Instead of chastising Gov. Haley Barbour for out-of-state political trips long scheduled for the last week of this month, state Rep. George Flaggs Jr., D-Vicksburg, ought to be chastising his colleagues in the House and those in the Senate for refusing to agree on a budget for the state.

Flaggs urged the Republican governor, whose term ends in two years, to stay in the state and “provide the leadership” toward a compromise.

“I am asking him to reconsider taking a political trip in the middle of the state’s worst-ever budget crisis, when state government is on the verge of shutting down,” said Flaggs, a member of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.

Flaggs has been in the Legislature for 21 years and is noted as something of a traveler himself. Truth is, Flaggs has been calling for compromise and reason, but he should be studying up on why his colleagues aren’t listening to him — and leave the governor out of it.

Barbour is reported to have plans to be in Iowa and New Hampshire — key presidential primary states — for Republican fundraisers. Whether it’s an indicator of his aspirations or not, the fact is Barbour (1) is term-limited in Mississippi, (2) was a national GOP leader before first being elected Mississippi’s governor six years ago and (3) will need a job in January 2013.

“The governor needs to provide the leadership needed to get us out of this quagmire that may or may not have been caused by him,” Flaggs said.

No. Not at all.

Clearly, Barbour has influence, but the Constitution clearly instructs the Legislature to handle every dime of the state’s money. In a normal year, the budget for the year starting July 1 would have been established in March. Today, slightly more than two weeks remain before all state agencies lose their legal authority to operate. And it’s not the governor’s fault. He submitted his recommendations long ago.

Further, as Barbour said, he’s got cell phones and faxes everywhere he goes. When House and Senate leaders tell him they’re ready to vote on a budget for him to sign, he can call a session and the deal can be done in a matter of hours.

Until that happens, there’s no reason for the governor to sit around his office waiting.