83 Comments - vole - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 1:33 pm: Cross has the cross hair precisely on target today. Now Cross needs to propose some alternate cuts. We do need to quiz Quinn on why some agencies grow under his budget while education gets the big whack. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 1:33 pm: Cross criticizes the governor for failing to offer specifics, but then fails to offer his own specifics on what he would cut instead of education. - Carl Nyberg - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 1:33 pm: Has the GOP offered specifics to cut the budget? Increase revenue? Has they offered generalities about how to cut the budget? Increase revenue? Tom Cross deserves congratulations for finding ways to criticize Quinn’s proposal. But can Cross answer the following: what’s your proposal to cut spending and increase revenue? We live in absurd times where Democrats are expected to compromise with people who continually spout nonsensical statements. Does Cross and the GOP have a position with which the Democrats can make concessions and offer compromises? If not, what makes conversing with Republicans different from negotiating with a senile old person in a nursing home? - Will County Woman - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 1:33 pm: based on the first few mins of the madigan clip… so speaker madigan, do the heavy-lifting with your house dems already. you don’t need republicans for anything here. why the delay on your part? cullerton according to news reports is in if you are in. put politics aside and just do it for the people. - Scooby - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 1:38 pm: Shorter Cross: How dare he cut! What we really need are cuts! - sad - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 1:38 pm: all of madigan’s talk of “drop-outs” has me watching “beauty school drop-out” from Grease on you tube. beauty school drop-outs, won’t be a pretty election day for you… what the republicans, and some democrats for that matter, are underestimating here is the very real possibilty large numbers of people vote against incumbents, no matter their party. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 1:38 pm: huh? 48 states? - MOON - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 1:43 pm: WILL COUNTY Madigan has some members of his caucus that will not go along with an increase in taxes. In order to get such legislation done you also need Gop votes. Madigan has a lot of sway over his caucus, but he is not a magician! - George - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 1:44 pm: vole - “We do need to quiz Quinn on why some agencies grow under his budget while education gets the big whack.” What agencies are growing? In term’s of state money - I think every single agency has a cut or is flat. Some have pretty huge cuts. You might be inaccurately including federal money in your calculations. - MOON - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 1:44 pm: ANON The reference to 48 states is the number running deficits! - Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 1:45 pm: Madigan reminding everyone that Cross was a Blagojevich ally who tried to give Rod $28 billion in discretionary spending authority was Bleeping Golden. When, oh when, will the Speaker be doing the talk show circuit? - Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 1:47 pm: @WCW Why is it always the people who criticize Madigan for having too much power who suggest he should use that power to pass a tax increase which they claim that they, themselves, do not support? Is that a triple irony or a double hypocrisy? - Will County Woman - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 1:50 pm: moon, then quinn and madigan need to work to get their reluctant party members on board. the dems hold majorities in both chambers. cullerton got his dems on board last year and is suggesting that he has them now. if it’s so right to quinn, madigan et al. then screw the consequences, right? - Will County Woman - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 1:52 pm: ydd, please. you know better than that! - Dnstateanon - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 1:52 pm: Quinn and Madigan are the “political drop outs”; when it comes to the budget. The problem is they are in charge of the Budget NOW. They are destroying the state and it’s economy by doing another 6 month budget which it sounds like Madigan is fine with doing. I am not so sure state employees will be happy on the employment line with the state vendors who aren’t being paid. - Will - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 1:53 pm: Did Cross just simultaneously criticize Quinn for speaking too long and for speaking to briefly in the same sentence? Impressive. Maybe next time he’ll think the porridge is just right. - SouthernGirl - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 1:55 pm: Notice there are no personnel cuts in DHS? All the cuts are coming from grant funded programs. So why do we need DHS grant monitors if the budget is cutting all the grants? Does anybody else think that’s insane besides me? - OneMan - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 2:02 pm: == We live in absurd times where Democrats are expected to compromise with people who continually spout nonsensical statements.== Then don’t, you don’t need the Republicans to do anything…. - George - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 2:10 pm: “Notice there are no personnel cuts in DHS? All the cuts are coming from grant funded programs. “ I see about a $60 million cut in “Total Personal Services and Fringe Benefits” from FY09 levels on page 170 of the budget book. - Niles Township - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 2:14 pm: Don’t you just love Cullerton who basically says I’m for it, but let someone else lead. - dupage dan - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 2:16 pm: I marvel at how reasonable MJM sounds when the microphone is pointed in his direction. In his wake are the political corpses of those who dare to stand up to him. What a dichotomy. I ain’t impressed. Since MJM’s district is unlikely to vote him out the only way to fumigate MJM is to deny the democrats a majority in the house. C’mon all you voters out there - vote your dem state rep out and elect a GOP state rep. Can they be all that bad? - irish - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 2:16 pm: WCW - Then what are the Republican members doing there? What exactly is their purpose if the Dems under Madigan do everything themselves? The Repubs. should go home. If they are not part of the solution they are part of the problem. - Will County Woman - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 2:22 pm: “Don’t you just love Cullerton who basically says I’m for it, but let someone else lead.” nt agreed, but isn’t madigan essentially saying the same thing. so, now why isn’t quinn calling madigan out on that? and why didn’t he call madigan out on that last year? quinn’s fight here is really against madigan. let’s stop blaming taxpayers and citizens. it is on quinn to get the house dems to go along with him (quinn), if madigan won’t or is unable. there’s so much crap that has been done in springfield without citizenry input, so i’m not buying the website designed to illicit advice from the public gimmick. besides, lack of popular support never stopped dem leadership from doing whatever it wanted to do before, so why should it now? usually it the public hasn’t found out about what has been done in our name and with our money until after the deals have been made in springfield without us anyway. quinn has to go over madigan’s head and get all house dems on board? this would be the state-level equivalent to reconcilation that obama is trying to do with congress. - VanillaMan - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 2:23 pm: He is the governor during the worse financial challenges in almost 160 years. Anything he says is going to get bashed. So what? Quinn’s biggest problem had been not what he had proposed, but what he hadn’t. Get this conversation started. - dupage dan - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 2:27 pm: Irish, I love that kind of post. “The Repubs. should go home”. Really? While we’re at it, why don’t we just abolish the 2 party system? Who needs ‘em? Those who wish to spread the blame beyond the party that has had a strangle hold on the gov mansion and the GA for nearly a decade want to place the blame on someone else. It ain’t gonna work. The dems have only themselves to blame for the lion’s share of this mess. While there were problems before (Ryan, etc) there has been plenty of time for the dems to address these problems. But, instead, we have a speaker of the house (and so many others in the dem party) stumping for RB for 2 terms and going along with the whole train wreck that is our soon to be incarcerated democratic former gov. And it’s all the fault of the GOP? Really? Just. Plain. Silly. - George - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 2:32 pm: Well, dupage, since the vast majority of the deficit is due to the global economic collapse that hit in Fall 2008, the Dems could blame George Bush if they wanted to. Or the investment bankers. Or housing speculators. Or… - Will County Woman - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 2:36 pm: george, illinois fiscal crisis is due more to fiscal mismagement by those governing this state, than anything else. so don’t even try to blame our problems on the global/national economic crisis. did they hurt, yes because they are not causal factors here. - Will County Woman - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 2:38 pm: ooops…change because to *but* - vole - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 2:38 pm: George: “What agencies are growing? In term’s of state money - I think every single agency has a cut or is flat. Some have pretty huge cuts. You might be inaccurately including federal money in your calculations.” My response: From the budget statement released yesterday, I am assuming that the previous year budget numbers for several agencies also included federal revenues. So, if the totals for the new fiscal year are larger than the previous fiscal year, the agency spending is growing, regardless of revenue source. Plus, I am aware that new hiring is happening in some agencies right now in this current budget crisis. Some of these hires are for positions that have been vacant for years. So, in light of this, Quinn’s words about the state’s dire fiscal condition sound empty. - George - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 2:40 pm: vole - “regardless of revenue source” that’s where you are struggling. The $13 billion deficit is in state money. You could cut all those federal money increases, and it wouldn’t do a thing to touch the $13 billion deficit. “Revenue Source” is the thing that matters. - CircularFiringSquad - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 2:41 pm: Pow…Nice job reminder viewers/voters that StateWideTom was pushing to give Blagoof more casinos and $28 billion pork pie to hand out just think of the bleeping golden auction that would have been…..gotta wonder if StateWideTom was on any of thoese calls…Hmmmmmm. - Easy - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 2:41 pm: Cross reminding everyone how it was Madigan and Blago that raided the pension fund and spent it on pork projects was bleeping golden. - George - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 2:43 pm: “george, illinois fiscal crisis is due more to fiscal mismagement by those governing this state” Are you serious?!?!?!?!?!?! You are either nuts, stupid, or dishonest, or all three. Revenues coming into the state have collapsed. That is because of the economy. The only thing you CAN do without being disingenuous is to point to the global economic crisis as the reason we are here. The fact that this is happening in 48 states is just some odd coincidence to you?! - vole - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 2:45 pm: George, how about my point that some agencies are adding to head count, right now? Is this not growing? - 47th Ward - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 2:47 pm: How many times did Madigan say “nonparticipating dropouts?” Sounded to me like at least four or five. Think we’ll be hearing that phrase more in the next few months? - George - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 2:50 pm: vole - Please… for the sake of sanity…. go read through the budget book and look at all the “General Funds” lines in each of the agencies. Page 47 is where the Governor’s agencies start on a very helpful chart that shows year-to-year appropriations. Cut Cut Cut Cut - ABCBoy - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 2:55 pm: George, you can’t blame Illinois’ problems on the global crisis. Other states aren’t nearly in as bad shape. In fact, Indiana is running a small surplus at this point. Illinios government is larded with pork and it has been for years. Mostly due to the many (but not all) of the labor unions that have milked the state for all it’s worth. Most of these state senators–including a lot of Democrats–kicked out Blago partly on the grounds that he initiated many programs in an unconstitutional manner. People were all outraged about this in January of 2009. As for cutting the budget…how about starting with those programs that people were howling over last year? Of course it won’t make a major dent, but it’s at least a starting point… And as far as insisting the GOP take part in this–that’s nonsense. The democrats have been driving the bus for the past 8 years and have demonstrated ZERO fiscal discipline. And now they want the GOP to “share the pain” of making the tough political decisions like going for a tax hike? What a joke… - UISer - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 3:12 pm: Oh Bill Brady. I am just worried that people are going to believe him. If he wins this election he will have to support a tax increase. There is no other option. - dupage dan - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 3:37 pm: UISer, It won’t be the first time a candidate says after winning an election that “the situation is worse than I thought so we have to rethink this no-tax thing”. Why worry about that? - Pot calling kettle - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 3:43 pm: ==Don’t you just love Cullerton who basically says I’m for it, but let someone else lead. == Actually, he led last year, he passed a tax increase which now sits in the House. Short of trading seats with a House member, what more is he supposed to do? - irish - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 3:52 pm: Dupage Dan - Please read carefully and slowly. The comment you took out of context and then went off on was a reply to WCW and anyone else who thinks that since the Dems have the votes to pass a tax increase they should do so and not bother the Repubs to be a part of it. So my reply was that if the Repubs don’t want to participate why are they there? They should go home. I am not a Democrat or a Republican. Right now I would vote for anyone who isn’t in there now because I am tired of these kindergarten shannanigans. “If you like I don’t like it, even though I don’t know what it is.” That is BS and has no place in an adult world especially in the GA when we are facing the crisis we are facing. No I am not trying to abolish the two party system. I actually wish the Republican party would get off it’s butt and stop catering to the ultra right wing and move to the moderate position and give us a candidate that is viable. But instead they bring in Alan Keyes and trot out JBT. Again! - Will County Woman - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 4:07 pm: irish, my point is that if the dems really care then they should just do it. but every once and a while somone like ydd slips up and is honest about why the dems won’t do that which they claim to care about so much because they don’t want to committ “political suicide.” and pat quinn is playing the same game too when he without truly fighting for that which he claims to believe just throws his hands up and says to heck with it, i’ll just go for a stopgap. - Turner voter - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 4:11 pm: Quinn on wvon check out the stream - MOON - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 4:13 pm: DUPAGEDAN First of all as a State employee you should be working rather than spending time on this blog. Secondly, you appear to think that a tax increase is the answer. That being the case, instead of voting for the GOP that will do nothing, vote for DEMS who will support a tax increase that Madigan can get passed. Tell us what a GOP House will do if they hold the majority. They have already said no new taxes, and yet they offer no solutions other than cut expenses. Give us the specifics with regards to these cuts. Have your Mr. Brady introduce legislation showing how he would resolve the problem. Madigan is correct, the GOP does not care about anyone. Their only concern is winning the next election. - Will County Woman - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 4:16 pm: is he talking about why he doesn’t want turner to be his runnigmate or is cliff kelley just letting quinn whine about the tax issue? - Cindy Lou - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 4:20 pm: –”First of all as a State employee you should be working rather than spending time on this blog” [MOON]. EH, Moon, you are aware, right, that employees don’t work 24/7 nor all on some days/schedules? Points go with a bit more meaning if they are not tossed in with generalizations and assumptions. - dupage dan - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 4:26 pm: MOON First of all, I am capable of doing more than one thing at a time. Maybe you aren’t. Secondly, I am not for a tax increase. I wish the problems in this state could be solved without one. I have not yet seen, heard of, or read any realistic plan to resolve the issues in this state without a tax increase, sad as that may be. As far as the GOP being the only entity that doesn’t support a tax increase, MJM himself says that a tax increase is not possible right now. He ain’t a GOPer, is he? George, The horrible state of the Illinois gov’t fiscal situation long predates 2008. Where have you been for the last 10 years? Antarctica? - Amuzing Myself - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 4:30 pm: Madigan doesn’t know what to do without a Republican there to take the fall for him. This mess began to spiral out of control when George Ryan left office, and left Madigan to deal with majorities in both houses and a governor from his own party. He’s been an absolute failure ever since. It’s not complicated. It’s not that he CAN’T get something done, he just refuses to do anything that threatens the grip on power he has enjoyed for so long - clearly too long. - CircularFiringSquad - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 4:30 pm: OMG who told BIllTheBuilder to do his avail in the Holland Tunnel?? Guess he was hoping media could not hear. StateWideTom will be proud to run him around the ‘burbs — not. - Boggles the Mind - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 4:32 pm: ==Cross reminding everyone how it was Madigan and Blago that raided the pension fund and spent it on pork projects was bleeping golden.== Lol. That message worked wonders for you guys in 2006 didn’t it? It worked so well that the HDems not only held their majority but picked up a seat and the SDems got themselves a super-majority. The only thing golden about Cross is how he has managed to keep his caucus from mutinying against him after losing so many seats as their leader. The truth can be a painful thing to face up to. Cross pretends it never happened, but he and his members tied themselves to Blago’s hip on that capital plan in 2008. “Sure, Rod, I trust you to spend $28 billion however you see fit. Hey, my members and I will get a cut, right? You seem like a trustworthy and ethical guy.” - Easy - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 4:33 pm: I love how Madigan tries to talk it up like he opposed Rod. Give it up—DUDE, you and Emil chaired is re-election campaign. I am almost sensing he believes his revisionist spin. - Anon - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 4:33 pm: Dupage Dan seems to be channeling mayor daley. Silly, silly silly - George - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 4:36 pm: The horrible state of the Illinois gov’t fiscal situation long predates 2008. Where have you been for the last 10 years? Antarctica Cute. The deficit before 2008 wasn’t $13 billion. Enough with the hyperbole. The budget hasn’t been great for a while, but it hasn’t been catastrophic for the past 10 years. Do you honestly think we would be having this conversation at all if it wasn’t for the economic collapse? Really? - Will County Woman - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 4:38 pm: amuzing, is pat quinn in any way responsible for all the power that madigan holds today? aboslutely he is! - Greg B. - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 4:39 pm: Budget coverage here has been stellar, by the way. Hat tip to Rich. - hisgirlfriday - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 4:56 pm: “Do you honestly think we would be having this conversation at all if it wasn’t for the economic collapse? Really?” Yes. The budget was already catastrophic when Blago came in with a 5 or 6 billion deficit eight years ago and thought good fiscal stewardship was not just an idiotic obstinancy when it came to raising taxes, but also that he should raise spending without finding a revenue source to pay for it rather than cutting spending and papered over the yawning deficit with insane borrowing tricks, treating the state’s pension obligations like a piggy bank along with using other smoke and mirror tactics. - dupage dan - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 5:11 pm: Anon, I resent that insinuendo. - MOON - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 5:20 pm: DUPAGE Once again I ask you what are the GOP’s solutions. If you want less spending be specific as to where you make the cuts. Mr. Brady could take the lead and let us know how he would cut, cut, cut. Mind you, none of these simple answers such as a 10% cut across the board. You may be capable of multi-tasking, but one of the tasks should not be blogging on this web site during work hours. Why not multi-task on the work in your office. Thats what you get paid to do. - cover - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 5:27 pm: Had Governor Quinn proposed a 10% cut to education instead of 17% (if I remember correctly), the GOP would not have been able to attack Quinn for his proposal without simultaneously attacking their own candidate. It does seem disingenuous of the GOP to criticize Quinn for proposing serious budget cuts. As “Scooby” @ 1:38 pm said, “How dare he cut! What we really need are cuts!” Brady’s plan, if it really were a plan and not just a talking point, would look eerily similar to Quinn’s overall, and would also leave the state with a huge pile of unpaid bills at the end of fiscal 2011. So it seems that the grand plan in Springfield is to once again bury our heads in the sand, and hope that we can keep borrowing on our credit cards to pay the rent and buy groceries. Junk bond status, anyone? - Will County Woman - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 5:34 pm: actually isn’t it quinn’s talking points/budget proposals that are looking more like his competitors with each day that passes? first it was pillfering ideas from hynes, and the other day it was a brady-look alike idea. the GOP have a point about quinn using children, instead of cutting what needs to cut. - TaxMeMore - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 5:39 pm: Quinn strikes out. How many different tax and budget positions is he going to take? They should just put an income tax increase referendum on the ballot in November, let the people decide, and be done with it. Is there anything keeping AFSCME, SEIU, Chicago Democrats, etc. from going out and getting the signatures needed to put a tax increase referendum on the November ballot? This Quinn tax hike will hit a lot of folks who can’t afford it because that is how it works in IL. Quinn might as well flop again. - DuPage Dave - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 6:02 pm: I’d just like to make sure nobody confuses me with the other guy. Thanks. - Jechislo - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 6:28 pm: Moon - 4:13 pm: You said, “Have your Mr. Brady introduce legislation showing how he would resolve the problem.” Your party is in full control of this budget mess - they spent us into this debt. And they don’t have a clue as to how to fix it. They are in power; they own the deficit. How about asking Mr. Quinn to have Mr. Madigan introduce legislation showing how he would resolve the problem. Kinda reminds me of a Keystone Cops movie. Quinn is in BIG trouble come November. - OneMan - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 6:28 pm: Heck kids, Dan Hynes warned us about this in 2006. As soon as they let Rod do that pension bond trick it was katie bar the door. - Will County Woman - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 6:42 pm: tax me more, something you wrote reminds of one of quinn’s positions during the primary. quinn chided dan hynes’ progressive income tax because according to quinn it did nothing for the here and now, in terms of paying the backlog of bills. but today, as per his budget address quinn is content to do nothing about the backlog of bills. he’s willing to just let them continue to pile up. then he proposes a 20 percent cut to the comptroller’s budget, for real suspect reasons, though i think we all know what those reasons are. nevermind the fact the 20 percent cut, higher than any other constitutional state officer, will no doubt hurt the office in terms of having enough manpower deal with the budget crisis on the comtroller’s end with respect to providing constituent services. maybe when the vendors et al. start calling the comptroller’s office about lack of payment, hynes should route all of those calls to gov quinn’s office. and let them all have at quinn, like they should have last year, but instead too many fell for quinn’s lies about hynes playing politics, when in fact hynes wasn’t. - Park - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 7:54 pm: Michael Madigan continues to be the most interesting politician that I’ve ever seen. - DuPage Dan - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 8:01 pm: Moon, Since you have no idea what I do or how I accomplish it please refrain from making accusations about me or what I do. As far as how to balance the budget I will toss the question back to you with my own twist: How do the dems plan on paying for their exorbitant programs when the already weak economy collapses under the weight of high taxes - ruining the businesses in this state causing them to flee, when their high taxes drive people out of the state to live in states where the tax pressure is less? I direct your attention to California, where out of control gov’t programs and unsustainable tax revenues have resulted in business flight and populace flight. The numbers are clear from the flight of higher income people and businesses from the state further destroying same. I have yet to see any realistic spending reductions made by PQ and company in the last year. I have yet to see any meaningful reduction in programs by the gov’t that has been exclusively democratic for nearly 10 years. WIth some of the highest revenue in state history in recent years squandered by the democratic controlled gov’t in Springfield you want us to accept even more taxes with little attention paid to reducing spending in any meaningful way. NOT A CHANCE. Cut taxes, cut spending, reduce costs, put more transparency and accountability into the process and then we can talk about what increased revenues are needed. I have lamented in this blog the possible need to raise taxes. There may be a time for that, unfortunately. I am not a budget/policy wonk so can’t address your demand line by line. However, that is not necessary. I don’t need to know the intricacies of world finance to know you don’t spend beyond what you earn. I don’t need to be a financial wizard to understand that you don’t mortgage the future of our children to pay for the profligate present spending of a bankrupt state. What part of thrifty don’t you understand? - Indeedy - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 8:04 pm: This is a pretty funny series of videos. Just out of curiosity, what is this Republican Campaign plan that Madigan speaks of? Is it the Froelich retires and the seat reverts plan? The kick Hebda off the ballot plan? Or is it the oust Bassi plan? Oh, wait, maybe it’s that razor sharp Brady/Plummer plan? Yes, Mr. Speaker, the masterful maneuverings of the GOP are so totally holding you up. - DuPage Dan - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 8:12 pm: @Indeedy, LOL GOP masterful maneuverings - oh Prunella! - vole - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 8:18 pm: George wrote: “vole - Please… for the sake of sanity…. go read through the budget book and look at all the “General Funds” lines in each of the agencies. Page 47 is where the Governor’s agencies start on a very helpful chart that shows year-to-year appropriations. Cut Cut Cut Cut” George, for the sake of curiosity, in Table 1A Operating Appropriation by Agency, Chapter 2-24, in the Governor’s Agencies Total, the general fund appropriation decreases by 0.2% from 2010 to 2011. But, if you add other state funds to the general fund appropriation, the total of all state funds to the agencies increases by 0.7% from 2010 to 2011. So, your cut, cut, cut, cut are not very well revealed in the total numbers. The federal funds are not masking anything in these totals. Immediately below the total data for the state agencies in that same table are printed the appropriations for education. Quite a stark contrast. I continue to argue that the agencies in total are getting off very lightly in contrast to the proposed education cuts. And I continue to make the judgment that Mr. Quinn’s rhetoric about the importance of education does ring hollow in light of this contrast. It is also very ironic that the goal of hiring about 20,000 people via the proposed tax credit on small employers would about equal the number of teachers and education employees who might lose their jobs via this proposed budget. And you can bet that many of the newly hired would be earning much closer to the minimum wage than these teachers are making. So, definitely a net tax loss to the state. - Bookworm - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 8:33 pm: Upon further examination of the budget, the scary and intolerable 10 percent cut proposed by Brady might be looking pretty good to some agencies right now… For example, the Committee on Govt. Forecasting and Accountability (which I think Brady actually sits on), whose budget Quinn proposes to cut by 96 percent. That’s right, 96 percent. From $6.8 million down to $229,000. Not a typo. Bear in mind this is an agency that employs a number of people who do some serious and useful number crunching. What on earth did they do to tick Quinn off? - ok - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 8:38 pm: Vole, don’t challenge George on this stuff. He knows it backward and forward. You can’t count “other state funds”. Those are not part of the 13 billion dollar deficit. You need to only look at the General Funds line. That is where the deficit is. George is right. Every agency sees a cut cut cut. - vole - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 9:01 pm: ok: “George is right. Every agency sees a cut cut cut.” I went through the table. In general funding, every agency DID NOT in fact see a cut. Go through it. And, in general funding alone, the reduction in the total to the governor’s agencies is only 0.2% from 2010 to 2011. Does this add up to “cut,cut,cut,cut…”? - Bob - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 9:02 pm: I got a way to save money. Why not find a way to bring state employees up on disciplinary charges, suspend them, and then make them work their suspension days. Is that legal? It should be a lot easier than all that furlough business. - 47th Ward - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 9:03 pm: NBC’s national news team focused on Illinois’ budget meltdown today. We’re a national joke again. Way to go Illinois! Just when New York’s crazy politicians were gaining ground on us, our team of bumblers raises the bar just a bit higher. Brian Williams called Illinois a deadbeat state. In your face New York! - Jechislo - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 9:37 pm: Like I said earlier, Quinn is in BIG trouble come election day. If he has a clue he sure isn’t showing us what it is. If he thinks the budget he proposed today will rally the electorate and get him re-elected then he just handed the Governorship to Brady on a platter. - Bird Dog - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 10:14 pm: Bob, where have you been - obviously not on this blog very much - because the facts are that you can lay off every one of us (state employees) and it won’t close the budget gap by much. - DuPage Dan - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 10:33 pm: Bird Dog. There are some who think that getting rid of every state employee solves the problem. The could fire all of us and it won’t dent the deficit. Rich has stated that repeatedly. The costs are in the entitlement/education programs. It is money paid out for public aid and education. You can’t fire the poor who need medical care. You can’t fire the children who deserve an education. But it makes the Bobs of the world feel better for having said it - who are we to deprive him of his moment in the sun? His 15 seconds of fame (he doesn’t deserve 15 minutes). - just sayin' - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 10:38 pm: Just when you think the Dems might be down for the count, Tom Cross comes along and opens his mouth. - anonyMiss - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:02 pm: Cute. The deficit before 2008 wasn’t $13 billion. Enough with the hyperbole. The budget hasn’t been great for a while, but it hasn’t been catastrophic for the past 10 years. Do you honestly think we would be having this conversation at all if it wasn’t for the economic collapse? Really? Our budget problem did indeed start 10 yrs ago when it became OK to skip and borrow against pension payment - anon - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:35 pm: Dupage Dan, Your statement that Madigan was stumping for Rod Blagojevich for 2 terms is absurd. I agree with Yellow Dog Democrat that when Madigan revealed it was Republican Leader Tom Cross who voted to give Blagojevich 28 bill in discretionary spending it was Bleeping Golden. Thank god Madigan was successful in stopping Cross and Blagojevich. - DuPage Dan - Wednesday, Mar 10, 10 @ 11:53 pm: Anon, Please tell me who was RB’s chairman of the election campaign for both runs for the gov office? MJM. He is on record supporting the standard bearer for the office during both campaigns. What should we call that? - Eagle Eye - Thursday, Mar 11, 10 @ 9:22 am: Well DuPage Dan . . . Tom Cross worked MUCH more closely with RB on several of the budgets than did Madigan . . . at least that’s my perspective. The budget’s problems started to snowball years ago, and issues were deferred in hopes that economic growth would solve the problems. It was a pipe dream. From my perspective . . . sitting on a branch overlooking the Mississippi . . . the root of the problem goes all the way back to the Reagan era when Federal aid to local government was slashed . . . Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.