The press makes money by getting your attention and holding it. Sometimes, this business model runs contrary to providing you all the boring facts. A good example was the hysteria surrounding our “draconian” budget cuts this past session. Consider the facts. The previous Legislature raised the size and cost of your state government by 25%. We enacted an 11% per cut. Over these past four years that averages to a 3.5% increase per year… hardly “end of the world” stuff. Yes, the cuts looked huge in this budget. However, just as New Hampshire families faced higher costs on everything including food and fuel, while their incomes remained the same or went down… should we not expect the government that you pay for to also find creative ways to do more with less? The government should still be able to fulfill all of its obligations with an average 3.5% increase per year. The next time you go to the store and pay more for milk and corn, pay more taxes, pay more for fuel… and still manage to feed your kids and pay the rent, remember to expect your government to do the same. It’s not draconian, it’s common sense and Yankee frugality.