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Where does Minnesota Stand?

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The Minnesota Legislative session is less than a month away.  With the DFL in control of the House, Senate, and Governor’s office for the first time since 1990 we can expect that, at the very least, everything will operate differently than it has in a long time.  This is a good time to look around and back to a complete understanding of the state of the state budget.  The most contentious parts have always been taxes, so we should start with them.

As noted before, there is a structural deficit of $1B per year that is hidden by some awful gimmicks.  Fixing that gap will likely be easy, but it begs for more fundamental reform that Governor Dayton is eager to implement.  Before we get too far into it, two obvious questions stand out – where does Minnesota government income stand in relation to other states as well as where we have been historically?

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Minnesota Budget – A Solvable Problem

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The Minnesota state budget forecast came out with more bad news – a deficit of $1.1B for the biennium (2 year) cycle of 2014-2015.  How can we have these deficits year after year?

The answer is a short and simple one:  it’s actually worse than what they are telling us.  But a new DFL controlled legislature will be able to work with Governor Dayton to take care of it, once and for all, without an awful lot of pain.  The longer answer is that we can expect even more fundamental reform in the works.

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Hot Buttons

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What more is there to say before the election?  This has the potential to be a big day for Democrats, and things are certainly breaking the right way here in Minnesota.  We’ve seen the momentum building all summer as there were signs that the economy, though still weak, is gaining strength.  Ohio and the rest of the industrial heartland seems to believe that it’s good enough, and they are polling strong for Obama.

What more is there to say?  It’s a good time to admit I was very wrong about something.  Something big, too.

Like most people concerned with the precarious state of our economy, I hate the emotional “hot button” issues.  I’ve called the relentless bleating on Fox a “War on Reality” and blasted the distractions created.  The bizarre and constant assault on women (and basic decency) hit my radar, but that was about it.  It simply seemed that we had better things to talk about as a people whose futures are tied together.  What I was wrong about was simple – that these issues, and our reaction to them on the left, is what strong coalitions are made from and once we kick some butt there will be no turning back.

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2012 Predictions

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The election is a week away.  It’s time to make a few predictions and offer some analysis, if only so that everyone can make fun of me when this is all over.

Regular readers know how much disdain I have for the horserace that characterizes most of the reporting, but in the end it comes down to that.  Still, there are many issues revolving around the ability to call this thing properly that are fascinating, at least to someone too far into it.  My fondest hope is that at least some of them break in ways that defy conventional wisdom and shake things up.

Ready?

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