State of the States: "Broke & Going Broker"

Just another thing to look forward to in ObamaNation:

State Fiscal Nightmares [Jack Fowler]

Over at www.watchdog.org Frank Keegan answers the question "what is the state of the states?" — it's "broke and going broker."

Taxpayers, prepare to be extorted and robbed.

If the first two state-of-the-state speeches Wednesday are any indication, we are in for it.

Fiscal mismanagement leaders California and New York opened the hunting season on taxpayers.

Forty three other state legislatures convene soon to deal with the fiscal carnage they wrought through political profligacy and false promises to dedicated state workers during recent bubble years.

As of December, the National Conference of State Legislatures fiscal survey found: “Thirty-six states already report another round of gaps since FY 2010 began. The total now hit $28.2 billion, and the fiscal year for most states doesn’t end until June.” They already are in the hole despite raising taxes, cutting spending, squandering “rainy day” funds and using federal debt and accounting tricks to close $146 billion in cumulative budget gaps.

Those shortfalls pale against the lurid reality of unfunded promises to retirees, deferred public works projects and years of accounting tricks hiding true deficits.

Compounding all that is the fact that $248 billion in federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds stop Dec. 31, halfway through most states’ fiscal years.

And, according to the National Governor’s Association “Fiscal Survey of States” released last week, “the $87 billion in Medicaid funds and the $48 billion in state stabilization funds … allowed states to offset planned budget cuts and tax increases,” meaning that’s another $135 billion they are going to have to take from somebody next year.
Read Keegan's complete story here.