Tagged: debt

An annual report that describes the state’s financial outlook shows that Kentucky has once again gone deeper into debt.

The report, when compared with past years, shows the state added more than $110 million in debt during the last fiscal year.

Tea Party activist David Adams says that number shows that claims by Governor Steve Beshear that he’s balanced the budget 10 times are false.

State budget officials say they are paying close attention to revenue as the state budget sees a flat growth at the start of the fiscal year.

Budget director Mary Lassiter says in her monthly briefing that August revenues ticked up, helping make up 2 percent of losses in July. But that leaves revenues flat, while forecasters had expected an almost 3 percent growth this year.

Lassiter says while warning alarms aren’t going off yet, steady declines in income and sales taxes is giving her office causes for concern.

U.S. Sen. Dan Coats, R-In., joined a chorus of GOP lawmakers who are highlighting that the gross national debt reached $16 trillion on Tuesday.

Several Republican lawmakers have underscored that the debt hit the historic mark as the Democratic National Convention kicks off its re-election pitch for President Barack Obama.

Coast says the trillions in debt is no reason to celebrate and will burden each citizen, adding the the fiscal crisis is also a national security issues.

From Coat's office:

"Today, the United States national debt exceeded $16 trillion for the first time.

Although a historic moment for our nation, this is no occasion to celebrate. Instead, this sobering milestone is an indictment of Washington’s failure to address the most pressing challenge facing our country.

Our federal government’s unsustainable debt is not just a fiscal crisis; it’s a national security crisis as well. Overwhelming red ink jeopardizes the security of our country and makes us more vulnerable to the foreign countries providing the borrowed money used to subsidize our excessive spending. We must stop the bleeding.