Budget Woes

Folks are all a-twitter because the Legislature adjourned despite failing to pass a budget.

I especially enjoyed this quote from the Tribune Editorial Board: "And as we said in December, the prudent thing to do is to give one-time tax relief and use the rest of the surplus on infrastructure and to put solid bases under other state programs."

Oh, the prudent thing to do is give a small portion of the surplus back to the people who earned it and then spend the rest. We have a windfall and the prudent thing is to spend it all.

Let's take a page out of their book. Prudent. Adjective. "careful in providing for the future." Spending the money on programs and "infrastructure" is prudent. Interesting interpretation.

But I'm not trying to be too hard on the Trib. This is nothing new. One side thinks it is better to let government spend the money; the other thinks it is better to let the spending decisions be made by the folks who earned the money in the first place.

Oh, and while we're at it, here's a little poke at the GOP. If you're going to die on a hill, make it worthwhile. There's nothing magically delicious about a refund of 30% of the surplus versus 20% or 40%. And "permanent" tax relief lasts until the next legislature. If you're going to draw a line in the sand and potentially put all Republican necks on the block, grow a pair. How about you propose a COLA to the state budget, and then give it all back. Not some token amount, but all of it?

What would $900,000,000.00 put back into our economy do for this state? Hmmm.

One more thing. I have to agree with the Letter to the Editor cranks who point out the incongruity of passing all the BS bills like a state lullaby while failing to perform the business of government. They have a point.