Nick Coleman: Avast, Cap'n Tim! The ship of state is sinking - why aren't ye at the wheel?

If the state of Minnesota were "Titanic," this would be the part in the movie where some of the rich passengers put dresses on and try to sneak into the lifeboats.

Someone should tell the captain.

Unfortunately, our "captain" isn't often at the helm. On an endless circuit of talk shows and national appearances aimed at puffing his profile for 2012, Gov. Tim Pawlenty leaves Thursday on a trip to Israel that will come in handy during foreign policy debates ("I've visited our friends in Israel") but may not do much for Minnesota's pork producers.

There are fifth-grade civics classes that spend more time at the State Capitol than T-Paw. Too bad. We need a full-time governor.

Minnesota faces a historic deficit -- $5 billion over the next two years -- which, in truth, is more like $6 billion and could be larger. With the economy failing, government is one of the resources we have to keep people afloat. But it is being kept out of the fight -- like the ship that sat idly by while the Titanic went down -- by the same people whose unhinged political ideologies helped unleash the greed on Wall Street that got us into this mess.

You know the mantras: "Government is not the solution, government is the problem." "No new taxes." "Let the markets be free of regulation."

Pawlenty still is a prisoner to the deceitful "no new tax" cult that has cut income taxes for the wealthy while raising fees and property taxes on everyone else. Even in the face of looming crisis, he can't stop sipping the Kool-Aid.

Minnesota needs federal money, and deserves it. Three sets of numbers illustrate why:

1) The state sends $40 billion in taxes to Washington each year, and gets $31 billion back, in terms of federal dollars spent here. That $9 billion deficit in our relationship with the feds (the fourth-worst imbalance among the 50 states) deserves the full attention of any governor in a fat year. In lean times, it's crucial to address it.

2) Minnesota taxpayers are on the hook for $16 billion to pay for George Bush's war in Iraq, which Pawlenty supported without a murmur about the obscene costs. In addition, our share of the Wall Street bailout, which T-Paw "reluctantly" supported, is $17 billion. (The cost of these boondoggles to Minnesota are estimates from the nonprofit National Priorities Project. See more online at www.nationalpriorities.org).

3) Finally, the cost to Minnesota of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, which Pawlenty supports? $2.7 billion a year.

Does anyone still think that leading Minnesota involves protecting the privileged from paying their fair share? Minnesota might gain $1 billion in revenue if the wealthiest paid the same tax rate as the middle class. (Pawlenty underestimates the true amount.)

Republican legislators are making Mickey Mouse proposals to sell parts of government -- including the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. I suggest we sell legislators instead. Some of these geniuses might make good lawn ornaments.

And our wimpy Democrats, meanwhile, are calling for bipartisanship and talking about the importance of not being divisive. Are they kidding?

The state has been divided to death. The time is over for making nice with those who want to drown government -- just as people need it most. Let's not hear namby-pamby talk about how we can't solve this mess with tough rhetoric.

Yes, we can.

Being "nice" sure won't fix this mess. Nice guys got us into it by not reining in greed and not funding government responsibly. Preserving the purposes of state government, and ensuring it serves the people in a crisis, is an important fight. It's time to take off the gloves.