Everybody is up in arms about bailing out the Big 3 and rightfully so. Giving them 25 Billion would be akin to giving an addict a months supply of drugs with probably even worse results. But it isn't just the auto industry. Almost every major city and more than just a few states are facing serious deficits. We just got the news that Washington State is facing a 5 billion dollar budget shortfall. We knew going into the election that we faced a 3.2 billion deficit. Some of us figured that amount would probably change for the worse once the election was over and we were right.
What's amazing is that we re-elected the governor and increased the size of the Democrats in the legislature that got us into this mess. It's like watching a train run into a crowd, only the people who are about to be hit by this speeding locomotive asked to be there and they think it will be the train that loses.
Of course they blame Bush and why not? Bush is an easy target. He's hugely unpopular so blaming Bush throws the blame off of the real culprits. The real culprits are the Democrats. When Gregoire got elected in 2004, she promised no new taxes. She raised taxes and the legislature outspent the raise. That was fine, times were good and taxes were pouring in. But that wasn't Bush's fault, that was the good governing by the state Democrats. They have it both ways.
Had they not increased spending, we most likely would not be looking at a hole, or at least not one the size of the Grand Canyon. They did salt 700 million away for a rainy day fund. That'll cover that deficit about as a well as a micro bikini covers Rosanne Barr. And just like that bikini on Barr, no matter how you look at it, it leaves a whole lot of ugly exposed.
Taxes will most likely have to be raised and they are looking at a state income tax in addition to the hefty property and sales taxes they already collect. Higher taxes will mean less money to spend. That means less people working, which means less revenue...you can see where that goes.
Liberals seem to look at every level of government as having some kind of endless and inexhaustible pot of money. When people finally revolt a bit and rein in the taxes, liberals get upset.
Let me share a personal anecdote with you. Several years ago, I was at Benaroya Hall in Seattle for a Seattle Symphony Concert. After the concert, I was standing in line to get my coat and I overheard a couple of gentlemen behind me. The nois level was high in the lobby so I didn't catch all of the conversation but this is the gist of the conversation I overheard:
One of the men was asked if he was going to run for election in a community east of Seattle. The man said no, because the voters had passed an initiative that capped property taxes. He said, and I quote: "No, it woulnt be very much fun because of the property tax cap. I was floored. I wanted to ask this guy why it would be more fun if we hadn't passed the cap, but I figured the answer would be obvious and he would most likely ignore me anyway.
Think about this, in a slow down, tax revenues go down. If WA isn't getting as much as they once were, do you think the Feds are getting more? Logic tells you they are not. Yet we are borrowing 700 billion plus and more with no end in sight and Obama wants to spend a trillion more than we already are on his own agenda. Where is all of this money coming from?
If something doesn't get fixed soon, this whole thing is going to come crashing around our feet. And I fear that it will not get fixed. We have nothing more than self-serving, incompetent boobs in the Congress and that includes both parties. Most of those people haven't a clue. We can't blame them totally. We elect them and re-elect them because we expect them to bring home the pork. They do what they have to do to get re-elected. As much as I'd like to blame the politicians (and they are worthy of much blame), we are sometimes just as guilty by re-electing them like we did here in WA.
In the words of the late Walt Kelly's Pogo: "Yep son, we have met the enemy and he is us!"
VW
Right now: DEflation. Once Obama installed the the taxes required to even come CLOSE to fulfilling his promises and programs? Try a brand new cycle of massive INflation!
BZ
Posted by: Bloviating Zeppelin | Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 09:28
Like many companies and people, states also invested in the stock market. Capital gains and dividends were paying pension funds and expenses of millions of Americans. With the stock market going rapidly down the toilet, everybody is now hurting for money and they all want the Feds to bail them out.
Barney Frank and Chis Dodd need to be brought up on charges for what they allowed to take place after they were warned.
Posted by: BobF | Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 19:37