State legislators have concluded their 24-city "Misery Tour", otherwise known as "listening sessions." The series of town hall-style meetings were promoted as opportunities for citizens to provide their input and ideas on Minnesota's projected $6-7 billion budget deficit.
The reality of the so-called "listening sessions" didn't live up to their billing. Liberal legislators critical of Governor Pawlenty's budget help orchestrate these events to showcase the "misery" that government workers assert would result from modest cuts in state spending. The government employee's union, AFSCME, directed their members to testify at the meetings and even told them what to say. Most legislators clearly gave government workers preference when determining who would be allowed to speak and in what order. Representative Gene Pelowski (DFL, Winona) sent an email to a long list of Winona-area government workers describing the purpose of the listening sessions as being to get testimony from affected programs in every level of government, education, health care or service impacted by the cuts suggested by the Governor's state budget. In the email, he instructs government workers, "We would ask you to focus your comments on the impact of the Governor's budget including what is the harm to your area of government or program. Please be as precise as possible using facts such as number of lay offs, increases in property taxes, cuts in services, increases in tuition, elimination of programs."
In city after city, legislators heard primarily from government employees and beneficiaries about the catastrophic impact the Governor's budget proposal would have on their department, and the people dependent on their services. In some cities, the government talking to government echo chamber was almost the exclusive program. For example, only two private-sector taxpayers addressed the Rochester meeting, amid over 50 government-funded workers' testimony. Naturally, the private taxpayers asked government to look for greater efficiencies and cuts before looking to their wallets for "revenue enhancements." But government workers almost universally decried any cuts to their budgets, with representatives from various departments each insisting that their particular program is critically important. Defying the reality of Minnesota's budget situation, most said they needed more funding.
The beneficiaries of tax dollars were out in force, and were generally chosen to speak over the producers of those tax dollars, the private sector workers and small business people. After the listening sessions were finally exposed in the news media for the staged government "echo chambers" they were, some subsequent sessions did appear to be conducted with more balance.
TAKE ACTION
Participate in our Virtual Listening Session and make sure the voice of private sector citizens is heard in our state legislature.
When a business has a decline, there are layoffs and perhaps pay reductions. Why should we not allow state employees to have the same privilege? Reduce pay and cut back programs--some may be very worthwhile and others would never be missed. Reduce the bureaucracy and use the money to help those unemployed or in need of medical help.
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