“When you ask them about the cuts, ‘Do you mind of we have to make an additional $6 billion in cuts?’ and it’s great, they say, ‘No, no, no, no, no, not in education,’ ” the governor said in Washington, a day after voters overwhelmingly rejected a slate of new taxes.

“And we say, ‘How about in health care?’ and they say, “No, I wouldn’t go after the vulnerable citizens,’ then we say, ‘Well, then we have to make some cuts in law enforcement,’ and they say, ‘Law enforcement, I want to keep that in place.’ People don’t know themselves where they want to cut, they just say, ‘Make the cuts’ and ‘You figure it out,’ ” he said with a smile, shaking his head.