Like most states, Oklahoma's government budget must, by law or constitutional provision, be balanced each year. But that doesn't mean that it's in sound shape.

Writing for the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, Steve Anderson says that the Sooner State has plenty of unfunded liabilities. The pension funds, for example, have a unfunded liability of $11 billion--rather significant for a population of 3.7 million. Compare that $3,000 per-person debt with the median household income (2004) of $37,000. Worse, says Anderson, the true number may be another $5 billion on top of that. Add $9 billion for deferred maintenance on bridges and roads as well as other spending categories, and it's clear that government in Oklahoma (and presumably elsewhere) has been too ambitious for too long.