Now the debate in Lansing shifts from raising more revenue to what and how much to cut...that's exactly where this debate should be.  Michigan must learn to live within its means.  Senate Republicans showed Tuesday they understand that.

Look, we all get it.  Cutting the budget means temporary pain for some.  But let's also be realistic, the Senate GOP cuts kick no one to the curb, despite the howls and catcalls that came from the Democratic side of the aisle. A dose of perspective is needed here.

Michigan has a $41 billion annual budget and of that about $9 billion comes from the general fund, which means that's what's funded by the taxes and fees us Michiganders pay.  The deficit for the current budget is about $940 million.  Now I am no mathematician, but that's roughly a 10 percent hole if you only count the general fund portion budget.

All in all, the cuts the Senate GOP passed yesterday amount to a little more then $600 million, with the remaining $300 million or so being made up with transfers, accounting changes, and other accounting gimmickry.

Democrats and the governor cried the most over the additional cuts to schools, municipalities and health care, about $130 million worth.  But let's look at those cuts a little deeper.

First, the schools.  Ah, the welfare of the children...and the last bastion of scoundrels.  The senate-passed cuts will amount to about $34 per student.  Those cuts are going to hurt, but not that much.  More than half the school districts have beau coup bucks in their Rainy Day Funds. This would be a good time to grab their umbrellas. Since 1990, more than $13 billion in additional funding has been pumped into K-12 spending. That's nearly three times as much as Democrats did in the 30 years prior.

Second, the municipals.  They get a hand-out from the state in the form of revenue sharing. That's been cut by about  $39.9 million.  Of course they say that such cuts will hurt essential services like fire and police.  Funny how the bureaucrats never say...we'll cut 10 percent from our administrative and non-essential services before we take one cop off the street.  Government is funny that way.

That's basically what the governor tried to pull when she did her best impression of Chicken Little last month, threatening to cut state troopers unless those mean 'ol Republicans give us more money.  That makes it all the more sweeter when the Senate GOP came up with the cuts without losing one trooper or releasing early one convicted felon.

Third, health care.  The Medicaid budget has been the largest growing portion of state spending in recent years.  Something has to be done to rein in costs and prioritize spending.  We have a moral obligation to care for the poor, but with that obligation is the imperative to be good stewards of that resource.  We can't keep spending like sailors on liberty and still hope to maintain a viable health care safety net.  And to those in the Granholm administration who say such thinking a "shameful" and "callous" to the poor, I say: hogwash.

It is completely beyond good sense -- and downright insulting -- that some say we must fully fund a Cadillac health care plan for the poor that covers nearly everything under the sun when working families pay a portion of their health care insurance premiums, cash deductibles of $2,000 or more, and co-pays for every office visit.

Thankfully, the Senate Republicans injected some much needed good sense into the debate.  Here's hoping they stick to their guns.

Crossposted at Lunchbucket Conservative.