Legislators Pretend Governor is Relevant
Last night, in a show of partisanship, the House Democratic leadership met with democratic Governor Beshear to pay lip service about how serious the budget situation is:
House Democratic leaders met with Gov. Steve Beshear for about 45 minutes Monday afternoon to see if they can work together on a plan to balance a state budget facing more than a $1.4 billion shortfall for the next two years.
"It went well," Beshear said after meeting with Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, Speaker Pro Tem Larry Clark of Louisville, Majority Leader Rocky Adkins of Sandy Hook, Whip John Will Stacy of West Liberty, Caucus Chair Bob Damron of Nicholasville and House budget chair Rick Rand of Bedford. He said he and lawmakers tried to find "common ground on the budget."
If you doubted that the legislators really didn't care about the Governor, Beshear himself explains that they ignored him:
Both said the discussions didn't delve into details about specific funding cuts or which programs or services might be hardest hit. Stumbo said there was no discussion of layoffs in the meeting.
"We really didn't talk about details," Beshear said. "We just talked about how serious the situation was and the fact we're facing a budget shortfall of about a billion and half dollars over the next two years."
That's right, 45 minutes of sitting in a circle agreeing that the situation is serious.
Maybe next time they'll talk about all the snow we've gotten, how the Cats are doing, and how nice it would be if the economy were better. What else passes for small talk these days?
