Today's paper: borrowed money and 10-questions
From today's paper:
- * I had 10 questions for Rep. Pricey Harrison, including paper or plastic. Answer: neither.
- * It used to be if the honorables wanted to borrow money in your name, they'd ask first. Not so much anymore:
According to a debt study by the state treasurer's office, North Carolina did not issue debt without voter approval until 2001. And although voter-approved bonds are still the bulk of the state's borrowing, the process has changed substantially.
North Carolina now owes about $940 million in loans that voters did not get to approve. If signed by Gov. Mike Easley, the budget legislators passed last week would nearly double that amount.
For many taxpayers, the difference between a general obligation bond that voters approve and so-called "certificates of participation" that the state can issue without a vote is the stuff of minutiae.
But an increasing number of state legislators and observers on the political left and right say that voters should be looking askance at the state running up its borrowing without seeking permission.
Click here to read the whole thing.
I figure that when the conservative Locke folks and the liberal Budget and Tax Center are in the same groove, it's a concept worth paying some attention.