Old Courthouse photo courtesy of www.mo.gov

They say that if you want to know a person’s real priorities in life, look at their checkbook.  “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” and all that (Matthew 6:21, for those who are wondering).  Well, what holds true for individuals often holds true for the state as well, and today Missouri’s leaders are faced with difficult choices about how to spend our money.

The decisions that our state government makes during these next few weeks regarding the 2010 budget will have real and lasting consequences for everyone in the state, but no persons will be more directly affected than the poor, the disabled, children, and the elderly.  In other words, those very people for whom we are most responsible, if we wish to be a just and compassionate society.

Lawmakers and others are pleading poverty for the state, saying that we simply can’t afford all of…