Senator Mark Obenshain has provided those of us trying to follow the machination behind Virginia’s budget with a handy cheat sheet that provides a look at how the House and Senate want to spend your money.  The bottom line is that both chambers are eager to spend more…and that, Virginia, is a problem.

When all the wailing and gnashing of teeth ended after last year’s budget session, we learned that spending had been rolled back to levels last seen in 2006. There were more than a few slights-of-hand involved, like shorting the state’s retirement system $620 million, continuing to borrow from the federal government for unemployment insurance payments and raising fees by nearly $100 million. But the congratulations were somewhat well-deserved.