When it comes to managing money wisely, Colorado is at the bottom of the heap. According to a USA Today study of how well states handle taxpayers money, only 3 states, California, Montana and Mississippi do a worse job than Colorado. The newspaper concluded, after looking at 5 years of taxing and spending by all the states, that bad management, not a limp national economy, caused the states' budget debacles.

The bad managers, like Colorado, cut taxes too much and raised spending beyond what the tax base could bear. They've resorted to gimmicks, like delaying paychecks into the next fiscal year, to balance their budgets. They've pushed the burden of paying for state services onto the next generation with borrowing, as Colorado did to finance highway improvements.

USA Today cites Utah, Georgia and Delaware as the best-managed states. When the economy started to slow down, these states took quick action, reducing spending and limiting the size of their tax cuts. Colorado, on the other hand, significantly cut taxes, but didn't reduce spending until the crisis hit. And, since Colorado's tax cuts are permanent, the debacle won't end anytime soon.

In the well-managed states, citizens have felt little of the pain that has been our fate. We're facing large tuition increases to fund a higher education system that has seen its state support cut more than 30%. Many of our poorest citizens are being axed from Medicaid, mental health care, and the child care they need to move off welfare. Other states that showed more prudence do not face these difficult choices.

All this points to an ongoing dilemma for thoughtful politicians. How to give voters the services they want while reducing their tax burden at the same time. We're finding that, in bad economic times, this just isn't possible. And, in good times, it isn't prudent. A recent USA Today/CNN/Gallup poll showed that 79% of voters preferred spending cuts to tax increases. Yet, 77% did not want to cut education spending and 78% nixed reductions in health care spending. Since these two items are the largest part of state budgets, we have a major conflict of goals.

While Colorado is a good (or bad, in this case) example of the budget conflict, other states share our dismal predicament. In a number of states, voters have limited or eliminated the ability of their legislatures to raise taxes. But, they've also imposed requirements for spending increases and budget priorities.

Here, we are caught between the TABOR amendment, which limits revenue and spending growth and allows only the voters to raise taxes, and two voter-approved amendments, one that requires increased spending on K-12 education and another that limits property tax increases, a major source of school funding. During the last legislative session, lawmakers were unable to agree on how or whether to ask voters to fix this conflict. So, our kids have to pay more to go to college, our schools are cutting back on important educational programs, and our public hospitals are turning away destitute patients. Not a picture that makes us proud.

Having been an elected official, I know it's tough to tell it to voters straight. But, that's what politicians need to do. They need to have the courage to say to voters that we can't have it all, hefty tax cuts and great schools. Large tax cuts and a first class higher education system or highways or health care.

And, we voters need to listen carefully to a principled discussion of our options. We need to be prepared to lay out our priorities and to fund them, particularly since we have given ourselves much of the responsibility for doing that. We can't demand what we are unwilling to pay for.

We should also expect our elected leaders to give us information and choices. To dither endlessly until the legislative session is over and then produce neither facts nor options for the voters is both negligent and a complete failure of leadership. We citizens need to be willing to make hard choices. Our politicians need to have the backbone to lead the way.