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I've never held elective office (not counting student senate in college), but I could do better than this. Who presents a budget that includes an unapproved revenue stream? That's just irresponsible. It's playing at governing, farting around with the future.

Here's a truism that this governor apparently hasn't learned:

A goal without a plan is just a wish.

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I heard an interview with Gov. Beshear yesterday, and I was struck by his definition of success. When asked to identify some of the signature wins of his first two years, he noted "we've shrunk the size of government."

Sound good to you? Then imagine this -- at a press conference in 2011, someone asks Coach Cal to identify the signs that the Cats are making progress, and he says, "We've cut the number of players on scholarship!"

Here's a news flash for the Gov and for anyone else who has drunk the "government is bad" koolaid --

It's not about big or small government; it's about effective government. And Kentucky continues to suffer from one of the most ineffective governments in the country.

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Why are we even surprised any more?

The former head of the state mine-permitting agency said Tuesday he was fired after refusing to go along with an illegal policy that primarily benefited a politically powerful coal company, Alliance Resource Partners.

Ron Mills, a veteran state regulator, was fired without explanation last Friday by the Beshear administration as director of the Division of Mine Permits. (Courier-Journal, 2009/11/17)

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So I opened up my C-J this morning and saw where Governor Beshear has jumped into the lap of the conservative wing -- not of the Democratic party, but of the Republican.

First he says that mountain-top removal can be done in an "environmentally-friendly way." Yes, and amputation can be done in a body-friendly way -- but you still lose an arm and a leg. I have a hard time imagining an environmentally-friendly way to cut the top off a mountain and throw it into a valley. The only environment this practice is friendly to is the environment inside the coal baron's wallet.

Then we get the amazing comment that he would consider doing away with the state income tax. Here we are, cutting services right and left, throwing mentally ill people onto the streets with no care, and moving higher education further and further out of the reach of most Kentucky citizens -- and the Gov wants to take money off the plus side of the ledger? And replace it with what -- a 10% sales tax? No, I know: it's the return of "Gambling will save us all!"

It is time for all of us to stand up and say it -- one sure way to make sure "government is the problem" is to underfund it. Paying taxes is the price of a civilized society. And a graduated income tax is the most equitable solution to the perennial "how to pay for it" question.

Governor Beshear can choose to make hay by promoting religious license plates, and I'll not say much because I understand where he lives and who the audience is. But when he follows a disastrous budget session with a plan to do away with the state income tax, then it's time to ask -- when did you change your party affiliation, Governor?