In the great state of Minnesota, we have something called the Legacy Amendment which increased our state sales tax to create a slush fund for all kinds of extraneous goodies related to "outdoor heritage, clean water, parks and trails, and arts and cultural heritage." The result has been increasingly odious lobbying efforts to claim a slice of that taxpayer pie. Legislators can't seem to give the money away fast enough. As the state wrestles with a $5 billion budget deficit, funds raised by the Legacy Amendment go to such essential items as paying a science-fiction writer $40,000 to speak to...