Extreme measures in budgeting means taking more money from people

Jonathan Parnell, this is for you. I'm blogging again. :o)

Background: Gov. David Paterson unveils dire New York State budget that includes new taxes, layoffs and cuts

So New York's governor has a new budget planned to the tune of $121 billion dollars. There's a shortfall of $15.4 billion. What are they going to do with this shortfall?

"We're going to have to take some extreme measures," Paterson said Tuesday after unveiling the slash-and-burn budget.

Normally, in my household, when you have plans and end up with a shortfall, you adjust your plans. Some things, no matter how much you may like to do them, you just plain have to say "no" to. One of the purposes of a budget is to measure what you'd like to do against what you've got, re-organize and re-prioritize, and make as many things as you can doable.

So what are the "extreme measures" that Paterson is willing to sink to in order to be level in the budget?

Trying to close a $15.4 billion budget gap, Paterson called for 88 new fees and a host of other taxes, including an "iPod tax" that taxes the sale of downloaded music and other "digitally delivered entertainment services."

Government seems to be the only institution in the world that can never do with less. In my household, "extreme measures" means not eating out, canceling your high-speed internet, dropping to a minimum cell phone plan (or cutting it out entirely), etc. But in government, extreme measures are extreme means of getting more money out of you.