Stacey Abrams, the Democrat nominee for governor of Georgia, has set hearts aflutter among identity politics aficionados all across America. She's black! She's female (cis-gendered, although it shouldn't really matter except to troglodytes)! There's never been a black governor of Georgia, nor a female governor. A twofer!

Why, what else could anyone want? It's enough to drive turnout among black American voters, and maybe, just maybe put a Democrat in office as governor of Georgia after 16 long years, and therefore enable headlines proclaiming a national revolt against you-know-who.

Well, one thing voters in Georgia might want from a future governor is a basic understanding of finance. Unfortunately, Ms. Abrams flunks that test, but she doesn't think it is important.



Distinguished alumna Stacey Abrams speaks at the LBJ School, University of Texas. Photo credit: Wikipedia.

Jason Hopkins reports at the Daily Caller:

The former state representative has acknowledged that she owes more than $200,000 in student loans, credit card debt and IRS back taxes. "I did not understand that those magical slivers of plastic that I was getting in in [sic] college, a $100 purchase was going to cost me like $3,000 over the next seven years," Abrams stated in an interview with Yahoo Finance. "And that if I didn't pay the bill every month it was going on some report that was going to follow me even after I had a great job." Abrams owes back taxes amounting to $40,201 for 2015 and $13,851 for 2016. She owes $96,512 in student loan debt and another $77,522 in credit card debt spread over nine different accounts. In total, she is about $228,000 in the red. This number is actually higher if you count her $178,500 in real estate debt and her $4,434 car loan. Abrams, the former minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives, has blamed a misunderstanding in her younger years of how credit card debt works and a temptation as a business owner to spend revenue instead of withholding it for tax collection. She has also cited family obligations as a major reason for debt, having helped pay for her father's cancer treatment.

Ms. Abrams was born in 1973 and was 43 years old in 2016, the year she still owed money for back taxes. She boasts a magna cum laude B.A. degree in interdisciplinary studies (political science, economics and sociology) from Spellman College, a master's degree in public affairs from the University of Texas's LBJ School of Public Affairs, and a law degree from Yale Law School. She managed to get all these academic credentials supposedly certifying her intelligence and knowledge in matters of governance, and yet she didn't realize that she can't spend the money she owes for her taxes? When she was in her forties?

What else doesn't she understand about money?

The proposed 2019 budget for the Great State of Georgia is $26 billion. Having a chief executive in charge of that much money who does not understand that money borrowed must be repaid, that it multiplies if payment is not rendered, and that taxes must be paid – even by her – is a frightening prospect.

Hat tip: Ed Lasky