A Cure That Kills

When you read things like Minnesota's towns and citeis having to cut police departments and eliminate whole forces...well two things come to mind…

1. The Wild West…hide your women and keep the kids inside…and
2. Pawlenty’s budget create more serious issues than it solves.
   

The solution to the budget crisis should cause more problems than it currently causes..that's why leadership and common sense decisions are so important right now...Pawlenty obviously isn't up to the task.

Per the Star Tribune "When Governor Tim Pawlenty announced his budget proposal, the City of Elko New Market took a hit—a big hit. The small city outside of Lakeville stands to lose $105,492 in Local Government Aid for 2009 (which is a 29% cut in their LGA) and $260,609 in 2010 (which is a 60% cut in their LGA) under the governor’s plan. This is on top of the $71,916 the city lost as part of the governor’s unallotment.

The city’s budget concerns grew, and on Thursday, April 9th—in part due to these concerns—the city council voted to dissolve their police department. With “fresh graffiti, no cops and lots of questions” in the city, yesterday’s Star Tribune reports on how the community is struggling with the elimination of the police department."

Hmm....How you going to convince residents in these towns to pay their local taxes...I sure would be asking why pay when we don't get basic services for safety.