Governors and Drunken Sailors

Out in the states, they’ve spent themselves silly

So after years of binge spending and Everest-sized budget surpluses, most states are now swimming in rivers of red ink. California, New York, and Virginia are in particular trouble: Their combined budgets are nearly $20 billion in the red. “We didn’t get a rainy day,” New York governor George Pataki announced in his budget message earlier this year, “we got a monsoon.”