If you’re a regular reader, you’ve read about the state’s spendthrift ways right here for years.  Well, the chickens finally came home to roost:

The Patrick administration is working behind the scenes to trim its own spending. Budget chief Leslie Kirwan called the national crisis “unprecedented,” and said the governor is preparing for the worst.

I hope Ms. Kirwan isn’t implying that the subprime mortgage fiasco pushed the state over the edge because she has been sounding the alarm bell on Beacon Hill for quite some time now.  Besides, everybody knew they were spending way more than they were bringing in as evidenced by their use of the “rainy day” fund to balance the budget.

The real problem on Beacon Hill isn’t projections or financial meltdowns; it was lack of restraint and fiscal responsibility.  Everybody knew they were living on the edge, but nobody was willing to make any hard decisions.  So, now we’ll go through a fire drill where our solons threaten to cut all the teachers, firefighters, and cops in an effort to scare up a tax increase.  Nobody will look at Patrick’s biotech payoff, his infrastructure funds, or other spending shenanigans.

Things in this state are so predictable.

BTW:  Why did the Herald use a picture of the president in an article about state spending cuts?  Let’s have a big smiling picture of Deval and some office drapes.  That’d be a lot more appropriate.

Archived in: Beacon Hill, Deval Patrick, spending, Taxes