Brook trout alert on Frankfort time bomb

Some big-spending legislators returning to Frankfort next week will easy to spot by their "Brook trout face" (blank stare, mouth agape in shock).

That's because of the massive accumulated compensatory leave time balances that would have to be paid out to laid off state employees. We don't have nearly enough money to justify cutting costs by downsizing employees and most people don't yet realize the enormity of this problem.

It's yet another Catch-22 we have put ourselves in by expanding government so far beyond our means. Eliminating prevailing wage, corporate welfare, and certificate of need have to be looking better even to those politicians whose supporters demand that they ignore the efficacy of those policy changes.