Kentucky has added $2.46 billion in bonded debt over the last three years, that we know about. Frankfort politicians have figured out they don't have to go through the political pain of raising taxes or cutting spending, because so few people pay attention to mounting state debt.
And this doesn't even include the debt of unfunded pension liabilities which are piling up even faster. While harder to track, they are no less attributable to political opportunism of elected representatives who have neglected for years to appropriately set money aside.
Kentucky's balanced budget requirement does not preclude politicians from borrowing or refusing to fund future liabilities. That shouldn't be hard to fix.
Please forward this post as widely as possible. If we accomplish one thing in the 2012 General Assembly, this should be it.
