Friday, January 8, 2016

Is Kentucky Gov. Bevin About to Slash Government Spending in Kentucky? I'm Talking Real Cuts



 Gov. Matt Bevin spoke at the annual Kentucky Chamber Day dinner and said he already has received requests that would add between $1.4 billion and $2.1 billion in spending to the upcoming budget, reports the Courier-Journal.

“News flash, that’s not coming. It’s not – we don’t have it,” Bevin said. “Truth be told, I wish we did. We don’t have it. So there will be changes. We will be more austere because we must get our financial house in order.”

According to the Courier-Journal,  the governor was unequivocal that he would not support borrowing money to shore up the state’s troubled pension systems. Overall, public pensions in Kentucky face more than $30 billion in unfunded liabilities.

Bevin is scheduled to give his first budget address to a joint session of the state legislature on Jan. 26.

If he does make serious cuts, he could become the leader that shows other governors, in states with hovering financial problems, how it is done.

 -RW

7 comments:

  1. I have been thinking about this for years, mostly tongue-in-cheek. However, considering the universal support by retired lady school-teachers for the President enacting anti-gun laws without the approval of Congress, for their demand that Obama incinerate the Oregon protesters ASAP, for their support of Obama’s persecution of Edward Snowden, all of which demonstrates a deep-seated hatred of the U.S. Constitution, I have a simple proposal to save tons of money on government pensions and to clean up the schools. In Michigan, school teachers have to swear to the following oath. It is similar to the oath for lawyers. It is similar to what all Federal office-holders must swear to:

    It is stated in the Revised School Code Act 451 of 1976 that a teaching certificate is valid only if the following oath or affirmation: is signed, notarized, and a copy filed with the superintendent of schools of the school district in which the teacher expects to teach.

    “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the constitution of the United States of America and the constitution of the state of Michigan and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of teacher according to the best of my ability.”


    http://www.isbe.state.il.us/prep-eval/pdf/meetings/psag/pdf/michigan_code_of_ethics.pdf

    All teachers who are found to not support the U.S. Constitution should be summarily fired for committing fraud, which would include a loss of their pensions. Retired teachers would also lose their pensions for the same reasons. Lawyers who support Keynesian policies, do not understand that a “dollar” is a very specific silver coin or promote the usual law school drivel (in law schools especially) that the “original intent” of the Constitution needed to be overridden because laissez faire caused the Great Depression would be similarly disbarred. Meaning that they also could not teach in law schools.

    That would clean up the public schools and law schools very quickly and save us all a ton of dough.

    Plus, it would be so funny watching the statists flail away at us. “They said what?????”

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    1. That's fine on paper, but as I have personally witnessed, it doesn't amount to a damn thing if it is not enforced. And right now, a judge can openly in court say that he doesn't care what the constitution says, his court doesn't do it that way. There is no way this will cause him to lose his job. The best you can hope for is that after spending a fortune on lawyers, you get the decision overturned.

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    2. Get this to apply to coproaches along with other government "employees" and I'm in

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    3. I didn't quite see it getting to the point where all of the legislatures would have already voted themselves out of a job and pension so it would be ripe for being overturned by a court so they wouldn't be out of a job and pension. And I was actually more worried about my own personal safety from every current and retired cop and soldier who would be out of a job with no pension.

      It's just a battle cry. Something to use to harass your statist Facebook friends. Something to trick them into justifying their own idiocy.

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  2. "... he would not support borrowing money to shore up the state’s troubled pension systems". The $30 billion will never be funded. He may be able to do the spending cuts until the people do not get paid then at that point he will lose votes. To maintain his political position he should cut the payments made on those pensions as of the one the last cuts. Trying to renegotiate less money to current or retired teachers, police and fire will be plastered very badly all over the media. It will politically interesting to see how he maneuvers through spending cuts. If he can still maintain votes in doing so, other states may follow.

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  3. Imagine if this guy does go forward with his cuts, it could start a nice dominion affect

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  4. That's good that's what we need. We really need a philosophical shift among the public about the role of government though. Particularly on healthcare and education.

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