WHY ARE WE SURPIRSED?

In the aftermath of the Minnesota legislature and Governor Pawlenty patting themselves on the back for finishing the session on time with a balanced budget, we now find out how they did it. We should not be shocked to hear that the state has cut public defenders, thus causing thousands of property tax dollars to be collected in the counties to make up for the shortfall. And the most recent revelation of cutting positions at the Minnesota Security Hospital should not alarm us – because after all they did finish on time and had to balance the budget somehow. But remember, according to the Governor, we did not raise taxes. And according to state Senator Dick Day who is now running for Congress, the state leaders are not responsible for raising property taxes. After all property taxes are the bailiwick of local governments. end