Quote:
Originally Posted by Khan
And if a state does run a surplus and wants to save 'for a rainy day', people start screaming for immediate tax reductions.
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Yes, this is a common rant of mine. I lived in California for most of my life, and in the mid-90s we had a couple of rather large surpluses and every special interest under the sun was asking for the surplus. Whether it was people wanting increased funding for their pet programs or people wanting it back in the form of tax rebates, everyone had their hand out. There is no lobby for "save it for a rainy day."
But in reality, failure to save a surplus in good times means that when the cycle turns and you have an operating deficit, you have to raise taxes or cut spending into a rotten economy -- the worst time possible to raise taxes or cut services.
Unfortunately, people with their hands out saying "gimme gimme" are too short-sighted to see that. I'll bet they wish the state still had that surplus money now.