Fiscally Responsible Government? Yes! Kind of....

So imagine my surprise this weekend when the front page of the newspaper announced that our favorite permanent government contractor UDOT was not starting around $4 Billion dollars worth of projects that were slated to start next year.

You may ask, why was I surprised. Well, perhaps it's cynicism about government, lack of faith in elected officials or just an overall negative vibe I get about government but I was actually happy to see this headline on Friday.

Many people are really broke up about all these projects that they want done and are throwing a hissy about their project not getting done. If I may be Frank for a moment and not Kirk. I applaud our state government and UDOT officials for this decision. They are practicing what I have been talking about in our nations plethora of failing businesses and industries asking for bailouts from the federal government, our state has made a very commendable decision.

It's not that they don't have the money now to fund the projects. It's the fact that they foresee some economic slowdowns ahead and are saving the money to meet the other obligations of government. Ho-rah! You mean government is saving it's money and looking into the future to avoid a shortfall in revenue? Good work.

It's not as if UDOT is going to let little potholes turn into big sinkholes, enveloping entire city blocks. They just aren't starting any new projects because the bonds they issue will be paid for by tax revenues(which are down). Imagine my surprise when I opened the paper and found a story of a government office exercising responsibility with tax dollars! As a result of these actions, I don't think that you will soon find the state of Utah lined up in the state bailout line behind California, New York and Nevada (who is by the way, lobbying officials to alter Nevada State law to decrease the legal gambling age to 18 to help out these poor, suffering casino owners that are verging on having to sell their 19th Ferrari to keep their penthouses.) They should really read our newspapers down there in sin city.

This announcement may affect some jobs in Utah, but maybe they will finally figure out that it doesn't take 10 guys to fill a pothole and practice a little business sense now that it seems like they are doing the right thing and pinch some pennies. Granted Utah state law mandates a balanced budget but I still give props to UDOT who has a little now-demonstrated clout when it talks about fiscal responsibility and looking into the future without reckless abandon (at least on the budget side).