The editors of the Chicago Tribune are not amused by the incompetent, do-nothing Illinois legislature:
Thursday was another day of wasted time, by design. The two chambers are in their own little worlds, not laboring as a team to deliver solutions for Illinois’ grave challenges.
Maybe Democratic leaders John Cullerton and Michael Madigan think their chambers’ conspicuous inaction embarrasses Gov. Bruce Rauner. He was the one who called lawmakers back to Springfield until the end of the month to pass a budget.
Cullerton says his chamber has sent several pieces of important legislation to the House, where they sit. Madigan, though, has no excuse for his decision to do nothing substantive on the second day of the special session — just as on the first day. Inertia was his choice.
Madigan says his chamber is working on a budget — behind closed doors, supposedly. He ignored the budget blueprint Rauner introduced in February. He ignored a budget the Senate passed in May. He has not addressed the Republicans’ budget unveiled earlier this month. He has not done anything to meaningfully advance a budget all year.
It’s a game of Survivor. They’re not trying to accomplish anything. They’re just trying to outlast the Republican governor.
The editors of the Sun-Times are largely in agreement with those of the Tribune:
Not a day goes by when we don’t hear from somebody with bad news about Illinois.
Credit rating going down, bills piling up, people moving out, roads crumbling.
A state falls apart in endless ways when it goes without a budget for two years.
But on Wednesday, the state Legislature will convene for a special 10-day session, called by Gov. Bruce Rauner, to finally — once and for all, no doubt about it, cross your fingers and hope to die — pass a budget. Should you care to hope.
We can’t emphasize it enough: Illinois really is taking a hit every day. Consider these ten bad news stories in just the last ten business days…
The jeremiad includes Illinois’s being ejected from the Powerball multi-state lottery, an actual decline in the number of Illinois jobs, the halt in roadwork, and the enormous borrowing at the usurious rates due to the state’s low credit rating.
Turning to Chicago when Rahm Emanuel took office as mayor the city’s credit rating was Aaa. Now it’s Ba1—just over junk. The Chicago Public School system’s bonds are rated as junk. This is what passes for competence in Illinois.
Malfeasance, misfeasance, and nonfeasance are the very definition of Illinois government.
Doing nothing, letting legislation uslessly bask on some elite bureaucrat’s desk, with hopes that the opposition party’s ability to function will weither and die, seems to be the Democrat party’s Creed everywhere.
“…seems to be the Democrat party’s Creed everywhere.”
Agreed. Thankfully, we’ve got them pretty well neutered here in Texas. You can say a lot about Texas, and some of it might even be true, but we do have our financial house in order.
Since friends are still being rewarded, enemies punished, pork delivered, the Madigan family is top of the heap, would say the Legislature is doing what its supposed to do.
I don’t even know what to say anymore. I agree with Dave that they are just waiting Rauner out. But to what end. To continue governing a smoking hulk? For those of you less financially oriented, this situation isn’t hyperbole. It’s not a game. When you don’t have money you don’t have money. And bond holders have brutal steely eyes, because they have fiduciary responsibilities to their investors.
IL is at the stage where they simply are in a box because they can’t raise taxes and they won’t harm political constituencies. They will blame Rauner when the end game is reached, but it will be a Pyrrhic victory. Turn out the lights……..
The reality in Illinois and Chicago in particular is that teachers, police officers, and firefighters are well paid—actually too highly paid relative to what the state and city are able to pay. However, since the public employees’ unions are the primary political support for the politicians who vote for their raises, those politicians have little incentive to say “No” when their most important constituents ask for raises.
Public sector employees are usually the higher paid and protected class in a large, centralized socially progressive government. The government elites, basically, are immunized from the policy travesties they inject onto the people they rule. Consequently, people like Madigan and his cronies will be the last ones to suffer, having their lights turned off.
I admit I’m not an IL budget guru, but I’ve read enough to get the broad contours. But I have been part of some bare knuckled financially distressed company negotiations.
The revenue side seems to offer no real,sustainable opportunities. The lastbtax increase didn’t reduce outstanding liabilities materially, nor change the spending dynamic. The behavior of the parties receiving payments is either to withdraw (contractors) or harden their stance (public employees). And there is no player talking sense to the principals. As such, if I was a bond holder I wouldn’t be entertaining haircuts – a solution solely on my back. This is a crash and burn setting, or more elegantly, a bankruptcy waiting to happen. Even if it’s not statutorily provided for. Maybe they anticipated a President Hillary Clinton to bail them out. I don’t see a President Trump doing that. Ugly.
I wonder if Brandon Saad wants to rethink that trade.
I wonder if Illinois goes under if there will be any lessons learned seeping over to other states…like CA.