Well. . .this certainly changes things, doesn't it?

In a stunning bit of financial news, Minnesota's economists forecast a budget surplus for the rest of the two-year budget cycle. According to well-placed sources who have seen the numbers, the economists forecast that the state will have $876 million more than it is predicted to spend for the rest of the biennium

Now, I'm not saying that the immediate answer is for Minnesota to go out and blow all of this money on a new Vikings' stadium, obviously. That would be kind of foolish. But it does put a significant dent in all of the talk about deficits and how the state of Minnesota "simply can't afford" to play a part in building a stadium for one of the state's biggest assets right now.

Not having my finger directly on the pulse of Minnesota politics or anything, I'm not sure exactly how this is going to shake things up, but I certainly don't think it can hurt the stadium efforts or anything like that.

Thoughts, ladies and gentlemen?