Up to 9% cuts to state government

Phil is bracing for the worst. While I agree with him that the cuts will probably be necessary and deeper cuts will probably be coming. I question why we did not start doing the dirty necessary work of cutting costs last year. It would have saved us having to go as deep this year and by his own admission it could have been done relatively easy.

From Phil's own mouth in the Tennessean article....

"The political problem is that last February, I probably could have passed any known cut because everybody knew we were in the middle of a major crisis," Bredesen said. "The stimulus has kind of concealed what's been going on."....

And by not passing a slimmed down budget things are now having to be and will be cut worse.

"....There's no alternative to it," Bredesen said. "Hopefully, the economy is coming back. … But we're a long way under water."

As the state starts its budget-writing process, Bredesen says Tennessee's fiscal situation is worsening. Tax receipts are not expected to rebound to pre-recession levels until 2014, and the last of the federal government's nearly $5 billion in stimulus spending is set to come by the end of 2010.....

Just as was predicted by many legislators in a call to pass what Phil called the "Stupid budget". I hate to say it but the lack of "stupid" is now forcing "Painful" on the "short sighted".