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| This state is debt free. Why isn't Washington? |
| 2024-08-17 |
| Due to West Coast migration, inspired by "Yellowstone". [FoxNews] "To preserve our independence," Thomas Jefferson once said, "we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt." Or, as Benjamin Franklin said, in his everyman style, "those who go a-borrowing, go a-sorrowing." The warning from our founders has fallen by the wayside. Reckless spending by career politicians in Washington has left our nation and future generations saddled with $35 trillion in debt, as was recently noted by the Department of Treasury. It does not have to be this way. In Montana, we chose a different path. Our state is debt-free. Thanks to good fiscal discipline and strong budget management, we had a budget surplus of $2.5 billion in 2023. While some in Washington might look at a surplus of that size and be tempted to expand government, we resisted. Instead, we allocated the surplus as any family would. First, we returned over $1 billion to taxpayers through tax cuts and reductions. As a general principle, I believe hardworking Montanans deserve to keep more of what they earn. It's their money, not the government's. That's why we delivered the largest property tax and income tax rebates in state history. We also provided the biggest income tax cut in state history. These supplements are especially vital as hardworking Montanans, like all Americans, face the affordability and inflationary crisis created by President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris's spending spree. The issue is not the debt, it's the 'stupid government spending': Ken FisherVideo Second, we stopped kicking the can down the road and fixed what was broken. Just like a family would make needed repairs to their home, we made one-time capital investments to address deferred building maintenance, improvements to our prisons, building and repairing roads and bridges, and providing historic investments into our behavioral health system. But I was clear: We should not plant acorns that would grow into mighty oaks in perpetual need of constant watering, trimming and feeding. Third, we doubled our rainy day fund and other reserves to secure our strong future. |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #5 Easy to do when you have 10,000 property owners coveting 10,000 acres each! |
| Posted by: Harry Platypus2574 2024-08-17 22:55 |
| #4 Maybe they 'invested' their COVID dollars successfully. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2024-08-17 17:19 |
| #3 Virginia governor celebrates state's $1 billion surplus |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2024-08-17 08:16 |
| #2 Cause they can't print their own |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2024-08-17 06:44 |
| #1 Bravo Montana. |
| Posted by: DooDahMan 2024-08-17 05:31 |