What’s another $160 billion? The U.S. Government already borrowed $3 trillion dollars in 2020 to run the day-to-day monolith of government ($4.5 Trillion) and another $2 trillion for COVID-19 relief & economic stimulus.
Proposals for the next round of stimulus have come in as large as $2.2 trillion. Senators Inhofe and Lankford have held the line on the crazy spending demands from D.C. Democrats. We need them to stay strong and ensure any further borrowed dollars remain targeted to COVID-19 needs and more importantly… temporary. Discussions around massive bailouts of local and state governments will only create a long-term recipe for trouble.
Thousands of Oklahoma businesses and workers have learned to adjust to tough circumstances. As a small business owner for the past 24 years, I’ve done the same. Local governments can afford to follow suit. If not, we can expect government to come back to raise taxes on us when the stimulus dries up.
This year, the Oklahoma Tax Commission reset revenue expectations and the State Legislature wisely acted to reduced spending by 4%. Other states should take note. Unfortunately, any current bailout of the States will simply reward those like California who have run amuck and built budgets with credit cards all while throwing pennies at Oklahoma who has done right by its taxpayers. Let’s not subsidize bad behavior.