That goes in my book as "gamesmanship", "partisan", and "unrealistic."

There will always be excuses to avoid making tough calls.

Always.

And half of them will usually make sense, too.

Doesn't matter anymore.

The question is, how do we solve this crisis and the only answer is to right-size government, no matter how "painful" that will be.

There's a real trade-off in taxes versus spending that is often ignored.  A point is reached as which the loss of programs and services becomes worse for growth than taxes.  Road funding in Michigan is an example.  The current state of Michigan's roads, for example, is as much or more of a disincentive to do business in Michigan than the state's gas tax.  Unless, of course, you're an auto repair shop.

There's a reason that the Chicago area continues to see business growth in a recession.  And I can guarantee you, it's not because of a low tax rate.