Ashe County is pursuing stimulus bonds to pay for three capital improvement projects for its school system. BB&T will be providing the loan. This is the same BB&T that refused to loan money for Kelo-type projects, presented a white paper before Congress denouncing TARP, offered colleges grants for starting up a capitalist school with mandatory readings from the works of Ayn Rand, included the word “reality” in its list of guiding principles, and even sent representatives to the State Policy Network meeting in Asheville. In spite of the mixed (up) economy, it was a surprise to read about BB&T and ARRA in the same sentence. However, BB&T will loan the money to the schools and receive a tax credit instead of interest payments from the schools. It can be argued that although nonpayment of taxes and acceptance of an overabundance of newly-printed fiat both work to undermine the federal treasury, the former takes a lesser toll on the value of the dollar and the empowerment of the private sector.
Even weirder is the way Ashe County intends to repay the bonds: lottery proceeds. Already the county has $700,000-$800,000 earmarked, though one ought to be leery about financial promises from this state legislature. Economic analysts must foresee no dwindling in statewide gambling habits for the next fifteen years, because that is the term of the loan. The state’s Department of Public Instruction does not recommend school systems paying back loans over more than twelve years.
