Gov. Jon S. Corzine made his budget address earlier today, slashing state spending and eradicating most budget gimmicks from the plan. it is not likely to make the unpopular governor very popular, but he deserves credit for doing this during a re-election year.
Consider the above chart, which shows that few governors have been willing to consider spending cuts — yes, Gov. Whitman did cut some departments, but shifted the money elsewhere.
This is not a perfect budget, by any means — the pension deferral is a small version of the kind of gimmicks used in the past — but it is mostly honest (as our editorial will say) and he is likely to pay for it with his job come November.
Hank Kalet 