For those of you who think you could do a better job than the elected officials at mapping out the state's broad budget priorities, here's your chance.

A new organization called Next Ten today unveils its "California Budget Challenge"... which you can try yourself by clicking here. The group, which bills itself as independent and non-partisan, says the game gives individuals a chance to think about the state's fiscal priorities on a macro scale over the next 10 years.

I gave a beta version of the challenge a try a few days ago. While it's limited in some of the choices you can make (the broad options usually force you to choose specific amounts of increased or decreased spending, without having any middle-ground alternatives), it does show that budget balancing is tough. You can increase education spending, for example, but only if you make other large cuts or raise some taxes. And of course, the game doesn't allow you to do what lawmakers have done the last few years: borrow your way out of the hole.