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Almost Half Of US States Are Officially Broke

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Last month, we documented the case of Louisiana State University, the large, well-known public institution whose 2014 enrollment totaled nearly 31,000 students. LSU, it turns out, is facing funding cuts of as much as 82% which, if realized, would likely force the school into financial exigency, the college equivalent of bankruptcy. The reason for the cuts: the sharp decline in oil prices and fiscal mismanagement have conspired to blow a $1.6 billion hole in the state’s budget. 

Bloomberg has more:

With tax revenue from the oil industry falling short of projections, the deficit has swelled to $1.6 billion for the fiscal year that starts July 1. Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s say they may lower Louisiana’s credit rating if officials don’t come up with sustainable budget solutions.

 

Louisiana paid the price when it sold $335 million of general obligations Wednesday, its first deal this year. Borrowing costs jumped compared with an issue in November, with the yield spread more than doubling on some maturities.

 

“They have to make significant cuts across the board -- it’s almost a foregone conclusion they’ll be downgraded,” said Tom Metzold, co-director of municipal investments in Boston at Eaton Vance Management, which oversees $25 billion in local debt.

 

Lawmakers are grappling with the state’s finances in part as the price of crude oil, which along with natural gas generates 13 percent of its revenue, is down about 40 percent from mid-2014. The mounting fiscal strains threaten to pinch funding for programs such as higher education, contributing to a buyers’ revolt last month against a bond sale from the state’s flagship university…

 

Steve Hlavin, who runs a Louisiana fund for Nuveen Asset Management in Chicago, said he hasn’t bought state general obligations since 2010 and probably won’t dive back in Wednesday.

 

“For a state that’s exhibited chronic structural budget imbalance, you aren’t being compensated with a lot of credit spread,” Hlavin said. “They’re being forced to come to terms with the fact that one-shot solutions are no longer available.”

The real problem however is that large budget shortfalls aren’t confined to Louisiana. In fact, a new study from AP shows that big gaps are becoming more the rule than the exception across the US. 

Via AP:

An Associated Press analysis of statehouse finances around the country shows that at least 22 states project shortfalls for the coming fiscal year. The deficits recall recession-era anxiety about plunging tax revenue and deep cuts to education, social services and other government-funded programs.

 

The sheer number of states facing budget gaps prompted Standard & Poor's Ratings Service to call the trend a sort of "early warning."

 

"After all, if a state is grappling with a budget deficit now, with the economic expansion approaching its sixth anniversary, what will be its condition when the next slowdown strikes?" credit analyst Gabriel Petek wrote in a recent report.

The forces at work today are somewhat different than when the recession took hold in 2008. In some states, revenue growth has been stagnant, missing projections and making it difficult to keep pace with expanding populations and rising costs for health care and education. Other states have been hurt by a steep decline in oil prices or seen their efforts to promote growth through tax cuts fail to work as anticipated...


A majority of states have failed to climb back to their pre-recession status, in terms of tax revenue, financial reserves and employment rates, said Barb Rosewicz, who tracks the fiscal health of states for The Pew Charitable Trusts.

 

Alabama, for example, faces a $290 million shortfall after a voter-approved bailout expires at the end of the current fiscal year. If nothing is done, the courts will not have the staff to send jury notices, monitor juvenile delinquents, process protection orders and collect and distribute child support payments, he said.

 

"This is an insane proposition," Hobson said. "The public would suffer."

 

Nationally, total tax revenue coming to the states has been rising, but the pace has been slow as employment continues to lag pre-recession levels in more than half the states, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts. Pew also found that 30 states are collecting less revenue than at their peak.

 

The Census Bureau recently reported that total state government tax collections in fiscal year 2014, which in most states ended last June, increased 2.2 percent over the previous fiscal year. That represented the fourth consecutive overall increase, but 17 states reported declines in tax revenue from the previous fiscal year, according to the report. Alaska saw the biggest drop, of $1.7 billion.

 

In Illinois, lawmakers are trying to figure out how to close a $6 billion projected shortfall for the next fiscal year, due largely to the expiration of a temporary tax increase [and] in Kansas, the Republican governor and GOP-dominated Legislature now confront budget deficits after aggressive tax cutting that prompted them to reduce school funding this spring.

Kansas' troubles emanate from a income tax cuts implemented at the behest of Gov. Sam Brownback and have created what one public school superintendent calls the worst situation he's ever seen in terms of the degree to which the education system is being squeezed. More color, from Bloomberg:

Income-tax cuts in Kansas championed by Governor Sam Brownback have led to credit downgrades, political turmoil and deepening budget deficits. This week, they'll start forcing schools to close early.

 

As lawmakers work to erase a projected $800 million budget gap for the fiscal year starting July 1, at least eight school districts that saw their funding cut this year because of a greater-than-projected slide in state tax collections will begin shutting down before the scheduled end of classes. Dozens of others have eliminated or cut programs.

 

Early school closings and program reductions are signs of a budget sinkhole in Kansas, where Brownback and the Republican-controlled legislature approved large income tax reductions in 2012 and 2013. They said reduced levies would spur economic activity that would compensate for lost state revenue. The governor called his move to gradually end the income tax "an experiment.''

 

It hasn't delivered the promised benefits, producing instead bigger revenue losses and, at least in the short-term, a cautionary tale of the effectiveness of using large tax cuts to spark economic growth...

 

"There have been times when things were tight, but this is the absolute worst I've ever seen it,'' said Mike Sanders, superintendent of Skyline Public Schools, which will end the school year two days early on May 12.

 

Skyline, about 75 miles west of Wichita, has petitioned the state for emergency cash so it can meet its June payroll.

 

"It's crazy times,'' Sanders said. "The ideology in this tax experiment has gone too far. It's almost as if they're hell-bent on proving their point, no matter the damage it causes.''

 


Meanwhile, Brownback recently got a rather amusing wake up call at dinner when his waitress, one Chloe Hough, advised the Governor to take the tip he presumably would have left and give it "to the schools." 

 

All of the above will of course be exacerbated in an environment where the macroeconomy takes a sudden dive (as it did in Q1) and any sustained economic slowdown could serve to inflict further pain on the public sector, which leads us to wonder if the anti-austerity movement is about to take to take root in America just as it has in the euro periphery. We'll close with the following from Morgan Stanley's bear case scenario:

The economic rebound stalls, which increases budget gaps alongside fewer available policy solutions. Political support for austerity begins to wane, impeding further progress in addressing long-term liability problems. Falling oil prices hurt the sector where the market does not expect it, in highly rated but energy industry focused states. 

*  *  *

Bonus chart: tax revenue growth, while still positive, has slowed markedly over the past three years

 

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Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:03 | 6082492 Kirk2NCC1701
Kirk2NCC1701's picture

Given the size of Alaska's Debt and its tiny population, it's time to either sell it to Russia, or have Russia run a pipeline to Alaska.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:09 | 6082512 AldousHuxley
AldousHuxley's picture

alaska is America's oil reserve. Just in case the whole Tesla thing doesn't work out.

 

IN 50 years, oil companies are the only few still standing.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:12 | 6082533 Butterflying
Butterflying's picture

My last pay check was $9500 working 12 hours a week online. My sisters friend has been averaging 15k for months now and she works about 20 hours a week. I can't believe how easy it was once I tried it out. This is what I do... www.jobs-review.com

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:28 | 6082598 lunaticfringe
lunaticfringe's picture

Good. Be sure and send your taxes in, quarterly.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:35 | 6082618 negative rates
negative rates's picture

Give more power to the states, the states are dead, long live the states.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:38 | 6082633 James_Cole
James_Cole's picture

Even with its sweeping tax reform in 2012 (MY EDIT: these happened in 2013), the Kansas government has built a tremendous cushion since 2011.

https://mises.ca/posts/articles/kansas-an-example-of-the-benefits-of-gov...

Nailed it. 

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:47 | 6082664 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

Why is it a bad thing to cut tax money flowing to an insolvent, unmanageable government, snarky waitresses notwithstanding? When did throwing good money after bad become a virtue?

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:57 | 6082705 HowdyDoody
HowdyDoody's picture

Wow I didn't realize Alaska was heavily populated with people of color.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 18:18 | 6082782 ATM
ATM's picture

You didn't? It's filled with natives. 

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 18:38 | 6082848 kaiserhoff
kaiserhoff's picture

Well, thank dog both of my bug out states are flat broke.

I have enough cognitive dissonance going on already without more angst and choices.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 19:11 | 6082940 Stuck on Zero
Stuck on Zero's picture

All these state deficit numbers are peanuts.  Buffet could write a check on petty cash to cover the deficits. 

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 20:12 | 6083080 MonetaryApostate
MonetaryApostate's picture

We have got to find a way to inudstrialize again A S A P...

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 20:24 | 6083131 PhoQ
PhoQ's picture

Let's declare war on Oceana. Once those Jeeps start rolling off the assembly lines, there will be jobs for everybody.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 20:49 | 6083224 Surly Bear
Surly Bear's picture

As a resident of New York State, I assure you, it's broke.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 21:00 | 6083274 clooney_art
clooney_art's picture

Let me see. PA. There are tolls, sky high property tax similar to NJ, you have a 3.07% flat PA income tax, County Tax which is usually 1.x % flat ( no deductions ) right off your income, 6% sales tax, Vehicle emissions + safety check each year, the biggest inheritence tax in this country and you fucking guys are 2 billion in the hole !!!???

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 21:28 | 6083344 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

See, they have good reason for all those taxes and fees....they need the money.

Stop being such a mean hearted stingy fuck. You didn't earn that money anyway.

Without government you wouldn't be shit.

Get with the progressive program!!

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 21:33 | 6083355 847328_3527
847328_3527's picture

Gubmint pensions are very generous and health benefits are 5 star.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 22:20 | 6083491 MonetaryApostate
MonetaryApostate's picture

Why you furgit da Gubermint Vacations?

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 22:37 | 6083539 angel_of_joy
angel_of_joy's picture

Where is California ? I'm pretty sure that's a state as broke as it gets...

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 23:41 | 6083692 old naughty
old naughty's picture

No, CA ain't broke yet...

It's "dried" out.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 23:56 | 6083716 Oh regional Indian
Oh regional Indian's picture

Anyone who believes this tripe should google Walter Burien and CAFRS....nuff said...

Most states are trillions if not hundred of billions in the black.

ALl lies and jest, till a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest...

;-)

20, endings...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njftLIlO7co

Tue, 05/12/2015 - 00:05 | 6083735 neilhorn
neilhorn's picture

They are in the black only if you count the amount that the people of the state own. Start taking that away and the feds will have to come in to stop the protest. The fed owns the states.

Tue, 05/12/2015 - 04:26 | 6084012 N3mo
N3mo's picture

ORI, once again you and I are on the same page.

Not sure if you saw my comment further down regarding CAFRs.

Neil, they are in the black simply due to the fact that they have major holdings in the stock market. Ridiculous amounts of wealth socked away.

Watch "Corporation Nation" (should be available on youtube). Some COUNTIES in more affluent states could literally run the entire STATE for years in some cases.

What does this mean? It means that the pathetic whining about needing tax revenues is pandering at best, and extortion at worst.

All of these entities, from municipalities on up the chain, are de-facto self-funding ALREADY- they just want to maintain control over their fiefdoms...can't have the serfs getting too uppity, now.

Take a moment and think about this. Really think.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 20:27 | 6083139 cnmcdee
cnmcdee's picture

We talk endlessly about the debt, deficit, bankruptcies, and the finanical plunder and corruption. Forget about it all, the only thing that will matter in a couple years is the new currency. No it is not bitcoin, gold or silver it will be FOOD. In a bank shutdown and collapse which is certain and months away you will not be able to eat fiat or silver, and those with food may not care about it either. In WWII in Germany they ended up starving and one lady traded a grand piano for a bag of potatoes.  Print your own food in your garden and break control forever from their reptilian claws..

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 20:56 | 6083261 thetruthhurts
thetruthhurts's picture

A few chickens in the backyard is not a bad thing...

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 23:01 | 6083597 neilhorn
neilhorn's picture

A few chickens in the back yard is a good thing.

Tue, 05/12/2015 - 00:10 | 6083742 SumTing Wong
SumTing Wong's picture

We love our layers and our meat chickens, but we've found meat rabbits are even easier. And they breed like...well...

Tue, 05/12/2015 - 01:53 | 6083863 Chauncey Gardener
Chauncey Gardener's picture

And a couple of shotguns with ample ammo ain't bad to have when you have a few chickens in the backyard. Keeps the riff raff out when they try to break in and steal 'em.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 21:11 | 6083305 El Vaquero
El Vaquero's picture

Just put a bunch of beans, tomatoes and squash in the ground.  I'll put more in tomorrow.  Then, when the corn emerges, more is going in.  I'm letting the weeds go where my chile is because pillbugs cannot eat what they cannot find.  Melons and cukes will go in within the next week, and I have some wheat, watermelons and sesame on order.  The mustard flowering, and the some beets are going to seed.  Grapes, strawberries, pears, plums, peaches, blackberries and apples are all doing well this year too.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 23:30 | 6083670 ThirteenthFloor
ThirteenthFloor's picture

MA-> at least one generation assuming proper capital investment started now. Took China 27 years to industrialize with state, private and external investment.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 21:49 | 6083411 Hyjinx
Hyjinx's picture

They are completely understated.  California isn't in debt after pensions - REALLY?!

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 22:07 | 6083459 A Nanny Moose
A Nanny Moose's picture

There is an inherent contradiction in government debt. Governmentd debt is simply an admission of insolvency. Investors are buying debt in an insolvent entity.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 19:15 | 6082948 mkkby
mkkby's picture

How can that map be correct?  It shows california as having no budget problem.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 19:25 | 6082976 VegasBob
VegasBob's picture

When stocks plunge, capital gains tax revenue will plummet and California will quickly be back at the top of the list.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 21:12 | 6083306 El Vaquero
El Vaquero's picture

Mark to unicorn accounting, that's how.  CA is probably insolvent, just not today;)

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 21:59 | 6083446 VWAndy
VWAndy's picture

They just have a higher limit on their CC.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 21:58 | 6083444 toady
toady's picture

Beat me to it .... I  can't quite figure out what thier agenda, but they're difinantly cali lovers. 

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 23:40 | 6083690 TheMeatTrapper
TheMeatTrapper's picture

It also shows Alabama as being broke. We are not broke. We have a very robust economy and companies are moving here by the droves. 

We have a balanced budget amendment in our Constitution, so when revenues don't match "promised" spending, we have a "budget shortfall". 

Proration kicks in and every department of government is forced to implement spending cuts to match actual revenue. 

This game happens every year. The politicians promise everything, then it's not their fault when it doesn't get delivered. 

I'm starting to grow tired of ZH posting misleading, half true articles. 

Tue, 05/12/2015 - 02:55 | 6083929 HowdyDoody
HowdyDoody's picture

I guess you don't do sarcasm.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 18:23 | 6082801 James_Cole
James_Cole's picture

Why is it a bad thing to cut tax money flowing to an insolvent, unmanageable government, snarky waitresses notwithstanding?

If the goal was to tank the economy and bankrupt the government they did a great job, Brownback had claimed the opposite outcome but maybe you're on to something. 

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 19:26 | 6082942 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

The system deserves to fail because it is immoral and inefficient.  Brownback is an agent of government. His failures simply add the the myriad other failures of government.

It certainly isn't the fault of those who understand, as Thoreau did, "That government is best which governs least"; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe, — "That government is best which governs not at all."

 

 

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 20:15 | 6083105 James_Cole
James_Cole's picture

Um no, the current government in kansas is certainly NOT in agreement ('understand') with Thoreau's civil disobedience...thoreau is not saying what you think he's saying. Brownback and Thoreau are about as opposite on the political spectrum as you can get.  Brownback is a stupid government zealot who has watched his dumb ideology blowup in his face, thoreau was a transcendentalist who's writing on abolitionism through civil disobedience made deep impacts. 

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 20:40 | 6083137 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

 

"Um no, the current government in kansas is certainly NOT in agreement ('understand') with Thoreau's civil disobedience.."

 

Brownback doesn't understand Thoreau's view against government because Brownback is the government. His mistakes are the mistakes of government.  Are you listening? Thoreau spoke eloquently about the destructive nature of government while both Brownback and you support that power.

 

"thoreau is not saying what you think he's saying."

 

The 97th percentile score I got on the Literature in English GRE puts your statement in doubt.

 

"Brownback and Thoreau are about as opposite on the political spectrum as you can get."

 

That's what I said in plain language. It is you who shares a pro-government philosophy with Brownback, not Thoreau.

 

"Yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way. It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way." -- Thoreau

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 23:06 | 6083611 neilhorn
neilhorn's picture

Um. I think you two agree about the basic premise. gov't does not help; it hinders

Tue, 05/12/2015 - 00:21 | 6083754 James_Cole
James_Cole's picture

Your inclusion of thoreau was a non sequitur so naturally assumed you were trying to tie it in to the general 'spirit' of the brownback government and the clown patrol at mises.

The 97th percentile score I got on the Literature in English GRE puts your statement in doubt.

Everyone on the internet did. 

Your additional quote from Thoreau is again a non sequitur...

Tue, 05/12/2015 - 03:10 | 6083942 John_Coltrane
John_Coltrane's picture

No, the Thoreau quote is a sequitur (i.e. very germane/relevent on the subject of the worthlessness of government).  Thoreau was no fan of the state-rather that of the individual.

You're a great example of the lack of logical thinking of all progressives.  They reach a conclusion and then cherry pick "facts" to support their premise.

Did you not note that Kansas revenues are still way above the pre-recession levels of 2006-2007?  That means they are simply wasting more money than ever (likely due to oversize pension and other benefits).  All these states are spending money at too fast a rate then whining they need more taxes.  Its BS.  Government needs to live within its means.  With no profit motive effiiciency is a non sequitur (now you know how to use it correctly in a sentence)!

Tue, 05/12/2015 - 05:00 | 6084039 James_Cole
James_Cole's picture

Some of y'all are thick AF. Quoting from an essay about OPPOSITION TO SLAVERY AND AN UNJUST WAR in response to a  snark comment on ECONOMICS is a gawddamn non sequitur for the love of God.. It is pretty much a textbook example of a non sequitur.

Did I mention slavery? No? Did thoreau argue tax rates wrt government revenue in civil disobedience? No? NON SEQUITUR

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 20:39 | 6083187 Freddie
Freddie's picture

F**k LSU.   They have plenty of money for ball teams and stadiums.  Hundreds of millions are looted in Louisiana/N.O. with those corrupt levees run by all sorts of different entities.

The whole shitty city is under water and is a dump.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 22:30 | 6083522 TheReplacement
TheReplacement's picture

You seem surprised that what a politician promised didn't come true... oh how dreamy it is.  Wakey wakey Mr. Cole.  They all lied to you.  They all stole from you.  That is the name of the game.  Time to wake up and realize that any time you give someone power over you that a liar will come along and take advantage of that power.  Again, that is the game.  Perhaps you should skip the wake up phase and go straight to grow up.

I wouldn't be so harsh if you were just an innocent bystander asking, "WTF?"  Instead you are on here all the time defending the status quo and TPTB.  So yeah, grow up.

Tue, 05/12/2015 - 00:37 | 6083773 James_Cole
James_Cole's picture

Instead you are on here all the time defending the status quo and TPTB

Pretty rare that I'm defending the status quo, mostly I am complaining about various things. And my position on governments isn't how you caricature it, I would just say in general the contrast would be I find people on here have too simplistic a view on intersection of economy / government. 

Tue, 05/12/2015 - 01:33 | 6083841 SilverFish
SilverFish's picture

No, the GOVERNMENT bankrupted the government.

 

Whether you have 1 dollar or 20 billion dollars in your budget, you spend based on what you get, not what you think you deserve, especially when what you do generates ZERO income and only sucks on the teet of the taxpayer.

Tue, 05/12/2015 - 08:18 | 6084349 chubbar
chubbar's picture

That is the point that eludes all gov't planners. I made the mistake of criticising the choice I was given to either vote for a 15% budget increase or a 4% budget increase with some cuts. I made this comment to one of the elected budget officials in an email so she was kind enough to call me as the smaller budget increase was her idea of fiscal discipline. I mentioned to her that neither I nor any of my neighbors experienced a 4% increase in our earnings this year. I also mentioned that when using percentages to calculate budget and tax increases that eventually the actual dollar amount required to meet those increases becomes rather burdensome. I made the further mistake of asking her what "limit" to tax increases she felt would be appropriate? She wanted to know what I meant by that so I basically said that I can only give 100% of what I make to the gov't and if each year what gov't asked for increased 4% but my income remains fixed (which it does) then I only have another decade or so of being able to make tax payments and having any money left over for stuff that I may want to buy with the money I make, like say food or clothes. I could feel her brain literally freeze up with the thought that there wasn't a never ending pool of  money they can tap year after year of increasing tax rates to fuel their never ending desire to increase staffing, salaries and pensions. She ended the conversation shortly thereafter. I doubt she gave the matter much further thought since it was such an unpleasant experience.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 18:52 | 6082897 Calmyourself
Calmyourself's picture

Well the feds just collected a record amount of taxes in a qtr 467 Billion IIRC..  Solution stop feeding the federal hog keep the money in the states.  Obama can hold a bake sale for DHS funding..  Congress can charge twenty bucks to punch Harry Reid, McConnell and the Orange weeper.

Mioochelle can sell veggies, you get the picture.  BTW did the school unions think the party would never ever end??

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 19:20 | 6082964 acetinker
acetinker's picture

Weeping Cheet-O man!  Weeping Cheet-O!

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 22:34 | 6083534 TheReplacement
TheReplacement's picture

I believe most of that is corporate money which came at ZIRP.  There is literally nothing the average slob can do to stop this machine now.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 20:32 | 6083153 nmewn
nmewn's picture

Billy fucking nails it...lol.

"Why is it a bad thing to cut tax money flowing to an insolvent, unmanageable government...?"

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 20:44 | 6083201 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

Hey, dude. You still hangin' with those Virginians?

Past life memory, if you know what I mean.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 21:39 | 6083378 nmewn
nmewn's picture

lol...you always know where my soft spot is and I can't lie, however those Virginians had chilruns who turned into slaves for mere pennies for what they really gave up.

I'd rather be the Son of Liberty I always will be but now, I'm pure anarchist, burn it, all of it.

It makes great fertilizer ;-)

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 21:51 | 6083417 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

 

"I'm pure anarchist, burn it, all of it."

 

Real anarchists build while foolish progressives who masquerade as anarchists because they think it sounds cool are the ones who burn things down.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 22:16 | 6083480 nmewn
nmewn's picture

As close as I can tell, a "progressive anarchist" is a communist which is oxymoronic, so I wouldn't know.

Its the kind of person who demands the state steal from others to provide them with housing, clothing, food and possibly a job because of the states own actions of governance.

The cognitive dissonance involved in asking, begging, beseeching the master to stop beating the slave is too much for this simple brain to comprehend ;-)

Sat, 05/16/2015 - 17:13 | 6101213 acetinker
acetinker's picture

Progressive Anarchist is an oxymoron.  Much like Military Intelligence and Jumbo Shrimp.

It doesn't actually exist, outside of language.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 23:52 | 6083710 Farqued Up
Farqued Up's picture

For the children! Never mind the dumbed down teachers can retire in their 40s after having worked only 8-9 months a year. Alabama is fucked but won't do what's called for, cut the gravy train for state employees.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:41 | 6082642 Kprime
Kprime's picture

I think another toke on that medicinal will help clear things up.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:41 | 6082640 Kprime
Kprime's picture

GDP is saved single-handedly, or do you work two handed while you suck?  Is there an extra charge??

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 20:47 | 6083214 Freddie
Freddie's picture

McShame's Arizona is broke too?  They need more illegal aliens like Calliefornia.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 22:14 | 6083439 N3mo
N3mo's picture

I really wish this whole "bankrupt" meme would die already.

No, the states are not broke. No, the cities are not broke.

There is a difference between a "budget deficit" and being broke. A budget ONLY takes into account tax revenues. A CAFR takes into account monies from ALL SOURCES.

Look up the CAFRs for every entity that claims they are broke.

DO IT. They are public domain.

ALL of these fraudulent entities are literally rolling in dough. Yes, even a shithole like Detroit.

FFS, just the cash reserves of the California University system would be enough to run the ENTIRE STATE OF CALIFORNIA for a year.

Look it up. Actually do it. This is not tin.

If the Public was more aware that every entity, from municipalities up to the Federal States and the Federal (Reserve) Government themselves had massive income from investments (and shadier sources), they couldn't very well be blackmailed/guilted/scared/extorted into paying more protection money to the Red White and Blue Mafia.

Quick and dirty example: A widow owns a diamond mine. It generates $300K in revenues per year. She sets herself a modest budget of $30K per year to live on. Her actual living expenses turn out to be $38K. Oh no! She has a budget deficit of $8K!!! I guess she had better have a fundraiser.

Replace widow with Federal Franchises and fundraiser with raising taxes.

Yes. You should be pissed.

Forget "show me the law."

Show me the CAFR

Estimated income for the Federal (Reserve) Government alone is $100 trillion per-annum (mostly from drugs, guns, and human trafficking).

Thank you DEA Inc., ATF Inc., and CPS Inc., respectively.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 23:12 | 6083628 neilhorn
neilhorn's picture

The states are broken as long as the leaders of the states look to d.c. as the solution of their peoples' problems. I don't need MA, CA, NE or UT telling me how to live my life. We are a federation of states not a monolith of agreement.

Tue, 05/12/2015 - 04:21 | 6084006 N3mo
N3mo's picture

MA, CA, and NE are not places.

They are designations for the Federal Franchises, and occupy the footprint of the Capitols.

Now, MASSACHUSETTS, CALIFORNIA, AND NEBRASKA...those are all real places.

Kick out the City-State satellite franchises, then kick out the City-State. Remarkably simple solution.

D.C. is not welcome in America anymore.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 18:04 | 6082715 upWising
upWising's picture

take 30 seconds when you see this Butterfly Shit here (My sister-in-law's bastard love child two trailers down from me makes $1200/hour....)  several comments above:

1) write:  abuse@zerohedge.com

2) 6082533   -->paste message number in the Subject Line and write SPAM SPAM  (it's the blue number to the right of the poster's name, in this case "Butterflying")

3) step on the Butterfly.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 20:11 | 6083094 silverer
silverer's picture

Thanks.  That AND the heads up to the IRS.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 22:41 | 6083550 TheReplacement
TheReplacement's picture

Speaking of which - post this as a reply on each spam msg so people can do their civic duty.

 

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/How-Do-You-Report-Suspected-Tax-Fraud-Act...

 

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 23:20 | 6083644 MonsterBox
MonsterBox's picture

Not a big fan of the IRS,  but cretins like Butterfly deserve the ass-rape.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 20:43 | 6083202 Freddie
Freddie's picture

My sister-in-law's bastard love child two trailers down from me makes $1200/hour....

What law firm does he work for in Wash DC or on Wall Street?

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 23:34 | 6083676 neilhorn
neilhorn's picture

Butterflies are free.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 18:38 | 6082847 Buster Cherry
Buster Cherry's picture

Having your ass pounded till your ears leak is no way to make a living sweetie.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 23:36 | 6083680 neilhorn
neilhorn's picture

Maybe I like it that way.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 18:45 | 6082874 Silverhog
Silverhog's picture

Hey creepnoid. Craigslist is wide open to self abuse. 

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 19:19 | 6082962 Tall Tom
Tall Tom's picture

Every single post from here and on up will be deleted when they delete that bastard's post.

 

Just a heads up.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 19:23 | 6082969 acetinker
acetinker's picture

So it's serially linked?  Is that what happened early last month?

Good catch, TT!

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 21:08 | 6083303 TheFourthStoog-ing
TheFourthStoog-ing's picture

STFU

Sat, 05/16/2015 - 17:05 | 6099165 acetinker
acetinker's picture

On a scale of one to ten, Tall Tom is off the scale crazy.  You, on the other hand, are to be despised for trying to hijack the Shemp.

Shemp's a good guy.  You are definitely not.

edit:  If TT makes it this far downthread, he needs to know that to be considered sane in an insane world is no indicator of mental health.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 22:13 | 6083473 rwe2late
rwe2late's picture

 really?

can't they simply edit the message to something like

"spam - deleted"

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 22:44 | 6083555 TheReplacement
TheReplacement's picture

Prefer Tyler deletes entire thread

Prefer Tyler edits people's posts

 

I prefer delete for fairly obvious reasons.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 23:40 | 6083688 neilhorn
neilhorn's picture

Delete thread? I hope Tyler is not govt. "The govt shall not prohibit free speech." is basic.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:21 | 6082569 Kirk2NCC1701
Kirk2NCC1701's picture

Well, they'd better whack those Saudi oil wells and raise the price of crude, and make Alaska cash rich again.

Or do we let the Saudis buy it up? Remind me again who is whose BFF?

/mildly sarc

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:35 | 6082619 CrazyCooter
CrazyCooter's picture

We (Alaska) will be fine. Just like any other country/state with too much oil revenue, the politicos love to spend spend spend. There is A LOT of stuff that should be cut. In the long run, we are going back to a territorial life anyway.

You only need two resources to get a good handle on the fiscal future of AK:

Right now the state lawmakers are Republican majority and we got a weird governor rep/dem ticket in the mansion and they want to tap reserves to expand medicare. The R's bailed on break and part of me thinks they may not come back to finish funding the budget for the rest of the budget year being debated. There is no way they are coming up with 3.2B in sustainable tax revenue - no way no how.

Also front and center in their pissing contest is the gas pipeline from the north slope. I don't think there are economics in the gas pipeline they have been trying to push for years now. If there were, they would have built it already. It needs a bag holder to make money for the energy companies/investors.

Oh, and for icing on the cake, the government worker pension is one of the most unfunded out there. On the up side, we have fat piggy banks!

Regards,

Cooter

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:41 | 6082643 813kml
813kml's picture

Maybe AK can lease a naval base to Russia.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 18:20 | 6082791 ATM
ATM's picture

Or stop doing those cash giveaways to every citizens (if they still do that).

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 21:35 | 6083366 847328_3527
847328_3527's picture

Alaska simply has to catch and can their mosquitoes and market it as "Hi Protein Food."

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 23:45 | 6083699 neilhorn
neilhorn's picture

Please tell your state rep to stop spending!

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 23:42 | 6083696 neilhorn
neilhorn's picture

Can you stop the Sauds?. Do you have an inside track that you can contact to tell him to stop the insanity?

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:36 | 6082624 Kprime
Kprime's picture

In 50 years production will only be about 70% of peak production.  It will be falling ever more rapidly.  In fact, it's likely in the next 50 years all oil will become nationalize.  The great energy bail in.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 18:40 | 6082857 sessinpo
sessinpo's picture

And you are making an assumption of what consumption will be  in 50 years. Well that type of thinking turned to shit for just in the last 2 years.

It won't be a bail in. It will be global war because of failing economies around the world. History repeats.

While bail ins may be initiated in the beginning, it will ultimatly fail because bail ins or bail outs are based on a corrupt failed fait currency banking system.

Anyway, if you haven't prepared for self sufficiency, then it is almost a waste of time to converse with you other then the scant hope one can convince others to prepare and stop blaming others. Blaming others isn't going to stop what is ahead. Preparing yourself just might ease the burden a bit. I want the best for you in this shit world.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 20:25 | 6083134 chubbar
chubbar's picture

+1 for understanding the situation.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 23:49 | 6083704 neilhorn
neilhorn's picture

Does global war include someone coming into my house to look down the barrel of my gun? Let him come.

Tue, 05/12/2015 - 01:53 | 6083864 SilverFish
SilverFish's picture

Not so fast there, John Wayne. If it's you and your gun against 30 UN troops armed to the teeth, you're gonna lose that one every single time, so unless you plan on going out in a blaze of glory and ultimately losing in the end, I'd suggest maybe picking and choosing your battles a bit more wisely. I would suggest Costa Rica or another central american country where you would be under the radar.

 

I guess it all comes down to which is more important to you........standing your ground and going out a hero dying for god and country, or living another day as a free man somewhere else where the fight isn't quite so hot.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 18:32 | 6082818 sessinpo
sessinpo's picture

AldousHuxley    IN 50 years, oil companies are the only few still standing.

-----

In 50 years, the world will be depopulated  as to not need so much oil. You need to re learn your Huxley, or maybe not since he was a hollywood type. He was blind in several ways. I'll let you figure what I mean by that on your own.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:11 | 6082530 Butterflying
Butterflying's picture

My last pay check was $9500 working 12 hours a week online. My sisters friend has been averaging 15k for months now and she works about 20 hours a week. I can't believe how easy it was once I tried it out. This is what I do... www.jobs-review.com

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 19:18 | 6082957 itstippy
itstippy's picture

I lost 12 pounds in two days eating a simple diet of prune juice, lima beans, and a patented extract.  You can too!  Find out more at www.explosivshitz.com  

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 20:09 | 6083085 silverer
silverer's picture

I think you're full of shit.  But if it's true, don't worry.  I've sent a copy of your post to the IRS to make sure you pay your 'fair share'.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 23:51 | 6083706 neilhorn
neilhorn's picture

No doubt the shit is running if you are drinking that much prune juice.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 18:51 | 6082898 doctor10
doctor10's picture

The Ho's in DC haven't figured it out yet-but this is Fed.gov's balance sheet in about 3 years

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 21:16 | 6083314 drendebe10
drendebe10's picture

Progressive liberal democrap:   "Gimmee all your money because I know how to spend it better than you."

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 22:16 | 6083482 rubiconsolutions
rubiconsolutions's picture

Looks like Illinois is up to their ears in debt. Maybe Rahm can get a grant from the Clinton Foundation to pay that off. Or would that be cronyism?

Tue, 05/12/2015 - 02:09 | 6083873 SilverFish
SilverFish's picture

I live 30 min from the state capital where newly elected Bruce Rauner, republican governor, is trying his damndest to make cuts wherever he can. It's almost comical and I kinda feel bad for the guy, but he took on that losers game himself, so I don't really feel all that bad, to be honest.  He tries freezing pay for anyone, or even cutting back a few percentage points on roads, prison money, education etc, the picket signs come out in droves almost on a daily basis if there's even a WHISPER of maybe, possibly even just talking about making any cuts in government.

 

The whole thing is a joke on both sides of the argument. On one side, you have these republicans trying to make budget cuts that won't make an ass-hairs worth of difference in the states budget situation, then on the other side, you have the socialist-fund everything to the hilt types that have no idea what's coming down the pike in a very short time here and think the spending will just go on forever with no end. It's like being in an insane asylum where the patients and the doctors are both completely bat-shit crazy.

 

It's kinda fun to watch, but it's also kinda sad too.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:06 | 6082500 pndr4495
pndr4495's picture

I am shocked that New Jersey avoided making this list.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:08 | 6082508 JLee2027
JLee2027's picture

They bribed the accountant.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:22 | 6082576 stacking12321
stacking12321's picture

former governor corzine "vaporized" new jersey's debt. problem solved.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 23:52 | 6083711 neilhorn
neilhorn's picture

Former governor? Who is governor now? Why should he run my life?

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:09 | 6082511 SERReal1
SERReal1's picture

I am even more shocked that CA was not on the list.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:10 | 6082523 AldousHuxley
AldousHuxley's picture

blame 2 senators for each state system.

 

Population = people voting with their feet. so why give enormous power to idiots in backward states?

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:14 | 6082544 Salah
Salah's picture

Make NYC & L.I. one state, ditto Rhode Is. & Conn, NH & Vermont (snooty bastards), ND & SD, and then cut California into 3 states.  Fuck, even the Mexicans had enough sense to make the Baja 2 states.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 19:22 | 6082967 upWising
upWising's picture

Californians from San Diego to Siskiyou are signing the petition to put a question on the November 2016 ballot to explore California declaring Sovereignty and retaining many of the rights now held by the Federal Government.  It's finding support from across the political spectrum.

www.sovereignca.org

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 22:05 | 6083453 Hyjinx
Hyjinx's picture

Can't happen soon enough!  Fuck'em!

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 23:57 | 6083719 neilhorn
neilhorn's picture

The Seneca, Algonquin and Lenai Lenape had similar ideas. Our constitution was inspired by the Iriquios.

 

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 23:54 | 6083713 neilhorn
neilhorn's picture

Repeal the 17th amendment

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 23:55 | 6083715 neilhorn
neilhorn's picture

Define backward state.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:30 | 6082607 lunaticfringe
lunaticfringe's picture

How in the fuck did California not find itself on this map? Beginning to think this map is bullshat.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:43 | 6082654 Babaloo
Babaloo's picture

California is running very large surpluses, to the tune of several billion dollars a year.  Some of the surplus is due to income taxes on the top 1% or so which were increased recently and some due to what has been a fairly robust economic recovery in some parts of California.

 

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:49 | 6082677 Billy the Poet
Billy the Poet's picture

Redistributed wealth everywhere but not a drop to drink.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 18:11 | 6082758 seminal1
seminal1's picture

California should be on that list if unfunded liabilities of up to $500 billion are counted. Included in that total are $80 billion needed to cover teachers' pensions and $64 billion to pay for state workers' health care in retirement -- two particularly troublesome liabilities because the state isn't even making the minimum payments on them.

http://articles.latimes.com/2014/apr/09/opinion/la-oe-fritz-pension-liab...

http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_24998205/californias-wall-debt-...

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 18:16 | 6082773 Babaloo
Babaloo's picture

They're talking income statement here, not balance sheet.  Every state and every country is "broke" if you add up all the liabilities. 

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 18:28 | 6082813 Chupacabra-322
Chupacabra-322's picture

Hello, the Criminal Fraud UNITED STATES, CORP. INC. has been Bankrupted since 1933 & The Banking Emergency Act of 1933 with the 14th Amendment making all Americans / Birth Certificates collateralized / securitized Slaves / Debt Instruments.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 18:35 | 6082838 847328_3527
847328_3527's picture

Cali Gubnor Jimmy Brown will save the day with the Mexican border-to-LA hyperbolic railway [built by China].

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 18:49 | 6082887 knukles
knukles's picture

The cleaning ladies need a way to get to work.
Don't mess with the Illuminati Propagandistas in HolyWeird.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 19:24 | 6082972 Beowulf55
Beowulf55's picture

Hell, Kansas is $9.8 Billion in the hole if you count the underfunded State workers retirement program.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 20:12 | 6083098 acetinker
acetinker's picture

Technically, Chup- The Declaration of Independence, the War of Northern Aggresson, the resultant Act of 1871, the creation of the Federal Reserve and Nixon's closing of the 'gold window' are each and all declarations of bankruptcy.

Somewhere interspersed is the killing of the Bank of the United States, by Old Hickory, who also banished the Cherokee nation to oblivion.

Nobody's perfekt, I presume.

Still, you are correct that the banking emergency act was probably the most significant act of treason against the people of America in the 20th century.  It was signed into law by FDR, who is regaled as one of the greatest presidents we ever had.

Makes my head hurt.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 18:19 | 6082786 Coletrane
Coletrane's picture

california has $423B in debt

 

with only $407B in revenues.........i am shocked too

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:22 | 6082573 Doubleguns
Doubleguns's picture

NJ is just better with smoke and mirrors. 

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 20:50 | 6083229 Freddie
Freddie's picture

They hid the bodies...er I mean liabilities in South Jersey.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 18:21 | 6082797 Bobbyrib
Bobbyrib's picture

Yeah, our state government must have lied its ass off about the state deficit and the level of retirement funding for the .gov.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 19:31 | 6082985 Sophist Economicus
Sophist Economicus's picture

Ahhh!    That is the flaw with this article's analysis.    NJ, NY, IL and other states have 'off balance sheet' liabilities -- think any of the mass transit bonds, the Meadowlands bonds, infrastructure bonds, etc.      There are billions and billions of bonds, the tax payers have no visibility to them and when they implode, stand back!

 

 

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 20:34 | 6083165 acetinker
acetinker's picture

Stand back?  I'd say lay on your belly with your face down so your eyeballs don't get torched.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:08 | 6082507 TheInfoman
TheInfoman's picture

Huh?  California and New York are in good shape? 

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:09 | 6082510 kowalli
kowalli's picture

They can lie better.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:09 | 6082517 SERReal1
SERReal1's picture

Or tax the hell out of the populace better.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:11 | 6082526 Ignatius
Ignatius's picture

Looks like California can leverage their relative financial health and buy some much needed water from Washington state.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 18:15 | 6082772 seminal1
seminal1's picture

Not so fast, California's financial health is a mirage....California would be on that bankrupt list if unfunded liabilities of up to $500 billion are taken into account. 

 

 

Tue, 05/12/2015 - 00:09 | 6083741 Farqued Up
Farqued Up's picture

They will walk that check.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 18:26 | 6082808 Citxmech
Citxmech's picture

Washington will do fine as soon as all those pot revenues start rolling in. . . right?

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:12 | 6082536 Fukushima Fricassee
Fukushima Fricassee's picture

I was thinking WTF myself.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 20:06 | 6083072 silverer
silverer's picture

That's because they wisely already tax everyone into infinity, then turn off their water so they leave.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:09 | 6082518 kowalli
kowalli's picture

Anyone? someone? pls tell me it's a recovery

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:24 | 6082583 DontGive
DontGive's picture

Given that the whole system is artificial and built on fraud - these stats are meaningless.

Just more excuses to print moar!

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:51 | 6082684 TeamDepends
TeamDepends's picture

Jesus. Just saw W morph into Barry morph into Satan on your avatar.

Tue, 05/12/2015 - 02:04 | 6083870 Ex-MislTech
Ex-MislTech's picture

That is not Satan after Barry that is Rahm, oh wait....nvm...

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 22:36 | 6083535 tarabel
tarabel's picture

 

 

It's a recovery.

You're welcome.

 

//s//

Lucifer, Prince of Darkness and FOB

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:11 | 6082524 Salah
Salah's picture

Most of this is nothing some course-correction (spending cuts, etc) can't help.  But I'd be getting out of Illinois asap if I was just starting out...that Friday ISC ruling was the kiss of death for more taxes.

Mon, 05/11/2015 - 17:11 | 6082527 new game
new game's picture

haves and have nots state by state. socialism cures all, what part of taxing the shit out of everyone doesn't cure the overspending problem. who cares about the future-today baby, today-give me da free money!

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