Minnesota is open again after closing down on July 1 when the Democratic governor and the Republican controlled State Legislature could not agree on next year’s budget.

Today’s agreement came after governor Mark Dayton gave up on his insistence on raising taxes for the state’s millionaires to help solve the budget deficit of five billion dollars. On the other hand, the Republicans gave up on their proposals to ban stem cell research, abortions, and the right to collective bargaining.

In other words, a compromise.

Will we see something similar here in Washington before August 2? If not, the United States might also be forced to close.