State Legislatures: Mr. Underinformed speaking here, but isn't this the real news? Sure, the Fedrul Gummint has its spending problems, but they have the luxury of running a deficit until the cows come home. (What's that, Bossy? You're at the door and you want to come in?) Many states have balanced budget requirements, and as the Fed cuts back, they have to cut even deeper. What the states do over the next 10 years is going to mean a whole lot more than Congress trimming the low-hanging fruit from the budget. I mean, states were already talking about opting out of Medicare. That's pretty f*cking huge. And in Massachusetts, every time there's a budget shortfall, they heave the teachers, the fire fighters, and the police officers onto the chopping block and say, "Pony up on taxes, or I'll have to start cutting." As though those jobs are less imporotant than, you know, some guy's brother in law getting a no-show job on the turnpike authority.

Now, nobody wants to pay taxes, and everyone wants free stuff from the state house. And, despite his "aliens abducted my foreskin" break with reality, this is what Ross Perot told us twenty years ago. Practical conservatism.: Here's what you want, here's what it will cost you. You up for paying those taxes, Kemosabe? Or can we scale back on the government-pays-rich-old-farts'-healthcare gig?

Don't look for the GOP to suddenly become geniuses at the state level, but aybe we'll see necessity birthing some different ideas on how to finance all the shit we want from our governments but don't actually want to pay for in commensurate taxation.