Prop. 105 would accomplish one big thing
There is much to dislike in Phoenix’s Proposition 105.
But it would accomplish one big thing: Stop pouring good money after bad into a fixed rail system.
Let’s step back for a big picture view. A metro area as large as ours should have a public transportation system that enables people to get around without a car. That’s just a governmental service that should be available. And such a system will have to be heavily subsidized by taxpayers.
The Phoenix metro area doesn’t have such a system.
Public transportation is only a reasonable alternative from and to a narrow range of geographical locations. For the most part, it’s an inconvenient and time-consuming way to get around for those with no other option.
And the system isn’t really getting markedly better. There is telling evidence of this in the stagnant ridership
You can’t spend more than you take in year after year without very bad consequences.
Washington still hasn’t figured this out.
President Donald Trump and Congress hammered out a new budget that has passed the House and is now waiting for a Senate vote. Trump praised the news.
“I am pleased to announce that a deal has been struck with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy - on a two-year Budget and Debt Ceiling, with no poison pills,” he said on Twitter. “This was a real compromise in order to give another big victory to our Great Military and Vets!”
The “big victory” is anything but. The deal would raise federal spending by about $320 billion over what was planned. Worse still, it extends the debt ceiling for two years, allowing unchecked borrowing until 2021. That’s not a ceiling. More like a retractable roof.
One of the few Republican accomplishments during the Obama years was the threat of government shutdowns if budgets weren’t approved on time. That forced Congress to compromise and at least attempt to balance the books. The debt still grew, but not as fast as Democrats wanted it to.
With Trump’s budget, that commonsense check would be gone, right when the national debt it headed toward a staggering $23 trillion.
I remember way back when to 2016 when Republicans pretended to care about the deficit. They ridiculed Obama for doubling the debt, even though George W. Bush doubled it during his tenure.
Thankfully, there are a few Republicans who still want to hold the line.
Most House Republicans voted against the deal, as did 23 in the Senate, including Rick Scott of Florida, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Mike Lee and Mitt Romney of Utah.
The grumbling in the upper chamber has even led McConnell to distance himself, referring to the deal as “the Administration-Pelosi budget agreement.”
Nevertheless, both the Senate majority leader and the president whipped votes for the fiscal train wreck.
Trump was never a fan of fiscal responsibility. He campaigned on not reforming our unsustainable entitlement system and bragged that the government never has to default “because you print the money.”