Binker on budget

As usual, when it comes to first analysis of complicated stuff, delivered straight and clear, Mark Binker takes the cake. He's written a good round up of the State of the State Budget. Take a look.

RALEIGH — House and Senate negotiators have agreed to a $21.3 billion budget that delays two anticipated tax cuts for one year to ensure North Carolina does not fall into a deficit.

House Speaker Joe Hackney and Senate leader Marc Basnight outlined the budget agreement Thursday afternoon, saying that a few tweaks remained but an official, unalterable agreement would be locked in before the calendar turned to July 4.

Joe and Marc might agree on the "official" budget, but from what I can tell, it's loaded with wishful thinking that simply won't stand the test of time.

Sen. Phil Berger, a Rockingham County Republican, said the struggling economy likely would result in even less tax revenue than budget writers predict. “I don’t know of anything that would lead a reasonable person to believe things are going to get better between now and Jan. 1,” Berger said. “I think it’s going to be difficult, based on what I know at this point, to vote for it.”

Of course, it doesn't matter whether Phil votes for it or not, the budget will pass and likely be signed by the Governor just because they want to get the damn thing over with. But that doesn't mean it'll hold up in the face of Bush's Great Recession. The irresponsible deregulation of so many sectors of our financial system has allowed corporate greed to run unbridled, searching (as it always does) for short-term profits no matter what the long-term consequences might be. That's true for the mortgage industry, commodities trading, oil speculation, defense contracting, infrastructure and more. We'll be years climbing out of this sorry mess, and in the meantime, states are going to find themselves increasingly unable to help those most at risk.