“Missouri is strong, and she is getting stronger.”

By many objective measurements, that’s simply not true, and in the long run for a governor with lofty ambitions, that’s more important than his philandering.

Just this week, state Auditor Nicole Galloway reported that Missouri is so broke it is increasingly having a hard time paying its tax refunds on time, increasing the amount of interest the state is bearing as part of those late payments.

Legislative leaders just revised downward their already anemic growth projections for the current and coming fiscal years.

The state is about to run out of money to cover children in the Children’s Health Insurance Program.