The United States is made up of what now?

I sometimes think that the federal government has forgotten that there are things called "states" that make up this country. How else could you explain that they keep making the same mistakes at the federal level that are currently crippling state economies?

Take the state I live in, for instance. Republicans controlled the state throughout most of the 1990's. During that time, the state had a budget surplus. So, the Republican state government cut taxes. And also started up a bunch of new programs (nothing so big as a war or two, mind you, but some new programs). Now, what a surprise, the surplus is gone, the state is in the hole, and tax revenues are over a billion dollars less than they were before the tax cuts. Education funds for college students and for universities are being slashed, government aid and assitance programs are having their funding cut or are being dumped altogether.

Of course, now that we have a Democrat as governor, the Republican controlled state senate has vowed to vote down any tax increase. But that doesn't stop them from bitching about every proposed cut made in an effort to balance the budget.

I dunno, does this sound familiar to anyone? Might the federal government take away a lesson from what's going on right now in the various states that make up this country? Or is this just what happens when your president doesn't read the newspaper?