AND THEY MIGHT NOT LIKE IT

Be careful what  you wish for goes an old saying.

Sure consumers are suppose to be rejoicing as gasoline prices at the pump drop. But much of that may soon be offset by higher gasoline taxes. It's been a few years since those sophisticated bureaucrats have tacked on more of those little goodies.

What apparently many don't seem to understand is falling energy prices and a dollar on steroids are both double-edged blades. Falling energy and rising dollar prices are quite different from stables ones.

Part of the dollar strength is coming from the beggar-thy-neighbor policy central banks in Japan, the EU and elsewhere are playing which brings up another issue. Is the U.S. economy really that good or is much of its rise owing the how weak other economies around the globe are?

The answer to that is what many investors may yet have to discover. And they might like it once they do.

Here's a story about possible state budget shortfalls owing to the declining energy prices. There will be others and they won't all be in those oil producing ones.

AUSTIN — State Comptroller Glenn Hegar, predicting a moderate economic expansion, said Monday that lawmakers will have $113 billion in state revenue available for general-purpose spending in the next budget cycle.
The total includes $7.5 billion that will be left unspent when the current budget cycle ends on Aug. 31. It also accounts for $5 billion in general-revenue transfers to the rainy day fund and the state highway fund.
Hegar said his estimate expects "moderate expansion" in the Texas economy while reflecting uncertainties in oil prices.
"Texas remains a leader on the national economic stage, and while we anticipate the robust pattern of growth the state has seen in recent years to moderate, we do expect continued expansion of the overall economy," Hegar said in a statement.
Hegar's estimate has been closely watched because of dropping oil prices. It sets the parameters for spending decisions by state leaders and lawmakers.
His revenue estimate projects an 8.9 percent increase in state sales tax revenues and a 14.3 percent drop in oil production and regulation taxes.
In addition to incoming revenue, the state's rainy day fund will have an $8.5 billion balance at the end of the current budget cycle.
State revenue from all sources, including federal money, is estimated at $220.9 billion in the next two-year budget period.