Former New Hampshire governor and U. S. senator Judd Gregg draws a connection among Greece, Puerto Rico, and Illinois:
Greece, Puerto Rico, Illinois: they are starkly similar, fiscally dire political entities.
Since one is a nation, the second a commonwealth and the third a state, one would not think they would have the same problems when it comes to the management of their respective cultures and people. But they do.
The common thread is that for years voters in all three places have been electing people to govern them who have promised a great deal and borrowed to pay for those promises.
In each case, the root of the fiscal imbalance is that the governments are dedicated to the power of patronage. At their heart is the belief that you can retain power so long as you promise to fund gains for your supporters by taking from someone else.
Here’s how he sees Illinois’s central problem:
In Illinois, the state line is far too close. Whether it is Indiana or even Texas, departing the political disaster is relatively easy.
Those left behind will be those who cannot move. They will find that their school systems (especially their state college system) and their healthcare systems will be pitted against their public pensioners in dividing the diminishing revenue pie. The quality of all services will be hit.
His recommendation is that we stop electing demagogues.
Here in Illinois we’ve taken the first step or at least what we hope is the first step. We’ve elected a governor who isn’t a part of the political combine that created our problems, isn’t beholden to it, and, apparently, isn’t afraid of it.
I’m not sure that will be enough. There are a lot of livelihoods riding on things staying just the way they have been and lots of people who will fight to hold onto them.
“Since one is a nation, the second a commonwealth and the third a state, one would not think they would have the same problems when it comes to the management of their respective cultures and people. But they do.”
Organizations are organizations. Lost on most people, but something one has to come to grips with in my business. It is the business. People and the attendant dynamics.
I’ve commented before that Rauner is a different cat. Yes, it may not be enough. A couple of years ago I gave money to an associate, Dan Proft, now a radio commentator and IL Policy Inst guy, in his gov bid for the sole purpose of giving him a chance to try to make some points before he went down in flames, which I knew he would. I didn’t care.
This state is screwed, in fact our political system is screwed, if we don’t recognize financial and governance realities. You can fuck up for a long, long time, but it eventually catches up. I’m sure steve is “unimpressed.”