The Indebted States of America

City Journal ^ | STEVEN MALANGA

[Hojczyk]

Maria Pappas, the treasurer of Cook County, Illinois, got tired of being asked why local taxes kept rising. Betting that the answer involved the debt that state and local governments were accumulating, she began a quest to figure out how much county residents owed.

It wasn’t easy. In some jurisdictions, officials said that they didn’t know; in others, they stonewalled. Pappas’s first report, issued in 2010, estimated the total state and local debt at $56 billion for the county’s 5.6 million residents.

Two years later, after further investigation, the figure had risen to a frightening $140 billion, shocking residents and officials alike. “Nobody knew the numbers because local governments don’t like to show how badly they are doing,” Pappas observed.

Since Pappas began her project to tally Cook County’s hidden debt, she has found lots of company. Across America, elected officials, taxpayer groups, and other researchers have launched a forensic accounting of state and municipal debt, and their fact-finding mission is rewriting the country’s balance sheet.

Just a few years ago, most experts estimated that state and local governments owed about $2.5 trillion, mostly in the form of municipal bonds and other debt securities. But late last year, the States Project, a joint venture of Harvard’s Institute of Politics and the University of

Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute of Government, projected that if you also count promises made to retired government workers and money borrowed without taxpayer approval, the figure might be higher than $7 trillion.

Reformers should also seek to get rid of the many loopholes that state legislators use to get around debt-limit rules. In particular, states should be banned from assuming debt through independent authorities or by direct appropriation of the legislature.

[Nifster]

That’s right just kick the can down the road....refinance with another bond or levy. Don’t bother to tell the tax payer that all of those PD and FD and teachers pensions are ridiculously high and will bankrupt our children and grand children. We have not done due diligence

[Cringing Negativism Network]

Just saying.

Bring back American industry.

Now.

[PGR88]

A really excellent article. The last several paragraphs offer all kinds of methods to fix the massive debts incurred by States and local Governments - better accounting, demands for changes in reporting, etc... to which I say - NONSENSE.

its like trying to extinguish a volcano with a firehouse. We are way past the time when these debts can be put under control.

At the root of it all is the Federal Reserve - printing unlimited money, linked to nothing, enabling government to borrow and spend without concern. End that, and you will end all Progressive gov’t schemes immediately.

[Nifster]

but then we couldn’t be ‘globalists’ /s

[OneWingedShark]

Two Amendments would fix a lot of problems:

Fiscal Responsibility Amendment

Tax Reform Amendment

Section I The power of Congress to regulate the value of the dollar is hereby repealed. Section II The value of the Dollar shall be one fifteen-hundredth avoirdupois ounce of gold of which impurities do not exceed one part per thousand. Section III To guard against Congress using its authority over weights and measures to bypass Section I, the ounce in Section II is approximately 28.3495 grams (SI). Section IV The Secretary of the Treasury shall annually report the gold physically in its possession; this report shall be publicly available. Section V The power of the Congress to assume debt is hereby restricted: the congress shall assume no debt that shall cause the total obligations of the United States to exceed one hundred ten percent of the amount last reported by the Secretary of the Treasury. Section VI Any government agent, officer, judge, justice, employee, representative, or congressman causing gold to be confiscated from a private citizen shall be tried for theft and upon conviction shall:       a. be removed from office (and fired, if an employee),       b. forfeit all pension and retirement benefits,       c. pay all legal costs, and       d. restore to the bereaved twice the amount in controversy. Section VII The federal government shall assume no obligation lacking funding, neither shall it lay such obligation on any of the several States, any subdivision thereof, or any place under the jurisdiction of the United States. All unfunded liabilities heretofore assumed by the United States are void. Section VIII The federal government shall make all payments to its employees or the several states in physical gold. Misappropriation, malfeasance and/or misfeasance of funds shall be considered confiscation.

Section I No tax, federal or state, shall ever be withheld from the wages of a worker of any citizen of either. Section II No property shall be seized for failure to pay taxes until after conviction in a jury trial; the right of the jury to nullify (and thereby forgive) this debt shall never be questioned or denied. Section III The second amendment is hereby recognized as restricting the power of taxation, both federal and state, therefore no tax (or fine) shall be laid upon munitions or the sale thereof. Section IV The seventh amendment is also hereby recognized, and nothing in this amendment shall restrict the right of a citizen to seek civil redress. Section V No income tax levied by the federal government, the several States, or any subdivision of either shall ever exceed 10%. Section VI No income tax levied by the federal government, the several States, or any subdivision of either shall ever apply varying rates to those in its jurisdiction. Section VII No retroactive or ex post facto tax (or fee) shall ever be valid. Section VIII The congress may not delegate the creation of any tax or fine in any way. Section IX No federal employee, representative, senator, judge, justice or agent shall ever be exempt from any tax, fine, or fee by virtue of their position. Section X Any federal employee, representative, senator, judge, justice or agent applying, attempting to apply, or otherwise causing the application of an ex post facto or retroactive law shall, upon conviction, be evicted from office and all retirement benefits forfeit.

I believe that these two amendments would do a lot to fix our broken finance/monetary system/policies. I note that the fiscal-responsibility amendment would kill the Federal Reserve outright.
In addition to these, it would be good to have an amendment restricting the commerce clause, and another (a) repealing the 17th Amendment, and (b) giving the states the right to pass laws providing for removing/replacing a sitting senator.

[volunbeer]

At the root of it all is the Federal Reserve - printing unlimited money, linked to nothing, enabling government to borrow and spend without concern. End that, and you will end all Progressive gov’t schemes immediately.

---

End this and our nation ceases to exist as we know it. I agree with what you wrote, but it’s time we recognize the truth. People know in their hearts that there will be dark days when the merry-go-round stops. The entitlement class will destroy the dots that vote for free stuff on the electoral maps. Those in power are very afraid of this truth. Some fool themselves in the belief that the Ponzi scheme can last forever. Others simply can’t bear the consequences.

All of them (and us) are putting the burden on our children. Such immorality always carries a cost.

[neverdem]

BTTT!

[nascarnation]

So when does it puke?
We all know it’s gonna puke eventually.
But it’s gone so much longer than I ever believed it would....