Illinois Political Class (Hastert Included) tries to turn IL into Detroit
Madigan, Blagojevich & Jones, along with Dan Cronin, Denny Hastert & Poshard, are doing all they can to turn Illinois into Detroit, what with their tax and gambling fantasies.
The fact is that the ONLY way out for Illinois is to freeze spending and pension benefit growth, and begin the 10 year process of draining the red ink these spending weasels have dunked all of us in.
Officials in Lansing reported this month that the state faces a revenue shortfall between $350 million and $550 million next budget year. This is a major embarrassment for Governor Jennifer Granholm, the second-term Democrat who shut down the state government last year until the Legislature approved Michigan’s biggest tax hike in a generation. Her tax plan raised the state income tax rate to 4.35% from 3.9%, and increased the state’s tax on gross business receipts by 22%. Ms. Granholm argued that these new taxes would raise some $1.3 billion in new revenue that could be “invested” in social spending and new businesses and lead to a Michigan renaissance.
Ah yes! The old “we can spend our way to prosperity” trick. It didn’t work for fat and wasteful Republicans, but it will for even fatter and more wasteful Democrats.
No wonder no decent person trusts either party.
The tax hikes have done nothing but accelerate the departures of families and businesses. Michigan ranks fourth of the 50 states in declining home values, and these days about two families leave for every family that moves in. Making matters worse is that property taxes are continuing to rise by the rate of overall inflation, while home values fall. Michigan natives grumble that the only reason more people aren’t blazing a path out of the state is they can’t sell their homes. Research by former Comerica economist David Littmann finds that about the only industry still growing in Michigan is government. Ms. Granholm’s $44.8 billion budget this year further fattened agency payrolls.
Even better!! Let’s reduce unemployment by making everybody a ward of the state or a state worker. How productive!
There’s another national lesson from the Granholm tax dud. If Democrats believe that anger over the economy and high gas prices have put voters in a receptive mood for higher taxes, they should visit the Wolverine State.
Just a few weeks ago taxpayer advocates collected enough signatures in suburban Detroit for a ballot initiative to recall powerful Speaker of the House Andy Dillon, who was one of last year’s tax-hike ringleaders. Voters seem to think there would be rough justice if for once politicians, rather than workers, lose their jobs from higher taxes.
Look folks, the people running Illinois are going to do EXACTLY what they did in Michigan. They may know better, but THEY DON’T CARE. They are morally incapable of reducing spending, which is the ONLY solution to Illinois fiscal problems.
The ONLY avenue YOU have to fix Illinois before they do you like Michigan citizens, is to vote Yes for the Illinois Constitutional Convention. Only you can fix Illinois. These Bozos are incapable of it.
