When Legislators don't listen to their constituents

Rural Republican legislators are starting to see just how much budget cuts they're supporting hurt their constituencies, even more so than other places around the state.

An MPR report out of Tracy, Minn., shows those attending town hall meetings attended by newly elected Sen. Gary Dahms of Redwood Falls and State Rep. Chris Swedzinski of Ghent showed rural areas fear budget cuts more than tax increases.

From the MPR story:

"Once the meeting in Tracy got started, it was clear the audience wasn't much interested in the Republican versus Democrat struggle at the capitol. Voters like Diana Slyter of Florence were mostly interested in their own backyards.

Slyter said she fears that the partisan wars are distracting lawmakers from what they really should be doing, taking care of their home districts. She said long after the two political parties have hurled their final challenge at the other side this legislative session, the people of Minnesota will have to live with what sort of budget they end up passing.

That sort of sentiment was echoed by others at the Tracy meeting. Jason Swanson, the administrator of the nursing home in Tracy, said care centers in rural areas need more state support from lawmakers.

"We are not getting a fair shake out here," Swanson said.  "We are over-regulated, we're under-funded. And who's getting hurt the most is not only our residents, our vulnerable adults, our grandparents, our parents, but also our staff. I'm not able to pay our staff what they deserve. And I'll be the first one to say that."

The one guy who did talk partisanship, actually, was on Dayton's tax the rich side.

"The person that's on a $9-an-hour job out here, cannot pay any big tax bill," says Bud Hayes. "But the guy that's making $600- $700,000 dollars a year can afford it.  And you can only get it from those that's got it."

MPR story reported: "Dahms said he didn't think there was any chance Republicans would change their 'no tax increase' stance.  He said his big worry is that if taxes are raised, it's a fix that won't last very long because if legislators approve the Dayton plan, in two years they'll be looking at more tax increases. He fears the next round of tax increases would reach into the middle-income earners."

Full MPR story

I haven't really heard Republicans defend their all cuts budget to outstate areas that will be hit very hard, but this worry that the tax increases will filter down to middle class seems, lets just say, far fetched, especially a middle class tax increase coming from a Democratic governor.

The demographics of this district show a median income of $38,917, and at near virtual tie for Obama and McCain at 48 percent each in the 2008 election.


If I were a newly elected Republican in places like Tracy, I'd be very wary about endorsing an all cuts budget.