![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
captainsblogAnd I mean that in the Theodore Roosevelt sense of the word.
Pennsylvania state government shut down in budget dispute.
Our neighboring governor seems to be more a follower of TR than his actual successor in our own state, who wasted no time falling into the snakepit of status quo that is Albany, New York (after all, "Albany" spelled backwards sounds like "enabler"). The legislators in Mr. Rendell's Neighborhood, on the other hand, were the ones with a real motherfucking snake blocking their motherfucking plane of reality; with one exception that I'll get to, dude called their bluff and shut down nonessential services:
Pennsylvanians discovered they couldn't take driver's license tests. Highway maintenance and a range of permitting and licensing functions were stopped or severely curtailed. Even the lights that normally illuminate the Capitol dome are off, and state tourist attractions aren't open. Only critical services such as health care for the poor, state police and prisons remain in operation.
Oh poor youse. It's about time an executive in this country acted like one and put these pork-laden politicians to the test by mandating an on-time and balanced budget. Faced with the same dilemma three months ago? Our newly elected Mr. "Everything Changes" instead made the same-old backroom deals, and issued the same-old "messages of necessity," to ensure that Business As Usual carried the day. And now all he can do to stay relevant is spy on the opposition and take out ads to complain about them.
That one exception to the nonessential shutdown? Casinos. Proving once again that money talks and bullshit walks.
I bet this hissyfit gets solved a lot faster than the current Elliot-Joey the Bull spat does.
Pennsylvania state government shut down in budget dispute.
Our neighboring governor seems to be more a follower of TR than his actual successor in our own state, who wasted no time falling into the snakepit of status quo that is Albany, New York (after all, "Albany" spelled backwards sounds like "enabler"). The legislators in Mr. Rendell's Neighborhood, on the other hand, were the ones with a real motherfucking snake blocking their motherfucking plane of reality; with one exception that I'll get to, dude called their bluff and shut down nonessential services:
Pennsylvanians discovered they couldn't take driver's license tests. Highway maintenance and a range of permitting and licensing functions were stopped or severely curtailed. Even the lights that normally illuminate the Capitol dome are off, and state tourist attractions aren't open. Only critical services such as health care for the poor, state police and prisons remain in operation.
Oh poor youse. It's about time an executive in this country acted like one and put these pork-laden politicians to the test by mandating an on-time and balanced budget. Faced with the same dilemma three months ago? Our newly elected Mr. "Everything Changes" instead made the same-old backroom deals, and issued the same-old "messages of necessity," to ensure that Business As Usual carried the day. And now all he can do to stay relevant is spy on the opposition and take out ads to complain about them.
That one exception to the nonessential shutdown? Casinos. Proving once again that money talks and bullshit walks.
I bet this hissyfit gets solved a lot faster than the current Elliot-Joey the Bull spat does.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-07-09 04:36 pm (UTC)Have you ever read the book A Prayer for the City by Buzz Bissinger? It's about Rendell's time as the mayor of Philadelphia. Superb book.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-10 04:01 am (UTC)