Analysis: Budget cut? Edwards' list appears to exaggerate

In January, the Democratic governor called them "painful government spending cuts."

Edwards spokesman Richard Carbo defended the figure Friday as intended to describe both cuts and areas where state government has saved money during the governor's tenure.

How much state government spends and how much it has cut amid nine years of budget shortfalls are particularly sensitive questions as lawmakers prepare to start a special session Feb. 13 to close the latest $304 million deficit.

Even if lawmakers tap into the savings account, the governor warned "the cuts we will make this year will be deep, and they will be painful."

Awards from the TOPS college tuition program are only paying for 42 percent of tuition this semester because the program was $88 million short of what was needed to pay full tuition for all eligible students.

[...] the Edwards administration list also includes $184 million tied to the expansion of Louisiana's Medicaid program, which provides government-financed health insurance to the working poor.

Edwards, department heads and some lawmakers say state agencies took so many budget hits during former Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration that new reductions will damage real programs and services, because they have no "fat" left to trim.