the official blog of the evergreen freedom foundation

Absolutely fascinating AP story this morning about how more than a half-dozen states are facing the shut down of their governments because they can’t pass budgets, which means they won’t be able to pay their bills. Chief among them, of course, is California with its $24.3 billion budget gap.

 

Remember when that used to be real money? The Governator is one very unhappy camper.
                                                        

The talk around here is varied: some see this as playing into President Obama’s hands since these bankrupt states will have to crawl on their bellies like reptiles to the feds for a…BAILOUT. Here we go again! And they’re so desperate they’ll have to accept whatever strings Washington chooses to attach, and you can bet there will be tons of them that can all be summed up in requiring the states to forever lick the boots of the Obama Administration.

 

Others hope that maybe this will break the back of big government at the state level since the question may boil down to either cutting services or even eliminating programs and agencies versus massive tax increases, which, at the state level, get real and immediate, and may not, like yesterday's blog post on the Oregon situation indicated, have much chance of success.

 

Yet those who advocate (more like weepingly hope for) that scenario get doused with the cold water of political reality – we have no one in any type of leadership position politically to lead the charge in that direction, and without leadership it ain’t gonna just happen. In addition, what’s more likely to happen is that the politicians will make initial big cuts in all the scary places like public safety and health.

 

Imagine, if you will, tomorrow’s headline: State to close prisons, release all convicts – firehouse closures next. Next comes a TV report with the governor decrying the situation, but claiming it’s necessary unless there’s a tax increase. Not a rosy picture that, eh what?

 

Don’t think it could happen? Think again – how has King County extorted money for EMT/Medic One services all these years? Maybe the most popular and effective service around, but the county won’t fund it without a levy on top of the regular tax burden. "You don't want someone you love to die of a heart attack because you're too cheap to pay a little (define "little") bit in extra taxes, do you?"

 

At any rate, it’s going to be interesting to watch how the state-budget fiascos all play out.  And how we pay out.

 

UPDATE - Moments after this posting, our own Bob Williams sends me a link to a story from New York where the current 31 - 31 stalemate in the State Senate was momentarily broken by a GOP State Senator on the hunt for a Coke.  It seems he took a shortcut through a caucus room (or some such) filled with the Dems who then claimed he was voting their way on 125 bills and then proceded to pass them.  Wisely, New York Governor David Patterson elected to not sign them and called the sham stunt for what it was.

 

You can't make this stuff up!  You don't dare!

 

The Piper