We want a fiscally responsible government that doesn’t put its spending on credit cards. We’re willing to spend more ourselves to ensure that the debt is not passed on to our children. It’s not a question of whether we will have to pay, it’s a question of when. I think most Minnesotans are willing to make sacrifices to ensure that their children inherit a better Minnesota.
We want to be fiscally solvent. Our state’s expenses will only grow, and our revenues will only shrink, in the future. We can’t be in a permanent crisis — we will need to permanently cut spending and raise revenues. There’s no time like the present.
We want budget solutions to distribute sacrifices evenly and fairly. We can’t balance the entire budget on the backs of the poor. At the same time, we shouldn’t force the wealthy to pay for everything either, even if they have a greater capacity to do so. Fairness demands shared sacrifice, in which cuts to the social safety net are reduced by increased taxes. No single segment of our society should have to pay for returning our state to fiscal solvency.
We want basics like food and healthcare to be accessible to everyone. In such a prosperous nation and state, nobody should be going hungry. Minor illnesses should not lead to catastrophic disease. Health problems should not lead to bankruptcy. We have the power to use our social safety net to prevent these problems. Not only is it the right thing to do, it saves us money in the long run, as all of these problems have tremendous social costs.
We want a strong economy. That means minimizing obstacles for businesses, but it also means ensuring that we have a healthy state infrastructure. We need strong transportation systems, strong schools, and effective — but not overbearing — regulation.
Ideally, we would like to keep our taxes as low as possible, while still achieving these goals. But I think I speak for a majority of Minnesotans when I say that taxes are not the be-all and end-all; I am willing to pay what I need to to achieve these values.
I want my (and others’) taxes to be as low as practicably possible. Scratch that. I don’t care much about keeping mine low. I want taxes to be as low as possible while providing the services that make our state great.
Jeff -
Nice post. I agree that Minnesotans have always valued these things. When I talk with my colleagues from other states, they often point out the prosperity in Minnesota. Not Beverly Hills or The Hamptons prosperity, but the kind that enables so many families to live the life they want while being part of a community that ensures services are there for all.
To that end, a long-held value of Minnesotans is the presence of prosperous and community-conscious companies who provide good jobs to people, who in turn create the very tax base to run everything we talk about here. Go back in time — companies like Daytons/Target, Elmer Andersen’s HB Fuller, 3M, Cargill, Medtronic, Toro, TCF, and others. The biggest challenge to our budget situation is closing the financial gap without putting the future community employers and philanthropic leaders at a disadvantage. I’ll admit that I don’t have some easy solution.
In a perfect Minnesota, there is an abundance of good jobs from good employers, and everyone willingly pays a far amount of tax while keeping the rest to provide for their family, go to a couple Twins games, and pay for that week up at a northwoods cabin every summer while building small nestegg for the later years. Perhaps it is too simplistic, but that is what the old Minnesota seemed liked to me.