps a well deserved pat on the back for your Governor at this point in time. For showing all your states public employees what it really feels like to work for a private company who moves your job overseas.

Oh, I can see your pain. Now, you can feel firsthand, theirs.

I”m still searching for a state worker (oh, heck, ANY government worker) in this country whose health care requires them to pay $6000 a year in premiums(family coverage), plus ALL their doctors visits, ER visits, prescriptions and anything other than preventive visits up to their $5,000 a year deductible per person, before the $3,000 a year coinsurance kicks in, making their out of pocket expenses $8,000 a year before Obama’s mandatory health insurance requirement starts to pay something. Co-pay? What pray tell is a Co-pay?

Minnesota’s state government shut down.

Who does it really affect? The self reliant?

The free? Oh, yes, it does affect the free ride, doesn’t it?

This single-minded behavior from Republicans isn’t new behavior. They’ve been shoving power down others’ throats since we invaded Iraq, without concern for life or welfare outside their narrow definition what’s good for them. Thanks to Republicans, Minnesota is the Can’t-do State. Their intransigence reflects their disrespect for anyone who doesn’t bow to their power. This isn’t politics as we’ve known it. It’s a sea change and compromise is drowning. They’re testing their power, not their ideas; asserting force at the expense of gov employees and all MN citizens, not honoring their duty to uphold citizens’ rights. We’ve paid for a government that has locked us out. We’ve elected officials who are penalizing us for electing them. They hide behind meaningless phrases like “The voters of Minnesota elected us to shrink government” as if Minnesotans as a group were as single-minded their simple-minded sound bites. Reporters who’ve lost the ability to think for themselves have taken to blaming Minnesotans for splitting government between Republicans and Democrats as if the shutdown were a natural consequence of electoral incompetence. There’s nothing natural about the shutdown–it’s an abberation caused by abuse of power, and it sure isn’t citizens who are abusing it. Blaming the electorate for the shutdown is like a comedian blaming the audience for not laughing. When you call yourself a comedian, your job is to make us laugh. If we’re not laughing, you ain’t funny. That is, you’ve been voted off the stage.

I’m just on the trickle down side. I have had $60,000 or work canceled by state employees. It is not their fault. Thank God the venders of the product understand and are not going to hold them to the contract for the order.

When will it end?

Steve

Judging by the comments above, its affecting me similarly to the entire group: its making me angry and more polarized. Which is ironic, because that’s what got us into this mess to begin with. Everyday I hear more news stories on the shutdown, every day it makes me more frustrated, more…well downright hateful towards my party of choice. It makes me and others that much more likely to vote the political extremes rather than the center. Because of this, the very small number of folks truly in the center (perhaps because they don’t really follow politics?) will continue to decide elections. The problem with that is the extreme folks on each side will have chosen the more extreme candidates on each side to run, thus further alienating the center.

Oh Kim’s got an answer to everything! Especially that the 38k I make a year is ” well compensated union means up to this point”. Now there’s somebody I’d like to strangle right about now. I can’t even afford a foreclosure on that which is why at 39 I live with my mother, but enough about ignoramus’-they are why we are here-in the middle of shutdown-to begin with. I tend to hear the Richard’s more-the whole “been out of work a year, what are you complaining about?” which is why I’m not complaining. I planned to take this week off anyway-I’m just not getting paid for it now. That’s pretty much how the shutdown is affecting me. If I knew I was going to have the whole month off, I’d start painting the house. And if I was getting paid, I’d have called that contractor to start work on it. Thanks Mom for the “free ride”. At least mom’s are “liberal” enough to allow us to “live within our means”.

i suppose i have yet to notice in any real sense…which makes me wonder what gets done in the first place?

The longer the shutdown stays, the more independents that will not support the DFL in 2012.

Dayton was given a balanced budget but_ he wanted to spend even more! I wish I never voted for him.

It is unbelievable to me that the citizens of this state do not realize this shutdown is COSTING the state millions of dollars. There is plenty of blame on both sides but the republican stance of protecting the wealthiest is a huge stumbling block. We also have a very narrow base on sales taxes which could be expanded (to items such as clothing). This debate is a foreshadow of the upcoming national debate.

This country needs a viable third party, one that is willing to end many of the entitlements (such as continuing to give oil companies subsidies at the same time they are incredibly profitable).