Is the rest of the country really laughing at us?

Citizen Spin notes the front-page article in today's Star Tribune newspaper while recalling the difficulty of finding news to tell on the third day of a three-day weekend, which is only slightly less difficult than the day after a three-day weekend. You watch; tomorrow we'll learn that Santa Claus has announced that because of the government shutdown and the inability of the Legislature to compromise, Santa Claus has announced he's skipping Minnesota airspace this December.

Minnesotans love to ponder their status in the rest of the country, and occasionally fret to think the tongues in Delaware are wagging with naysaying. Citizen Spin thinks that's just fine because she -- or is it he? -- is sure it would crush our collective psyche to learn the rest of the country rarely thinks about Minnesota or the overly-sensitive people who live there.

One wonders, however, why we are so concerned about 49 other states and not about what the people in New Ulm, or Pelican Rapids, or Cottage Grove, or Tofte think about the sad state of political dialogue.

Citizen Spin thinks the problem is more than just the individuals who make up the Legislature and governor. Citizen Spin thinks they mirror us all; a state where central air conditioning, backyard decks, and the disappearance of the front porch and sidewalks has encouraged our ability to meet others, consider, understand and ultimately reconcile other opinions with our own to atrophy.

Next question, please?.

Hi Spin, Happy 4th
Why don't we see any specific CUTS to personnel, not department reductions but
real cuts proposed to departments in these negotiations. When 9,000 people are
considerred non-essential, I wonder what other departments look like. --Mark, Brooklyn Park

Back at you, Mark. The non-essential thing is pretty much non-sense in the phraseology. Theoretically, non-essential means non-life-and-death in a short time frame, in which case there's a whole lot of folks at the Capitol who would qualify, of course. House Speaker Steve Sviggum on MPR's Midday said he prefers the term "core services."

Democrats tried to make cuts to departments, mostly assistant commissioners etc., and they were rebuffed.It was one of the early "hey, how'd you like a stick in the eye" bills the DFLers toyed with early in the session. And the state government operations bill has already passed and isn't up for debate now.

K-12, of course, has certainly seen plenty of cuts but, they're mostly school district cuts. Spin doesn't know how many people in the Department of Education have lost or will lose jobs.

The other bill is the human services bill and people are losing jobs. Spin knows of several whose jobs depend on state grants to do the jobs. Those jobs are currently gone and the state is cancelling several of those grants. But they just don't happen to be state workers.

Help! My friend's son was in a serious car accident and has been hospitalized
for almost two months. Now, he is ready to be discharged to a skilled nursing
facility, probably long term, as he has a serious brain injury. The problem is
that he needs state Medical Assistance (Medicaid) to be accepted to a
facility, the family has been told. This involves a process of being "SMRT'd" to
get on medical assistance as an adult with a disability (ie, SMRT means
something about a medical review). Well, with the state workers on strike the
family has been told that the SMRT will take a looooooooong time, meaning that
he will have to stay in the hospital much longer........ This seems so unfair
and expensive. Citizen Kane...or Spin, I mean, ...help me to understand this and
to help this family. This seems cruel and so wrong, regardless of party
affiliation. The family was told that, even under usual circumstances a SMRT can
take up to two months and now we are looking at even more time....
- Barbara, St. Paul

Citizen Spin believes it's good that the legislators went home for the holiday, for they will mostly surely have to go out to wave at July 4th parades and remind the voters that whatever is wrong with the current system, it's the other party's fault. Maybe they'll hear from some real people.

In an ideal world, your friend's story would get through and someone would pick up the phone to get the help he needs. This is known as the "safety net" and so far neither party has said there shouldn't be one for cases such as this.

But the lawmakers are mostly focused on today... right now. And if it's more expensive in the long run, so be it. Because the goal right now is to get through today... right now.

So the obvious expense difference here, while real, doesn't it make it past the starting gate. Citizen Spin hopes that someone in state government will read this and explore the situation, pick up the phone, clear the red tape, and give the family a little glimpse of what makes Minnesota different.

The debate in recent years has refocused our health care initiatives on those who can take care of themselves. So far, a brain injured child has not fit that description.

But you're correct. It is cruel and it is wrong. It also is another story that a state shutdown is not "no big deal." It is. And Citizen Spin can do little more than say a little prayer for your friend's family, and hope that the spirit we celebrated tonight with fireworks and parties still exists somewhere around these parts.

WWMGD? What would Moonlight Graham do?