“You can't cut yourself out of this ...” This is something I heard from a head of an employee union here in New York, referring to the state's fiscal crisis and how it should be dealt with.

So, if cutting spending isn't the way to deal with budget shortfalls, what do you suggest? More taxes and fees? The private sector is still breathing, after all.

It's a bit weak, but there's still a pulse.

When you try to insulate any major program (schools/prisons/etc.) from the reality of economics, you are headed for a world of pain.

For a long time now greed has been blinding many in the Emerald City to this fact.

The only way out of this, short of a miracle, is cutting expenditures. Period. That's what everybody else is doing.

Wake up, grow up and get your head out of (the sand).

Joe Lonsky

Genoa