"State tax revenues in the second quarter plunged 17% from a year earlier as rising unemployment and reduced spending hurt sales- and income-tax collections, according to Census Bureau figures released Tuesday. The decline was the sharpest since at least the 1960s. ... But with tax collections continuing to decline, many have been forced to reopen budgets after they have been passed to push through even bigger cuts to staffing and servicces. States, unlike the federal government, are generally required to balance their budgets. ... 'Anything is fair game,' said Amber King, a public information officer for [Louisiana] state Treasurer John N. Kennedy, who serves on the 'streamlining commission.' ... In Arizona, overall tax revenues fell 27% in the second quarter. Tax revenues fell 12% in Florida and 14% in California. ... Eleven states--including California, New York and Wisconsin--saw personal income taxes fall more than 30%", Connor Dougherty at the WSJ, 30 September 2009, link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125424963214850111.html.
Muni bond buyers, good luck. If anything is on the table, how about repudiating Louisiana's muni bonds? Only fat cat, tax avoiders own them anyway.
5 comments:
Debt, debt, debt everywhere.
We are Debtlandia!
I guess the only salvation for bondholders is inflation.
Oh Ben... the controls "just happened" to slip out of your sweaty palms... quick the debt pile is collapsing under it's own weight...
States, unlike the federal government, are generally required to balance their budgets.
Not California. The latest budget has all kinds of "kick the can down the road" type borrowing.
Really. Moving 1.2B of state payroll one day into the next year... And this is only one example, there's over 5B of this type of stuff...
PS: And it isn't enough, they're back to showing a deficit after the latest tax receipts reports...
California's debt has crossed all barriers. I really think that if the real estate market recovers, we'll be able to get out of this mess.
America's largest public-pension fund, Calpers, revealed that a former board member had reaped more than $50 million in fees for arranging investments that could saddle state taxpayers with hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.
The disclosure deepens concerns that alleged conflicts of interest are undermining state retirement funds.
The California Public Employees' Retirement System said it is launching a "special review" into payments by money managers -- including billionaire Leon Black's Apollo Management LP -- to firms including Arvco Financial Ventures LLC. Arvco is headed by Al Villalobos, who served on Calpers's board from 1993 to 1995.
Oh brother...
Anonymous:
I read this article this morning in the WSJ. There's more where this came from
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