More About California 2006 bond issues
by Tony Medley
There is $47.5 BILLION dollars worth of bonds
on the ballot this year. That's $47,000,000,000! That's a lot of zeros.
It is totally irresponsible. Right now the general fund debt-service
ratio is 4.2%. It will rise to 4.8% after $30 BILLION of authorized but
unsold bonds are sold in the coming years. If these new bonds are
approved it will climb to 6%, according to an estimate by the
Legislative Analyst's Office. Here's what the highly respected
"California Municipal Bond Advisor" says:
"California is still running deficits, even
after a huge infusion of tax revenue from the private sector. Now
you want voters to approve $43 billion of new bonds? The state
already isdoing a crummy job of managing the money it has. Why give
the legislators and the special construction interests yet another
opportunity to blow the taxpayers' hard-earned money? Have they
really earned our trust? We can't make heads or tails of the
capital-planning process that led to these bond proposal, no doubt
because there really isn't any rhyme or reason behind this orgy of
debt."
And this is from someone who supports the
issuance of municipal bonds!
Vote "NO" on all the bond proposals. Send a
message to the Governor and the legislature that they have to stop
the massive, irresponsible government spending.
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