Debt is Debt

How is it that legislators have been able for so many years to spend money it does not have the constitutional latitude to spend? In fact, to allow an unfunded liability to occur in essence circumvents the constitutional powers afforded law makers to create debt. It seems that if a constitutional amendment is required to acquire debt to pay a debt that had already been acquired, then the first debt should have required the same constitutional amendment in the first instance. Lawmakers have made promises it can keep without changing the constitution. Does this sound like sound, reasonable and prudent judgment?

How are we to be assured that the remedy now being proposed is any better or more prudent than the policies that created this crisis? What steps have been taken to insure this can not happen again? To allow a debt to occur is the same as creating the debt to start with. Before we amend our state constitution to correct a situation that should never have occurred, perhaps we should force lawmakers to identify and resolve the issues that caused the billions of dollars of debt we face today.

It is offensive that the people are being told such things as “this is not new debt; we are just paying debt we already owe”. Well, then how was that debt incurred without a constitutional amendment? Or, this won’t cost taxpayer anything. Then who is paying for it?

Every story is spun to fit the desired goal and nobody is telling the whole truth. The people need to start asking some very tough questions and perhaps consider sending new folks to Charleston to take care of the state’s business.