The Other Budget Gap
September 14, 2010 - by
The breakfast conversation the other day was about what happens with the state budget next year if Republicans win the state House or Senate this year.
They won’t raise taxes. So they’ll have to cut $3 billion or so out of a $19 billion budget.
My Republican friend said that can be done without laying off teachers and damaging vital services. Businesses do it all the time, he said.
But he doesn’t think any current member of the legislature, Democrat or Republican, knows the budget well enough to do it.
My Democratic friend said that, too often, legislators leave the decisions on where to cut to bureaucrats in Raleigh
Perhaps Governor Perdue, who was an Appropriations chair, can figure out where to find 15 percent without harming services.
Or she could let the Republicans in the legislature do the dirty work. Then whack them all the way through the 2012 election for being heartless and anti-education.
The Other Budget Gap
September 14, 2010/
The breakfast conversation the other day was about what happens with the state budget next year if Republicans win the state House or Senate this year.
They won’t raise taxes. So they’ll have to cut $3 billion or so out of a $19 billion budget.
My Republican friend said that can be done without laying off teachers and damaging vital services. Businesses do it all the time, he said.
But he doesn’t think any current member of the legislature, Democrat or Republican, knows the budget well enough to do it.
My Democratic friend said that, too often, legislators leave the decisions on where to cut to bureaucrats in Raleigh
Perhaps Governor Perdue, who was an Appropriations chair, can figure out where to find 15 percent without harming services.
Or she could let the Republicans in the legislature do the dirty work. Then whack them all the way through the 2012 election for being heartless and anti-education.