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May 2, 2006
Notes from Ferdy - Illinois Budget Briefing
Our good friend Mark Gordon, the Issues Development Director for the Illinois Senate Republican Caucus, sent us a summary of the state budget for the next fiscal year. This is an election year, so Governor Blagojevich is pulling out all the stops on his Spend Our Way Out of Debt scheme.
So far, the plan has not been working all that well. In order to pay $1.4 billion of new spending, Blagojevich will be taking $1.1 billion from the state's pension funds. The Republicans think the Governor is completely insane, but in fact, Blagojevich believes that every dollar he spends will be attracting new jobs and new tax revenue, so he'll have no problem paying back the pension money during his next term.
Sorry. I guess he is completely insane.
The two parties use different aspects of the economy to prove their points. Blagojevich claims he's added 30,000 jobs in 2004, and 60,000 jobs in 2005, making for a huge upward trend. The Republicans point out that our job growth for the past four years has Illinois in 45th place, and that our unemployment rate is higher than the national average. Both statements are probably correct.
The greatest irony of all is that Blagojevich talks about how awful it was that he inherited a record state debt, and he's facing an even bigger one going into his second term.
There are the usual silly earmark items: $1 million for Bullying Prevention, $50,000 for the South Suburban Disproportionate Minority Confinement Foundation, and $200,000 to NEIU to conduct a study on the North Atlantic Slave Trade. Sadly, there is nothing in the budget about free cheese snacks for domestic cats.
In the meantime, if you are counting on a state pension to help you after retirement, start working on a plan B.
Respectfully submitted,
Ferdinand T. Cat
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