Pawlenty Budget Balancing Takes Money off the Table.

Cross-posted from Growth & Justice Blog.

As it became clear the state was facing a profound budget shortfall, I braced myself for a hoary scene to be propped before us repeatedly in the coming months. Right on cue, its first official appearance for 2009 came in Gov. Pawlenty’s state of the state address.

Yes, it’s ma and pa at the kitchen table, back for another go at the family budget.

On the table are bills, notices and a notepad with a budget that's tighter than it's ever been. Hope and fear are also at the table.

If the kids weren’t already put to bed, I’d half expect Tiny Tim to enter, lay his crutch across the table and deliver the governor’s lines:

Please don't add to their burden by increasing their bill from government.
 
Please don't take more of their hard earned money.
 
Please don't raise their taxes.

I don’t mean to make light of real families facing real financial challenges, but this beloved GOP set piece is calculated to appeal to our emotions. It does not illustrate the common sense of the “typical Minnesota family” or realistically portray their approach to financial management.

Most Minnesotans understand that a budget is composed of income as well as expense. A real family facing a real budget squeeze would not just cut the frills, darn the socks, eat more ramen noodles and turn down the thermostat.

Most people would also consider trying to find more money.

I happen to know members of struggling households who have gone out and found temporary and part-time work, even in this economy. They’ve become more resourceful in using coupons; they’ve taken in roommates, shared rides and baby sitting; they have each other over for dinner; they hock some non-essential possessions. They sell plasma. And yes, they visit food shelves and make use of government assistance.

Most of these measures are not much more fun than the cost cutting, but their effect is to put more dollars on the table to keep life going at a reasonable level.

There are some other cracks in this rhetorical diorama.

For example, the mom and dad are always alone — unless you count the spectral revenuers gathering outside their door. I’m all for self-reliance and plucky independence, but Minnesota didn’t get to be a great state simply by everyone solving tough problems on their own. Some challenges take a village, and some require the involvement of a whole nation.

Also note in the scene how we’re encouraged to envision a mismatched dinette set piled with overdue bills, and not a polished granite counter top set with a gourmet meal. Who is advocating “increasing the bill from the government” for families on the edge of solvency? But not everyone in Minnesota is hurting, and those of us feeling the least pain also happen to be paying a lower effective tax rate than the folks being portrayed.

And finally, if we transport the kitchen table to the capitol as the governor suggests, his metaphor becomes nonsensical, because he proposes cutting taxes as part of his solution. In ma and pa terms, that means one of their first priorities would be asking their employer for a pay cut!

Let’s agree with the governor that solving our budget imbalance will require resetting priorities and doing some things differently. The next two years will be no picnic. But let’s not buy the version of kitchen table “common sense” that only takes money off the table.