PA gubernatorial: A bloated budget for a bloated governor
By Mark Kilmer Posted in 2006 — Comments (5) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Early this (Sunday) AM, the Pennsylvania State Senate voted to approve a budget approved earlier by the State Assembly. Dems held out over a slots matter, but they eventually tagged along – like clockwork – and spending is up by a record 7-perecent.
Ed Rendell signed it. It's a $26.1-billion inflatable pink pig, and Rendell signed it. And why not? He wrote the damn thing.
read on...
Lynn Swann said in a statement:
"This bloated financial plan—which Rendell and his staff constructed—is just another example of the Governor’s inability to reign-in out of control spending in Pennsylvania.
"Under Rendell’s so called leadership, our state spending has once again increased by twice the rate of inflation. Pennsylvania’s economy is growing by 3.5 percent annually; however, Rendell has endorsed increasing state spending by at least 7 percent, or more than twice the rate of growth in the Commonwealth.
"Unfortunately, this year’s $800 million state surplus has been frittered away. The Governor even plans to spend a majority of the Rainy Day Fund, which should be set aside for economic emergencies. Simple math indicates that you can’t spend at twice the rate of inflation and not soon run out of money. This out of control budget will dramatically hinder Pennsylvania’s economy for the next several years.
Actually, the Rainy Day Fund should not exist, but that's another argument for another time, and it does not matter: Ed's spent it. And he spent the budget surplus – a strange thing in this "terrible Bush economy," but that's also another argument – which Swann promised to return to the tax payers through property tax reform.
In Pennsylvania, does the public want what the public gets, or should we get what we want: a fiscally responsible governor?
(Cross-posted on the Swannblog.)
« When Negative Ads Backfire — Comments (4) | In Case You Missed It:
Dean Endorses Lamont — Comments (10) »
PA gubernatorial: A bloated budget for a bloated governor 5 Comments (0 topical, 5 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
if PA votes were, as you seem to think, so excited about smaller government, than an election year would be the time for the republicans to come out and show their mettle on cutting the budget. the fact that they aren't is just proof that small government isn't a good campaign plank. people don't want small government, they want effective government.
House & Senate's roll in all this? They sent the budget to Rendell.
but these two stuck it to the people one last time on their way out. Good ridence.
Darn it, Redstate.com missed being AFSCME Pennsylvania's "Labor Website of the Month" AGAIN!
http://www.afscme13.org/WebsiteoftheMonth.htm
I guess we're just not going to win over the pro-bloated-budget folks in Pennsylvania. :-)
This month's "AFSCME Pennsylvania Labor Website of the Month":
excerpt:
The AFL-CIO's "Corporate Watch" site provides a shocking glimpse of American businesses -- from boardrooms to sweatshops. Features include:
Executive PayWatch - Compare your retirement plan with the average CEO's, see how CEO pay has been growing while corporate profits and stocks decline--and find out what you can do about it
Paying the Price at Wal-Mart - The retailing giant's hidden costs for employeses, consumers, and communities
Research Resources - Use these online research tools to investigate corporate information and misbehavior
Stop Sweatshops - Learn more about exploitation, and join the movement to stop it
Capital Stewardship - Discover new efforts to protect worker capital
The Republican legislature, of course, passed Rendell's budget. I'm not worried about that as much right now, because the current legislature is essentially a lame duck.