I was in a local liquor store the other day buying a little spirits to keep my spirits up when a man, perhaps in his late 30s, walked in looking to buy some high-end booze. He did a double take when he saw the price and immediately asked the clerk why the booze had gone up in price.

But it’s a fair question given the fact many of the people “serving” in the Legislature have had those years to work together to correct the structural problems in how the state pays for its obligations and dedications, but consistently deferred this responsibility.

On the surface, some things from the administration’s recent budget presentation made it look to the casual observer that it was not as bad as expected. The cut to higher education, while huge at more than $200 million, was not as much as some were predicting.