So, the Democrats in North Carolina just passed a new budget. Twenty-one BILLION dollars worth of a budget. Yes, that’s $21,355,967,434.00. For just one state. And I, for one, think that’s an awful lot of money, even if the Democrat Legislators don’t care — because after all, it’s not their money, they don’t really care how much they spend, do they?
$2.6 billion goes to The University of North Carolina. What? You actually thought that tuition paid for schools? Obviously not. Wouldn’t that be neat, though? To have optional institutions actually take in money to pay for their own operations? Instead, you, the taxpayer, whether you’re using the schools or not, will pay for other people to get an education. And that’s on top of the just under $1 billion given to the Community College system that the Democrats want to educate illegal immigrants (while claiming taxpayer money isn’t used to educate illegals).
But hey, how can we possible live without giving $78 million to the “Rural Economic Development Center?” I guess without that expenditure, no one would ever build anything in any rural areas. Whew, glad government could save that one for me.
And remember all those “free” bonds that have passed over the years? Yes, just like the one that’s one the ballot this fall for “roads?” This year North Carolina had to pay $678 MILLION in debt service. Any of you good readers have a credit card where you carry a balance? You see that little “finance charge” section? Right, that’s money you’re giving away — and North Carolina just spend $678 million on their finance charges — for just this year. There’s a reason that you’re not supposed to borrow from Peter to pay Paul.
But back to roads for a moment. Now remember, in North Carolina, the roads are crappy. They are under construction often — but usually long after they should have been repaired. They are not expanded until many years too late. Many roads are absolutely filled with potholes. The Democrats are trying to build toll roads because they claim they don’t have enough money to build roads. And this fall, Democrats are pushing to borrow huge sums of money because they claim they don’t have enough cash for roads. Now, shall we examine the Democrat budget for 2008-2009?
Under “income to the state,” we find $172 million transfer from the Highway Trust Fund. The next line has $17 million from the Highway Fund. To be clear, this is money that was already collected for the sole purpose of building roads — and the Democrats have taken it FROM the road funds and placed it in the general fund. The Democrats have been doing this for over a decade. And this year they actually stole LESS from the highway funds than in the past!
Know what else the Democrats have voted to do with money that was collected to build and repair roads? $32 million for ferry operations. Which would you rather have — cheap ferry service or good roads? Which helps more people? $21 million to railroads. Once again, which carries more people and goods to places they need to be — highways or railroads? But wait, there’s more!
There’s one line in the budget that just really lets you know where the priorities of the Democrats in North Carolina lie. The Democrats voted to take over $250 million that was collected to build and repair roads and “transfer [it to] other state agencies.” In other words, Democrats had $250 million to build roads and they chose to give it to their pals in state government including things like “Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement Compensation.”
When you hear legislators complaining that they “need” more money, realize what they’re really saying. They’re saying they “need” more money so they can spend it on things they like — not because the state needs a dime to actually do the things they should be doing. And while we do need roads, we do NOT need to borrow money to build them — instead we need to use the money we already have — we just need fiscally responsible people to account for it.
Popularity: 25% [?]
Tags: North Carolina Government by Ogre
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