$134 million sounds like a ton of money, but it was only a down payment.

       With little fanfare this week the legislature and governor sliced state services by that amount.  A state prison will be mothballed and maybe turned into a Wal-Mart in Ionia. Some prison camps will be shuttered and all the crooks will be shuffled off to other prisons were there are plenty of empty beds.

       It was all neat and tidy but a dirty little secret remains: This is only the beginning of that "Same Old Song" as the Four Tops use to sing.

       More budget deficits loom and after everybody does their Holiday fling, the harsh reality will stare everyone In the face next month.

       If there is no federal stimulus package out of the new Obama administration, Mic higan is facing the second billion-dollar deficit in as many years.

       The last struggle to resolve the last one resulted in a temporary shutdown of state government.  One can only guess what the next one will produce?

       But hope springs eternal especially in the executive suite in the Romney building where Gov. Optimism a.k.a Granholm is counting on her guy in the White House to save the day.

       Nobody knows how many federal dollars will flow into Michigan, but let's assume her rosy wishes are fulfilled.  That influx is only a one-time fix.  That stimulus will not come every year thereafter and the state deficit will not be permanently solved with just federal dough.

       So once again it will boiled down to what she and the legislature will do to fix this budget mess once and for all.

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       Funny thing, that's the same assignment that John Engler, Jim Blanchard and Bill Milliken faced…and flunked!

      

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