NYT Does Budget Reporting the Frat Boy Way

Okay boys and girls, is California's projected budget surplus of $4.4 billion bigger or smaller than Connecticut's projected surplus of $150 million or Wisconsin's projected surplus of $2.1 billion? I don't mean in absolute size, I mean in importance for the states. Offhand, I couldn't tell you, since I don't know the size of their economies that precisely and I also don't know whether these are figures for 1-year or 2-year budgets. (Many states have 2-year budgets.)

So why the hell does the...