It's all downhill from here, then?

And we're not talking some leisurely roll down a gently sloping hill - more like plummetting off of a sheer cliff face into a yawning abyss.

The state legislature is in session, and they've introduced the potential of cutting state employee pay. This would presumably be across the board, with no regard to salary level or any other mitigating factor. Supposedly, they projected what the savings would be on one percent and extrapolated on that figure to get them to a number that would help to balance the budget shortfalls. Some news sources (the ones that haven't buried the story behind the sports or entertainment "news", anyway) are saying the magic number is 5%, but I heard that the Governor's assistant is saying 10%. My family cannot take a 10% - 20% reduction to our total household income. As it is, my husband hasn't seen a pay increase in several years, and lost his second, part-time job late last year. Everyone wants to tell me that this is "worst case scenario" budgeting and that I really should wait and see what happens before giving myself over to panic and anxiety, and oh of course, just be thankful to have a job at all. And you know what - they're right, and I am. But only to a point, because in no way does that give my employer OR the state the right to either take advantage of the situation (more than they already have) or punish me for their failure to practice due diligence and be good stewards of the people's money. The state's dire financial situation is a result of years of sub-par leadership, mismanagement, and poor decisionmaking. And instead of expecting the state employees from the lowest salary levels bear the burden of these mistakes while further eroding infrastructure and services, consistantly short-changing the state's education system, and short-sightedly rob the rain-day reserves, the Legislators and the Governor should man up and look at cutting areas of redundancy and *actual* waste (double-dipping and ridiculous bonuses and salary levels for state employees in managerial and administrative level positions), increasing revenue streams through sin taxes, and repealing some of the more ridiculous tax exemptions - even if it is the least popular alternative, it is among the most sound options in the long term.