(Somehow this just ended up in the diary list. At some point, I will master this new platform. - promoted by Matt Singer)
Rep. John Sinrud, the man whose family is known for bad analogies, said we need to have multiple budget bills for probably the worst reason I can think of:House Appropriations Chairman John Sinrud, R-Bozeman, said splitting the budget into six or seven independent bills makes Montana more like the federal government.
"Just like in Washington DC," Sinrud said, "we will have the same clarity." How many readers (including Congressional staffers) do I have who feel like they really understand the federal budgeting process?
This doesn't improve clarity, it means Montanans will have to dig through six bills to figure out what is going on rather than one.
But the biggest mistake here, I think, is the changing of the plan mid-session, with little input, when we've got a deadline. The session should adjourn after 90 work days. The GOP just threw a massive wrench into the gears.
A few of us crazy bloggers have said from day one that these folks would prove incapable of governance. Boy am I sorry I prejudged this sorry spectacle.
Not.
Update -- The Lee story on this mess includes this choice paragraph: House Republicans, who hold a tenuous 50-49 majority, said there's nothing mysterious about their new plan, which will convert the proposed state budget from its usual single, comprehensive bill into six or seven separate bills. It sounds like the number of bills is a mystery, doesn't it?
I'm wondering when the House GOP will actually figure out what it's game plan is. |
