Here's an Idea

Governor, lawmakers struggle with budget puzzle

LANSING -- The stakes are high and the choices distasteful as Gov. Jennifer Granholm and leaders from the Legislature begin talks this week to resolve budget crises -- both immediate and on the near horizon.

The immediate problem is a $940-million shortfall for this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.

Unless Granholm and lawmakers can plug that hole in the next few weeks, the state would temporarily run out of money to pay bills, state Treasurer Robert Kleine said.

Plugging the hole would require new taxes or deep cuts in services -- or, more likely, a combination of the two.

Too bad the Governor can't cut the public pension burden (political promise to cronies), like every citizen in the state has seen happen. I know we aren't that special, unless it is election time, but the state has been in a recession for years. Instead of raising taxes on business - who raise their prices to the customers, or go out of business if they can't raise their prices - and instead of raising taxes on Joe and Jane Citizen - who pay the higher taxes both personally and in the form of higher prices to heavily taxed businesses - simply cut out chunks of government. What makes government so special that it has to subsidize everything? Nothing.

Why don't we encourage personal responsibility from the citizenry? That alone will cut hundreds of millions from the budget.

Heck, if you cut taxes too, maybe some businesses will actually come to the state instead of tripping over themselves to cross the border.