Our Children's Debt
In a column in Sunday's Sacramento Bee, Daniel Weintraub discussed the governator's proposed bond, his solution to California's debt problem. He quotes Phil Angelides, California's Treasurer,as he describes this bond, "This bond, when it's all paid off by our children in 30 years, will leave us with nothing but a bill paid. Unlike a school that's being constructed, unlike a transportation project in which our children and grandchildren share in the benefit, our children and grandchildren get nothing out of this bond other than a tab which is stuck to them."
This is an important point Angelides is making. In the twenty five years I've been voting in California, it has been a rare election that hasn't brought us at least one bond measure to pay for funding for schools, or highway and bridge construction or maintenance, or prisons. Most of these measures, it seems, have passed. And, as Angelides points out, California voters, when they passed these measures, were buying something; there was something tangible they expected to get for their money, something tangible to pass on to the next generation of Californians.
The governor's proposal is different and I think it is important that Californians understand this difference. If the governor's proposal passes, all that we will be buying is the ability to fill a hole in this year's and next year's budgets. All that we will be passing on to the next generation of Californians is a huge debt to pay off. No new schools, no new or improved highways, no new prisons (okay, that part isn't so bad). In fact, by passing our current debt on to future generations, we will be hampering their ability to fund tangible improvements in the infrastructure.
It may be that this is the best solution to our current crises. I don't know. Before we settle on this, though, it is important that this state takes a long look at our alternatives. It is clear now that Schwarzenegger had no plan as he ran for governor and this one seems rather hastily cobbled together. It is time to take a longer look at this one, and to search for and debate alternatives.
|
