Saturday, 1 March 2008
Time To Grab Your Wallets
It is time to grab your wallets because the Democrats are on the prowl looking for "new revenue sources".
Democratic House leaders hope to beef up Gov. Steve Beshear's anemic two-year budget with as much as $800 million in new revenue from tax hikes and other "creative" measures when they begin marking up the document Sunday.
On top of the money grab, they are playing stupid political games to make sure the Senate can't make many changes.
Senate leaders say they might not have enough time to fully vet the voluminous document if the House doesn't send its proposal to the Republican-led Senate until March 15.
Senate Majority Leader Dan Kelly, R-Springfield, said the Senate usually receives the House budget in the first week of March.
"And we've always complained about that. That gives them some six weeks to work on the budget and us about two weeks," Kelly said.
The Senate this year must be finished with its budget plan by March 21, Kelly said.
"If we don't get the bill from the House by March 15, we will have less than a week with it," he said. "It raises the question if there is some strategy by the House not to give us enough time."
It is either a political game or they are completely incompetent. While I wouldn't rule out incompetent after watching them handle the casino amendment, I think they have been in Frankfort long enough to get a budget through on time. Instead of doing the right thing, they are trying to run out the clock to keep the senate from undoing the damage they are likely to do.
