The trick is, Gov. Terry McAuliffe only has so long to examine the budget, and the Republicans are doing what is called "upping the ante." This involves illegal entry into the governor's office, and then acting all shocked and amazed that the governor noticed!
You have to watch those southern Republicans. Under all that "y'all" and sweet tea and shit, you have the bloodlines of plantation owners and overseers. They have no problem with taking what they want:
Administration officials said the House had told them not to expect the budget before early last week. When representatives of the House contacted the administration that Sunday, Father’s Day, House emissaries were informed that nobody would be present at the offices to receive the document. Howell had the budget delivered anyway, and an email was sent about 15 minutes later informing the administration that it had been left at the office, which is on the third floor of the Patrick Henry Building.
The administration viewed the Sunday drop of the massive document to the unoccupied office not only as a breach of security, but also as political gamesmanship designed, in part, to deprive the governor of a weekend to review the two-year, $96 billion spending plan.
So the gov's chief of staff, Paul Reagan, sent a Very Stern Letter (aka WTF) to the chief of the Capitol 5-0. (And copies were sent to others who also needed A Stern Letter. Or, as we call it in Philly, the jawn.)
“This letter is to inform you that under no circumstances are you or any of your officers authorized to allow employees of the General Assembly to enter the secure areas of the governor’s office without my express permission, or the express permission of Suzette Denslow, the governor’s deputy chief of staff,” Reagan wrote last week. “What occurred here Sunday is unacceptable.”
“For good reason, it is an area that is surrounded by three security perimeters. Even on a normal business day, very few people -- including members of the governor’s Cabinet -- can gain access to this suite of offices,” Reagan added, citing sensitive files and materials. “We certainly do not expect to have agents and employees of the General Assembly roaming through these offices on weekends.”
Okay, Terry, here's the thing: A WTF letter only works when some shit happens as a result. As soon as you nail down that Medicaid expansion, you need to call in that cop and fire his ass. Yeah, the poor guy was flustered and didn't know what to do. But when you don't know what to do, that's when you call your boss and CYA! How can a cop be so stupid as not to know this was a no-no?
If you don't stop this monkey business now, next thing you know, you'll come to work in the morning and find empty soda cans and crumbs on your desk. And you know what garbage does: It attracts Republicans. And rats. Sometimes they're the same thing.
