American States and Irresponsible Spending
Your taxdollar just keep ending up in Israel!
WHITE-PAPERSOct 24, 2023
The Federal Government of the United States is not the only level of American government prioritizing Israeli concerns over those of American citizens.
New York, Texas and Florida have purchased more than 150 million dollars in Israeli government debt. This comes as Israel issued 200 million dollars in bonds, seeking to raise funds to prosecute its war against the Palestinians, and American states have purchased nearly all of these bonds.
Despite the fact American state bought nearly all of this debt, none of these investments are especially economically sound. As Israel recently had its credit rating downgraded, and is facing another potential downgrade to its rating in the wake of the conflict with Hamas.
The abovelisted states are not the only states which are irresponsibly spending tax dollars, though.
New Jersey also buys tens of millions in Israeli bonds, despite rapidly declining tax revenues. On top of declining state revenues, the NJ Transit system, one of the most comprehensive public transportation systems in the United States, is facing a serious one billion dollar budget shortfall.
Policymakers in Trenton, the state capital, should be concerned with ensuring that their constitutents have a reliable way to get to work, or to make it to a doctor’s appointment. They should not be buying the bonds of a foreign power.
Moving west, Illinois is going to buy more than 10 million dollars in Israeli securities, despite the fact the state is the third most indebted in the US. It is further worth mentioning that the state’s governor, J.B. Pritzker, is a member of one of America’s wealthiest Jewish families with a fortune estimated to be worth 32.5 billion dollars.
Why is it the job of the Illinois taxpayer to fund a foreign state when Pritzker’s family could spend their private income on such a pursuit?
To the Southwest, Arizona is yet another state which is buying up Israeli government bonds, despite the fact the state faces a 400 million dollar shortfall this fiscal year.
Arizona’s schools barely avoided a 1.4 billion dollar budget cut at the start of the 2023 year. Additionally, the state’s electrical grid is incredibly overtaxed by rapid population growth from domestic relocatees and hundreds of thousands of immigrants. Public infrastructure is in dire need of investment. A need much more substantive to Americans than funding the government of a wealthy foreign power.
And in a final example, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will increase its purchase of Israel bonds by 44%, nearly half, while its own population languishes under recent budget cuts and the 6th highest state government debt in the Union.
Infact, Pennsylvania just came through a serious budget impasse, where critical services went unfunded as state lawmakers bickered about the budget. And in the final budget items such mental healthcare expansion and workforce retaining went ultimately unfunded.
Americans are left without healthcare, without childcare, with underfunded social services, public transit networks which are being curtailed, and a generally faltering economy.
But there always appears to be money for Israel.
