Friday, July 15, 2011

No Beer, No Work: a song for the end of the shutdown

MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- When a chorus of singing beer drinkers threatened to stop working, a shuttered Minnesota State Capitol staggered to its knees. Within eight hours, Governor Mark Dayton, Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, and House Speaker Kurt Zellers agreed to a framework for opening the doors of government again.
The Minnesota Beer Drinkers Chorus must remain thirsty for tax equality, though their demands for beer access will be met under the terms of the agreement.
Forbes reported "It must have been the threat of Minnesota’s bars quickly running out of beer and being unable to buy new supplies without their government issued purchase cards that did the trick."
Now, the true story can be told about the video that ended the shutdown. Revising a classic Prohibition song, thirsty beer drinkers sing their demands that the legislature return and agree on a state budget.
“No beer?” video producer Nick Espinosa said. “No work! The looming beer shutdown heightened my sense of how unjust our economy is, where Minnesota families, workers, and beer drinkers aren’t served, but the wealthy are taxed at a lesser rate than middle class Minnesotans.”
The young Minneapolis activist brought together talented and angry beer drinkers to film “No Beer, No Work,” based on Prohibition-era union song.
When Minnesota’s leaders got a taste of what was coming, they hastily arranged to meet and hammer out a framework for opening the state again.

http://www.bluestemprairie.com/bluestemprairie/2011/07/no-beer-no-work-a-song-for-the-end-of-the-shutdown.html

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