The Governor Abdicates

The conventional wisdom is that Governor Napolitano is desperate leave office and join the Obama administration in order to avoid dealing with Arizona's budget catastrophe. 

I would argue that the Governor has already checked out.  Take a look at these two stories that came out today.   The first one highlights the Guv's latest plan to fix the budget.

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano is going online in hopes of getting suggestions from state employees and the public to help solve the state's worsening budget crisis.

The governor has a new Web site (http://az.gov/oss) devoted to finding and publicizing ways for state agencies to save money.

Arizona's economy began slowing more than a year ago and after a history of multi-year, double-digit spending increases the Governor refused to even consider spending cuts and instead drained the rainy day fund, swept other funds, raised property taxes, delayed school payments, stole $30 million from the cities, bonded against future lottery revenue and tried to raise $90 million in photo radar tickets.  She's proposed selling both the state lottery and Arizona's share of the national tobacco settlement. 

She offered these one-time gimmicks in hopes that revenue would come roaring back.  That gamble failed and now the state faces a multi-billion dollar deficit but all the gimmicks are gone.

So what's the governor's new plan?  She's set up a website where Arizonans can send in their suggestions for balancing the budget.  The top suggestion so far will save $19,000 by replacing paper pay stubs with an electronic receipt.   So far so good, just under $2 billion to go.

So what has the governor been doing during the crisis?  I can picture her in the budget war room.  Poring over graphs, charts and financial statements, restructuring programs, cutting budgets, looking for real sollutions.

Is that where she is now?  Actually, the Governor is spending the crisis campaigning for Obama.

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano is heading to neighboring New Mexico and Colorado to campaign for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

We don't know if Governor Napolitano will officially abdicate her office in January.  But for all practical purposes, the office is already vacant. 

Comments

[todd]

I expect that on November 5th or thereabouts she is going to come out with a whole slew of cut in areas from DES to the university system. There is nothing else that can be done barring a federal government stimulus package that gives money to states.

[ron]

Someone in a management position at her state agency of employ told me yesterday that the word has come down that the hiring freeze is on for the next two years. There will be NO hires for the next 24 months.

I hear the prisons are rioting already - of course, the DOC has managed to keep this out of the newspapers so far. The rise of inmate-on-inmate violence is reaching emergency status, however, nothing is being done about it.

[North Valley Republican]

She will not cut expenses. She does not know how. Wouldn't do it even if she did know how.

I love the Dems who voted for the current budget, with little cut in spending, now running for re-election with cheer that they know how to cut the budget to balance the state's crisis. Sure. And, here's our sign.

This is a joke. Only Jim Weiers has done anything to try to get to a solution. The Speaker of the House invited every legislator and every candidate trying to become a legislator to come in and hear the truth about this mess. They came, they heard, and they are dismayed.

There probably should have been more cuts made back in June. You think?!

[todd]

North Valley Republican,
What possible choice does she have? She has to cut unless there is a 2/3 majority in the legislature to raise taxes. It has to be one or the other other or a mix of both.

[Yikes]

This is all ironic, but also goes to show what Obama also has in store for us. Let's put popularity contests aside and please vote for the guy who's going to shine a light on irresponsible and criminal spending that is costing the very middle class that Obama claims to be the only supporter for. We need this government mess fixed, it is costing all of our families. Please vote for McCain.

[Jim Torgeson]

You only have two options:
1) cut spending
2) increase revenue (taxes)

Since there's no time for planning a revenue increase without a tax increase and J-No only understands that there's money in the account if you still have checks... she's gonna try for a tax increase.

My Democrats have let me down. Voting for that budget was just plain stupid.