State bailouts on the way?

Republicans say “No” to the blue states’ I Can Haz Bailout? routine.  And with good reason.  Most states are struggling with their finances in this economy.  Some states voted in liberal leadership that spent money in ways that would make drunken sailors blush, believing that the gravy train would never end.  Others, like Texas, voted in more prudent leadership.  In Texas, that leadership is grappling with a budget crunch responsibly, pledging not to force strapped taxpayers and businesses to pay more.  In the blue states, the leaders and voters just seem to keep promising to spend more and more and more, hoping for a miracle.  The left in Texas is predictably caterwauling at the mean and nasty cuts in the state budget that was unveiled this week, particularly the cuts impacting education, without ever asking whether the taxpayers are getting their money’s worth out of government.  Most of the time, government services overcharge and under deliver, and that may be most true in higher ed.

The gravy train is over, or should be.  Businesses and families have to tighten their belts when the rough times come. There is absolutely no reason that government and government workers shouldn’t have to do the same.  And no one should expect magic money to fall from the sky and save them from their own bad choices.