Lower taxes, supply-side theorists argued, would stimulate economic growth, thereby avoiding budget deficits.
Avoiding budget reality has eliminated honesty from our politics and creates disincentives to find efficiencies, to compromise or to prioritize.
Mr. Cuomo did indeed engage in some irresponsible accounting in order to avoid budget cuts or tax increases.
With many nonprofit American theaters struggling to avoid budget deficits these days, the pressure on new leaders like Mr. Yew is even greater.
It was again adopted as a temporary measure, this time to enable the government to avoid budget deficits while carrying out major tariff reforms.
But interest groups are urging him to do so to avoid budget cuts, and he may decide he has no choice.
The Pentagon spends about $400 billion of its $700 billion annual budget on equipment and services, and military officials hope to avoid budget cuts by showing Congress and the White House that they can use the money more effectively.
For example, she said that there would be "a better chance of avoiding" budget battles between Schools Chancellor Harold O. Levy and City Hall, like the recent one over school construction costs, if the mayor was solely responsible for budget decisions affecting schools.
Saudi Arabia, for one, has dipped into the government purse to pay off citizens and now requires $80 a barrel to avoid budget deficits, according to the International Monetary Fund.
While applauding Nassau for turning deficits into surpluses, the fiscal monitors tempered their praise by warning that more effort would be needed to avoid budget gaps in future years.
The Obama administration's $787 billion stimulus package, approved by Congress in February, is trying to counter the recession by providing money for public works projects, extending unemployment benefits and helping states avoid budget cuts.
