In the equivalent of finding money in the pocket of the winter coat you hadn't put on in months, the state has discovered it has nearly $300 million more than it thought to put into the general fund.

Gov. Mitch Daniels said an auditor for the State Department of Revenue discovered that some corporate taxes, being paid by electronic check, had been sitting in an account and, because of a programming error, had not been properly attributed to the state general fund. The checks had been cashed, the money was earning interest and the state knew it had the money; it just wasn't added in to the state's main checking account total.

Daniels announced the windfall in a jovial mood, standing before a "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree as he noted that "Christmas came early" and flashing a Monopoly card as he compared this to one of the game's cards that tell players: "Bank error in your favor."

Democrats found it anything but funny.