Saying that we are headed for the same place as Greece or Spain is most definitely not true. Our economy is still one of the strongest in the world. In times like now cutting spending across the board is not the answer. Just as it was during the great depression we wiil have to spend money creating new jobs and putting money back into the hands of the consumers in order to reverse the current direction. When the middle class has money, unlike the wealthy who hoard their money in times like these, they spend that money on groceries, clothes, gasoline, vacations, cars and every other product that drives the economy. When the middle class is spending, those with money to invest will start building more stores to meet demand. They will hire more people in the factories they own to produce more products. All of that spending and hiring increases tax revenues for the government.

The way out of this mess isn't to keep cutting but to instead do whatever it takes to put dollars directly back into the hands of the consumers, the middle class. Trickle down does not work. Everything is built from the bottom up. If there is no money to spend there will be nothing for sale.

@ann: '...It's time we took care of each other as we do in our churches and STOP depending upon the government!...

agree and as a start the church owned/supported hospitals should refused fed funds...then perhaps each church should train an engine company and a police department...

then maybe churches should be responsible for road maintenance within a certain distance of their church...or;

maybe schools or services for those with disabilities should be taken over before churches take on road maintenance...

just what functions do you believe the churches should take over...so that their parishioners could stop depending on the government...

what's the plan to have the churches take over functions of the fed/state governments...

ok so much for my facetious bs and to the question...does anyone, who suggest the churches/congregations take over, have any concept of what would be required for churches to take over even the simplest of government funded program...

ann (anybody), want to suggest one...

Absolutely. Let family, friends, and charities support starving artists. I forget, is that the American way of being numero uno?

Good to see there are some common sense people left in our state. Sometimes it seems like the vocal minority is the only opinion getting heard.

There is so much more to the arts than simply drawing, dancing or singing. Life is more than going to work, eating, then going to bed to rest up to go to work again the next day. Creativity needs to be developed and the creation of art is one of the major defining characteristic of a human being. The world needs beauty just as much as it needs clean air. Take a look around yourself and almost everything you see was influenced by the arts. Now more than ever we need the government to support artistic endeavors.

Thank you, Joan! I'm with you. Go Team Nikki!!!

you tell them, cutting worthy programs, going on very unnecessary trips, the good ole boy system will never die, if we do not stand up and say no...

And don't forget the tax-payer funded vacations for her and her staff; she brought more with her to a trip to Paris than all other states combined. She just back from her taxpayer funded trip to London, too. And her staff doesn't meet in the governor's mansion - they meet at vacation resorts in Kiawah (meetings paid for by US). At least that keeps her staff from raiding the new taxpayer funded wine cellar in the govnuh's mansion. Hmmm...if she hadn't aided Georgia's Port of Savannah in getting improvements/jobs/funding away from the Port of Charleston, maybe we could have afforded that.