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If they had stiched it up at first, it would have hurt but might have healed by now. Bad fiscal policy just makes the bleeding worse and the recovery outlook more bleak.
Perhaps that is assuming too much, but I believe that the possibility of substantial federal aid is real--after all, from a political standpoint, it is hard to talk about bailing out poorly run auto companies, greedy insurance companies and banks and similar entities but leave your local and state governments starving. And Obama has all but promised that aid to states is coming and that it is a priority.
More importantly for the individual taxpayer, we should encourage our local leaders not to even think about any type of tax increase until the amount of federal aid is known. We have to manage our own shrinking budgets too, and we shouldn't pay twice to fill the pockets of pols and "campaign contributors." They'll get enough of whatever falls off the federal truck.
Now we are expected to wait until a new Senate President is selected? What is the next excuse?
The entire freakin' state is ran by the same party! What are they so politically afraid of? They have no GOP competition!
If the Illinois Democrats wanted to past their GRT tax right now - they probably could. If they wanted to pass an income tax right now, they probably could. If they wanted to cut any budget for any amount, they have the political ability to do that!
Yet they do nothing! And Illinoians seem to like this situation just fine.
We all know that someone has to get cut. We all know that someone has to pay more. We all know that someone's budget has to take a hit. We all know that we are at the end of our rope!
Inaction at this point is worse than doing the wrong thing.
This is a very sad situation to be in. The Illinois Democratic Party has played chicken with Illinoians to the point where the wheels have gone over the cliff and we are falling in mid-air. Their refusal to do their jobs is now resulting in triage politics. It is every person for themselves and they are all scrambling like rats towards the lifeboats.
The Illinois Democrats didn't care that a decision could have been made while we were still racing towards the cliff. They didn't care that if they pulled together someone could have wrestled the steering wheel of governance from that lunatic governor they nominated and elected twice. They sat their in the back and pushed one another in front to absorb the crash they knew was coming to this state!
There is a shortage of courage in Illinois politics. There is a shortage of leadership in Illinois. Yet voters have also sloughed off any decisions by voting to keep these cowards in office. They also voted to ignor the constitutional convention lifeline offered only once every 20 years.
We have the government we deserve.
In some way Illinois is reminiscent of a corporation/individual who has determined to declare bankruptcy, but is racking up expenditures at a record rate because they will get things they never have to pay for.
There will be no getting around them. And they will be more painful because of the fiscal carelessness and recklessness that was demonstrated when times were flush.
Like Mr. Chekov said: "Any idiot can face a crisis, it is this day-to-day living that wears you out."
No, Levois, he wants to have his cake and eat yours.
So, we are officially abandoning the idea that they ought to be located in depressed areas, to help them out? I can throw a dart at a map of Cook county and find a much better and deserving place than Rosemont.
The statute creating the license, under George Ryan's tenure long ago, rescinded that requirement.
Do a work-around on Blagojevich while impeaching him.
Then a total budget freeze!
Prioritize so that the bills owed are paid.
No budgetary growth for any programs.
No salary increases for legislative, judicial or executive salaried staff. No salary increases for state officials.
No new hires.
No new outside contractor.
Remove Cook County property tax caps for residential properties worth more than $300,000.
Half the number of Chicago TIFF districts.
Consolidate all Illinois townships into county governments, eliminating this layer of government.
Halt construction on any new government buildings or relocating.
Close two prisons.
Then next week...
Thank You
I, for one, look forward to more mess. We voted these folks in, so we bear the responsibility for the continued dysfunction.
Close one prison and make everyone sleep in shifts.
We know that Illinois state government, despite the 2002 early retirement initiative, is still awash in employees aged fifty five and older who are taking advantage of the lifetime job security
and low-key working environment offered by the modern Illinois civil service to stay on and on. But even some of those folks, especially the ones already eligible for retirement, might respond to financial incentives (combined with their pensions and free retiree health care) to depart. It's worth a try...especially if the alternative is to lay off frontline staff. A few million in retirement incentives in exchange for savings of many more millions, plus the opportunity to replace elderly civil service employees with younger folks entering the job market or raising young families.
That would be so low. But not surprising.
Isn't it time to change that federal law exempting internet sales? This was intended to help get the industry off the ground. Now, well established, it is just a drain and is very unfair to those in state merchants who are forced to charge sales tax in this environment. How about a fair playing field?
Per farm related expenses, I wasn't talking about the nickle and dime stuff. I am referring to stuff like CRP expenditures such as seed seed that are not production related and are liable to state sales taxes but are rarely charged by vendors to their farm clients. These expense are mostly cost shared by the feds. The state has lost millions of dollars in revenues from this and similar tax laws that are not enforced.
Does it come as a complete surprise that costs of state government have gone up? Inflation and Martire's structural deficit concept marches on. Freeze state spending all you want. Drop 50% of current state employees. Outsource all the departments. Do you really think it will change? Concrete for roads will cost more. Medicaid payments to medical and non-medical providers will cost more or they will simply stop providing. Then who provides? What cost will really go down over the long haul? Costs will shift and on paper it will look good.
If you need to provide 100 things and two years ago you could pay for 97 of those. This year you can pay for 95. Next year you can only pay for 93, but you still have to provide 100. What do you cut and not pay for? Seems Illinois is facing the exact same issues as GM, Dell, Linen and Things, Starbucks, and Citicorp. After you chop expenses to the bone (and maybe a limb), where do you get the revenue to keeping paying for the 93 things you still have to maintain.
On whom is it a drain? While I agree that the business playing ground should be level, I don't perceive NOT taxing me as a drain.
Most definitely a drain on state tax revenues considering that you might have purchased the same items in state and been charged state sales tax. Also, correct me if I am wrong here, but isn't there a state law requiring citizens of Illinois to report purchases made out of state and to pay the state sales taxes on these items? On anything other than purchases like cars or boats that must be licensed in Illinois, there is practically no way for the state to enforce this.
http://www.revenue.state.il.us/taxforms/Sales/s...
I've heard Illinois is losing a billion dollars a year by not collecting internet sales tax. Does anyone know if that's true?
Probably true, but what about IL companies that are profiting from internet sales to out-of-state customers...they are making profits and paying employees, much of which gets spent here. It's not an easy question to answer.
In a highly unionized work force, with a state government that is friendly to unions, it is somewhat difficult to cut staff, and nearly impossible to fire the less-than-stellar performer. Other than a change of government philosophy via the ballot box, how do you propose to cut the fat?
Ask Henry Bayer about that statement.
VM, your suggestions are exactly the sorts of things that need to be done (though I don't know why you threw in Chicago, Cook County, and townships. Those would have a minimal and possibly negative impact on state spending or revenues).
Princess, you're right, the cuts are going to be painful and are going to have a negative effect on the services the state provides.
And, vole, there are always some waste and expenses that can be cut, but after the past several years, with 20% of the workforce already gone, its not realistic to think our current financial problems can be dealt with by cutting unnecessary spending, unless we define state parks, Medicaid, public education, etc as unnecessay spending.
State union friendly? Geez, six, is it happy hour already?
For all of Henry Bayer's bellyaching, and rightful concern about facility closures, they recently got a pretty good contract in today's labor climate:
http://www.afscme31.org/article
Detail.asp?objectID=1296&keyword=contract