The public finances are in disarray. There have been some horrible misses on the deficit in recent years. Something must be seriously amiss at the Treasury.

I'm a horrible public speaker.

The public does not translate the deficit into something that really bites them. We are going to have to get public support for action on the deficit.

They're horrible. I've had phantom athlete's foot.

The new government after the elections would do well to recognize that the high public deficit is unsustainable and could lead to serious economic consequences.

And overhanging all our difficulties is the simple, brute fact that our state's public finances are in ruin. We have outspent our income year after year.