Playing off the old cliché, it is obvious that state leaders won’t be able to satisfy all of the people, all of the time.

In fact, state leaders may be looking more at something like “none of the people most of the time.”

And that is the way it will almost certainly have to be as Ohio leaders in the House of Representatives and the Senate try to reconcile their own versions of the more than $50 billion budget with what Gov. Ted Strickland proposed.

But the even bigger problem is that revenue continues to shrink and projections that the governor and the House used are nearly $4 billion higher than the hand the Senate was dealt.

In the tough task of trying to create a balanced budget that keeps the state fiscally solvent, many drastic cuts have to be made.

And some of those cuts are going to be very, very deep.

Then come the outcries from the groups that are affected, each crying out that their program or department is more important than all other and “how dare the governor or our elected leaders cut this program that impacts so many lives.”

Guess what? Everything the state does impacts lives. And none of these state agencies or programs are funded so highly that they can shake off millions in cuts and continue operating as business as usual.

Right now, everyone is mad. Health care groups are angry over cuts there. Libraries are upset over their cuts. The Ohio Historical Society is angry. School associations are up in arms. And the list goes on and on.

You know what? Everyone is going to have to make sacrifices and “business as usual” just isn’t good enough any more.

All the cuts hurt but it is time these agencies realize that they aren’t the only ones that are hurting right now.

Ohio’s taxpayers are feeling the effects as well and the only way to come through this financial crisis is to make the cuts and move forward.