Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Mincing Words

The headline of the day:

Pittsburgh to use 45.3 Million Surplus for Debt

This article was found on not 1, not 2, not 3, but at least 4 sources.

Was this a public relations stunt promoted by the ICA to encourage Dowd to shut up? Why do so many people care about Pittsburgh's surplus last year? And how can you use a "surplus" for debt? Doesn't being head-over-heels in debt mean that there is no such thing as a "surplus"?

Let me put this in Joe Six-Pack terms.
When you get a Christmas-bonus, which do you do:
a) buy a flat-screen TV?
b) use it as a down-payment for your $400,000 McMansion summer home?
c) put it toward your high-interest credit card debt?

If you're Joe, you choose option a) or b) and you plunge our economy into a recession. If you're smart, you choose option c), and live to borrow another day.

Let's hear it for the news media advertising that Pittsburgh is choosing option c).

Though as I hear it, are we?

1 comment:

Bram Reichbaum said...

Did you read the P-G article about the ICA calling an "emergency" meeting to figure out how exactly to use the $45 million?

It sounded to me like someone genuinely important actually got alarmed at all the hubbub about the non-lockbox, and the ICA went into reassurance mode, calling an "emergency meeting" to not address any particular emergency and not get any more specific about the $45 million. That would fit in nicely with this press-release offensive.