'Spirit of cooperation in the air'

I'm not sure what Gov. Ed Rendell was smoking, but this is what he said after a Monday meeting with House and Senate leaders over his massive $28 billion budget proposal: "There was a spirit of cooperation in the air."

The governor continued: "We won't have what happened last year because the priorities -- health care, energy independence, economic stimulus and education funding -- have been around for a long time."

Rendell then said he is available for budget talks with legislators "24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week."

What Gov. Rendell says and reality are often far apart.

Rendell has sent six budgets to the Legislature since taking office in 2003. He has increased state spending by more than $7 billion. He has raised taxes repeatedly. He has made grandiose promises about casino gambling that haven't panned out.

The first five budgets met stiff resistance in the Legislature, which missed the June 30 constitutional deadline to pass the budget for five consecutive years. Why should 2008 be any different? Why shouldn't we expect Rendell to go 6-for-6 in futility?

Just because the governor's wish list has "been around for a long time" doesn't mean Rendell is going to get what he wants. You can beat a horse all you want. It's still not going to get up and run.

Rendell and the Legislative leaders agreed to meet weekly on the budget, but they shouldn't make any vacation plans for July 1.

I can't see a budget deal getting done by the June 30 deadline, especially when Rendell wants to raise state spending by another $1 billion and sink the state deeper into debt.

This is an election year. All 203 members of the House and 25 of the 50 Senate members face the voters in November. How would you like to be the incumbent who tells voters: "I gave in to Ed Spendell and decided to spend $1 billion we don't have. I also decided to borrow a few billion dollars that you and your children and you grandchildren will be paying off long after Gov. Rendell leaves office."