Not to Say We Told You So

Nobody likes it when someone says, "I told you so." But N.C. Republicans really did forewarn of an impending budget crisis.

Told us so?
By Mark Binker
Capital Beat

Back last summer, I wrote this story on the budget, the one that now has a big ol' gap in it that Bev Perdue is trying to fix.

Rep. John Blust wrote to ask me about it the other day, because he was trying to remember the quote he gave me at the time:

Rep. John Blust, a Greensboro Republican pointed to a line in the budget document that estimates how much revenue the state would earn next year.

"Those that vote yes on this budget in just a few minutes are
making a big bet that that number is going to hold up," Blust said.

As he points out, that line didn't hold up.

Sen. Phil Berger, a Rockingham County Republican, also had a salient quote at the time:

Opponents, mainly Republicans, say there's increasing evidence that the slowing economy will mean less revenue to spend than budget writers expect.

"What we're doing is setting ourselves up, or rather we're setting up next year's legislature for a serious problem," said Phil Berger, a Rockingham County Republican and the Senate minority leader. He likened the pending budget to one passed in 2000 that plunged the state into deficit just as Easley took office.

"Those memories are still pretty vivid to me," Berger said. ...