A Bluebird

 

 

No - this type of Bluebird is not avian in nature. It can however, be even more fun than bird watching..."

Throughout the years, once in a great while my wife and I would receive an unexpected windfall. None of them were huge mind you, but $50 to $100 coming in unexpectedly was always fun. At one of my former companies, I learned a term for an unexpected or un-forecasted source of revenue - a Bluebird.

Bluebirds were always fun. They could be used for whatever we chose to use them for. Sometimes we would use them to help pay down a stubborn bill. Sometimes we used them to put towards a vacation. To buy something. To go out to dinner. My point is simply this - a Bluebird was for us to enjoy and to purpose for whatever or wherever we decided.

What in the world is the purpose of this story? Simply put, the state now has a Bluebird. Because of the complexity of our taxing system, as well as the lack of transparency in our spending, we never really know until the budget cycle is over how we did. And this year we did very well. Sort of. It means we way overtaxed the wagon pullers. So now there is change coming back from the bill. And what are we to do with this Bluebird?

Well first off, I should explain in the eyes of the Progressives and Statists, there is no such thing as a Bluebird. All money belongs to them. The $2B surplus is there ONLY because of their acumen in running the state. Therefore, that money may now be used for something else. Something bigger. Pre-K, or some folly like that.

That all sounds hunky dory except for one thing - I would like my change back. In the paper today, a recent Minnesota poll showed some people (mostly the wagon riders who live in the metro area) would like the state to spend it. If per any chance those people contributed to the surplus by paying taxes, it is then within their right to tell the state to keep THEIR share of the surplus. Me? Not so much. I want my change back.

And by the way, I not only want my change back, I want a reduction in the size of state government next year. What is all this crap the Republicans are trying to sell RAISING the size of government by almost 2%. WRONG DIRECTION! We expect the Progressives and Statists to do this, but not our side!

I am just going to sit back in my fixed income armchair and wait for my Bluebird to be returned to me by the state. Don't worry however - I am not going to hold my breath. Then I would turn blue!