Justice's Risky Budget Scheme

Press Release

Jim Justice has a long history of not paying his taxes and stiffing small businesses that employ thousands of West Virginia workers. Despite the billionaire's shady business history, he still asks West Virginia voters to "trust him."

During an interview on statewide radio Monday, Justice gave no specific plans for how he would improve our state's job market or economy. Rather, he simply said: "I'm saying trust me. …There is many mechanisms to generate revenue that we are not exploring or doing today."

West Virginia has a projected budget deficit of $350 million next year. This deficit was created by decades of politicians and the good ol' boys network asking voters to "trust them" while offering no specific plans and with no goal for the future growth of our state. Justice says he will balance the state's budget, but his scheme doesn't add up. He can't or won't tell voters where he intends to get the money to fix our economic problems, and he has actually said he will grow the size and cost of government. His only solution is asking voters to "trust him."

In fact, the only semblance of a plan Justice has offered relies on the same Wall Street billionaire bankers that nearly ruined our national economy a few years ago. Describing his risky Wall Street scheme to the Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram last month, Billionaire Jim said he would borrow on the backs of West Virginia taxpayers:

" …we can't continue to try to cut ourselves out of this mess. All we're doing is having a slow death. You have to be able to have a really compassionate and creative and driven mind to come up with the ideas that will grow revenue. And you have to bridge yourself to get to that point. But it's a short-term bridge -- that doesn't have to be increased taxes. It can be investors, banking, creative financing." -- Jim Justice

Simple economics shows you can't "trust" your way out of budget emergencies. You have to have real plans and real solutions. The Bill Cole plan is to reform and modernize government, control its growth and costs, and put the taxpayers first. Jim Justice's risky scheme relies on Wall Street banks to fund his new government programs and services, while the taxpayers foot the bill.

"Only Jim Justice believes we should give control of our government to Wall Street. We can't burden our taxpayers with more debt and fewer jobs," said Bill Cole. "I am an experienced job creator, and I know the gravity of our financial crisis. Jim Justice's secret scheme is really a risky Wall Street scam. It will lead to Washington-style budget deficits that West Virginians can't afford."

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