Talk about mismanagement of finances!!!
This state I'm living in is finished.
Oh, and this TAXPAYER BAILOUT is going to BANKS, folks!!!
Makes you feel great, especially considering some of the other Massachusetts posts I have up today.
"Big Dig's red ink engulfs state; Cost spirals to $22b; crushing debt sidetracks other work, pushes agency toward insolvency" by Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff | July 17, 2008
Massachusetts residents got a shock when state officials, at the peak of construction on the Big Dig project, disclosed that the price tag had ballooned to nearly $15 billion. But that, it turns out, was just the beginning.
Now, three years after the official dedication of the Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel, the state is reeling under a legacy of debt left by the massive project. In all, the project will cost an additional $7 billion in interest, bringing the total to a staggering $22 billion, according to a Globe review of hundreds of pages of state documents. It will not be paid off until 2038.
Contrary to the popular belief that this was a project heavily subsidized by the federal government, 73 percent of construction costs were paid by Massachusetts drivers and taxpayers. To meet that obligation, the state's annual payments will be nearly as much over the next several years, $600 million or more, as they were in the heaviest construction period.
So all the promises, etc, once more turned out to be lies!
Big Dig payments have already sucked maintenance and repair money away from deteriorating roads and bridges across the state, forcing the state to float more highway bonds and to go even deeper into the hole.
No wonder the roads are so shitty around here!
We ARE fucked here in Massachusetts, ladies and gentlemen!
Among other signs of financial trouble: The state is paying almost 80 percent of its highway workers with borrowed money; the crushing costs of debt have pushed the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which manages the Big Dig, to the brink of insolvency; and Massachusetts spends a higher percentage of its highway budget on debt than any other state.
The scope of the debt has not previously been calculated, much less publicly disclosed, by the state's political leaders, including Governor Deval Patrick and his senior transportation officials. The Globe confirmed its calculations in interviews with the state's financial analysts.
The debt is a big part of why Massachusetts had the highest tax-supported debt per capita in the United States last year. Most of the Big Dig borrowing occurred when cost overruns on the tunnel network skyrocketed in the late 1990s and state officials scrambled to keep the partially completed project afloat.
The impact of the debt can be seen in some frustrating and alarming ways. During the last three years, Massachusetts spent the most of any state, by far, 38 percent of its highway budget, on debt payments, according to Globe analysis of federal data. The median is less than 6 percent nationally.
The state has also been forced to meet payroll demands for 1,400 Massachusetts Highway Department workers with borrowed money because it does not have enough cash to pay them.
So what? The governor is eating just fine, thank you!
Meanwhile, this government is handing out scads of $$$$ to favored friends like at rich Hollywood folk, Wall Street, corporate and lottery favorites while the governor PARTIES DOWN?
That means that painters and clerical workers paid around $18 an hour cost the state $28.80 an hour. The 80 percent of the workforce being paid with borrowed money compares to 14 percent before the Big Dig work began. Across the state, commuters are suffering daily for the massive shortfalls that have led to closings and stalled projects.
From the start, the Big Dig was supposed to be paid for jointly by the federal and state governments. When the project was unveiled in the early 1980s, Massachusetts residents were told by transportation officials that the federal government would pick up 90 percent of the cost.
How's it feel to get a royal fucking, Massachusetts taxpayer?
Are you happy with the LIES GOVERNMENT TOLD you to the tune of a $22 BILLION DOLLAR BOONDOGGLE?!
I mean, they didn't even build it well; didn't a tile fall off in one of the tunnels because of WATER LEAKS?
As costs mounted over the next two decades, it was the state's responsibility to make up the difference. Ultimately, the federal government paid just 27 percent of the construction costs, or about $4 billion. As a result, the Globe analysis of state and federal data shows, state taxpayers and toll-payers are responsible for a staggering $18 billion of the total $22 billion in construction and debt costs.
How does that reamed butt-hole feel, taxpayers?
The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which was brought in to oversee the Big Dig construction in 1996 as part of a financial rescue plan, borrowed $1.8 billion, but will have to pay back almost $5 billion, including interest. Its borrowing was so expensive because it was financed over 40 years, twice as long as the vast majority of government debt, with no principal due for the first 10 years.
It is now unable to keep up with its share of the state's debt payments and is in desperate need of a bailout.
And GUESS WHO is going to be forking over the dough?
The Turnpike Authority raised tolls last year, but will need to raise them again and again to stay afloat. It may even add tolls. Quantifying the amount of money that was diverted to the Big Dig from statewide road and bridge repair and construction programs is difficult. A Globe analysis of data maintained by the Federal Highway Administration shows spending for state roads and bridges lagged behind other states. If Massachusetts had kept pace, it would have spent an additional $851 million.
"The Big Dig drained funding away," Bernard Cohen, secretary of transportation said. "I can't tell you exactly how much, but it's been in the billions of dollars."
There are two sources of state highway funds: state borrowing and reimbursement to the state on federal gasoline taxes collected in Massachusetts. The Big Dig, which makes up 7.5 miles of an 11,000-mile system, gobbled up about 40 percent of those funds during the last 17 years, data show.
So far, the answer adopted by Governor Deval Patrick and his administration is a familiar one: Borrow more money to meet current transportation needs.
The guy is going to BANKRUPT THIS STATE while he throws LAVISH LUNCHES and EVADES CAMPAIGN LAWS!
Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said it simply avoids the nasty reality by borrowing deeper and longer into future:
"They are not addressing the situation, they are just shifting billions of dollars of debt to future generations. Nobody wants to be the one to increase taxes, but without taxes, it means the next generation will face a deep hole."
--MORE--"
Who is this guy, and why does the Globe quote him so much (even editorials)?
"Michael Widmer, president of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said the administration's proposal does not solve the Turnpike Authority's underlying financial problems and could lead to huge losses for the state."
Oh, that's why!
Because he is FOR HIGHER TAXES -- as long as it isn't business taxes, right?
