38 Comments - OneMan - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 9:06 am: #3 I might go #2 if someone explains how we now have a huge budget hole again, are we out of tricks? - Crimefighter - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 9:10 am: Since they’ve looted the pension fund, a tax increase is gonna be about the only way to make up for the shortfall. Going after the LINK program would yield some money–people are abusing that like crazy. - leigh - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 9:11 am: Make do with what we have! - A Citizen - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 9:11 am: I voted #3 and they hung up on me. - Shallow Pharnyx - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 9:24 am: Gotta go with #3- live within your means. - nomoretax - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 9:29 am: #3 and I will buy the damn football uniforms!! It would save me alot of money. - fedup dem - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 9:31 am: Option #2, but combine the income tax hike with an increase in the standard personal exemption from the current $2,000 to say $4,000 per person (which would eliminate most of the impact of the tax increase on low and moderate income households). If Gov. Sleazy objects, we will have to muddle along with decling services in government across the state until the feds toss Rod’s butt in prison. - one of the 35 - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 9:33 am: I like Option #4 = Small tax increase and learn to live within your means. - Papa Legba - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 9:36 am: Gotta go with #3. I wouldn’t trust Rod with my pocket change. - Cassandra - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 9:38 am: I’m with the guv on #1 but if that fails, I’m with #3. As to cuts, we will barely notice them if they are done properly. The state can survive with a few years of belt tightening. It’s not written in that Legislature in the sky that our legislators have to keep raising taxes. At least it would be good to have the GRT out of the way if its going so we can concentrate on the guv and the legislators’ next scheme to extract our money. - Ghost - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 9:39 am: Option 3 Start by removing the money the state spent on Outside attorneys, the money given to build stadiums, the money spent advertising/lobbying the governors plans for the GTR, KIDS etc; cut all of the “liasion” positions created by the Governor etc and were well on the way to covering everything that needs to be covered. - graduated income - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 9:44 am: tax is the way to go. If you make more money than the average you should pay more tax. Regressive tax’s are not fair - City Voter - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 9:45 am: #3 Time to look at comprehensive tax reform in IL with amazing tools like transparent and open debate and compromise. - i d - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 9:45 am: Option 3…and the budget cuts are made without any input from the Rod, Madigan and Jones. - Rich Miller - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 9:58 am: “Ghost,” if the GA did everything you’re suggesting, it wouldn’t even be a teeny tiny drop in a very huge bucket, hardly putting them “well on the way” to solving the situation. - Drew - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 9:58 am: A tax hike would be a little easier to swallow if we could all honestly believe that the State’s terrible financial situation would be cleared up with this tax cut. - Drew - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 9:59 am: A tax hike would be a little easier to swallow if we could all honestly believe that the State’s terrible financial situation would be cleared up with this tax hike. - Billy - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 10:10 am: Option 3 for now. We need to find a way to attract more businesses to IL, not drive them away. Can you imagine the ads if GRT passes: Relocate your biz to IL and see your shareholders revolt. - Bill - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 10:10 am: number one - Tea Leaves - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 10:22 am: #3 - Gene Parmesan - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 10:23 am: #3 - A. Potter - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 10:32 am: I think we’ve lived with lousy state services for so long, our expectations are way too low. Safe bridges, roads in good repair, mental health help available for the 1 in 4 families that need it (according to Rep. Lang), developmentally disabled children and adults receiving treatment and support that those in other states take for granted, decent schools in every neighborhood. I hope the GA uses a little imagination and creativity, and combines the best of #1 and #2. - demgrrl - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 10:32 am: is this a rhetorical question? grt! - Gas ! $5.00 per gallon - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 10:34 am: Number 3 - Solidarity? - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 10:49 am: #3 with a constitutional amendment making the income tax progressive. Also, why do we have so many units of local government? Maybe we could just make government more efficient and stop multi million dollar no-bid contracts. - Team Sleep - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 10:53 am: Hmmm. I was called by Ask Illinois, pressed number three and then had to hang up. We can live within our means, keep our current revenue streams as is and still provide some new programs. I think the governor and his upper staff are too set on huge programs with big tax plans and are not open to compromise or finding a way to tighten the ol’ belt another notch. Plus, the way the Senate is operating, the GRT threshold is going to wind up being raised each day. - Ghost - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 10:55 am: Cutting out the expenses I mentioned generates about 50 million, which I must admit is a very small portion of what is needed based upon projected budgets. We could also bring back the 1% sales tax on food. All that aside my fundamental difficulty is the idea that government increases its expenses then increases tax rates to fund the increase. This leads to a theoretical 100% tax rate. It would be preferable to see government look at its income, and structure its spending accordingly. I did not accuratly characterize the spending I was highlighting or its effects by removing in toto. But I was aiming more for the idea of what has been done to reduce spending that is unneeded. When we look at a few hundred thousand dollars spent on advertising campaigns and accept such a cost as ok because it is so small compared to the overall budget we trigger what I refer to as the wal-mart effect. (I go into wal-mart and because each item is so inexpensive, end up buying more and spending more then intended becasue each item was so cheap). If you look at all the small amounts we see being wasted there may be a lot more, add those up and you my find we have the resources we need. perhaps at some point the discussion about taxes should encompase a look at how the government is operating and attempting to run within its means. For example, the education system in Illinois neeeds overhauled before we toss in more money. Our children are our best and greatest resource. But the current system fails on many levels, and just adding money will not fix that. Charter schools are intersting, as they operate at lower cost but look to be offering at least the same quality of education. Same for our healthcare system. Before we add more expense perhaps we need to look at overhauling what we have, then we can talk about taxes. Everything from putting new employees on a 401k type system and through. In short, we need a ravamp of govt. Money is not the solution to all problems. As an aside there is no guarantee this new tax is going to be expended on education and healthcare. Nothing prohibits the legislature from redirecting those funds at a later date to some other project, and we are left once again with problems funding education and healthcare. Recall lotto was going to add funds to the education budget. - Captain America - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 11:36 am: I got the robocall poll too. too. I voted for # 1, but prefer a combination of 1 and 2 - a compromise solution. The State desperately needs revenue - a tax increase is needed! - PalosParkBob - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 11:38 am: All increasing taxes will do is raise the bar on unproductive spending and waste. If you raise taxes by $5 Billion, they’ll find a way to “need” to spend another $7 Billion. Pension benefit reform such as ending early retirements, ending end of career raises in the calculation period above the cost of living, exclusion of supplemental income towards pension calculation for such items as overtime and coaching stipends and requiring new employees to enter into a 401K type plan rather than the “golden” current system, salary schedule reform, a state statute limiting growth in public education staff salaries and benefits to the rate of increae of district revenues, conversion of Medicaid to a more efficient managed care plan, creating a “sunset” bill systm so that pork bills would be evaluated periodically for effectivenes and value before funding, and balancing the current budget before starting ANY new programs could be done before any tax increase. OF course, if the state did all this, the tax increase issue would be moot because we wouldn’t have a deficit. If a substantial number of these spending reforms aren’t made first, all the tax increases would do to enable the dysfunctional spending practices to continue rather than solving them. For years, the state and locals have been doing “#1″ on our legs and been telling us “its raining!”, and the way they have been misleading us about the real root causes of the state’s financial problems is a bunch of “#2″. That’s why I’m all the way for #3. PS:Rich, how would you score the cost of the reforms I mentioned? - MIDSTATE - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 11:38 am: #3 No new spending. Pay off current debt. If their is a tax increase, only to pay off CURRENT DEBT. - Oak Street Beach - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 11:50 am: #3 Option Make sure you have a seat when the music stops playing, looks like massive state firings. Blago will fire 500 state employees and replace with 1500 (more relatives and friends) state employees. That’s the way ya do it, money for nothing! - Huh? - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 12:06 pm: #3. Anybody who can balance a checkbook knows that when the money isn’t in the account, the check bounces. Regarding the need for improved roadways, increase the state and federal motor fuel taxes. These are user fees paid by those pumping gas into their cars. If you ride the bus or train, you don’t pay the MFT. However, you do benefit from the MFT. Regarding POA firing another 500 state employees and replacing them with his cronies, God help us if that comes to pass. - PalosParkBob - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 12:40 pm: The scam behind “decreasing state payroll” is that the jobs are just transferred to “pay to play” contractors, so the taxpayers wind up paying the exhorbitant pensions PLUS a higher salary for the pensioner to get the necessary work done as a “private” contractor. This is part of the big “privatization” scam where claims of increased efficiency were made, but responsibility is transferred to a private contractor to prevent public scrutiny. It also makes political fund raising much easier. Instead of overcompensating thousands of public employees, or giving them unnecessary overtime, and twisiting their arm to buy $100 per seat tickets, the pols funnel all the money, and then some, to politically connected private contractors who then give one big check to a National Committee with a “wink and a nod” that it goes to the “right” candidate. Any system is only as honest as those running it. Hold on to your wallets whenever “privatization”, “reform”, or “reorganization” is espoused by pols as a “cost saving” measure. - Kevin Highland - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 12:54 pm: #3..many little savings can add up to one big savings. We all do it in our budgets at home! It’s time for the State to learn how to live with in it’s means…Hamburger Helper Time, not Filet Mignon! - Cassandra - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 1:16 pm: An overhaul of everything would be nice but that’s too much work for our feckless legislators. And let’s remember that #2 is most assuredly NOT a graduated income tax. The rich will barely feel it. The “poor” (for the Dems, that’s everybody with a family income up to about $100,000) will get tax credits. The rest of us will feel it. Ok, so I admit I’m one of the rest of us. That doesn’t mean I want to squander a disproportionate amount of the family income (and I have to pay for everything and I mean everything) on huge raises for teachers who don’t produce, Emil’s Earmarks, dozing state employees, and “contracts” for those wealthy campaign contributors. If we’re going to have an income tax, let’s have a really progressive one, with a surcharge on the wealthy. Not a pretend progressive tax, as in 750. - tired of GROD - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 2:47 pm: #3 !! The more money you send to the government (state or federal) the more they waste. GROD needs to grow up and balance the budjet just like us common folk. - Squideshi - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 4:08 pm: None of the above. We do get a binding none of the above vote, forcing a new set of choices, right? - Fed up - Thursday, May 10, 07 @ 5:03 pm: option 3 you dont spend what you dont have. Maybe add a few casinos and put slots in Ohare and Midway like in vegas. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.