The Maine Legislature returned to session Wednesday and one of the first questions for it was whether it would adjourn on time. House Republican Leader Joe Bruno answered that question succinctly, if not exactly eloquently when he said, “If people really suck it up and make the cuts, we can be out of here by the end of March.” He knows, of course, that one person’s sucking-it-up is another’s suffocation, so just making cuts for the sake of meeting a budget number is not why lawmakers are there and should not be their goal.

Among Republicans, Democrats and independent Gov. King are enough good ideas for patching the budget, but all lawmakers are going to have to offer rational arguments for what they want to cut and what they want to save – you’ll know politics have taken over when a lawmaker stands in favor of what the public already wants but the lawmaker has yet to figure out how his plan would actually work or what its long-term effects might be.

House Speaker Michael Saxl offered a useful perspective Wednesday when he reminded colleagues that the current crisis is about one-fourth the size of the shortfall of the early 1990s, when the overall budget was considerably smaller and the Rainy Day fund not so full. It’s an apt caution: the current shortfall is not a time to eviscerate government but a challenge to find intelligent cuts that will do the least harm and might even do some good.

Another reason not to hurry is the revenue forecast expected in early February. More than a few lawmakers are hoping it shows the shortfall is neither as bad nor the recession as deep as previously predicted. Certainly the Legislature has plenty of work ahead of it in January, but it also makes sense to save any final decisions for after the announcement of the new revenue numbers. After that and some careful consideration, Rep. Bruno’s advice makes plenty of sense.