The State Budget is in trouble, the economy is slowing, unemployment is rising and state revenues are dropping. The Helena Independent Record‘s take on the story: “Budget bill contains real cuts to human services“.

Naturally, I am worried about cutting programs that help people in need, especially in the rocky economic times.

Sen. Dave Lewis, R-Helena and a member of the Senate Finance and Claims Committee, said he’s “puzzled” by the idea of funding things for two years and then targeting them for elimination.
“My initial reaction was, ‘We have to fix that,’ ” he said Friday. “But I have no idea where we’re going to find $30 million.” The $30 million is the state share of the $115 million.

Irritated by the thought of loosing millions in Medicare, I started to think about where the money could or should be cut instead. Of course my train of thought progressed to what does the state spend money on: schools, law enforcement, fire and emergency services, and the list goes on. The state spends its money on people, namely jobs.

So we want $30 million for medicare. Should we cut the Highway Patrol or elementary school teachers or maybe it would be better close community clinics, that rely on state support. Small town folks drive to the city to shop anyway right? No reason they shouldn’t drive an hour or two to see a doctor.

The Legislature is bound by State Law to balance the budget. So which do we cut: services that can not be sustained or jobs that will allow families to survive?

…so says Peter Orszag, Obama’s Budget Director.

According to CNN’s interview, Orszag claims that “the White House had little choice but to support the $410 billion omnibus spending bill which it inherited from the previous administration.”

That sounds an awful lot like an easy cop out to hard promises made on the campaign trail: “ …we can no longer accept an earmarks process in which many of the projects being funded fail to address the real needs of our country.”