Commentary

Why can’t government stop diggin?

State and local government’s ability to create their next financial crisis is stunning. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. It is so very predictable. Friday’s USA Today had a front page article on how state and local governments kept hiring even as revenues were falling, and now (forehead slap) there’s not enough money! The best part in in the little text box:

Changes in government and private sector employment from June 2007 to June 2008: Government: +264,000 Private sector: -431,000 Where new government jobs went: Local: 165,000 State: 77,000 Federal: 22,000