MESSA is a start.  A good start.  Changing to 401K programs is another good start.  Any word on the MSP Headquarters?  How about the judge positions?  

I've asked my source to confirm which RINO's will be crossing over to the dark side.  No word yet.  But we've already heard certain names bandied about.  Within the next 28 hours we should know for sure.

There are RINO's and there are Republicans.  Do not confuse the two.

But it's simple math, folks.  There's said to be a 1.75 BILLION dollar deficit this year.  The best the Republican Senate could do is come up with just shy of $1 billion in cuts.  That still leaves a $750 million deficit.  By law they must balance the budget.  And most Republicans didn't like what the billion in cuts would mean.  Where the heck are they going to get the other $750 million (let alone pass the billion in cuts through the Senate, House and get Granholm to sign it)??

Do NOT get me wrong.  I detest the idea of tax increases of any kind.  Especially given our on-going single-state recession.

But the simple reality is, you have a Democrat governor and Democrats running the House.  What do you REALISTICALLY think the Republicans can actually do?

The best we can hope for is a modest tax hike in income and sales taxes and very real cuts and reforms in government spending.

Wake up and smell the coffee.  And while you're at it, grow up and accept reality.  I understand your anger and frustration.  But the citizens of our state chose their government and we all have to live with it (or we could move to Texas as someone earlier suggested).  In the meantime, I fully expect a bloody defeat for the Dem in state races next November due to the fiscal mess THEY'VE created.

They control the House and they control the Governor's office.  

It's been one heck of a battle and everyone (minus Ward and Garcia) has done a great job to this point.  And when someone gives in and goes along with the Democrats' job killing tax hikes... voters will take note.

Yes, Tim Skubick had regurgitated the very same schpeal several minutes ago on Channel 2.

But for the moment, call me skeptical (and no, I'm not going to be an apologist for the GOP so just hear me out).

Much like everything else being bandied about, I see this as yet another trial baloon being floated to gauge public reaction to tax hikes.

With a shutdown just hours away, I feel that they are attempting to see whether or not the public will be more "agreeable" to having more of their money taken with the effects of a shutdown coming more into focus. Or, what I like to refer to as the guv & speaker taking their ball and going home.

The best thing that we can do here is to continue to apply pressure on our elected "representatives" and let them know that this is unacceptable. Call their offices, e-mail them, have arguments ready against their speaking points (i.e. they have no "alternative" but to cut prisons, education, public health, etc.). For the record, I ask them just where do they want me to cut from my family's budget: health care, meals, utilities, mortgage (strangely, I have yet to get a response back on that one). Most importantly (and I realize that this is difficult now), be civil and polite.

Don't use the recall threat when communicating with them. If your sen/rep decides to drink the kool aid, they are already aware that a recall is an option on the table and that we can always recall them later.

Nevertheless, the Republicans are the ONLY ones who've shown any leadership and responsibility in this process.  I think the majority of voters know this.  And it's our party's responsibility to communicate this along with the impact the Dems' tax hikes will have on the voters' and the state's economy.  They will be devastating.  But this is what happens when voters decide to give the controls of government to the Democrats.  A valuable lesson painfully learned.

Budget cuts are politically unpopular to democrats because it means that they could not pay back a particular constitutiency.

On the flip side: more money to state gov't means less money for my family's budget.

And again, I've yet to hear any suggestions to where I should cut my budget?