Minnesota Government Shutdown

• Cucurbita wrote on 2011-07-09 04:47
  Facepalm*
  
  Not enough.
  
  Double hand face palm*
  
  Not enough.
  
  Facedesk*
  
  Facedesk*
  
  Facedesk*
  
  Wall kcik*
  
  So today the Minnesota government shut down. Not a single government service is up and running right now, with the exception of mail service and law enforcement. Any attempt to call any government service will be greeted by a machine letting you know that all services are postponed until prior notice.
  
  Over 40 thousand workers have been laid off, and because there are no government workers, none of them can even file unemployment.
  
  People are unable to get their licenses, buy/sell/transfer titles, get help from medicare/medicaid, apply for residence/citizenship, etc etc etc.
  
  I don't really have the details so if anyone has a good article that explains it well, let me know. I personally think government workers have it way too easy. The sense of job security makes them all work WAY too slow.
  
  Edit: I'm seriously never coming back to Minnesota again after I leave. This state reeked of fail the day I got here.
• Akiye wrote on 2011-07-09 05:47
  What did you expect at all from Minnesota... like seriously. :l
• Aliyah wrote on 2011-07-09 06:33
  boo <3 Minnesota :P
• rzetlin wrote on 2011-07-09 13:45
  Somehow I am not surprised when you have have Tea Party Queen Michele Bachmann as the Minnesota Senator.
  
  At least the Americans got what they wanted less government in their lives!
• Kingofrunes wrote on 2011-07-09 14:00
  ...
  
  I would have thought New York and California would have shut down first seeing that those two states have the biggest debt problem >.>
  
  Wonder how New Yorkers and Californians have managed to stay afloat?
• Yoorah wrote on 2011-07-09 20:59
  I believe the laid off gov workers can file for unemployment. But other than that, yeah, it's a fail of epic proportions:
  
  

  The state is also losing millions in revenue every day of the shutdown. The lottery normally pulls in about $1.25 million daily, while state compliance officers chase down about $1.68 million in tax revenues per day. The closing of the express toll lanes and Giants Ridge public golf course and convention center means more than $120,000 a week will slip away.
  
  Plus, Minnesota expects to shell out $8.5 million a week in unemployment insurance for the laid-off state workers, according to the Department of Employment and Economic Development. And it will pay $4.7 million to cover their health insurance weekly.
  
  Those unemployed public employees, combined with the laid-off construction workers and social services providers who lost their state funding, are expected to drain $18 million in spending from Minnesota's economy each week, said Thomas Stinson, who was the state's economist until he lost his job on Friday.

  
  
  And most amusingly:
  
  

  Meanwhile, another round of talks Wednesday between Dayton and Republican lawmakers yielded only barbs and accusations. The governor proposed temporarily adding a 2% surcharge on millionaires or raising cigarette taxes by $1 a pack to bridge the remaining gap.
  
  Republican leaders said a tax increase was a non-starter.

  
  http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/07/news/economy/Minnesota_government_shutdown/index.htm
  
  LOLOL! I guess the republicans love to smoke.
  
  What a bunch of ...
• Aliyah wrote on 2011-07-10 01:00
  Press conference for tuesday so looks they came to an agreement and it will be over ^^
• Cucurbita wrote on 2011-07-10 04:35
  This is the result of political disagreement. They can't agree on ****. Can't find a freaking middle ground ever.
  
  We need mediators.
• Hiccup wrote on 2011-07-10 04:40
  Kitae killed Minnesota :C
  
  Please dun come to Pennsylvania...
• Kingofrunes wrote on 2011-07-10 12:03

  Quote from Hiccup;506504:

  Kitae killed Minnesota :C
  
  Please dun come to Pennsylvania...

  
  
  Hey hey now. I'm sure it isn't Kitaek's fault. The government is plain stupid as are a good chunk of people in this country. Nothing we can do about that.