PRELIMINARY WORKING DRAFT--NOT YET APPROVED
Debt Free Kids

Have you ever thought the following?

"I wish my parents had bought more stuff when I was a kid--and passed the debt on to me."

Of course not! --but many or most politicians seek to do exactly that with bonds.

Check out the National Debt at U.S. National Debt Clock. The average resident's share is now $20,000 $41,145.

The State of California is no stranger to debt, either. At present the state is in debt to the tune of $nn billion. The average resident's share is now $m,000.

You can't do much about the national or state debt, but you can do something to draw the line on local indebtedness:

  • In 1999 voters defeated the SMCCCD (community colleges) bond, which, with $148 million in principal and $102 million [prob. too low--check] in interest would have cost the county's 250,000 households $250 million, or $1000 apiece, over the next 25 years. [poss 30?]
  • In June 2001 voters defeated the Sequoia Union High School District bond measure, which, with $88 million in principal and $82 million in interest would have cost the district's nn,nnn households $170 million, or nearly $2,000 apiece, over the next 30 years.
  • In June 2001 voters defeated the San Bruno library bond measure, which, with $nn million in principal and $nn million in interest would have cost the city's nn,nnn households $27 million, or $n000 apiece, over the next 30 years.
There are over 20 measures, mostly taxes, on the November 2001 ballot. Scroll to the bottom of this page at www.ShapeTheFuture.org
The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers' Association is the state's premiere taxpayer advocacy organization.
The state offers a lot of data about our school districts at the Ed-Data web site. The data is extremely accessible, but stale in areas. (They are at the mercy of the reporting districts.)
The San Mateo County Assessor reports the total assessed values of properties in the county. Property taxes are 1% of these figures, plus other amounts (to service debt and other local programs).
Bloomberg.com reports the going rates for various maturities of municipal bonds.
The immorality of deficit spending prompted Thomas Jefferson to write in 1791: "We should consider ourselves unauthorized to saddle posterity with our debts, and morally bound to pay them ourselves."

What is the nature of the legacy we wish to bequeath to the next generation? Freedom--or debt?

Debt Free Kids is a resource sponsored by the Libertarian Party of San Mateo County
Page author: Christopher Schmidt