Tennessee does it right

Tennessee's state agencies told to prepare for 5 percent cuts

"NASHVILLE — State Finance Commissioner Mark Emkes has told state government agencies to prepare for a 5 percent reduction in their state funding for next year and not to propose any new programs unless they can save an equal amount with cuts elsewhere."

Imagine a 5% across-the-board cut in every kind and variety of Federal spending; every program, every agency, all of it from A to Z, no excuses and no exceptions.  Imagine the outrage of the bureaucrats and agency heads, of the public employee unions, of the favored constituencies and interest groups.  Imagine the weeping and rending of garments.  Pure music.

As a practical matter, across-the-board cuts are the only kind that make sense.  Anything else opens the door to endless political haggling and horse trading, with the result that after long delays there ends up being very little in the way of actual cuts, just a lot of anger and complaining about "unfairness."  Proposals about "targeted cuts" are therefore essentially unserious, and thus very much preferred to anything across-the-board.

Why is Nashville so much more serious than Washington?  Or is Nashville just smarter?

Byron