The Debtor Governor
By Bruce Murphy - Sep 10th, 2013 10:45 am
Gov. Scott Walker
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Tom Kertscher is a loyal soldier who follows orders and doesn’t rock any boats. In short, he can be counted on to deliver the sort of story his editors expect.
Kertscher recently did a Politifact column which concluded that a statement in an op ed by state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma) about Gov. Scott Walker was only “Half True.” Vinehout declared that state debt has reached “record levels,” as “more money goes to pay off debt in this budget than ever before.”
It is a damaging charge that goes to the heart of Walker’s image as a fiscal conservative who was going to reduce government spending and debt. And everything in Kertscher’s column confirms Vinehout’s view — except for his final conclusion.
Kertscher tells us that Walker issued new debt in order to pay off $558 million in debt payments that were due in 2011 and 2012. “It’s just taking one credit card to pay off another credit card,” says Fiscal Bureau analyst Al Runde. This, in turn, pushed the principal payments some 20 years into the future, which will add another $156 million in interest costs.
As a result, the percentage of general tax dollars going to pay for debt has gone up significantly. Vinehout requested an analysis of this from the Fiscal Bureau, which issued a memo noting that, “Historically, the state’s debt management policy” has kept the debt service on its general obligation bonds “at no more than 4.0%” of annual general tax revenues. “This policy is intended to ensure that debt service does not consume an increasing share of the state budget.”
more
http://urbanmilwaukee.com/2013/09/10/murphys-law-the-debtor-governor/
= new reply since forum marked as read
the second they endorsed that useless pathetic worm of a governor.
