This is an eye-opener

Minnesota State Economist Tom Stinson said. "We have the total wages in the country in 2009 declining by 4.5 percent. That is pretty impressive."

In Minnesota, total wages are down 5.5 percent.

I say, if you go into 2010 with no raise, no increase in pay whatsoever, you're lucky! And you should be thankful, and you definitely shouldn't gripe about not getting a raise.

Not only that, but because wages in the private sector are down, tax revenue to the state is down also - so therefore if your paycheck is tied to state funding, your paycheck definitely better not go up in 2010!