Just because we have a large surplus...

Doesn't mean we should just spend it.

Why do the Liberals ALWAYS want to spend money? In the last Provincial election, their election promises were all "spend spend spend" - and the totals of all said promises were, imho, unmanageable. Now Taft sees the billions of dollars in surplus projections and he has money signs in his eyes wider than a kid on his way to spend his entire allowance at the candy store. He's yelling that the governemnt doesn't yet have a spending plan for this new surplus amount and that apparently means they've "lost control of the budget process" (even though the budget itself remains entact, this is only the new royalties and profits coming in at higher than expected rates). What he really means is he can't wait to get his hands on it. Why on earth would we want to rush out and spend it?

This money is very important to the future of all Albertans. It's true that it is a lot of money and it is also true that it is an unpredictable amount that is unstable by it's very nature (dependant on oil and gas markets) and to me that demands that our government carefully and seriously consider the long range potential, impacts and all the implications of having (or in the future not having) this amount of money.

We need to take our time to make sure that this money is spent in the right way and that it is saved in the right way, both for the maximum benefit of our current population and for all future Albertans to come.