Lodge summed up the story and then compared it to the situation JFAC faces in trying to balance the state’s budget amid an economic decline. In this version of the tale, told from the wolf’s perspective, he didn’t do anything wrong to the three little pigs or their homes of straw and sticks. Instead, the wolf claims he was framed and wound up in jail. He didn’t huff and puff and blow the houses down. Instead, he went to the pigs’ homes hoping to borrow a cup of sugar. And the wolf, having a cold, sneezed a couple times, which blew down the house of straw and the house of sticks. So what’s all this have to do with the Legislature? JFAC is searching for ways to trim the budget like the wolf was looking for a cup of sugar, Lodge told JFAC. “You are trying to find every possible way to find savings,” (Sen. Patti Ann) Lodge, pictured, said/Ben Botkin, Twin Falls Times-News. More here.

Question: Do you feel sorry for Idaho legislators who have the inenviable job of balancing the state budget in time of great recession?