Nothing in life is free; everything has a price.

Our parents taught us that at an early age, but it’s a lesson the Democratic members of the Mississippi Legislature have yet to learn.

The majority of Democrats seem content to use the federal stimulus package as a crutch to fiscal responsibility.

Lawmakers don’t want to finalize the budget this year until they know exactly how much stimulus money they can get their hands on to replace dried up state funds.

That’s missing the point of the stimulus and circumventing their duty to balance the budget — the non-stimulus-pumped budget.

Our Louisiana neighbors brought us a great Cajun phrase — lagniappe, meaning a little something extra.

That’s what the stimulus money should be — lagniappe. It should be something extra than the regular budget funds.

Yet, a number of legislators have taken a different approach — stimulus money can help us to avoid having to balance our budget in difficult times.

Gov. Haley Barbour plans on rejecting approximately $56 million of the estimated $2.5 to $2.8 billion Mississippi expect to receive.

Barbour’s rationale is that the $56 million would likely cost the state much more in the long run by requiring unemployment benefits for part-time employees.

House members have voted to circumvent Barbour’s decision. The Senate would have to pass a similar bill to fully go over Barbour’s head, which fortunately seems unlikely.

Mississippi’s Legislature is badly in need of some common sense and realizing that some stimulus money has strings attached is a great place to start. Let’s stop counting on the Uncle Sam handouts to manage the state budget.