I grew up both in Minnesota and in Minnesota politics.  The Minnesota pols i knew or knew of were passionate warriors who approached governing with more sobriety than ideology. The Minnesota i grew up in would never have shut the government down – those legislators respected the need for stability.  Ironically, the same pro business crowd shutting the government down is actually hurting business most of all.

One of the first offices shut down today was the Secretary of State’s office. That may not scare you, but as a corporate lawyer it alarms me.

The Secretary of State takes and issues a whole lot of paper about business and people. Our American business climate depends on the rule of law and smart, efficient government services. Not only would this seriously dampen Minnesota business, but it is also a banana republic blemish on our capitalist system.
To show how this shutdown will affect real people and companies, we made notes on an email memo sent out from the Minnesota’s Secretary of State last week announcing the office’s closure.

Here is the memo from the Secretary of State with our notes.