Monday, March 22, 2010

Not happy witht the return on your CD? Invest in groceries - NOW!

http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2010-03-22/story/analysis_a_georgia_commission_that_could_rattle_some_grocery_carts

3 comments:

hannah said...

You'd think by now local and state governments would have learned to set aside a rainy day fund that's enough to cover at least a year's necessary expenses. Why don't they do that? Because that's not how our financial community likes to do things. Whom are they going to lend to without incurring any risk, if not our political subdivisions? Who's going to issue risk-free capital bonds, if not our political subdivisions? Who's going to reliably take out tax anticipation notes, if not out political subdivisions?

The preferred alternative to "tax and spend" is, if our financial freeloaders were honest, "lend and spend."

Jay Moreno said...

If you have been watching Camden politics of the last cuople of decades, you would know that local polls - especially the late Terrible Troika, led by David Rainer, have traditionally viewed the "rainy day fund" as an adjunct campaign fund. They have always used it to be able to announce sligth millage rate reductions just before any of them are up for relection. They would then fund the shortages out of the fund. Any gutless wonder can do that. It takes real courage to stand up and say no, we need to leave the millage rate right where it is.

hannah said...

Everything can be abused, even the self. What's lacking in may politicians is self-restraint.

And we do have a long tradition of looking at the public purse as a source of goodies for special friends, instead of the common welfare.

Doesn't mean we can't change.

When real estate values are being artificially inflated, a constant millage rate is deceptive.