No shame in curbing state government
By Jim Galewski | Just Jim

I’m not sure why a guest view by Winona County Attorney Chuck MacLean stuck in my craw. I usually agree or disagree with an opinion and move on.

MacLean started out his column stating that lawmakers “should fall to their knees and apologize to their parents and grandparents for ruining Minnesota.”
He blames the governor and the Legislature who have “succumbed to some voters’ basest desires to avoid taxes.”

It may have been easier to swallow MacLean’s rant if he didn’t go to the public trough every payday. To scorn lawmakers for holding the line on taxes could be viewed as self-serving. While MacLean’s professional interests would be focused on the court system, he scoffs at the lack of vision lawmakers used in their “no new taxes” pledge — “that is their legacy of shame” he adds.

While Minnesota hasn’t lost its ranking as one of the highest taxed states in the country, “no new taxes” doesn’t mean we’ve stopped the increase in state spending. Quite the opposite has happened. The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities measures its annual appropriation in billions of dollars. Our state spending on public education grows each year. State spending has more than doubled since 1990. And we pay our teachers well. The grotesque size of the MnSCU budget is because almost 70 percent of the budget goes to salaries.

It’s not popular to bring up teachers’ salaries. Young teachers get the short end of the stick, but senior teachers get to retire a good 10 years before those of us in the private sector, and they retire with packages that inspire phrases like, “silver lining and golden parachute.”

Should we raise taxes in Minnesota to improve our quality of life? Will throwing more money at state programs make them better? How much more money should we spend on public education? Will doubling the funding to public education make it twice as good? If we build as many prisons and hire as many judges as county attorneys and the prison system thinks we need, will it keep our court system from failing?

Yes, public employees have only seen modest increases in their wage in the past 10 years. Many of us in the private sector have seen no wage increase. Some of us have lost earnings and some of us have lost our jobs.

When our own Interstate Bridge failed an inspection and had to be closed immediately. The Minnesota Department of Transportation was quick to point to inadequate funding for the blame. In short, MnDOT is saying we don’t spend enough on taxes in this state to have safe roads. In reality, MnDOT may have to put the Winona area back on its Minnesota map. The condition of our roads looks like this corner of the state has been ignored by MnDOT for years.

Just take the river road in Wisconsin to the north or south. You’ll see how Wisconsin takes care of its out-state roads. Then drive back on the Minnesota side and tell me we are getting a fair shake on highway upkeep.

There’s good logic in investing in the future and leaving a good example to our children and grandchildren on how to make Minnesota a thriving state by building good schools with a solid infrastructure.

Our state government has proved that throwing more money at state programs hasn’t made them better, bigger maybe, but not better. We are teaching our children and grandchildren to be resourceful.

It’s not a legacy of shame, but a message to government to fix its problem. We are sending enough tax money. Start giving us our money’s worth in return.

A Republican I’m not

After my right-winged tirade last week, some folks are convinced I’m a Republican. I’m not. I’m married to a Republican so I get all the solicitations from at least six different types of Republican groups. I have bumper stickers for McCain and Obama. I’ve voted Republican for president, but for the past six presidential elections, I’ve taken my father with me to the polls, and he proudly states, “I’ve been voting Democrat since FDR.”

So if I voted for a Republican, my dad has discounted my vote. I have a thick skin and had to hear secondhand that some letter writers were critical of my view. My first thought was positive. It would be boring if everyone thought the same way. But don’t call me a Republican. Save that name-calling for someone you don’t like.

Galewski is the retired editor and Opinion page editor of the Winona Daily News. His views don’t necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper. If you have an idea or tip about a Winona issue, e-mail him at editor@luminet.net.

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