Some people don't appreciate the Labor Movement or the DFL. The Labor Movement gave us the 40 hour week. Even nonunion workers live better because of unions.
This year's budget battle were like negotiations for a union contract. The DFL did a terrific job of fighting for the interests of working class and middle class people. Transit funding increased! Property tax refunds saved! I didn't know what was happening with those two issues. That makes my day! A good surpise, for a change! Who got what in the budget agreement: http://www.startribune.com/stories/587/5498836.html Look what the DFL fought for and won in the budget battle: 1. More money for K-12 education. Education cuts are a huge issue in every school district. Education cuts have been going on for the last six years. 2. Republican cuts to MinnesotaCare eligibility would have killed people. Those cuts were stopped! 3. Transit funding was "increased" (over Pawlenty's proposal) by $46 million! No more service cuts or fare increases! Last year, Republican budget cuts forced the Met Council to demand huge givebacks from the Transit Workers. That forced the union to strike for 44 days, even though the workers were in a weak position. If the budget shutdown and budget agreement prevents another transit strike, then that alone makes the budget shutdown worth it! Hallelujah! 4. Property tax refunds have been saved from Pawlenty's cuts. Property tax refunds go to low-income renters and homeowners who really need it! The budget battle was a fight worth having. It was long overdue! Here is a good article from City Pages on the budget showdown. It was written before the settlement. http://www.citypages.com/databank/26/1283/article13471.asp MinnesotaCare has been saved from the Republican axe! The MinnesotaCare cuts would have killed people, and forced others to quit their jobs and go on welfare. Here's a good article about Pawlenty's Evil Plot to steal money from MinnesotaCare: http://citypages.com/databank/26/1282/article13452.asp The final budget may be a little closer to Pawlenty's original proposal than the Senate's proposal. Still, the final budget is a great improvement over the slash and burn budget that Republicans started with. The Senate DFL deserves a huge amount of credit. Dean Johnson and Linda Berglin and many other DFL legislators did a terrific job this year. The House and Senate passed the light-on bill at around 3 AM on Friday night/Saturday morning. Legislators were hanging around the Capitol just in case an agreement was reached. To repeat: your legislators went back to work and passed the light-on bill at 3 AM on Friday night. Pretty good for "bums who can't get the job done"! Some people have an ivory tower view of politics. Some people don't understand negotiation. Haven't they ever negotiated to buy a car? Or negotiated a big purchase or a salary? Ed Fesler [EMAIL PROTECTED] Minneapolis ____________________________________________________ Sell on Yahoo! Auctions no fees. Bid on great items. http://auctions.yahoo.com/ _______________________________________________ Twin Cities Metropolitan Issues Forum http://www.e-democracy.org/tcmetro Rules: Sign posts with real name. You may not post more than twice a day.
