Tuesday, 8 January 2008
The Law Must Only Apply To Republicans
It is amazing. We are still in the first month of the new Democratic administration in Frankfort and yet more laws have found their way on to the ash heap. We are treated with two examples today of such reckless regard for the law.
The first in fracture occurred when Beshear fired four high ranking non-merit Public Service Commission employees.
Gov. Steve Beshear's administration has fired four high-ranking, non-merit Public Service Commission employees without naming replacements.
The firings by the governor could conflict with two state statutes that suggest those PSC positions are to be managed by the commission rather than the governor. However, state law suggests the governor might not have authority to hire and fire persons in those positions.....
....Statutes governing the PSC note the commission itself will appoint its executive director, and that person will lead the commission in its employment of others, including lawyers.
The dismissals may require the consent of the commission, but the consent could come after the governor's actions, said Dan Egbers, executive director of the Office of Legal Services in the state personnel cabinet.
WHAT? This is unbelievable. They break the law and then excuse the action with another after the fact solution. This is the same crap that Miller pulled with his assistant. Except that for Miller his after the fact solution was as illegal as his original infraction of the law.
What if the commission decides the firings were unnecessary? Do the people get their jobs back? I doubt the commission will make that decision. I am sure the administration will do the necessary arm twisting to garner enough support from the commission to cover their illegal activities.
But why stop with breaking one law? The Beshear administration broke another law when they decided upon a 3 percent across the board cut to all state agencies.
Williams said that under state law, the governor should first apply a $145 million budget surplus from 2007 and money in the state's rainy day fund to the nearly $300 million budget shortfall for this fiscal year before ordering state agency cuts.
Beshear last week said he would use the surplus plus $78 million in cuts and $42 million sitting in various state accounts to trim the shortfall. However, he said he does not plan to tap into the $232 million rainy-day fund until at least next year.
Williams also said the governor erred by ordering 3 percent across-the-board cuts from all state agencies.
He pointed to a section of Kentucky Revised Statutes, 48.130, that states the governor "shall not recommend universal percentage reductions, but shall weigh the needs of all budget units and shall strive to protect the highest possible level of service in their respective branches."
I wonder what the Beshear administration has to say about their apparent lawlessness?
State Budget Director Mary Lassiter said last night that Williams' interpretation of the budget law is "inconsistent" with prior interpretations.
Oh, I see. Because other administrations did it, it is OK that Beshear does it. Regardless of whether or not his actions might actually break the law. This is chutzpah. When Fletcher administration claimed they did nothing that other administrations didn't do, we were told it didn't matter what other administrations did. It was against the law. I am waiting for these same people to ask for the law to be followed by this administration. I am not going to hold my breath.
The best is that Richards all but admits it is illegal but will provide a resolution to make it legal.
Speaker of the House Jody Richards, who appeared with Williams on "Kentucky Tonight," said other governors have been allowed to enact budget reduction orders but that he would be willing to pass a resolution reaffirming Beshear's authority.
"I care very much about the legislature retaining its ability to have a reduction plan in the budget," he said. "I'm certainly willing to pass a resolution to let the governor do this so he can do this within the bounds of the law."
I think we may have identified a pattern. Democrats break the law and then say "oops" and come up with some way to make it OK after the fact.
I guess no one remembers the Fletcher case. Members of his administration broke the law. He admitted the mistake and said the personnel board should handle the matter. Just like it did in previous administrations. Of course that wasn't good enough. We had to instigate an eternal investigation that lead to Fletcher's defeat last November.
Now we have Democrats breaking the law 3 times in the last two weeks and their is no investigation. No piling on by the press. None of the same treatment Fletcher endured.
The double standard borderlines on incredulous. We have definitely returned to the good old days of Democratic corruption in Frankfort followed by media apathy. And it hasn't even been a month.
