“This is a tough budget,” Mayor Vincent C. Gray said when releasing his $9.6 billion fiscal 2012 proposal. He has made that statement ad infinitum, hoping, through repetition, residents will embrace it as fact. Gray deserves some credit: He has suggested $187 million in spending cuts and proposed implementing important fiscal policies like combined income reporting for businesses. But a critical review of his budget reveals he has sidestepped many hard decisions.

When he appears Wednesday before the D.C. Council to formally present his plan, the legislature should stamp it dead on arrival.

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