With the State of New York approaching bankruptcy, members of the state legislature are calling for “innovative ideas” to prevent the interests that have backed them over the years from having to give anything up. By innovation, they mean deferring costs to the future, spending future revenues today, and making sure that when their generation walks out of there laughing all the way, there will be nothing left for anyone that follows them. Since Governor Paterson was a member of that legislature and participated in all those deals and favors over the years, the legislature believes he will be once again easy to roll. What choice does he have?
The choice to make that default, certain to happen sooner or later, happen right now. If the state runs out of money, he could say, it will no longer burden younger generations with paying debts they neither agreed to nor benefitted from. Ie. all those debts “subject to annual appropriation” and thus “exempt” (according to judges appointed by state legislators in fixed elections) from the requirement that New Yorkers agree to sell out their future in a referendum. Miss a few payments, like everyone else in the U.S., and I’ll bet talk of solving the budget deficit by borrowing more will go away. At least among the lenders.
Would there be consequences? Sure. But anyone under 50 who isn’t in a position to leave the state right away is going to experience those same consequences anyway. The only questions is how much insider members of Generation Greed will be able to siphon off first.
That generation has borrowed so much that only a life of poverty would make it possible to pay it back. That’s why the private credit market has collapsed. In the public sector, however, the members of Generation Greed holidng pieces of paper entitling them to a large share of the fruits of everyone’s future labor believe people can be sent to jail if they don’t pay (in tax), and killed if they resist, even if they no longer receive any public services or benefits in return. They’ve been able to do collectively what they are unable or unwilling to do individually — sell their children into debt slavery. That’s the endgame. That or massive inflation that wipes away the value of those debts and pensions, along with the modest savings of those who lived modestly.
All they want to do is make some more scores before the game ends. All Governor Paterson has to do to stop it is threaten to end it right now.