I live in the Soviet of Washington, not far from Seattle.
The idea of federal bailout money for State and local government is something that I am against.
Let me explain. Do state and local government’s need the money? Absolutely. But they should be forced to implement painful cuts and live with that for at least a year before any financial help comes.
Local government felt that business and the jobs and tax revenues supplied by business was unimportant. Local officials need to understand what a blessing it is to have a business open, to have someone risk their life’s savings to open a business. Local government needs to understand that without business, they will not have funds to operate local government.
A federal bailout should not happen until state and local governments have learned some harsh lessons.
Saw all this happen on a smaller scale with NYCs impending 1975 municipal debt default. New York city's plea to president Gerald Ford to have the Federal government forestall bankruptcy were met with staunch refusal.
"His press secretary, Ron Nessen, said that Ford would continue to monitor the situation throughout the day, but wouldn't’t change his mind about granting assistance to the city. In Nessen’s words, “This is not a natural disaster or an act of God. It is a self-inflicted act by the people who have been running New York City.”
For more on the backroom deals read:
The Night New York Saved Itself from Bankruptcy
Note that Mayor Abe Beame had been NYC comptroller for two terms before being elected mayor. Having arrived in NYC in 1969 I wondered how the man who was responsible for the city's finances could not know of the precarious spendthrift nature of the situation.