Another budget cut to forget

Governor Beverly Perdue wants officials at state agencies to make suggestions for deeper budget cuts than the ones they sent her last week that would devastate mental health, Medicaid, and children’s health care, among other services.

Apparently the governor also wasn’t happy with many of the individual cuts that were proposed by folks who Perdue’s staff is quick to remind us were part of the last administration.  Let’s hope that Perdue rejects most of the items on the four-page list that still hasn’t promoted nearly the outrage it deserves.

The folks at the Carolina Justice Policy Center point out the absurdity of the possible cuts in criminal justice programs, most notably the abolition of the Criminal Justice Partnership Program. That would mean the end of Day Reporting Centers and most substance abuse treatment and employment services for people on probation.

That’s exactly what the overburdened, underfunded, mismanaged probation system needs, less services to help people stay out of jail. Is this a budget crisis or an intelligence crisis?