Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Budget not worthy of name

This from the Herald-Leader:
Legislators' mulishness makes veto pointless

Kentucky lawmakers enacted a budget that doesn't just deserve to be vetoed. It gets down on its knees and begs to be vetoed.

A budget that essentially tells Kentuckians that cheap cigarettes are more valuable than affordable tuition and that we should cheer when the cost of going to college rises by less than a double-digit percent.

A budget that doesn't stop at debilitating environmental protection, mental health and the rest of state government. A budget that also grabs the professional dues of nurses, doctors, pharmacists and real-estate agents, thereby compromising their ability to police their own ranks.

A budget that, adjusted for inflation, costs public schools $l70 million a year, by one estimate.
A budget that punishes Lexington's public defenders for practicing public-service law and that will leave many poor people essentially without legal representation.

A budget that is shakily balanced on questionable assumptions and one-time revenue sources.

A budget that was so bad the House was ready to reject it until rural lawmakers got to bust a pinata raining $150 million down on local sports teams and sheriffs departments...

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