At least 14 states are planning to provide tax credits, if not cash, to residents struggling with inflation and expensive gasoline. California, for example, is targeting 23 million citizens with gifts of up to $1,050.

Seeing this, I couldn’t help but think about Frank Sinatra’s 1956 rendering of “Pennies from Heaven.” The song is beginning to sound like an economic forecast. We shouldn’t be afraid of clouds and bad weather, Sinatra advised, because when it rains, we get pennies from heaven. “You’ll find your fortune’s fallin’ all over town,” and all you have to do is “be sure your umbrella is upside-down.” Today, it seems like our governors and state legislators are taking this nice sentiment too far.