Admittedly, Strong: Progressive doesn't spend a lot of time on local issues, but this one has really angered me, not to mention that I know many people who would be affected by a shutdown in one way or another. It's angered me because this isn't just about eliminating services and keeping taxes down for the greediest, which is happening state-by-state across the country; it's also about deconstructing the social safety net that we created during the 20th Century. These wingnuts want to repeal the New Deal, and return to the laissez-faire capitalism of the 19th Century. Goodbye, child labor laws! Make the little bastards earn their keep! Goodbye, FDA! Who needs some busybody Fed monitoring the acceptable amount of roach parts in my hot dog? Goodbye, social safety net! If you're poor and haven't made your pile, well, it must be because God doesn't like you, like He likes the Koch brothers, for example. Fuck you, you broke SOB, get outta my country!
Yeah, I'm pissed.
So I'm lighting up the bat-signal. I sent the following email today, with the appropriate changes, to several national progressive media stars. Enjoy:
We need your help in Minnesota! The Republican-led state legislature is going to cause a shutdown of the entire state, and there's no notice of it in the national media. The Repugs, as usual, are trying to force spending cuts on our Democratic governor, Mark Dayton, and they're holding Minnesota hostage to do it. If the state government shuts down, the neediest Minnesotans will lose all their state-funded services and aid (my fiance is a social worker, and she can give you tons of info on how that will affect people); roads won't be repaired, hundreds of veterans may be evicted from veterans' homes in the state, state parks will be closed; passports, professional licenses and fishing and drivers' licenses won't be issued, public transportation will see reductions in service; convicts, sex offenders, and the mentally ill may have to be released from state prisons and correctional facilities; and we haven't seen a mumbling word about this in any national news medium, print, tv, or online! Medicaid recipients will lose their health insurance. Thirty-six thousand state workers have already received their pink slips. Many small businesses that provide state-funded services will begin layoffs in the event of a shutdown, and might eventually fail. This is worse than Wisconsin.
I believe that your attention could help us here. We desperately need the national media's spotlight to shine on this. Please mention this next week on your radio or tv show. The deadline for Minnesota is July 1, and Gov. Dayton can't do it alone.
Well, let's see if it works. In the meantime, I'll be spending more time shining my own spotlight on these Minnesota Republicans. Maybe if I do, they'll scurry back into the woodwork like the cockroaches that they are.
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