Standard & Poor's downgraded Minnesota's bond rating yesterday from AAA to AA+. Predictably, the governor's office and Republicans hauled the trebuchets out of the barn to hurl flaming talking points at each other.
Nestled in their the Minnesota Valley redoubt, the editorial board of the New Ulm Journal gives the reaction a resounding thumbs down in State bond rating:
THUMBS DOWN: Standard & Poor's downgraded Minnesota's state bond rating from AAA to AA+ on Friday. It was the last of the three major credit rating services to give the state an AAA rating.
This should be a wake-up call to our governor and our legislators. S&P cited the state's reliance on one-time measures to balance the state's budget, instead of finding addressing the recurring instability.
We doubt the state's leaders are listening, however. Gov. Mark Dayton issued a statement blaming Republicans for not raising the needed revenue. Republicans responded that the governor wouldn't need to raise the revenues if we cut spending the way they want. In other words, they carried on the same argument that led to our government shutdow in July.
It will take time to put the state back on a solid financial footing as it is. The longer the parties bicker, the longer it will take.
Image: A trebuchet. If the budget debate makes you want to hurl, it should.
Comments