A green roof?

There appears to be quite a discussion about the green roof.

Now, ignoring any personal comments about David Strom's appearance, sexual proclivities, or ability to relate to other people (since they are absolutely irrelevant), I do have to wonder what the real issue is here. The cost of this green roof really isn't an issue, especially in terms of hiring police or anybody else. I know that David Strom, Mitch Berg, and most other commenters here are smart enough to understand the difference between capital outlays and a recurring operating budget. Money spent on a roof, being an expenditure of the former, certainly can't be applied to the latter, any more than the legislature could stick another $100 million on the bonding bill and use it to fund teacher pay next year.

The only thing that I can think of is that this is nothing more than stereotypical liberal bashing. For Republicans, Minneapolis is full of flower-child liberals who think that they can solve all of the world's problems by eating vegan, wearing hemp, and singing "Kumbaya". It's the modern equivalent of all of those hippies trying to grow food in the desert in Easy Rider: a bunch of idiots doomed to failure.

Which is pretty sad considering what we are talking about here. A "green roof" is not some pie-in-the-sky untested theory. They have a long track record, and they have very real benefits. Storm water runoff is just one of them: the issue of treating stormwater is a very real one, and green roofs help delay costly upgrades to treatment plants. Besides, it's not like this is going to be the first green roof in Minneapolis. I'm sure that the experts who are designing this have already taken into account things like weight, low temperatures, etc.

What really bothers me, though, is when people say things like "Have you not noticed that people are dying in large numbers on Minneapolis streets, and Rybak has cut police since he first became Mayor?" People are not "dying in large numbers" on the streets of Minneapolis, and as a resident I find that to be quite dishonest. I have been by the scene of the shooting in Uptown many times, both before and since the murder. I never feel unsafe anywhere in Minneapolis, be it Uptown, Downtown, along the river, or anywhere else. I think most of the residents of Minneapolis would agree with me.

In addition, the people who make these comments, like the one about Rybak cutting the police, largely do not care about Minneapolis except when there is a tragedy to politicize. There are a great deal of Republicans (not all of them), especially from suburbs and exurbs, who consistently try to defund Minneapolis and St. Paul. It was Republicans who passed the cuts in LGA funding, which is why the Minneapolis police force has diminished: police aren't free. It is Republicans who want to take equity aid and ESL aid and desegregation aid from Minneapolis schools.

Simply put, there are a lot of people out there, and I would argue that David Strom is one of them, who believe that government by definition can do no good. Thus, they argue that government needs to be cut; when it is services are reduced, which leads to problems, which leads to more calls for cuts...in a never-ending spiral. The complete dissolution of government is their goal. It is happening on the federal level for agencies such as FEMA. It is happening on the state level too, where Republicans can cut LGA funding, leading to fewer police, and then claim that Minneapolis is failing as a result (of course, if you argue that Minneapolis should raise taxes to fund more police, Republicans are against that too).

Fortunately, the disasters of the Bush and Pawlenty administrations are leading the public to catch on to this scam. Few people believe that the government needs to be everywhere; I certainly don't believe so. But the vast majority of people in this country and in this state think that the government has many roles to play that benefit the citizens as a whole, and that demagoguing all of government only leads to a poorer quality of life. Republicans have been able to get away with this for a while, but failure is starting to catch up to them.

And in the end, trying to make a big deal out of a "green roof" in Minneapolis isn't going to turn the tide in Republicans' favor.