I Actually Hope the AZ State Government Fails Before CA
Being a red state, maybe if AZ fails before CA, it will be less likely that Congress and the Administration will do some sort of bailout to head off local accountability. It sure seems we might be able to pull off an early failure:
Arizona state government has managed to blow through a $700 million loan from the Bank of America in less than a week, and that wasn't even enough to keep things going.According to Treasurer Dean Martin, his office had to dip into internal sources to come up with the extra $73 million the state needed just to keep the lights on.
"Government spending in Arizona is out of control. We are more than three-quarters of $1 billion in the red for daily operations," Martin says. "As we predicted in our forecasts, just one week after setting up essentially the largest line of credit in state history, the state of Arizona has maxed it out. The governor and Legislature need to [rein] in excessive spending; we can no longer afford to continue spending more than we make."
The state is currently about $1.6 billion in the hole, and the $700 million loan the state spent last week is just the beginning of excessive spending of borrowed money.
Doug:
I'm from California. We like to lead the country in everything. A paltry $1.6 billion in the red? You Arizonans are pikers. You'll never beat us. See ya in hell, suckah!
December 2, 2009, 7:02 pmepobirs:
Look at what happened with the finance company bailouts. They've already demonstrated a capacity for playing favorites.
December 2, 2009, 8:22 pmDoug:
My state, Wisconsin, loves to spend money like drunken sailors, more so since the donkey party runs everything here.
December 3, 2009, 12:02 amJim Collins:
I resent the "drunken sailor" remark, especially since I used to be one. Coyote, the only problem with that is what happens next. A few years ago Pittsburgh was facing bankruptcy and the State bailed them out and put this "oversight committee" in charge of their finances. Since this committee was appointed and since our Governor is a Democrat, you can figure out the rest. Since we have a Democrat President and Congress, if Arizona fails, you could be put in a far worse situation than you face now.
December 3, 2009, 6:38 am