Math A La DFL?

Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:

The Pioneer Press repeats the DFL line on the budget – we’re only short $1.1 billion.

  • I don’t think the numbers work. We’re short $1.1 billion for day-to-day operating expenses. We short-changed schools $2.4 billion last time but we’re paying back half of that so we’re still short $1.2 billion for that. PLUS we need something for inflation because even if government employees get no raises, the cost of everything from paper clips to blacktop keeps going up.
  • It’s more like $2.5 billion we’re short. Tell the truth: we have our own fiscal cliff right here.

Joe Doakes

Como Park

We’ll see.

4 thoughts on “Math A La DFL?

  1. If strict accounting methods were observed, the cost of future benefits would show up on today’s budget, and thus be subject to the discipline of the balanced budget requirement.

  2. “We short-changed schools $2.4 billion last time but we’re paying back half of that so we’re still short $1.2 billion for that.”

    Yet the state reps running in my district kept telling us that the Republicans “turned a shortfall into a surplus” this past session.

    Funny how the story suddenly changes once the election is over.

  3. Republicans claim they balanced the state budget without taxes increases To “balance” the budget they borrowed approximately two billion dollars from K-12 and another $700 million from the tobacco endowment. All this was one time revenue that must be repaid. The budget deal did nothing to solve a structural deficit problem.

  4. I love this “structural” deficit talk, a DFL code word for “nothing we can do about it” and/or “shut up and pay up.” There shall be no discussion about stopping the rail madness. We will not speak openly of the glut in public higher education. Early childhood programs for all, whether they work or not. And nobody really knows or cares about the unfunded $19 billion in public pensions.

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