Thanks to Mike Tipping over at Maine Politics for posting some audio of the gov's press conference about the budget (click to listen), and for name-checking Portland Phoenix contributing writer Lance Tapley for asking interesting questions. (Some of the questions were along the lines of "Hey Guv: Stop Slashing!" from the January 2 issue.

You may have seen Lance Tapley's story in this week's Portland Phoenix - with four ideas on how Maine can fix its economic problems by increasing government spending - and by funding those increases with tax policies that will make Maine a fairer place to live, work, and do business.

And while he cites nationally renowned and award-winning economists (some of whom are also referred to in this story with a similar bent, published by the Seattle Weekly), the idea that any federal stimulus package could be hamstrung (at least in part) by state budget-slashing is gaining momentum.