Dan Walters: California debt may be half a trillion dollars

Sacramento Bee ^ | 11/29/9 | Dan Walters

[SmithL]

Just days before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislators finalized a water package, including an $11.1 billion bond issue, state Treasurer Bill Lockyer warned them not to do it.

California is already deeply in debt, Lockyer warned, has huge budget deficits and can't afford another big bond issue.

"The days of blithely heaping more and more debt burden on the general fund are over – at least they should be," Lockyer said.

The earmark-laden bond issue, the package's single most controversial element, raises an interesting question: Just how deeply in debt are our state and local governments?

The answer: No one knows for certain, since debt is scattered through myriad agencies in many forms, but well over a half-trillion dollars is a fair estimate.

Lockyer's warning pertained to the state's "general obligation debt," which currently stands at $59 billion, and there are an additional $50-plus billion in general obligation bonds that have not yet been sold. The biggest chunks of debt, however, are the unfunded obligations for pensions and health care of retired public employees.

[SmithL]

But our politicians keep telling us that bonds are free money.

[A_Former_Democrat]

And that we should continue to encourage illegals coming here and give them support and amnesty . . .

[coloradan]

If every state had the fiscal (ir)responsibility of CA, the aggregated state debt would be a cool $25 trillion, in addition to the federal amount. It makes Obama look like a tightwad.

[immadashell]

The impending burst of the public debt bubble will make the mortgage debacle look like a walk in the park. Who could have caused that?...hmmm...may have something to do with earmarks, pork and other reelection insurance policies.

[Lancey Howard]

The biggest chunks of debt, however, are the unfunded obligations for pensions and health care of retired public employees.

Yep. The scumbag politicians, with all their patronage pork and circle-jerking, have raped the place dry.
Congratulations, California.

[Deo volente]

In 2008, the silly voters in California approved a $10 billion bond issue to build a 220-mph "bullet train" between L.A. and the Bay area. Actual cost estimates are around $40 billion. Who knows what the final cost will truly be?

[umgud]

In 2008, the silly voters in California approved a $10 billion bond issue to build a 220-mph "bullet train" between L.A. and the Bay area.

Which will be about a 12 hour trip after it stops at every little podunk berg on the way up to the bay.

[Oldpuppymax]

Hey, take it easy on the Peoples Republic of Kalifornia. It’s political elites are very, very busy importing Mexican gang members and putting them on welfare while forcing law abiding citizens to provide fingerprints for the purchase of ammunition! The leftists-in-charge are taking care of the IMPORTANT things!

[Logical me]

Environmentalists are responsible for much of California's debt. They drove business by the thousands out of this State with regulations that have no scientific reason. Protect little fish and dried up millions of acres of farms as only one small example. Add this to the constant spending of monies that the State did not have. And another drain is the millions spend on illegals.

[20 years too late]

I’ll bet the train never gets built. The $10 billion will be consumed by planners, envirnomental studies and lawyers.
The final verdict: there are too many endangered spiecies in the way.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Q: Just how deeply in debt are our state and local governments?
A: No one knows for certain, since debt is scattered through myriad agencies in many forms, but well over a half-trillion dollars is a fair estimate.

Sounds like the state is run by the CRU over at East Anglia University. They probably moved offices and threw away the original data.

How the hell could a State NOT know how much money it owes? Where are the accounting agencies? This is outrageous.

[Oldexpat]

The State is broke, the cities are broke and they keep on spending like they were run by the Public Employees Union.
We need to go Galt on them. Pay cash for services, stop other spending, keep our old cars, buy out of state etc.
Stop feeding the dragon.

[Liz]

"Ach der lieber. Dat sobanagun Ohbamah vont bahilout bankvupt
Kaleefirneeah. Duz he knowh he'z puttin a Kennedee in dainjah?
Ai getda nasheenul simpatty ven anudder Kennedee goz kaputz.....
ifn Mariah valls offa dah skee livt at Suhn Vahlley."

" Ai gotda vunny veeling dah Reepublucan Potty tinks RINOS are
pure crapola. Chonny, undt Wooty undt ai ghonna ghet jops ass
Val-Mart greetahs, Home Depot paint mixahs, McD's ketchop pumpahs,
undt vaitahs at Ved Lopstah, ven ai loosses mai jop as govnoh."

[pointsal]

Hmmmmm.... what an opportunity for forensic accounting, journalism, public service, university economist...the list goes on.... What's the tally?

Surely, some under-employed dot.com database guru has a few lines of Filemaker available to start the running tally. Post a website, so the grassroots folks can input local debt and watch the list grow!

[votemout]

...................and please more services to illegals.

[Thermalseeker]

I’ll bet the train never gets built.

Let us hope that it doesn't! There isn't a passenger carrying train anywhere in this country that survives by it's own merit. Every one of them receive gubmint subsidies, usually for a sizable, if not majority, portion of their operating budget.

Local powers that be in my area have been "studying" a high speed maglev train that would run between Atlanta and Chattanooga, and eventually on to Nashville. I haven't kept track of what they've spent thus far with this "study", but it's in the tens of millions of dollars last time I checked. In reality, what it would provide is a corridor for a pipeline for Atlanta to tap water from the Tennessee River now that they've planned so poorly on fresh water reservoirs after inviting 5 million people to move there.....

[Steely Tom]

There's never going to be any stupid bullet train in Stupidfornia. Not from LA to SF, not from anywhere to anywhere. What a joke.

How's that biotech institute coming, Stupidfornia? The one that was going to be set up with the $3B bond issue in order to show W that he could outlaw federal money for ground-up human beings to help with fetal stem-cell research until the cows come home but it's not going to stop Stupidfornia from doing it!

[cranked]

Impending Implosion ..... impending.....implosion.

[BAW]

But . . but . . save the bullet train. //sarc//

[Lou Budvis]

You know its bad when Bill Lockyer (dim) is the voice of fiscal sanity.