And finally, the meanness of the budget points to a broader picture – one where everyone is expected to pay.
Osborne's most recent budget pointed to two years of sharp cuts, followed by a freeze in 2018-19 and a rise in 2019-20.
Gov. Ronnie Musgrove cut $117 million from the state's $3.4 billion general fund budget, pointing to a slowdown in the economy and overly optimistic economic projections by legislators last year.
In Milton Keynes, a Labour administration is grappling with having to provide for an expanding population on an ever-smaller budget, pointing to choices that the council leader, Peter Marland, finds unconscionable.
More broadly, the budget points to a new focus on hybrid wars: those that lie between conventional warfare and a full-blown insurgency, as in Iraq or Afghanistan, that renders much of the military's traditional heavy weaponry useless.
The draft budget pointed to a reduction in grants of £39.3m, meaning that, according to the document, "by 2016, we will need to make £90m in cuts – more than a third of our budget", to take into account factors such as rising pressure on social care and inflation.
Promising to deliver a vigorous campaign in defence of the project, he tried to dispel fears that the network would come in over budget, pointing to the Olympics and CrossRail as proof that UK construction could deliver on time and on budget.
Putting the quality of his more sober acting skillset to one side, the budget point seems to be what is key to successfully floating Serious Depp.
And budget analysts point to structural safeguards that some other states have, like requiring the comptroller to set the official revenue estimate when the governor and Legislature cannot agree.
But close followers of Greece's budget dynamics point to the fact that, despite the country's deficit woes, by next year Greece is likely to have achieved a primary budget surplus, meaning that after taking out the high levels of interest it pays on its debt, it will be running a surplus.
