Gov. Ritter says he's open to cutting unnecessary government programs. Great! When do we start?

More on that in a moment on the Face The State Radio Minute.

Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, held a press conference Thursday to explain his plan for cutting state spending by $384 million. He needs to do so to bring outlays in line with lagging tax revenue.

Top on his list is a 10% reduction in general fund spending in all government departments. He's asking we make those cuts by eliminating programs, not just skimming a few dollars off across the board. It's rare for me to say this, but I agree with the Governor that cutting programs is smarter than trimming off the top. Granted, I think we should have done this long ago. In the coming weeks, department heads will produce their list of cuts. Let's hope Mr. Ritter has the fortitude to stand by his promise to cut with confidence.

For FaceTheState.com, I'm Brad Jones.