Turning a budget crisis into a hostage negotiation — “Give us the one-point property tax increase or the puppy orphanage gets it!” — is a maneuver as old as politics itself. Which is why King County Executive Dow Constantine’s press conference yesterday, in which he unveiled deep cuts to public-safety programs, was less a presentation of his proposed budget for 2011 than it was the best Proposition 1 ad ever.”Balancing the budget — sharing the pain,” was the theme of Constantine’s presentation. But despite the nod to shared sacrifice, his cuts primarily target police, courts and prosecutors, the same criminal-justice apparatus that would benefit the most from Prop 1, a 0.2 percent sales tax hike which proponents have dubbed the Safe Kids and Neighborhoods measure.By threatening to cut off funding to groups that support the county’s most vulnerable, like those that help battered women, Constantine is holding a gun to the head of voters. But like Governor Christine Gregoire, who last year threatened to take away health care for poor kids, he doesn’t actually want to pull the trigger.Fortunately for Constantine, he’s got time to see if his ransom gets paid; voters will decided on November 2nd whether or not to approve Prop 1. The county budget doesn’t see a vote until three weeks later.