Sounds like the legislature was trying to be responsible by putting money away for a rainy day, rather than spending it all. We will have an economic downturn. Everyone should plan and prepare for it.

You may think this is a trivial observation, but when I read the headline to this story this morning, I thought "Utah" as the people of the state rather than the state government. It bothers me just a bit that no differentiation is made between the government and the people. I would have preferred that the headline said, "Utah state government upbeat..."

The headline says "recession," but the story talks about state revenues. I suppose they're related, but I was expecting to read whether I'll keep my job this year.

The US economy is about to hit bottom and start a nice up swing... IF we can get the Republicans out of the white house. Honestly, we can't have 4 more years of the Iraq war to strangle this economy. This war is responsible for the high oil prices in the mid-east as well as the sluggish and uncertain investment in the stock market ... at least the global market. Unlike wars of the past that actually improve the economy, this mess in Iraq is not producing jobs in the private sector and is simply causing our national debt to balloon which in turn brings other parts of the economy to a crawl. John MacCain has promised us another 4+ years of escalation of the war which means 4+ years of economic decline along with another 2000-3000 US deaths. I am a Repubican but I WILL be voting for the DEMOCRATIC candidate for the 2008 election not just because I want the war to end but also to breath some new ideas and leadership into the economy, into the enviornment, into health care and social security and into the REAL war on terror in Afghanistan.

Thanks for that sweet off-topic rant 'Better Days Ahead.'

Go ahead and vote democrat or republican. In the end it won't matter. Both parties are impotent. One is out of touch with the nation and the other can't get it together to do something about it.

Optimism is a nice thing, but I don't share it in this case. I don't subscribe to the notion that we've seen the worst of the current economic crisis. The underlying causes have not been addressed, they've merely painted over them. And if you think we're getting out of Iraq, think again. It doesn't matter who wins or loses the presidential election, Bush & Co. have locked the next president into maintaining our forces there for an indefinite period, maybe decades. That "embassy" in Baghdad is nothing approaching temporary lodging. It's a small city for American occupation. Not only that, it's looking like we're very close to an attack on Iran and maybe Syria as well. The Iraq debacle may be only the opening salvo to our imperial overreach in the Middle East. Add to the mix the disastrous inflation of the money supply by the Fed, the increasing congressional debt load, the banking derivatives implosion, and I'd say we're in for quite a ride. Other than that, things are looking up.

Better days ahead, vote Democrat and you will get more of the Pelosi and Reid. Not a good choice for America. The Congress has much, much more ability to influence the economy than the President. Given that, I think we can now announce that this recession was brought to you by Democratic leadership -- or more specifically, excessive federal involvement which cripples the economy. Of course, Republican leadership in the Congress wouldn't have been much better.

Until "we the people" recognize the worth of individual citizens we will not have better days ahead. Instead we will continue to march toward the destructive force of totalitarian government.

Ron Paul is the ONLY candidate that would have gotten us out of Iraq. Whoever gets in will backpeddle and say that we can't get completely out.

If you are voting based on ending the war, all the top three candidates will disappoint.

Also, Earl is right as usual.