Whitney Says States May Need Federal Bailout in Next 12 Months

[WDCRob]

Re: Whitney Says States May Need Federal Bailout in Next 12 Months

Anyone have the totals handy for what California and Illinous pay to the Feds vs what they receive back? Particularly vis those states' budget shortfalls and the presumptive size of the "bailout?"

[jk]

Re: Whitney Says States May Need Federal Bailout in Next 12 Months

sell the state office buildings and lease them back. sell the highways and let private owners collect tolls. sell the sewer systems, fire the police and firemen and replace them with contractors, sell the garbage trucks, sell the sidewalks and the fire hydrants. maybe then we can balance THIS year's budget. maybe the chinese will buy....

[Munger]

Re: Whitney Says States May Need Federal Bailout in Next 12 Months

In effect, our country has been behaving like an extraordinarily rich family that possesses an immense farm. In order to consume 4 percent more than we produce -- that's the trade deficit -- we have, day by day, been both selling pieces of the farm and increasing the mortgage on what we still own.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1053684/posts

[thriftyandboringinohio]

Re: Whitney Says States May Need Federal Bailout in Next 12 Months

sell the state office buildings and lease them back. sell the highways and let private owners collect tolls. sell the sewer systems, fire the police and firemen and replace them with contractors, sell the garbage trucks, sell the sidewalks and the fire hydrants. maybe then we can balance THIS year's budget. maybe the chinese will buy....

Isn't that one step in the standard IMF procedure for small countries? The step where you privatize valuable infrastructure and public service monopolies formerly operated by government?

As I recall the following step is that the new private owners fail to maintain the infrastructure, liquidating it until it collapses, and the new private service companies provides little or no services until all possible funds are extracted from the citizenry.

Last step is to close those private enterprises and walk away from the mess with a huge bag of money, laughing about how banana republics fall for this EVERY time.

[ThePythonicCow]

Re: Whitney Says States May Need Federal Bailout in Next 12 Months

If I believed in conspiracy theories I would think the monied interests from Wall Street were behind this...but I actually think this is just another example of a dysfunctional system inhabited by clueless politicians.

I think it is both monied interests and clueless politicians.

[ThePythonicCow]

Re: Whitney Says States May Need Federal Bailout in Next 12 Months

Isn't that one step in the standard IMF procedure for small countries?

Not just small countries.

[ThePythonicCow]

Re: Whitney Says States May Need Federal Bailout in Next 12 Months

As I recall the following step is that the new private owners fail to maintain the infrastructure, liquidating it until it collapses, and the new private service companies provides little or no services until all possible funds are extracted from the citizenry.

Last step is to close those private enterprises and walk away from the mess with a huge bag of money, laughing about how banana republics fall for this EVERY time.

This is "the third way" to default on excessive debt. You can devalue the currency of repayment, stop making payments, or "drive the resource into the ground" providing whatever remaining income it can throw off to the creditors.