Bill Clinton: States need to be "more conservative and responsible" with budgets

[marmar]

I guess you can't teach an old Big Dawg new tricks.


PHILADELPHIA -- Former President Bill Clinton says states need to become more responsible budgeters.

Even though most states are required to balance their budgets, in practice they don't do it, and "years of irresponsible budgeting" have led to the current crisis, Clinton said Tuesday at a symposium in Philadelphia designed to bring attention to the eroding financial condition of state governments.

"We shouldn't let this crisis pass without using it as an opportunity to reform budget systems up and down the line," Clinton, a former Arkansas governor, said at the National Constitution Center. "And they essentially need to be more conservative and responsible."

He also expressed support for immigration legislation making its way through the Senate as well as an Internet sales tax, saying both would broaden the tax base. And he said states and cities should work to attract private investment to infrastructure projects. ........................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/25/bill-clinton-state-budgets_n_3497978.html?ncid=txtlnkushpmg00000037

[Deep13]

1. Wrong. The two things are incompatible. nt

[dsc]

2. I take it he means fiscally conservative

in that you pay for what you buy. The fact is he is right. The GOP does at the state level what it does at the national one. Cut taxes, give out tax breaks, engage in crony capitalism, and run up debt.

[marmar]

3. But he's still pushing that 'privatizing the Commons' mantra.

[DURHAM D]

4. So you just made this up?

[marmar]

5. huh?

[Populist_Prole]

6. Whaddya' expect from Mr Third-Way himself?

[badtoworse]

7. P3 is the coming thing and Clinton is right.

Why should we put up with crappy, crumbling infrastructure just because it's publically owned? If states and municipalities don't have the money to fix it, what's wrong with a public private partnership? Oh wait, I forgot - private investors might get a return on their invested capital and that would be horrific.

[Zen Democrat]

9. BS. We have foreign nations owning our highways and charging us to drive on them.

This land is MY land. This land is YOUR land. We should pay as a country for common benefits. That's what makes us a nation.

[badtoworse]

11. I see rusty bridges, spalling concrete and potholes

I see airports that are inadequate for the traffic they are handling and roads that need to be widened. I see water and waste water systems that need to be upgraded. What I don't see is government with the money to do these things.

You might be OK with that; I'm not.

[blm]

8. BULLSHIT!!! 8 years of George Bush and a fascist Congress hurt states.

But, I doubt you want to say that TODAY. You only admit the truth about Bush and the fascist agenda of the GOP when you're in front of an audience that already KNOWS the truth.

[byeya]

12. + + +

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

10. Most states are constitutionally required to balance their budgets, so on this issue, I agree.