Minnesota's government shutdown--the longest in history--has some unexpected victims. Sure, people living on feeding tubes in taxpayer-funded facilities are being taken care of. Janitors are still cleaning the prisons. Police are still protecting the public. But in all this budget-cutting madness, everyone forgot to ask: What about the bros? And now that negligence has taken its toll: Because MillerCoors didn't reapply for its $30-per-brand license to sell beer, bro classics Miller Lite and Coors Lite, among others, must be pulled from the shelves.

KSTP reports that Minnesota "officials have told the company, it must come up with a plan to remove it's 39 brands of beer from shelves and in bars in a matter of days. The company failed to renew it's brand license with the state before the shutdown. ...Without the license, Miller-Coors cannot sell in the state." The company tells the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Don Walker that it's "working with the state to clear this up."

Meanwhile, the Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association explained to the Minneapolis Star Tribune that thousands of liquor outlets didn't get their liquor purchasing cards renewed before the shutdown--and with depleting supplies, "It's going to cripple our industry." Worse, the state has stopped issuing the stamps that must be stuck to every pack of cigarettes before its sold. So not only can bros not kick it with a domestic brew inside the bar, they can't hit up a lady for a light outside either.

No vortex bottles. No mountains that turn blue when the can is cold. No getting back in the high life again. State lawmakers must ask themselves: Who will the bros blame--the Republican legislature or the Democratic governor? If the stalemate goes on much longer, sitting politicians could face a very angry electorate.

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Elspeth Reeve