Wow... this thread went full retard.

Continuing on, for the grownups in the room...
Originally Posted by robear
If the state's spending oil revenues, people grump but don't really get serious about it. When they start spending income tax dollars there will be a whole 'nother level of scrutiny.

I agree in theory, and wish that were the case in reality. However, IME the level of scrutiny remains pretty low. People are pissed off that they are paying for things they don't agree with, but they rarely do anything about it. The spending cannot decrease due to political obligations - its just one of the problems of representative government. There is always a compelling enough reason to get small increases approved, but the reasons never go away and neither do the increased taxes.