Comments on: Brace Yourself!!!

By: Moneyguy

Moneyguy — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:59:15 +0000

No No No we did not overpay! The gov has been collecting a tremendous amount of interest on the toll road money! Daniels is no dummy!

By: John Howard

John Howard — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:22:57 +0000

The Guv must be expecting the property tax debacle to hit the fan shortly. He’s been transferring millions into the ’school rainy day fund.’ So are we now paying property tax via transfer of ’surplus’ money - which is actually tax dollars we overpaid in years past?

Sure looks like it.

By: Robert-NW Side

Robert-NW Side — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:03:50 +0000

Channel 8 News at 6 reported that the State has a $urplus of over $1 Billion.
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To ME, this means that the State owes NO MONEY to ANYONE.
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Is this really true? We have NO DEBT ??
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I ask, as the commandment of our Indiana Constitution at Article 10 Section 2 is quite clear:
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http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/const/art10.html
Section 2. All the revenues derived from the sale of any of the public works belonging to the State, and from the net annual income thereof, and any surplus that may, at any time, remain in the Treasury, derived from taxation for general State purposes, after the payment of the ordinary expenses of the government, and of the interest on bonds of the State, other than Bank bonds; shall be annually applied, under the direction of the General Assembly, to the payment of the principal of the Public Debt.
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Hmmm…”any $urplus…to the payment of the principal of the Public Debt.”
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Yep…good to know that the State of Indiana owes absolutely NO MONEY to anyone!
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Otherwise, our government would be violating our Constitution.
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Government wouldn’t do that, would they?!?!?!

By: Moneyguy

Moneyguy — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:33:23 +0000

“Humor is the best medicine for bad behavior!” - Moneyguy 2008 Or did I read this quote and steal it not sure.

Ok that said I have been told that the banks are starting to give out car equity loans! Apparently with the house equity loans starting to dry up you can now get equity out of your car! (insanity!) A banker told me on vacation that credit unions are doing this because they don’t have to make money. The fees are fairly high and apparently it is fairly easy for the consumer to get upside down on the loan. The credit union ends up with a car. TOTAL INSANITY!!!!!

By: Shorebreak

Shorebreak — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:49:59 +0000

TA - First off, my “definitions” come from ignoring the false explanations and/or analysis provided by the liars on FOX, CNN, PBS, etc. If you base any of your opinions on their distortions, you’re bound to rely on some concoction that they present rather than on common sense and sound fiscal policy.
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Ask yourself this: If you’re a bank, which consideration comes first in order for you to issue a loan - your capital, or the consumers credit? Trust me. When banks have loan capital, there is no credit crunch. A consumer might pay more b/c of bad credit, but the banks aren’t gonna sit back and do nothing in the meantime. The bottom line is that they don’t have the capital to back the loans - therefore, credit is not issued.
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You should do some research on Capital Crunch. Even the largest players have stated in plain english that this is the problem. A failing GDP and a failing dollar don’t make for good loan capital. That’s why they started investing in Chinese banks several years ago - they were planning ahead.

By: Taxpayer 834512

Taxpayer 834512 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:24:55 +0000

Amen to less oil consumption. Hybrid car & heat & air, biking when possible because I don’t like forking any more $ than necessary to those pirates, foreign or domestic.

By: Think Again

Think Again — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:52:29 +0000

Melyssa may have stumbled into a quasi-answer there.

Except: every level of government exists, to some degree, on payments from another level of government. The city budget’s portion that is funded by federal grants was around 10% a few years ago–it may have altered somewhat.

If those payments to local govt. are delayed, for, say, a $5 million speed limit enforcement grant…then: the officers paid by the grant don’t stop working. The cars don’t stop needing gas, and the benefits need to be paid.

They still need office supplies and clerical help and office space to process those extra speeding tickets.

So, the city is forced to do short-term borrowing, otherwise known as tax anticipation warrants. Until the federal funds come in. The cost of borrowing is much heavier if the credit rating is poor. That added burden of extra cost, results in fewer dollars into the programs that we really need.

And Shore, whever you got your definition of capital/credit, you need a refersher course: the current credit crunch is the direct result of multiple causes. Strictly speaking, the availability of capital is not one of them.

Ridiculous decisions by lending officers–now THAT’S one of them. Available capital wasn’t a problem then, and, frankly, isn’t a huge problem now. It’s just that now, the credit available is being more tightly-monitored, as it should’ve been for the last decade.

More than any one single factor, the dollar’s crumbling is responsible for this crash. And it’s worth less because we’re shipping so much of it overseas, primarily for a commodity–oil–that we’ve failed to reign in for three decades. Those who do control it are a small group, a cartel, subject to political and regime whims.

And they’ve whip-lashed us for sport for the past six years.

And now they’re using those deflated dollars to buy up some of our prized assets.

A vicious circle, but, make no mistake: if you’ve got a good project for which you need loans, and the project makes sense, there is acpital available, at a rate unmatched in our lifetimes.

Good luck getting the deal underwritten in any reasonable timeframe, though, because the folks who used to do that…well, their numbers are dwindled and their desks are overloaded.

By: Taxpayer 834512

Taxpayer 834512 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:48:44 +0000

And, even if excursions like Iraq play-out strategically, they are literally no longer affordable. .

By: Taxpayer 834512

Taxpayer 834512 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:46:59 +0000

And, we want to keep our consumption pipeline filled with benefits-needy single mother births and low-income illegal workers. I’m 100% with eliminating unfair tax loopholes, TIFFs, abatements, and punishing illegal hiring. But, that doesn’t fix our dogmatic, pigheaded, Fantasy Island notions that we can’t say “No” to anybody regarding benefits. IT’S NOT 1960 ANYMORE. Not only can Japan forge steel, China can too and they’re kicking our tail. I suggest we skip the wrangling and reduce spending across-the-board now, or we get to spend zero later when we’re cut-off. Those are the choices that are left.

By: Melyssa

Melyssa — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:14:24 +0000

What do we have to do as a city and state to get a rock bottom credit rating? Can’t we just stop paying the bonds? Would they come in to repossess our Taj Mahal schools?

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I’m ok with the city having rotten credit! If the city can’t get more credit, then it will surely stop the spending!