Welcome to Budget Hell, Day 3
The Three Lies in Corbett’s Budget Address. It’s Our Money’s Ben Waxman deconstructs: The state’s deficit wasn’t caused by overspending, it wasn’t caused by misappropriated stimulus funds, and the prisons budget can, in fact, be cut. [Daily News] Meanwhile, the School District is scrambling to plug its likely $300 million hole: “What’s sure to come down the pike are a spate of teacher layoffs, ballooning class sizes and cuts to sports, arts and music.” Thanks, Gov! [Daily News] Oh, and by the way, the ostensibly austere Pennsylvania lawmakers spent $100,000 of your money on Bibles and flags for inauguration day. Because they can. [WTAE]
250 Protestors Storm Former Governor Ridge’s Lobbying Office. Ridge’s lobby shop represents the natural gas interests that Governor Corbett refuses to tax while gutting education and social services. And so it begins. [Inquirer]
In Today’s Good News, Philly’s Population Is Up. The city gained 8,456 residents in the last decade, breaking a 50-year stretch of decline. Most of the new growth came from an influx of Hispanics and Asians, which surely makes Joey Vento happy. [Daily News]
Dude, Where’s My Stethoscope? A former New Jersey doctor admits in court to smoking some 30 joints a day—not that The Scoop knows anything about this, but that seems like a lot—and keeping 58 pot plants at his Chatham home. He used the weed to relieve glaucoma and mild brain damage; perhaps if New Jersey’s medical marijuana law wasn’t so restrictive, he could have gotten the dope legally. [Fox 29]
