Money Doesn't Grow on Trees

I love this from today's Kentucky Post:

FRANKFORT -- The health insurance package approved by lawmakers last week means they'll have less money to spend on other state-funded projects when it comes time to pass a budget in February.

Do you think so? Look, you can argue the merits of taking $200 million out of the General Fund to pay for better health care benefits for state employees. But there's no argument as to where that money comes from...other programs and services.

I sometimes wonder if people think the government just prints more money when they need it (well, that's kind of what the federal government does, but we're talking state government now). No, it has to come from somewhere, either in the form of increased taxes or decreased benefits in other areas.