Big bucks can burn a hole in our pocket

The big news coming out of the Legislature this past week was the fact that we, as Utahns, have $122 million more to spend than we thought we had.

Ever since this good fortune was discovered by our alert legislators, the discussion has centered on what to do with the windfall.

The possibilities are endless. We could:

• Take it to Wendover and put it all on red.

• If we win, buy West Wendover.

• Take it to Wendover and put it all on black.

• If we win, buy West Wendover.

• Take it to Wendover and put it all on double-zero.

• If we win, buy Nevada.

• Book Michael Moore at UVSC every day for the next 6 1/2 years.

• Pay the annual salaries of 4,880 bookkeepers at the Boys and Girls Clubs of South Valley.

• Buy the Jazz two more Carlos Boozers.

• Buy the vacant Malone Estate and turn it into a theme park: Karl's World.

• Give every man, woman and child in Utah $50.

• Buy Rocky Anderson the Salt Lake City he dreams of: a night-club-happening, tree-hugging, emission-free, Kyoto Protocol-obeying, moo-moo- and flannel-shirt-wearing, Eric Burden and the Animals-listening '70s-style commune — with plenty of diversity.

• Buy Real Salt Lake that new stadium it wants.

• Buy Real Salt Lake a new name.

• Pay Super Dell to stay missing.

• Pay a million people $122 each to stand at the mouth of Parleys Canyon and start blowing real hard whenever a temperature inversion starts to settle in the Salt Lake Valley.

• Desalinate the Great Salt Lake and stock it with bass.

• See if we can buy back Urban Meyer.

• See if we can buy back the Escalante-Grand Staircase National Monument.

• See if we can buy back Main Street.

• Save it for the next Olympic bid.

• Buy the governor's office for Jon Huntsman Jr. . . . oh, he already did that.

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Then again, probably what we should do is put the $122 million in the bank.

Ken Hansen is a financial consultant for the D.A. Davidson & Company investment firm that has offices on the first floor of the Deseret Morning News building.

"At the top of my list (for the money) would be to replenish our Rainy Day fund," says Ken, who's been consulting people about money for 45 years now. "We're taught as individuals to have reserves. Why shouldn't the government? As sure as the sun comes up in the east, you know things are going to happen where you could use some dry powder?"

Especially if it's green.