Punting again: The state budget 'fix'

Say you had an old car with a serious oil leak. Every year, instead of fixing it, you just added more duct tape. What do you think would eventually happen?

That's pretty much what New Hampshire legislators and Gov. John Lynch have done with the state budget. It's bleeding money. But instead of fixing the leaks, they just keep applying temporary patches that will have to be replaced in the not-too-distant future. That's why we have a current budget with a roughly $300 million hole in it; and it's why experts expect a more than $600 million hole in the next budget.

Today, legislators enter a special session, called by the governor, to fix the current budget. And yet the proposed solution is -- more duct tape.

Even faced with a budget deficit so pressing that the governor had to call a special legislative session to deal with it, our brave leaders in Concord cannot bring themselves to do the inevitable and cut deeply enough to make spending match revenues. So, as always, they punt the tough choices to whomever happens to get elected in five months.

Months ago, Gov. Lynch proposed cutting $70 million. Legislators couldn't bring themselves to do even that. They prefer instead to rely on $48 million in federal Medicaid money that has not yet been approved by Congress, $60 million in state property sales that might never happen and the governor's proposal to borrow $25 million to pay current operating expenses for the University System of New Hampshire.

These alleged "fixes" amount to yet again pushing the problem into the future. This is exactly what got us into this mess to begin with. It isn't going to get us out. But apparently it's the only solution this majority in Concord can think of. And that isn't exactly a ringing endorsement of their leadership abilities.