Posted on 06/15/2016 8:31:53 AM PDT by reaganaut1
Illinois—a state that has long embraced progressive fiscal policies—has moved one step closer to the financial abyss. Last week, Moody’s Investors Service issued the jarring announcement that it was downgrading Illinois’s general obligations bonds to Baa2 from Baa1, which is just two levels above junk bond status. The next day, Standard & Poor’s followed suit by lowering its rating to BBB+, or three levels above junk bond status. In one important sense, this is really not news at all, since Illinois had thirteen bond downgrades under its previous governor, Patrick Quinn, even though it passed a temporary tax increase that collected an additional $31 billion in revenues between 2011 and 2015, 90 percent of which was funneled into pension payments for public employees.
The reason Illinois’s credit ratings have declined is that the state has been unable to live within its means. Even with its tax increases, Illinois has not had a balanced budget since 2001, though one is required under its Constitution. The latest credit downgrade stemmed from the inability of key players in the state to agree on any budget at all for the coming year. It is therefore no surprise that Moody’s observes: “The rating downgrade reflects continuing budget imbalance due to political gridlock that for more than a year has kept Illinois from addressing revenue lost due to income tax cuts that took effect in January 2015.” This remark reflects the bias of rating agencies to worry more about the condition of government balance sheets than the overall health of the state economy. Reduced expenditures are another, superior way to bring a budget into balance, which is necessary, for—as Moody’s ruefully notes—Illinois is running a structural budget gap of about 15 percent of its general fund expenditures.
(Excerpt) Read more at hoover.org ...
What do you expect from a state that has embraced every anti-family, anti-life legislation imaginable?
Any state that elected Obama as a Senator doesn’t deserve respect or consideration. ESD.
Don’t let it bother you. The congress will bail the out and any other progressive hell hole, Puerto Rico was the prototype.
Mark Kirk is too busy criticizing and un-endorsing Trump to pay attention to what has been going on in his own state...
Illinois should have been one of the more prosperous states given the Chicago area is easily the largest transit point for transcontinental goods trade (both railroad and highways). But financial mismanagement will end up forcing a bankruptcy that could wipe out much of the pension funds for that state’s employees.
As far as electing Central Govt ‘representatives’, as Chicago goes, so goes Illinois. The good folks downstate are simply along for that terrifying ride. Where the state’s finances are concerned, Springfield, and specifically the DemonRats are solely to blame. Is it any mystery that 3 of of the last 4 governors are in prison. President Lincoln is spinning so fast in his grave that he’s generating enough power for his own library.
Its constitution also requires no pension cuts, a clause that deserves the same respect.
so something has to give.... they can’t afford the current path, period
#winning!
Pull the switch. Punch the red button.
Funny how that doesn't matter, but the provision saying you can't cut public employee pensions is sacrosanct, even if it destroys the state.
I think I may have found the problem.
What's AMAZING to me is what you pointed out in your post (Enchante) - the State of Illinois has violated its own Constitution for 15 years. Who makes the government follow the law? What can anyone do to make them follow the law?
Oh, wait - I have that answer, too. SHUT THE F%%K UP, PEASANT.
You have it right. Shut up and pay your taxes, peasant. There are only two ways to “make” government, any government, follow the Constitution. One of them is the ballot box.
Can you guess which other box is the second way?
I’ll ring you tomorrow.
L
Nor does any state which voted for Obama for president.
Do you think that the voters should pass a constitutional amendment that would state that, if a budget isn’t approved, in time, the governor and/or legislative leaders will be punished, including a fine and/or jail term? I’m undecided, but I don’t know why our constitution says something that isn’t enforced.
They could pass it, but who’s going to enforce it ?
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