If Christine Gregoire manages to go through with these draconian cuts of hers and condemn thousands of her own voting constituents to an early grave — or perhaps if they are lucky, perpetual homelessness —what will be left to cut in the next budget cycle?
Let’s say that everything she proposes goes through. The state manages to close the budget gap, but still falls short in the end.
No new taxes are raised to fill in the hole as usual, yet in two years, we’re deeper in debt, and voters and taxpayers are screaming at her (or Dino Rossi) to do something to fix the problem.
What’s left to cut? Education? Already done that. Welfare and social services? Killed off. Our prison system?
Would anyone mind if convicted bank robbers, serial killers and sex offenders of all kinds roamed the streets unchecked because the state can no longer afford to keep them locked away?
Makes me wonder how anyone can run a state — let alone a country — and fail to see the consequences of not addressing issues that require common sense instead of all these radical budget cuts.
I’m certain that such moves will appeal to those who don’t care what happens to people affected by these cuts, but for me personally, such actions can only be described as troubling and alarming.
Schuyler Thorpe
Everett
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