Only $809M in cuts to go

Well, that was easy.

Gov. Nikki Haley said South Carolina is going to create jobs by luring new businesses here and catering to small businesses, which will grow the economy. And she'll balance the state budget by cutting out all those unnecessary things government does.

Why didn't those guys in Columbia think of that before?

It would have saved us a lot of trouble.

Let's hope lawmakers were paying attention to the governor's State of the State speech. Because between quoting deceased presidents, citing motivational phrases, quoting herself, repeating campaign talking points, bragging about her new appointments, bashing President Barack Obama, kissing up to the tea party, recycling Mark Sanford's ideas and stealing Sen. Glenn McConnell's idea for a spending cap, Haley's 5,200-word speech included nearly 1,000 words dedicated to actual new, concrete ideas.

And among those ideas were plans that could wipe out more than $20 million of the state's budget deficit. Only $809 million to go.

For instance:

--Haley said the arts have no place in government -- her speech made that clear. So she wants to shut down the Arts Commission, which will save $2 million, and cut out state funding to ETV, which is about $9.5 million. (In a show of sportsmanship, ETV chose not to cut off its broadcast of her speech.)

--She mentioned that in her first week, her administration saved about $700,000 (over the next four years) by moving the Department of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services from privately leased office space to empty government-owned buildings. That's nice, but it raises the question: Who was the genius who signed a lease for $16,000 a month in the first place? And why wasn't that department moved a long time ago?

Of course, the real question tea party folks might have is: Why are we helping these people in the first place? Government was never meant to be all things to all people. After all, the governor said, "Our current budgetary situation demands it. Our commitment to best serve this state requires it. And most importantly, our citizens deserve it."

So toss those drug and alcohol abusers in the street -- right next to the hospice patients and children who need expensive treatments for debilitating diseases. That's apparently how South Carolina rolls these days.

--Haley wants to save money on prisons and courts by ensuring that inmates don't return to jail once they are released. But since actual rehabilitation programs cost money, how do you accomplish that?

--The governor said she will reconfigure the education funding formula and wants to privatize school bus service. Unfortunately, we didn't hear anything about laying off all those bureaucrats at the Department of Education to save teachers' jobs, like she mentioned at that debate.

--She wants to cut Medicaid costs by allowing the use of generic drugs (where possible, we'll assume) and by cutting rates paid to providers, which everyone is going to love -- except doctors and hospitals.

But hey, Haley said it herself: "As we go into a budget knowing we'll have to sacrifice, we must do so with consistency."

Except when it comes to her staff's salaries.