Article: Connecting the dots between federal policies and state pain.(Commentary)

'DEFICIT-Wracked Maryland Calls It Quits: Citing mounting debt ... the state will shut down for good on August 31."

That headline appeared not in the Baltimore Sun but on the satirical Web site the Onion. For many Marylanders, however, it may hurt too much to laugh. The state's $1 billion budget shortfall has led to layoffs, higher taxes in more than haft its counties, and tuition increases of as much as 21 percent at public universities.

Maryland isn't alone. In total, the 50 U.S. states faced an aggregate budget shortfall of $53.5 billion as the beginning of their fiscal years approached.

At least 20 states have been forced to raise taxes to ...

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