Thread by @GREENESJ333

Roger Froikin @rlefraim wrote, "The Reality of State and City Debt

There is a handful of US states and large cities with so much debt that, unless they act to reduce it soon, we will see tragedy.
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The States: California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Kentucky. The Cities: New York, San Francisco, Chicago.

You see, when one is in debt, there are limited ways to handle that debt.
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One can increase income, decrease expenses, or defer debt to a future point in time through alternate debt. That is true of individuals, families, or government.
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The problem these states and cities have is this: the only ways they can increase revenue are to raise property taxes, state income taxes, or fees for all sorts of licenses, permits, incorporation costs, etc.
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The only way they can reduce expenses is to reduce pension benefits to employees (sometimes banned by law, as in Connecticut), reduce services, or cut the cost of government through downsizing—all of which can generally lead to a loss of the taxpaying population,
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reduction in property values by reducing demand and increasing supply, or force them to come up with some idea to reverse decline.
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One thing these states and cities have done in the past is rely on allied federal-level lobbies and politicians to get the federal government to save them from bankruptcy.
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In short, taxpayers in states that spend responsibly are being forced to subsidize those states where spending is irresponsible.
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Frankly, that is morally wrong. It lets politicians who overspend to buy votes, like the Romans used to do to keep the masses quiet, off the hook, not needing to be responsible. Remember, one of the main reasons Rome fell was debt (that’s for another article).
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So New York City wants to make transport free, housing subsidized, illegal migrants provided free housing and healthcare, and then demands that the federal government save them from bankruptcy with money taken from Americans in Ohio, Texas, Florida, and other states,
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claiming that New York is so important that the rest of the country should pay its bills. The same politicians are now looking for a way to stop businesses from leaving New York.
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And not only New York. California is not preparing to tax people’s net worth while talking about how to prevent Californians from leaving the state with their wealth and businesses.
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So, should the federal government and the taxpayers in 44 states with responsible taxation and budgeting pay for the policies of six states and several cities that arrogantly believe they have some right to money from those who handle things responsibly?
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There is, of course, another way states and cities can solve their debt problem, and that is through economic growth. The problem is that the first thing they do is refuse to do the things that can spur growth and invite investment."
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