Shawn, you're shooting your own argument in the foot: (they're not), but let's say everything you say above is true:  That is all going to quickly and abruptly change when the oil revenue dries up, yes?  So why would the state not want to trim excess mandate and spending NOW instead of bloat up an already-gargantuan government enterprise, funded almost exclusively by the Fed and Oil?  You can't honesty be so obtuse as to declare "everything's fine, just gouge the potential tax payer for it," can you?