So we've finally got an approved state budget -- the $27.8 billion plan that nobody in Harrisburg seems particularly happy about, but which they can all presumably live with.
But they passed the budget more than a hundred days late, forcing about 77,000 state workers to go without a paycheck over the summer and endangering county human care programs throughout Pennsylvania.
Now we can expect some fallout, right? I mean, heads are gonna roll over this debacle come election time! Except, I seriously doubt they will.
Why? Because of who's responsible for the long budget impasse. And I'll tell you exactly who that is -- The Other Side.
I realized that on Thursday, when I went to the annual Republican Victory Dinner at the Holiday Inn in West Manchester Township. Local Republican Chairman A. Carville "Peck" Foster was one of the speakers to address the crowd afterward.
He got the crowd to applaud the GOP state lawmakers from York County, who joined their Republican colleagues in the House and Senate to oppose Gov. Ed Rendell's attempts to raise taxes. Yes, the budget could have been a lot better, as far as Foster's concerned. But it also could have been a lot worse if the Republicans hadn't dug in and refused to cave.
Sure, they could have given in early and handed the governor everything he wanted, Foster said. The budget would have passed a lot sooner, but where would we be now?
As Foster was giving that speech, I could picture a similar one taking place in a predominantly Democratic district. But there, the local party leader would be praising Gov. Rendell and the rest of the Democrats for standing firm against the Senate Republicans and their attempts to cut funding for education.
Like Foster, this Democratic leader wouldn't be crazy about what's in the budget, but would still be relieved that things aren't as bad as they could have been.
So you see, it's not the fault of lawmakers, and the constituents of their respective districts who presumably share their priorities because they elected them in the first place. It's The Other Side's fault.
It may sound as if I'm accuisng Foster and his presumed Democratic counterparts of political hypocrisy, but i'm really not. That's just the nature of politics and negotiation.
It's easy to negotiate when both sides have more-or-less the same agenda, and simply need to work out the best way of implementing it. Sometimes, however, both sides come to the table with diametrically opposed agendas.
It's easy to say: "Just negotiate and make an agreement." But what if the other side simply won't? How do you make a distinction between making a reasonable concession and letting down your constituents by folding?
And how long do you hold out before the impasse becomes more of a problem than whatever your opponents are trying to pass?
For Democrats and Republicans, the answer to that last question was apparently 101 days. Let's hope the eocnomy's improved enough by next year that we won't have to go through this again.
Leave a comment