Our hearts go out to the 13,000 government workers who face an extra week without a
paycheck. Our hearts also go out to the many vendors and retailers who suffer too as a result of the government's cash shortfall.
Since Gov. Charles W. Turnbull's announcement Tuesday night of a delayed payroll, we have heard a lot of people looking for someone to blame, and others asking, "Why weren't we told?"
We were told.
We were told as long ago as January 1975 when Gov. Cyril E. King took office and reported that the cupboard was bare.
Sound familiar? The cupboards are bare and the wolf has been roaming the house looking for crumbs.
Every week, it seems, since Turnbull took office three months ago, he has said something like, "It's worse than we thought."
Even before he took office – maybe even before he decided to run – the word on the street was that he would be left facing this crisis if he were to win.
So why are we feigning surprise? Or is it feigned? Has the denial been so great for all these years that no one heard the message, repeated over and over again, by governor after governor, that our financial situation was dire, even critical? Or is it – as we've heard others say – that we still believe in Uncle "Santa" Sam who will swoop down and save us one more time.
We don't think that will happen. Sources at the federal level say this is a local problem and we are going to have to solve it locally.
Which brings us to the other question, that of the powerful human desire to look for someone to blame.
Many people no doubt remember the often-quoted line from a "Pogo" cartoon: "We have met the enemy and he is us."
There is no point in looking to assign blame. We are all to blame.
The only constructive thing we can do is give up our personal agendas, gather all of our financial creativity and stand together as one cohesive community committed to finding both short- and long-terms solutions to the financial bottom we have hopefully reached.