Sounds familiar ...
Posted on 10/09/2017 7:03:38 AM PDT by KeyLargo
Commentary: Welcome to the dysfunction of Illinois government
Diana Sroka Rickert
I walked into the Thompson Center on my first day, not knowing what to expect. In many ways, my new workplace was like any other large organization: big building, thousands of people and plenty of broken computers.
Except this building is dilapidated, many of the employees are political hires and the computers will never be repaired, ever.
And it’s all paid for by you, Illinois taxpayers.
“Welcome to state government,” said a new colleague, as we boarded the elevator for the 16th floor.
This summer I got to see how Illinois government works from the inside when I accepted a high-level position at the governor’s office.
A lot of people have asked why I took the role, considering I have spent the bulk of my career railing against the government.
It came down to this: If I declined the job, I’d watch Illinois’ problems go unfixed and wonder if I could have made a difference. Or, I could enter the nucleus of state government and attempt to change the system from within. It’s all true
The experience was eye-opening, but after six weeks I decided to leave the position. It was a dysfunctional workplace in a flailing administration. The bad I saw far outweighed any good I could do.
But perhaps worst of all is that I learned early on that there would be no fixing the system from within, especially from my role; this is a state government that has been broken for decades. It is designed to reject improvement in every form, at every level.
It seemed that if I stuck around I would be giving my tacit approval to the status quo, so I quit.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
“Despite the shoddy condition of the state — fiscally and otherwise — there is a disturbing sense of entitlement among some state employees.” “During my first week, someone who said he had been “promised” a job approached me. When I asked what he did all day, the employee said, “Not a lot. But they promised me I would have a position.”
Diana Sroka Rickert formerly worked for the libertarian-to-conservative Illinois Policy Institute and recently headed Gov. Bruce Rauner’s communications team.
No money for police, fire or infrastructure. It all goes to service the pension system. They’ve borrowed heavily from it and all the money has to go back into it. Maybe they’ll do what CA has done and just issue vouchers to be paid later. Much much later.
Rauner Becomes First Governor to Begin Taxpayer Funding of Abortion
by Michael J. New
September 29, 2017 PM @Michael_J_New
On Thursday, the Republican governor of Illinois, Bruce Rauner, signed the controversial House Bill 40 into law.
HB 40 contains language that will ensure abortion remains legal in Illinois if Roe v. Wade is overturned. More importantly, HB 40 would also require taxpayer funding of abortion for low income women through Illinois’ Medicaid program. In April, Rauner indicated that he would oppose the legislation because of “sharp divisions of opinion” about public subsidies for abortion. However, the governor apparently had a change of heart and signed the bill into law this week. What is interesting – and disheartening – for pro-lifers is that Illinois is the first state where taxpayer funding of abortion came about through the democratic process.
The Hyde Amendment places strict limits on the ability of the federal government to fund abortion through Medicaid. However, states have always been free to pursue their own policy. Prior to today, 15 states funded abortion through Medicaid. In eleven of these states, the policy was imposed through a judicial ruling. In the four other states, health departments simply decided Medicaid would cover elective abortions. As such, Governor Rauner made history in an ignominious way.
Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/452029/bruce-rauner-abortion-law-first-governor-begin-taxpayer-funding
Illinois Republican Governor Signs Sanctuary State Law
by John Binder
28 Aug 2017Springfield, IL
Illinois’ Republican Governor Bruce Rauner signed legislation shielding the nearly 500,000 illegal aliens from federal immigration law.
Rauner signed the sanctuary state bill into law on Monday, making it illegal for law enforcement to arrest or detain illegal aliens solely based on their immigration status, the Chicago Tribune noted.
The new law will essentially make it impossible for Illinois police to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when they have a suspected criminal illegal alien on their hands, thus increasing the possibility that they will be freed back into the general public.
The sanctuary state law also makes it illegal for local law enforcement to arrest an illegal alien, even if the individual is wanted by ICE for immigration violations.
Rauner’s signing of the sanctuary state law ushers in a new era for Illinois. Currently, there is a booming illegal alien population of more than 450,000, according to Pew Research. Of those illegal aliens in the state, more than 70 percent are from Mexico. As Breitbart Texas reported, the open borders lobby cheered the new law, saying it will “attract more immigrants” to the state.
The big business lobby in Illinois is also likely to support the law, as the Chicago Council on Global Affairs recently asked that the state bring in more immigrants to take low-skilled jobs, despite a widespread problem with African-American youth unemployment, as Breitbart Texas reported.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2017/08/28/illinois-republican-governor-signs-sanctuary-state-law/
Just imagine what will happen to many pension systems if a significant downturn in the stock market were to occur and the value of their assets plummeted. I don’t think the Fed can allow that kind of financial disaster to happen. JMHO.
Watch the tax base flee the state.
The worst part is that, when the inevitable bankruptcy happens, the resolution will almost certainly be run by dummocrats.
Residents will be hammered with property taxes, businesses will leave and the state will look more like Venezuela.
It has been fleeing.
My wife and I are fleeing, as well.
“Watch the tax base flee the state.”
Moving company says more people leaving Chicago than any other major city
Illinois News Network
Sep 27, 2017 0
The nation’s biggest mover is corroborating Census data showing the exodus of residents from Chicago and across Illinois.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Census released its report that said most Illinois’ cities are shrinking in population, with the entire state estimated to have lost 58,456 people on net in 12 months ending in July.
United Van Lines tracks how many people come and go from the nation’s larger cities every summer. They found more people moved from Chicago than any other state.
“We’re really seeing a trend of a lot of people moving out of big cities on the east coast and the Midwest and tending to migrate west and south,” spokesperson Melissa Sullivan said. The Windy City led the nation in percentage of departures in 2016 as well.
United Van Lines’ numbers confirm Illinois as a state is seeing more people depart than arrive.
“The places that top our list of destinations every year have either growing job markets or places that have a lot to offer retirees,” Sullivan said. “It definitely is a trend that goes beyond Chicago because the state is showing similar trends.”
Notably, the Census estimated 40,000, or 5 percent, of Chicago’s black population left in the 12 months ending in July.
High taxes and lack of job opportunities often are cited by residents who leave for other states.
I hear payments will be made the day after never.
The GOP Governor Will Pay a Price for Taxpayer-Funded Abortion in Illinois
by Mary Hallan FioRito October 4, 2017
4:00 AM
Breaking promises, Bruce Rauner signed a bill wildly out of step with the state’s voters. If you’re from Illinois, you’re accustomed to, and therefore not surprised by, politicians making questionable judgment calls.
There were the attempts by the convicted and now imprisoned former governor Rod Blagojevich to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama. More recently, Senator Richard Durbin stunned observers with his religiously bigoted questioning of federal appellate-court nominee Amy Barrett, grilling the respected Notre Dame law professor and mother of seven on the exact nature and extent of her Catholic faith. “Are you an orthodox Catholic?” he asked, stricken, it seemed, at the very thought that a Catholic who genuinely embodies her faith would sit on the federal bench.
But last week, Republican governor Bruce Rauner took an action so shocking in its duplicity and so out of step with the views of Illinois voters that many political watchers say it has likely ended his career in electoral politics.
Last week Rauner signed HB 40, a bill sponsored by Democrats in the Illinois legislature. In doing so, he created a sad bit of history: Rauner became the first U.S. governor to initiate publicly funded abortions for all state employees and for all Medicaid recipients.
What’s more, he approved the measure after explicitly assuring the GOP caucus, religious leaders, and a host of pro-family and pro-life organizations that he would veto it.
Time for tar and feathers.
Interesting confirmation of the exodus from liberaldom. Wonder what the #2 city is?
Good decision. Best of luck to you. There are lots of nicer places to live out there.
Rauner will suffer the same demise as IL Rino Senator Kirk.
We got Tammy Duckworth, who is at least a true Democrat rather than a pretend Conservative Republican.
Most Conservatives will just stay home next November rather than vote for Rauner.
So, again, Illinois Conservatives will just resign their fate to once again have another Democrat Governor.
Illinois already tried that - issuing IOUs. Didn’t work out so hot.
The Illinois Democrats are not concerned about taxpayers leaving the state.
Because they know that the taxpayers will be replaced by the protected class groups - the Democrat base, which will insure that Democrats remain in officer in perpetuity.
Illinois Democrats assume, correctly that there will be another Democrat POTUS in the future that will surely bail out Illinois Democrats with Federal taxpayer money.
Mayor: Chicago welcomes Puerto Ricans fleeing their destroyed homes
Breaking 10/02/2017,
>
the system ... is designed to reject improvement in every form, at every level.
>
I’m sorry, but anyone is a fool whom believes GOVT, at *any* level, to be the source of ‘improvements\solutions’.
Govt will ALWAYS:
- Be an impediment (a Free people do not need [BIG] govt)
- Spend time\sources\$$
- Grow (size\scope\power)
And what has been the government forever — Democrat. Yes, now there is a Repub governor, but he appears no better than the decades of Democerat run government.
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