The Democrats, with a few exceptions, passed a laughable, surreal – pick an adjective -  two-year $37 billion state budget this morning, but falling short of the number they needed to sustain a veto from Gov. M. Jodi Rell.

The House vote for 103-45 and 22-13 in the Senate. State Sen. Joan Hartley, D-Waterbury, was the lone Democrat to reject the plan. Another Democrat, Andrew Maynard, D-Stonington, had the good sense to be in Ireland.

The Governor has not indicated that she will veto, sign the bill or allow it to become law without her signature. Those interested in voicing their opinion can call the Governor’s office at 860-566-4840.

Democrats are completely devoid of facing reality. Their budget is a reflection of Alice in Wonderland logic. It spends $1.8 billion more than last year and their “cuts” are merely decreasing in higher than average spending proposals. For example, if the budget proposal called for an eight percent increase, and they settled for six percent, that is called a “cut” in Democratic logic.

You could tell this was going to be one of those classic budget debates when State Rep. Demetrios S. Ginnaros, D-Farmington, who fancies himself as a latter-day John Kenneth Galbraith, rose to lecture the House of Representativeses that the $8 billion budget deficit really wasn’t the fault of the Democratic Legislature and the political class which has supported lavish spending increases over the years. As Professor Ginnaros saw it, it was the actions of the banks and the real estate industry that created the budget calamity.

“We did not cause the problem,” Majority Leader Denise Merrill, D-Mansfield, said referring to the recession. “We have a revenue problem that’s what this is.”

There it is – a crystal clear as any bumper sticker. It’s no one’s fault. It just is. So, while it’s no one’s fault, let’s spend anyway. The budget increases taxes on those individualswho make $500,000 and couples who report $1 million.  This was a proposal that Gov. Rell agreed to, along with a corporate surcharge of 10 percent on companies that report $100 million in revenue.

Democrats couldn’t follow the Governor’s lead on cutting the sales tax from six percent to 5.5 percent. Under their plan, it would be cut to 5.5 on January 1, 2010, only if the revenue estimates from the State Comptroller are one percent under that figure. And since the State Comptroller Nancy Wyman is a Democrat and auditioning for another gig, you can kiss that tax cut goodbye.

House Leader Larry Cafero, R-Norwalk, taunted the Democrats for saying the budget was a compromise, implying the Governor was completely on board.

“Compromise? With whom?” Cafero asked.

And those critical state services are back in the budget – the Commission on the Status of All Living Creatures with a new Commission on Pacific and Asian Affairs, which creates a job for a girlfriend of a Democratic leader.

Despite a ruling by the U.S. District Court calling the Citizen Election Program unconstitutional, the Democrats reauthorized $60 million for the statewide elections in 2010 and $26 million for various pork barrel items to buy votes, including a nature center, a YMCA and something called the “Rivera Foundation.”

Let us hope the Governor sees this pathetic exercise for what it is – and strike the entire mess down with a firm veto message. Connecticut deserves better and the future of our state rests on something being adults here.

And the day of reckoning is coming soon, especially next year and the year after when one-shot revenue sources end, coupled with a weak recovery. If the Democrats think they have escaped, they haven’t. The rules of economics eventually balance and demand cash. Right now, we are using credit cards to pay interest on credit cards with no end in sight.

(All photos: Hartford Courant).