Thursday, July 7, 2011

Deja Vu All Over Again

July 1, 2005; Minnesota state government partially shuts down. I am out of work for 10 days. Fast forward to July 1, 2011. Another government shutdown. This time government shuts down fully with only critical services remaining open. I was laid off as of July 1. Budget talks are at a stalemate, the Democrats want taxes along with budget cuts. The Republicans want to cut everything including the number of employees in the state work force. I'm tired of being a political hostage, yet I agree with the governor who would rather not throw the most vulnerable citizens of the state under the bus. He prefers a budget that mixes cuts with a tax in the wealthiest Minnesotans. I cannot reconcile my values with a party that only wants to hurt the most vulnerable citizens by making cuts to badly needed services while letting millionaires continue to pay less than the rest of us.

Nine Years and Counting

Mom has been gone for a little over nine years. This blog was a huge mechanism for helping me cope with her illness and daily downfall. I...