What Do Limbaugh, Rick Warren and New York State All Have In Common?

People in trouble, no Lassie to tell us:

• Rush Limbaugh is in trouble: Heart in Hawaii flipflopping.
• Saddleback Church and Rick Warren are in trouble: Budget shortfalls of $900,000.
• New York is in trouble: General fund is taking a hit with first time negative $174 million balance.

Which one of these three stories is the most important? The difficulty on the personal level, on the business level (the church) or on the statewide level? Obvious of course where our attention should be focused.

Those voicing some of the strongest populist sentiment and hoping to stick it toWall Street are probably not connecting all the dots or realizing the full impact of  a collapsed or struggling financial sector. They never fully grasp how those high salaries flow down into the arms, hands, and pockets of so many businesses, and back to the public in the form of taxes to the state. Bankers keep New York's arteries pumping.

“New York State is officially living paycheck to paycheck,” said Thomas P. DiNapoli , the state comptroller, whose responsibilities include managing New York’s finances. “The state is starting the new year by scrambling to make payments and juggle money.”

While New York’s fiscal year does not end until March 31, its cash shortage could force it to borrow more money to pay for its daily operations, adding to the interest on loans that already costs $1 billion a year. And the financial problems will raise alarms among rating agencies that are already keeping a close eye on New York’s credit-worthiness, with the risk of a lower credit rating — and higher interest payments to future bondholders — already looming.

(N.Y. Times)

What is amusing is the state missing pension payments and shorting the school districts while prayerfully awaiting January and Wall Street's bonus payouts. They had better pray that those bonuses are indeed generous, though it will not be enough to prevent the doozy of a financial heart attack facing the state.

Oh, what was that? Oh yea, almost forgot,

• Europe is in trouble: One of the lesser EU nations (meaning YOU Greece) might default on their national debt causing havoc and rolling us all back into prehistoric times. (We exaggerate, if only to leave the actually reality comforting in its non hyperbolic badness).