Lincoln Blog
July 28, 2010:
Less than one month into the new fiscal year Governor Ed Rendell is now admitting what his critics knew -- and said -- before the new state budget agreement was struck: Pennsylvania could not count on $850 million in federal funding not yet approved by Congress, yet included in the state budget.
Now the governor is saying he doesn't expect to get the money. That blows an $850 million hole in the budget and July isn't even over yet.
To make matters worse, Rendell has returned to his old whipping boy -- state employees -- again threatening lay-offs on a massive scale.
Of course, he blames this on the legislature for not agreeing to any of his many proposed tax hikes.
The fact is Governor Ed Rendell has continued to spend like a drunken liberal even though Penn's Woods is deep in recession and tax revenues have fallen through the floor.
This refusal by the governor to admit to fiscal reality is the real cause for Pennsylvania's budget plight.
And now, he intends to make state employees -- people who played no role in making the budget mess -- pay with their jobs.
Fortunately for all of us, Governor Ed Rendell will be out of a job come January. Perhaps then Pennsylvania can begin the road to fiscal recovery.
