Comments on: The quagmire of Illinois politics http://blog.smartmemes.com/2009/06/the-quagmire-of-illinois-politics/ Thoughts that seemed like a good idea at the time Sat, 04 Feb 2012 13:03:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/ hourly 1 By: Chris J. Miller http://blog.smartmemes.com/2009/06/the-quagmire-of-illinois-politics/comment-page-1/#comment-949 Chris J. Miller Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:28:50 +0000 http://blog.smartmemes.com/?p=1408#comment-949 A month later, let me take a moment to describe the non-climax of this story: The legislature passed an emergency "patchwork" budget that relies on (A) heavy borrowing and (B) actual nonpayment of certain state bills. That doesn't come close to closing the gap (originally $11.6 billion, remember?), so it deals with the remaining shortfalls by refusing any tax increases, and leaving it to Quinn's discretion (i.e., passing the buck back to him) to decide what actual programs and services to cut. He's expected to make that announcement public today, and it's expected to be widely painful. But goshgolly, at least that pain will fall disproportionately on those who actually rely on (or work for) the public sector, instead of being spread equitably by letting income earners pay an extra 1.5%... :-( A month later, let me take a moment to describe the non-climax of this story: The legislature passed an emergency “patchwork” budget that relies on (A) heavy borrowing and (B) actual nonpayment of certain state bills.

That doesn’t come close to closing the gap (originally $11.6 billion, remember?), so it deals with the remaining shortfalls by refusing any tax increases, and leaving it to Quinn’s discretion (i.e., passing the buck back to him) to decide what actual programs and services to cut.

He’s expected to make that announcement public today, and it’s expected to be widely painful. But goshgolly, at least that pain will fall disproportionately on those who actually rely on (or work for) the public sector, instead of being spread equitably by letting income earners pay an extra 1.5%… :-(

]]> By: phredd http://blog.smartmemes.com/2009/06/the-quagmire-of-illinois-politics/comment-page-1/#comment-884 phredd Sat, 27 Jun 2009 16:57:37 +0000 http://blog.smartmemes.com/?p=1408#comment-884 Two? Grah. Awesome Chicago! Keep making sure that those most likely to lose their jobs if they miss even one day are the ones who get fucked the hardest. Two? Grah.

Awesome Chicago! Keep making sure that those most likely to lose their jobs if they miss even one day are the ones who get fucked the hardest.

]]> By: Dwight Williams http://blog.smartmemes.com/2009/06/the-quagmire-of-illinois-politics/comment-page-1/#comment-880 Dwight Williams Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:36:17 +0000 http://blog.smartmemes.com/?p=1408#comment-880 Amen. Amen.

]]> By: Chris J. Miller http://blog.smartmemes.com/2009/06/the-quagmire-of-illinois-politics/comment-page-1/#comment-876 Chris J. Miller Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:50:46 +0000 http://blog.smartmemes.com/?p=1408#comment-876 Speaking of which... did you know that the threshold for being booted has now been lowered to only two tickets? Speaking of which… did you know that the threshold for being booted has now been lowered to only two tickets?

]]> By: phredd http://blog.smartmemes.com/2009/06/the-quagmire-of-illinois-politics/comment-page-1/#comment-875 phredd Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:38:44 +0000 http://blog.smartmemes.com/?p=1408#comment-875 *sigh* I was sick of Daley ten years ago. Not much has changed, eh? Too much to hope that he'll get a cell next to George Ryan. And the parking thing... Grah. It was bad enough when the city was selectively enforcing parking regulations by neighborhood so that the people who could least afford to pay tickets were preyed upon and booted on a regular basis. *sigh* I was sick of Daley ten years ago. Not much has changed, eh? Too much to hope that he’ll get a cell next to George Ryan. And the parking thing… Grah. It was bad enough when the city was selectively enforcing parking regulations by neighborhood so that the people who could least afford to pay tickets were preyed upon and booted on a regular basis.

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