IT DIDN'T take long for the governor and the Legislature to back away from proposals put forward by the Retirement Fund that would reduce earnings for government of Guam workers.

Gov. Calvo said he would veto any bill that puts workers on furlough, and Vice Speaker B.J. Cruz quickly weighed in Tuesday emphatically stating the Legislature doesn’t favor anything such as the Friday furloughs suggested by the Fund’s directors either. So much for that idea. It is an election year, after all.

But the proposal to float a bond to inject some additional cash into the government budget got an enthusiastic boost from John Rios, director of the Bureau of Budget Management and Research. “The bond is a good idea, depending on our debt ceiling,” he told the Pacific News Center. “If the debt ceiling allows us to borrow additional, it is a good idea.”

No, it’s not. Borrowing money on the bond market to cover operational deficiencies is not a good idea and never has been. But we keep doing it. The debt ceiling to which Rios refers is the limitation on borrowing imposed on our government by the Organic Act, which caps our borrowing authority at 10 percent of the total assessed value of all private property on Guam.

The major borrowing engaged in by this administration late last year and earlier this year has bumped us up against that ceiling, which a lot of observers think is a good thing. Finally, they say, GovGuam will have to cut the cost of government, trim the fat, and reduce the number of employees.

But not if they can adjust the ceiling, raise it a little, allow GovGuam to take on more debt, which is precisely what is underway. Using satellite imagery and personal inspections by a team of investigators, the Department of Revenue and Taxation is finally carrying out an islandwide assessment. No one doubts they’ll come up with a higher figure, since property on Guam has not been evaluated in this way for many years.

Open up a hole in the ceiling and the financial wizards of the government of Guam will find a way to fly right through it. Onward and upward, putting still more debt on future generations. This idea from the Retirement Fund wouldn’t raise much, only about $8 million, but it would be another shovel full dug out of the financial hole we’re already in. We never seem to stop digging.

The disparity between the amount of savings needed – about $70 million – and the small amount the bond would produce is noted. It would only delay the really hard decisions, decisions which nearly everybody agrees must come. The government of Guam is too large and expensive. It must get smaller, or our political leaders will have to increase revenue substantially. There is no other way. They’ll get to that right after Nov. 6.