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| Gov. Pat Quinn budget proposal: Borrow $4.7 billion |
| 2010-03-11 |
| Gov. Pat Quinn on Tuesday unveiled a caustic budget plan that would borrow billions of dollars to stay afloat and push even more debt down the road, hoping to persuade leery lawmakers to instead raise taxes in an election year. Quinn aides warned the plan would cost some 13,000 teachers and staff their jobs, cut off poor seniors from help in paying for costly prescriptions and shut down some health care programs for the indigent. But even after about $2 billion in cuts, the state would still be $11 billion in the hole. Note that he isn't eliminating any state earmarks, consulting contracts for friends of the legislators, and various grants for graft, nor is he trimming union pension plans and state hiring. In other words, it's the usual "scare the rubes" tactic. The administration's warnings served as the precursor for the Democratic governor's Wednesday budget address before a joint session of lawmakers who want to wrap up their business in two months so they can focus on their re-election. Quinn is expected to restate the unsuccessful call he made last year for higher taxes. But the political dynamics for a tax increase have grown only worse as the election-seeking Democratic governor confronts campaigning legislators who fear a voter backlash in the Nov. 2 general election. "He's not included a tax increase in this budget, and that's a conversation that has to happen," Jerry Stermer, Quinn's chief of staff, said of the governor's plan. "The General Assembly has not acted on a tax increase and have given signals they don't want to act on a tax increase." Quinn's gambit, to propose cuts in education and social services, represents the latest step in the increasing divergence between the state's very real deteriorating fiscal situation and the rhetoric of politicians who believe the public doesn't want or trust Springfield to get any more money from their wallets. Similar cries about slashing services last year ended up being papered over by increased borrowing. Many lawmakers privately expect that fears among rank-and-file lawmakers about a voter revolt will lead to a repeat of last spring's session. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #7 State and local workers including teachers earn on the average %35 more for comparable jobs in Illinois then does the private sector. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2010-03-11 19:37 |
| #6 If the federal government is having a hard time finding lenders, how the hell is a state gonna find that kind of scratch to borrow? Also, once you are in a hole, aren't you supposed to stop digging? |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2010-03-11 13:33 |
| #5 This same fan dance is starting to take stage across the country. The backdrop begins with real deficits and depleted state revenues. State aid to cities is shrinking with local councils confronting unsustainable budgets. Enter the state governor singing the narrative of more budget cuts, tax increases, and borrowing. A dire gloom blankets the countryside. But harkÂ…yonder comes a figure in the distant. Could it be our hero? Why itÂ’s the Federal government here to save main-street. The clouds open slightly and the birds begin to sing. *Mark your calendar folks. The next |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2010-03-11 10:54 |
| #4 Yep, and it's probably going to work. Though the Pubs here, having been shut out of all discussions the last couple years since they're in the minority in both houses (and the Dem leaders have been particularly rude) aren't going to give Quinn so much as a single vote. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2010-03-11 09:28 |
| #3 Yet another indication of the wheels coming off. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-03-11 09:27 |
| #2 He's also calling for a 33% increase in the state income tax rate - supposedly tied to education. They tried the same trick when the state lottery came in. That link lasted, what 2 days maybe? Sorry rubes! Of course, as Doc Steve notes, the parts of the budget to be affected most are always kids, the poor, and the elderly. God forbid some porker should have to move away from the trough. |
| Posted by: Spot 2010-03-11 08:30 |
| #1 Maybe more states should go bankrupt. California's first, then Illinois? What happens then to earmarks, friends' follies, graft grants, pension plans, and state supervisors? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2010-03-11 05:47 |