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Published Brownsville Herald October 28, 2007 

Many of you may not know that there is an election going on and in fact early voting began on Monday. There are sixteen amendments to the Texas State Constitution being considered, five of which authorize the state to borrow money by issuing bonds and it guarantees that the “first money coming into the treasury each fiscal year” will be used to pay the interest and principal.  The fact that these actions require approval by the entire electorate of the State and will become a permanent part of the state Constitution, make them very important. The fact that these actions are being presented at a time of historically low or less than low voter turnout makes them very suspect. 

Additionally, a quick reading of the ballot description identified several that showed little resemblance to the actual wording of the resolutions. Bond issues are the taking out of a mortgage that must be paid back with interest over a period of many years in the future which obligates the state and future governments to limit what actions they can take because the money has already been spent. If you think of it in terms of how we live, it is like a mortgage on your house. Such a loan should only be used to purchase a real, definable asset that would be expected to hold its value until the loan has been paid off. Then if something goes wrong with the economy and income, the asset could be sold or used for another purpose. Credit advisors and bankers often advise not to borrow to cover recurring expenses that should be paid for by normal income.  More »