MuniLand

Good Links

Reuters: What is the morality of debt?

Stateintegrity.org: Consortium develops website that monitors corruption at the state level

WSJ: Article on transparency of retail-bond pricing unfortunately missed MSRB’s EMMA

Bond Buyer: Muni bond underwriters push to keep independent advisors out of transactions

Bloomberg: State tax collections perky

NYT: Brilliant reporting on “disability mills” leads to arrests for fraud

AP: California gets on the pension reform train

Bloomberg: Hot demand for California bonds keeps borrowing rates low even as revenues slow

Reuters: Great backgrounder for Harrisburg, PA

WPRI.com: Big turnout for Rhode Island pension reform hearings

WPRO.com: Useful timeline for Rhode Island pension reform efforts

Star-Telegram: Lots of smoke coming out of the North Texas Tollway Authority

@Twitter Talk

@EconNAF Samuel Sherraden  Russia invested 7.4% of GDP in infrastructure in 2010.  bit.ly/e62Gwh

@pmonies Paul   Check out how your metro area is faring for the middle class usat.ly/t5Cd1C

@CenterOnBudget Center on Budget   Medicaid block grant would cause states to bear 100% of any extra costs or cut eligibility, benefits, etc. bit.ly/rwbhti

@pewtrusts Pew Trusts   At what grade-level are ballot initiatives written? What level should it be so most voters will understand? ow.ly/7aJhJ

@cate_long Cate Long  As usual Puerto Rico, Illinois and California lead the pack of #muniland juvenile delinquents… reut.rs/tiB3rR

@munilass Bond Girl   Friedlander expects muni sales to climb 20% in 2012. Additional refundings, projects can only be put off so long (Bloomberg)

@tednesi Ted Nesi   Great Projo story about how TV-ad lawyer Rob ‘Heavy Hitter’ Levine gets a tax-free pension from C. Falls: digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODE/ProJ…

@ctwatchdog George Gombossy   VA Mental Health Caseload Climbing By Tens of Thousands  j.mp/uXXrMO