Budget solution

It is not hard to cut government budgets. It's really not.

The hard part appears to be ignoring the rhetoric and nasty politics involved with the complicated game politicians play when forced to retract government spending.

The solution is simple and fair. The math basic.

The state is facing a $2 billion deficit with a $32 billion budget.

To cut spending to eliminate the deficit, cut the budget by 6.5 percent across the board. No picking one agency over another. No picking a favorite program over another. Just make it fair and cut all budgets.

On the federal level, it is unbelievable how a "super committee" couldn't do the same to cut 2 percent of federal spending over the course of 10 years. If they cut one-half of a percent from all federal budgets each year, they would reduce our national spending by 5 percent. Simple.

This approach is easier for an agency to make and prevents the total loss of any service.

There is a second component to making this work. Stop approving new spending bills. Stop forcing state agencies, counties and cities to spend more to meet new laws or facilitate new programs. Just stop new spending.

Wait until the economy recovers enough to increase revenue. Once you have the money, then increase budgets again.

Instead of doing the right thing, our government officials are fighting. They fight to put blame on the other party. They fight to save pet programs and protect agencies doing favorable work. They turn fiscal crisis into advertising to convince voters they need more of the party to control government.

Maybe we should take their handling of our financial woes as advertising to find better elected officials.