I have not posted anything from our student newspaper this summer -- it's running, but nobody seems to have updated the website since May. Probably just as well. Randy Wanke, a MSU-Mankato grad, sends this gem from their student newspaper from two weeks ago, when the Minnesota partial government shutdown was imminent. It began

Pending major progress in the Congress's special session,...

Um, sirs, it's not a Congress. That's the federal institution. Ours is a Legislature. See?

But it gets worse:

Though the tax-freeze has been upheld with the best intentions for Minnesotans, it's important to acknowledge that a slight increase in income tax for higher-income households has nowhere near the impact of a state worker forced to stay home because of the shutdown.

It wasn't a slight increase that was proposed. It was $800 million in new taxes on 43,000 people. As it turned out, less than 5,000 workers had to burn some vacation days.

But it gets worse:

Of course, maybe there's something to be gained by a temporary shutdown. There are so many state-provided services that we take for granted; services that provide us with health care, safety and better living. All of these services are worth every penny we pay to taxes. Some, as we may unfortunately find out, are simply priceless.

What?? The jobs were already deemed "non-essential", not only by the Pawlenty administration the Legislature (not Congress) but also by the far-too-meddlesome state bench. What makes for better living isn't government but the economic freedom people have. The ability to choose. Government reduces choice, because government is force.