"As a political scientist and as a person who has followed the budget process over the years, I certainly have seen times when things were a little bit dicey," he said. "But I think very few people could have imagined we'd be in this situation now. It's frustrating. It's playing with people's minds — from the civil service workers losing their jobs to the students who are concerned about their futures all the way down to the high school level, where we know students are making decisions about where to go to college."