Meanwhile, over at The Political Notebook, Michael Caputo gives a nice overview of Monroe County’s budget situation. He offers some background on how local officials have used tobacco settlement money, weaving in an addiction analogy. Among the tidbits: county leaders have been selling bonds against future tobacco money for pennies on the dollar. This brings to mind hapless lottery winners who don’t have the wherewithall to manage their financial windfalls, and thereby fall prey to the post-jackpot vultures.

But probably more important is this eensy weensy fact: this is our money. We, the taxpayers.

So here’s another analogy. Suppose you needed some cash, and quickly. Someone found out, and offered to refinance your home, only instead of giving you the face value of whatever equity you’ve accumulated, they offered you 10 cents on the dollar.

Would you take it?

The funny thing about finances is that the more you need money, the harder it is to do deals from a position of strength. But unless you assume a position of strength, you’ll never halt the downward spiral.