|
|
As Jim Siegel says, no one opposes giving Ohio's veterans a bonus. Not only is the right thing to do, it is apparently a long-standing tradition (although I'm genuinely puzzled as to why veterans from the first Gulf War are just now up for a bonus, 17 odd years later).
Rep. Jay Hottinger (R-Newark) is currently pushing a $200 million bill that would pay for these bonuses out of the state's $750 million rainy-day fund. Let's throw one more figure into the mix, this year's $640 million budget shortfall, that Gov. Strickland announced earlier this week:
Rainy-Day Fund - Hottinger's proposal - Current Budget Shortfall = Negative $90 million
How can Hottinger, he of the party of fiscal conservancy, propose this with a straight face?
Not to be missed, is outgoing Speaker Jon Husted's (R-Columbus) willfully ignorant, self-serving take on the matter:"The financial crisis America is in is because its government, its businesses and its people lived beyond their means by borrowing and running up their credit cards," Husted said.
Seemingly all of America's financial systems are a wreck and Husted pins the blame on the one huge financial instrument that played no direct role, credit cards. While this obfuscation would at least be understandable if it served to further his point, it actually undercuts it.
If Rep. Husted is serious about the state not living beyond its means, why is he insisting on spending down our rainy-day fund on non-emergency spending when we're a monsoon facing - the worst budget crisis in 40 years?
I'm reminded of nothing more than Grover Norquist's dream of drowning government in the bathtub.
