Up in Michigan, Gov. Jennifer Granholm faces a budget shortfall of $425 million for public schools. She's suggested broadening the state's sales tax as a possible solution. And she's dismissed the idea of cutting programs out of hand.

"I'm not going to cut public education again," the governor, a Democrat who cannot run for another term, told the Grand Rapids Press.

In fact, Granholm said she'd close down state government first. (That idea, by the way, has won some praise from the paper's readers.)

Makes you wonder, though, whether Charlie Crist, in the heat of a U.S. Senate GOP primary race, would stand up for his rosy education budget in the same fashion. And whether he should.