The state budget crisis could be solved with one bit of proactive decision making by Governor Mike Easley. Last Friday, the Employment Security Commission sent us three separate envelopes full of meaningless junk. The main piece of junk was a column by good old Harry E. Payne, the chairman of the North Carolina Employment Security Commission. Payne is attempting to become the most well known man in North Carolina, and he is using the Employment Security Commission as his vehicle. It is a tough row to hoe, but he is making the best of it.
The way Easley could balance the state's budget is to take away Payne's postage meter. If Payne sends out any more mail, he's going to have to start writing worldwide notices about what he had for dinner or maybe what he's wearing to work. If he did that, he'd have an excuse to send out more pictures of himself.
The state is supposed to be in a budget crunch, but from all appearances the state is spending money just like it did way back when it was collecting more money than it was spending.
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North Carolina's bond rating dropped a full step from AAA to AA because the Democratic legislature can't balance the budget and the Democratic governor solves the problem by stealing money from the cities and counties. It's a wonder the bond agencies didn't drop North Carolina right off the charts.
But it is funny. For years North Carolina politicians have bragged about our AAA bond rating and how important it was to have that. It means much more that just lower bond rates; it tells industry that we are a fiscally conservative state that knows how to handle money. But now that we lost the AAA rating, the politicians are out on the street corner declaring that it really doesn't matter much anyway, that a AAA is nice but so is a AA.
If the rating drops to a D minus, those same politicians will be out in front of the cameras talking about how the main thing is just passing, and saying that although D minus is not a great grade, it is a passing grade and that is all anyone cares about.