What's Left?

Well, she's nothing if not thorough.

Taking a look through the governor's capital budget vetoes is fascinating reading... and tragic in many ways. How could the governor possibly have cut the money I wanted for the new ice-skating rink in Nome?

The governor has finally made a decision that people can disagree with and I think people will. I wouldn't be surprised if this dents her popularity a bit (of course, she has plenty to burn) because as much as Alaskans act like we're a bunch of independent people who don't need the government, the capital budget gravy train seems to be more appreciated than people would care to admit.

There are a lot of projects on the veto list that have been vetoed because they're "not a state responsibility." In my neighborhood, money for a new teen center in Savoonga was cut. I'll grant that is not a state responsibility but given the high suicide rate in Savoonga (and numerous other social problems), if the state has the money to help out, shouldn't it? There's numerous other projects like that on this list and I wonder what the backlash will be.

The governor campaigned as a fiscal conservative and is now revealing herself in full glory. I admire her for not taking the easy way out and blindly signing a flawed document (viz. Murkowski, Frank, 2006) but I wonder what people will think of her now?

And will the legislature manage to override any of these?