In Hollywood, there is a genre called “slasher movies.” In the media, there is a genre of “slasher stories” on state government budgets. A piece in the WaPo today is classic:

Democratic and Republican governors alike are sounding similar themes, as they slash once sacrosanct programs…In California, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) has proposed closing a $25 billion budget gap by…slashing funding for higher education…Sen. Dean A. Rhoads, the chamber’s senior Republican, said Nevada should be raising taxes as well as slashing programs.

Wow, it sounds brutal doesn’t it? For a different perspective on state budgets, see my testimony last week to the Senate Budget Committee.