After Michael Madigan was left to answer why IL is to blame the Republicans for the deficit, the Washington DC to blame...here's the other side (Republian) expressing the Republican's side view:
I posted the link to Phl KIadner asking Mike Madigan why IL is in such bad, financial state. Mike Madigan blamed the Republicans. Now a republican replies. Who the heck are the republicans pointing to? The Democrats.
Lots of choices to pick out there betwee Republicans and Democrats....one continues to blame the other, so who do YOU BELIEVE?
I feel this is a national topic, not just an IL topic, so I posted it in this forum..I would love to hear your input.
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http://www.southtownstar.com/news/opinion/guests/2447404,063010guestcrosscol.articleGOP leader responds, calls for an end to Madigan's blame game
Comments
June 30, 2010
By Tom Cross
Editor's note: This response follows House Speaker Michael Madigan's remarks on the state of the state in Sunday's SouthtownStar.
Illinoisans are tired of the partisan blame game and they deserve better. In his recent column, Speaker Michael Madigan calls for an end to "partisan games," all the while attempting to shift blame for Illinois' fiscal crisis to Republicans at the state and federal level. Engaging in partisan finger-pointing serves no purpose, I will simply explain factually why Speaker Madigan's arguments are not valid.
What we can all agree upon is that our state's fiscal crisis is one of the most severe in the nation. Speaker Madigan tries to make the case that Illinois' fiscal difficulties are due to a poor national economy, and are no different from those faced by other states. The problem is that a number of independent rating agencies that review finances for all 50 states to determine their stability and credit-worthiness don't share this view. In fact, Illinois is tied with California as the worst-rated state in the nation by Moody's Investor Service and is the second-lowest-rated state in the U.S. by the influential Fitch Ratings.
In a glaring example of our financial disarray, Illinois is one of only three states to be downgraded in the past 1 1 / 2 years, 47 other states have either retained the same ratings or have been upgraded. Almost all other states have shown these rating agencies that they are attempting to cope with the challenging economy by making sound financial decisions. Illinois has fallen woefully short.
Since Democrats took total control of Illinois government in 2003, our credit ratings have been downgraded 11 times, the most in Illinois history. A report released recently by CMA Datavision identified Illinois as one of 10 sovereign governments most at risk of default. We are ahead of California and the nation of Portugal. Our financial woes extend beyond the borders of the U.S.A.
All of these indicators by these respected rating agencies are independent "report cards" on Illinois' financial troubles, and they point to the state's fiscal mismanagement as the root cause of our problems - not the national economic downturn.
If Illinois is ever to regain its financial footing, it must get a handle on its penchant to spend more money than it takes in. According to Illinois Comptroller Daniel Hynes' Traditional Budgetary Financial Report for 2009, Illinois state government spending has increased by more than $10 billion, from $24.8 billion in 2003 to $34.9 billion in 2009 - a 41 percent increase. Even the fiscal year 2011 state budget passed in May increases spending by more nearly $4 billion over FY 2010 when all expenditures are taken into account.
Illinois' deficit for FY 2011 stands at $13 billion, which, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, is the highest in the nation - higher than California, New York and New Jersey and astronomically higher than all of our neighboring states, including Indiana, whose budget deficit is projected to be $1.3 billion.
Since 2003, Illinois general bond obligation debt has tripled to more than $20 billion, and we have the dubious distinction of having the worst funded pension system in the nation with unfunded liabilities totaling $62.4 billion in FY 2009. To make matters worse, Illinois has a $6 billion backlog of unpaid bills for services rendered by providers.
Enough is enough. Blame will not solve the problems. We need ideas and solutions. And we must understand that it will take years of exercising fiscal discipline to repair the damage of years of reckless spending. We must start with some straightforward solutions:
Reform and Restructure Spending. It is not complicated - we must spend less money than we take in. If Republicans win control of the Illinois House, we will work with the governor to reform, restructure and reduce spending.
Create Jobs and Increase Revenues. We have more than 720,000 people out of work in Illinois. We can put t housands back to work quickly by removing unnecessary regulation and bureaucratic red tape that creates roadblocks to hiring them. By putting our citizens back to work, not only do their lives improve, but it creates more taxpayers, which increases government revenues, without raising taxes. This is how we begin to rebuild the Illinois fiscal and economic house - without raising taxes.
Reinvent Illinois Government. We need to make government more efficient and effective. Transparency is a key tool to making this happen, which is why Illinois House Republicans support efforts such as the Government Sunshine Commission and a forensic audit of state spending. These measures open the books and let everyone review and analyze government to identify areas of waste, inefficiency, fraud and mismanagement.
Hold the Line on Taxes. Families are struggling to make ends meet and businesses are fleeing our state for greener pastures in states such as Indiana. We must stop penalizing employers - they are our job creators - and begin helping families keep more money for their own households.
House Republicans have proposed hundreds of bills to fundamentally change Illinois' culture of spending and get our economy back on track. Many of these ideas were included in two separate letters we sent to the governor this spring, which can be viewed at
www.ilhousegop.org. Speaker Madigan criticizes Republicans for not being "bipartisan" and embracing his path for solving our state's fiscal crisis. His solutions focus on raising revenues and feeding an ever-expanding state government.
House Republicans see a different set of solutions. We see a new era of responsibility, accountability and opportunity in Illinois. Our state can be a vibrant, energetic and growing state again. But it will take innovation, action and a determination to achieve results. The time for blame is over. It is time for action.
jim from ol wrote:
Not to defend the Republicans, but Madigan does deserve grief for playing the blame. The Democrats have controlled the state legislature for a long time.
State Republicans are no better than the Democrats in that anything can be bought from them as well.
6/30/2010 3:36 PM CDT on southtownstar.com
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reformer wrote:
I can't believe Cross criticized Madigan for engaging in the "partisan blame game" and in "partisan finger pointing" when the House Republicans have been engaged in exactly that for years! When Madigan gives a little blaming back, Cross takes offense and insists "blame will not solve problems."
Cross calls for reduced spending, but doesn't or can't explain why his whole caucus voted against Madigan's bill to cut nearly $4 billion. And Republicans call Democrats hypocrits.
6/30/2010 3:07 PM CDT on southtownstar.com
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oakparklady wrote:
Oh come on Tom Cross, why don't you just admit you have no idea what you're doing. You voted for Blago's 300 tax and fee increases when he first came into office. You kept enabling your friend Blago long after Madigan said Blago was finished. For example you tried to help Blago triple the amount of gambling in Illinois with new land based casinos in order to give Blago billions more of our money to spend.
Admit it Tom Cross, you have no serious plans and no clue. You are completely over your head. Plus you lie as much as Mark Kirk.
Resign Tom Cross and give the GOP in Illinois a fighting chance. You're too incompetent to ever beat Madigan on anything. The GOP needs a leader, not a joke.
6/30/2010 1:36 PM CDT on southtownstar.com
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GOP leader responds, calls for an end to Madigan's blame game
Comments
June 30, 2010
By Tom Cross
Editor's note: This response follows House Speaker Michael Madigan's remarks on the state of the state in Sunday's SouthtownStar.
Illinoisans are tired of the partisan blame game and they deserve better. In his recent column, Speaker Michael Madigan calls for an end to "partisan games," all the while attempting to shift blame for Illinois' fiscal crisis to Republicans at the state and federal level. Engaging in partisan finger-pointing serves no purpose, I will simply explain factually why Speaker Madigan's arguments are not valid.
What we can all agree upon is that our state's fiscal crisis is one of the most severe in the nation. Speaker Madigan tries to make the case that Illinois' fiscal difficulties are due to a poor national economy, and are no different from those faced by other states. The problem is that a number of independent rating agencies that review finances for all 50 states to determine their stability and credit-worthiness don't share this view. In fact, Illinois is tied with California as the worst-rated state in the nation by Moody's Investor Service and is the second-lowest-rated state in the U.S. by the influential Fitch Ratings.
In a glaring example of our financial disarray, Illinois is one of only three states to be downgraded in the past 1 1 / 2 years, 47 other states have either retained the same ratings or have been upgraded. Almost all other states have shown these rating agencies that they are attempting to cope with the challenging economy by making sound financial decisions. Illinois has fallen woefully short.
Since Democrats took total control of Illinois government in 2003, our credit ratings have been downgraded 11 times, the most in Illinois history. A report released recently by CMA Datavision identified Illinois as one of 10 sovereign governments most at risk of default. We are ahead of California and the nation of Portugal. Our financial woes extend beyond the borders of the U.S.A.
All of these indicators by these respected rating agencies are independent "report cards" on Illinois' financial troubles, and they point to the state's fiscal mismanagement as the root cause of our problems - not the national economic downturn.
If Illinois is ever to regain its financial footing, it must get a handle on its penchant to spend more money than it takes in. According to Illinois Comptroller Daniel Hynes' Traditional Budgetary Financial Report for 2009, Illinois state government spending has increased by more than $10 billion, from $24.8 billion in 2003 to $34.9 billion in 2009 - a 41 percent increase. Even the fiscal year 2011 state budget passed in May increases spending by more nearly $4 billion over FY 2010 when all expenditures are taken into account.
Illinois' deficit for FY 2011 stands at $13 billion, which, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, is the highest in the nation - higher than California, New York and New Jersey and astronomically higher than all of our neighboring states, including Indiana, whose budget deficit is projected to be $1.3 billion.
Since 2003, Illinois general bond obligation debt has tripled to more than $20 billion, and we have the dubious distinction of having the worst funded pension system in the nation with unfunded liabilities totaling $62.4 billion in FY 2009. To make matters worse, Illinois has a $6 billion backlog of unpaid bills for services rendered by providers.
Enough is enough. Blame will not solve the problems. We need ideas and solutions. And we must understand that it will take years of exercising fiscal discipline to repair the damage of years of reckless spending. We must start with some straightforward solutions:
Reform and Restructure Spending. It is not complicated - we must spend less money than we take in. If Republicans win control of the Illinois House, we will work with the governor to reform, restructure and reduce spending.
Create Jobs and Increase Revenues. We have more than 720,000 people out of work in Illinois. We can put t housands back to work quickly by removing unnecessary regulation and bureaucratic red tape that creates roadblocks to hiring them. By putting our citizens back to work, not only do their lives improve, but it creates more taxpayers, which increases government revenues, without raising taxes. This is how we begin to rebuild the Illinois fiscal and economic house - without raising taxes.
Reinvent Illinois Government. We need to make government more efficient and effective. Transparency is a key tool to making this happen, which is why Illinois House Republicans support efforts such as the Government Sunshine Commission and a forensic audit of state spending. These measures open the books and let everyone review and analyze government to identify areas of waste, inefficiency, fraud and mismanagement.
Hold the Line on Taxes. Families are struggling to make ends meet and businesses are fleeing our state for greener pastures in states such as Indiana. We must stop penalizing employers - they are our job creators - and begin helping families keep more money for their own households.
House Republicans have proposed hundreds of bills to fundamentally change Illinois' culture of spending and get our economy back on track. Many of these ideas were included in two separate letters we sent to the governor this spring, which can be viewed at
www.ilhousegop.org. Speaker Madigan criticizes Republicans for not being "bipartisan" and embracing his path for solving our state's fiscal crisis. His solutions focus on raising revenues and feeding an ever-expanding state government.
House Republicans see a different set of solutions. We see a new era of responsibility, accountability and opportunity in Illinois. Our state can be a vibrant, energetic and growing state again. But it will take innovation, action and a determination to achieve results. The time for blame is over. It is time for action.
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jim from ol wrote:
Not to defend the Republicans, but Madigan does deserve grief for playing the blame. The Democrats have controlled the state legislature for a long time.
State Republicans are no better than the Democrats in that anything can be bought from them as well.
6/30/2010 3:36 PM CDT on southtownstar.com
Recommend Report Abuse
reformer wrote:
I can't believe Cross criticized Madigan for engaging in the "partisan blame game" and in "partisan finger pointing" when the House Republicans have been engaged in exactly that for years! When Madigan gives a little blaming back, Cross takes offense and insists "blame will not solve problems."
Cross calls for reduced spending, but doesn't or can't explain why his whole caucus voted against Madigan's bill to cut nearly $4 billion. And Republicans call Democrats hypocrits.
6/30/2010 3:07 PM CDT on southtownstar.com
Recommend Report Abuse
oakparklady wrote:
Oh come on Tom Cross, why don't you just admit you have no idea what you're doing. You voted for Blago's 300 tax and fee increases when he first came into office. You kept enabling your friend Blago long after Madigan said Blago was finished. For example you tried to help Blago triple the amount of gambling in Illinois with new land based casinos in order to give Blago billions more of our money to spend.
Admit it Tom Cross, you have no serious plans and no clue. You are completely over your head. Plus you lie as much as Mark Kirk.
Resign Tom Cross and give the GOP in Illinois a fighting chance. You're too incompetent to ever beat Madigan on anything. The GOP needs a leader, not a joke.
6/30/2010 1:36 PM CDT on southtownstar.com
Recommend Report Abuse