Poor Spending Drunk Governors

In this article in the Press of Atlantic City, the story of how poor Northeastern governors got together to discuss how the Federal government should bail them out on transportation.

High fuel prices, crumbling roads and bridges, and how to replace a rapidly vanishing industrial base aren't just New Jersey's problems.
Governors from this and four other Northeast states commiserated about the similar issues facing them and traded ideas for the future at a Monday morning forum in Atlantic City.

Every administration of every state has challenges. But it seems to be a unique perspective that governors in this part of the country accept no responsibility for anything except begging for money from the Federal government.

But as Rendell recounted another scheme that used tax-exempt bonds to encourage private investors to underwrite highways, Corzine said there are a whole series of strategies, adding, "Our challenge is politics."

Rendell said a federal government that drastically scaled back on infrastructure spending was also to blame.

He said at the end of the Eisenhower years, the government spent 11.5 percent of the federal domestic nonmilitary budget on roads, bridges and other improvements. He said that figure is now less than 2.5 percent, with the costs shifted to the states.

Rendell said Pennsylvania started a crash $1 billion program to fix its 411 worst bridges, but it would cost $140 billion to repair them all. Other states are in similar situations. "Its craziness to think the states will be able to handle that alone," he said.

These issues like many facing the states in the Northeast are typical of today's new politics. Since Rendell and Corzine both got into office by pandering to various special interest with freebies and program enhancements, they are part of a "spend the money and hope we find a way to pay for it" mentality. And they are so vested in these politics (yes Gov Corzine-you got it right), they cannot do what is right for the state's citizens without committing political suicide.

Case in point, Governor Corzine was sold to NJ as a brilliant businessman who would fix New Jersey's fiscal issues. What we actually got was a dopey rich guy into social engineering without a trace of fiscal self control. So when this year's budget came around he praised himself for making minor cuts while increasing the burden to most towns (thereby forcing them to look to increase property taxes yet again). He also pushed through a 4 billion dollars in new school borrowing for the very agency whose corruption with money like this in the past is legendary. So cry foul and then spend.

As long as Northeastern states continue to maintain a one party system (in many cases, there is no different between the Republicans and Democrats in these states), the working class will continue to work long hours to support state workers, teachers unions and giveaways that are administered by corrupt individuals looking to line their own pockets. And then they will move south.

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