Citizens, Not Customers

Clifford Robinson of Brooklyn Park had a letter worth reading in today's Star Tribune:

House Speaker Kurt Zellers described state government as a "company" and the state's citizens as "customers" ("GOP rushes to craft budget," March 28). That false comparison lies at the heart of the Republican dilemma.

State government is a political organ created by the people through the Constitution to do the will of the people.

If Zellers and his comrades would take off their ideological blinders, they would see that it is not the will of the people that thousands of their fellow citizens be denied basic health and welfare needs, that funds to the state's colleges and university be slashed, that public safety be compromised, and that the livability of our central cities be sacrificed for partisan reasons.

Thanks, Clifford, for fighting the good fight in the editorial pages.