US governor dumps budget with bull dump

West Virginia Gov Jim Justice unveiled the theatrical rebuke during a live-streamed presser


News Desk April 16, 2017
PHOTO COURTESY: METRO NEWS

The governor of the US state of West Virginia found an unusual way to express how he felt about the $4.1 billion budget state lawmakers put on his desk, as he vetoed it with a pile of bull manure.

More so, Governor Jim Justice did so before a crowd as he unveiled the theatrical and smelly rebuke during a press conference live-streamed, Metro News reported.



"We don't have a nothing burger today, and we don't have a mayonnaise sandwich," the governor said referring to his previous analogies for Republican budgets. "What we have is nothing more than a bunch of political bull you-know-what."

Immediately after saying this, he lifted the silver lid on a tray, only to reveal animal faeces.

"For that very reason, I’m signing my name on the budget veto," he said and added, "and I hope and pray that the silliness will stop and we'll do the right thing."

The veto means the lawmakers will be sought again to evolve a spending plan before the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1.

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Interestingly, in early February, the governor presented his own budget plan to lawmakers, suggesting a rise in the consumer sales tax and a tax on businesses.

However, the legislature budget did not include any of the revenue enhancements or Justice's multi-million dollar proposal to get the state's highways fixed.

The final budget cut the allocations for spending on higher education, health, human resources, as well as a "rainy day fund," and would have taken the state below a balance encouraged by Wall Street bond rating agencies.

The governor said, "The Republicans passed this budget and called and called and called and said, 'surely you are going to veto this because we don't want to own it. We want you to veto it," Justice said. "It's just a game and it doesn't mean anything."

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