Posted by Tina
We in California are painfully aware of the financial crisis facing our nation. We should also be aware of the financial mess that our state is suffering. Considering the debt and financial losses we can plainly see and feel does it strike anyone as strange that a proposal to build an estimated $9.95 billion rail system is on the ballot? The Wall Street Journal shines the spotlight on our plans to build a train to certain destruction:
California Is Headed for a Real Fiscal Train Wreck
* With credit markets in New York in crisis last week, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sent an extraordinary letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson asking for $7 billion. Although the governor has since withdrawn that request, it testifies to the dire state of his budget. *
* Yet days before penning his note, the governor told an audience at the Commonwealth Club of California not to worry about the state’s budget crunch and to approve $9.95 billion in new debt on the November ballot to build a bullet train to connect Los Angeles to San Francisco: “Just because we have a problem with the budget does not mean people should vote ‘no’ on high-speed rail.” *** The Golden State’s finances are a mess. California’s general obligation debt has tripled in the past six years and is now almost equal to the state’s $145 billion annual budget. Even without any new loans, in three years the state will spend a record 6.1% of its budget just to service the debt it already has. What’s more, with the economic slowdown, the state is now expecting a deficit larger than $1.1 billion for the first three months of this fiscal year. The state’s rainy-day fund is running dry, which has hurt its credit rating. *** Under such circumstances, the prudent course would be to avoid taking on new debt, even for worthwhile projects, much less sure-shot losers such as the high-speed rail. But in California, prudence is in short supply. *
If youre concerned about the dire state of our not so golden states finances (and your own) do yourself a favor and read the entire article. It offers information that will assist you in voting wisely on Proposition 1 High Speed Rail Bond Legislative Initiative Amendment.