Kentucky

Fiscally financial funny games continue at the state level.  We have already seen the rule of law and constitutional mandates take a back seat in the delayed judicial appointment processes as many judgeships remained constitutionally vacant through the bulk of 2009 to save a buck with no transparency as to the AOC finances that got us here.

Now we see the numbers game continue to give us the impression of fiscal responsibility as Medicaid money gets moved to the general fund in a creative accounting move.

Bottom line is there is no bottom line which is drawn in the sand as dollars put on their traveling shoes and move to another column in the budget.  Voila - a balanced budget that fools no one and nobody.

But where is the outcry?

No one said anything (but we did) about the use of the judicial retirement funds to buttress the budgetary shortfall to pay judges at the AOC. 

It is an anomaly that there is enough money to pay for public relations and judicial travel to building dedications but not judicial appointments.

Now Medicaid money is moved to balance the budget.

The rule of law is lost not so much by revolution but by evolution; not with a hue and cry but more of a whimper.

Just as the stimulus plan hopes to bail out today's problems with tomorrow's dollars, so goes the judiciary and Medicaid moneys.