I remember the last time California had a big budget surplus. I remember thinking, these politicians are just going to spend this money, inflating the budget, addicting policies and programs to all that revenue, and then it will be impossible to cut spending once revenues INEVITABLY go down.

That's exactly what happened, creating a huge fiscal crisis for the state.

Everybody says "run government like a business."

Well, if it were run like a business, extra revenue would be socked away for a rainy day.

Isn't there still debt to be paid down? If government were run like a private household, at least the way financial advisers advise, debt payments would be doubled.

I realize none of that sounds as fun as "return it to the taxpayers," but they are far more fiscally responsible suggestions that "spend it."

Haven't looked into the details yet, but I'm 100% certain that Brown's "surplus" is an accounting gimmick. The state's unfunded pension liabilities alone exceed what the tax base is capable of raising. And the harder the state presses that tax base, the sooner the day of reckoning comes. But Brown will take his political golden parachute (a lucrative lobbying/consulting job) before then, so he doesn't care.

And California certainly isn't alone. The same thing is happening at both the federal level and in a lot of states and cities. Watch for politicians to start moving their assets to tax havens offshore (something that will soon be illegal for ordinary citizens) and you'll know.

Oregon has a provision in law called the "kicker." When tax revenues exceed projections by 2% the extra has to be refunded to the tax payers. Needless to say this drives the liberals nuts. However, it is very popular with the tax payers. Every year somebody introduces legislation to end the "kicker." Usually it is put the money into a "rainy day fund." Even the not too bright Oregon voters know perfectly well the Govt will simply spend it. It never gets anywhere because the politicians prefer being politicians, no matter how much they want to spend the money.

Every year somebody also wants to implement a sales tax, promising that they will reduce income tax. Of course, we all know how that will work out.

Seems to me, if you have a whole bunch of unpaid debt on your books, you don't really have a surplus, do you?

I like the part where I have to pay $10 to visit a state park if I want to go for a stroll in my home state.

Keeps out the riff-raff who can only afford to get taxed once.

Unfortunately tax is usually allocated for specific purposes and can't be transferred to another liability. As we have seen it can still be used to make a new program since it is not a "transfer".

California had a tax rebate in 1987. I remember getting a check for a couple hundred dollars. I also remember all the indignant outrage from politicians and bureaucrats about using the extra money to help the children - like "investing" in education or the environment - instead of just throwing it all away. The governor or somebody agreed that there were many good causes that the money could be used for and suggested that each person who received a rebate check choose the cause he or she thought most worthy - maybe their local school for example - and personally sign their check over to that cause. The media reported on examples of taxpayers who gave their checks to schools or other government programs. I think statewide more than a hundred people actually did that. Selfish man that I am, I used mine to buy two coats and two pairs of tennis shoes for the kiddos, and put some new brakes on the old Ford.