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Editorial: Budget crisis should make us take notice The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review July 7 The budget crises haunting nearly every state have focused lawmakers' attention on the fundamental purposes of government. What services are essential? What can be curtailed, privatized or jettisoned? Some consequences are beginning to emerge from Washington state's new budget, which closed a $2.6 billion funding gap without a general tax increase. Eastern Washington University announced that it would raise tuition by 7 percent and is considering some layoffs and the sale of its downtown Spokane building. Other colleges are sure to follow with similar measures. Higher education isn't your issue? Then how about the news that the state is releasing an estimated 550 nonviolent convicts from prisons over the next two years to save money? Still, not worried? Then what about the stricter Medicaid rules for children? New eligibility requirements will curtail coverage for many children of seasonal workers and the self-employed. If these service cuts - and there will be many more - aren't satisfactory, then what should government do? For the most part, lawmakers are focused and fully appreciative of the pain they are inflicting. But we have to wonder whether the public is paying attention. Judging from recent voter initiatives, it appears the public thinks government is capable of cutting taxes and expanding services at the same time. Anti-tax groups have done a much more effective job of selling tax cuts than government advocates have done in protecting services. "It's your money," is the popular and effective refrain of tax-cutters. But, as New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman recently noted, those are also "your services." Both sides are right: It is our money, and they are our services. What better time to take a deep breath and decide what it is we want from government. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -