* Northwest Herald editor Dan McCaleb wins the head in the sand prize on the state budget deficit.

First, he says he’s against the governor’s income tax increase…

That’s too much to ask families already struggling to make ends meet.

And then he flatly opposes deep cuts in the state budget…

Enough threats about a “doomsday” budget, Gov. Quinn. Illinois is going to have to fund education, health care and other social services if it wants its piece of the federal stimulus money.

You can’t tell me, or other taxpayers in this state, that there’s no more fat to cut after 10 straight years of governors either convicted or accused of corruption.

Actually, Illinois is cutting K-12 education spending by almost $2 billion and filling in the hole with federal stimulus money, so I’m not sure what he’s talking about there and I don’t think he is, either.

And this idea that there’s still plenty of budgetary fat after all our gubernatorial corruption in Illinois is most certainly a widespread notion. Look, I’m positive that there is still some fat to cut. There just isn’t $12 billion in fat.

So, if the government doesn’t raise taxes, and doesn’t do super-deep cuts, and most of the proposed GOP Medicaid “reforms” have been shown to be a mirage, at best, and the state’s revenues are tanking almost daily and expenditures are increasing because of the economic climate, then how the heck is Illinois supposed to balance its budget? “Just cut the fat.” Yeah. OK.

The clear message in opinions like this is: “It’s your problem, Springfield, don’t include us in the solutions.”

That’s a dangerous fantasy in a democracy.