Illinois state government has a problem: Its out-go is exceeding its in-come. Gov. Blagojevich has proposed some cuts, but the Illinois Policy Institute has called his proposal political theater.

It offers some ideas of its own, including one that could slice $686 million from the state budget.

(By the way, the state would not be in its condition had its budget not grown by 5.5% per year for the last five years. Such growth sets the state up for budget problems when the inevitable downturns come.)