The new state budget is a mess, and there is little time to do anything about it before the Legislature adjourns any day now.

Gov. John Baldacci, ever in a hurry, must take a good part of the blame.

Baldacci and his majority Democratic Party, which narrowly controls both houses of the Legislature, got the budget they wanted in March. It was balanced by borrowing $250 million for ongoing daily costs such as payroll and state police protection, rather than making the politically painful choices required to balance the budget without using gimmicks or vast amounts of one-time revenue that solve nothing.

The Democrats, serving their first Democratic governor in 16 years, declined to seriously negotiate with the Republicans last winter and insisted there were no further potential cuts that could close the $250 million budget gap. When Republicans objected to the borrowing plan, Baldacci and Democrats refused to slow down the process and instead used a constitutional trick to pass the new $5.7 billion budget without them.

This, in a state where Republicans hold their own against Democrats and where independents outnumber either party.

Recent word that Maine’s two military facilities are being targeted for closure or major downsizing inspired Democrats to re-open budget talks. But the growing people’s veto campaign against the borrowing plan, organized by the Republicans who were wrongly silenced in March, also has compelled Democrats to take another look.

These same Democrats who could not find any further budget cuts in March to avoid the current budget debacle now have found, at the last possible moment, at least $125 million in possible spending cuts and revenue increases.

There may not be enough time to reach a bipartisan agreement this week on how to avoid borrowing the $250 million, but there was plenty of time all these past weeks when the governor could have shown real leadership by working with both parties to present an honest and balanced budget to the Legislature and citizens.

It used to be in Maine that both parties, despite sometimes bitter disagreements, would negotiate right up until the final hour and then pass the best possible budget for the people of Maine. Not the best budget maybe, but the best possible.

It was a grueling process and wasn’t pretty, but it was more honest than the one we have now.