Feeling all warm and full of good cheer? Bah! Here's a little something to satisfy the Scrooge in you before the spirit of Christmas takes hold.
We Need More Jobs: At 8.7 percent, the Illinois unemployment rate is 1 percent above the national rate. And job creation is improving at a faster clip all around us, in Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Iowa and Missouri, on average, according to Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner at the Illinois Policy Institute.
"The reality is Illinois’ poor policies aren't allowing the state to participate fully in the national recovery. If only Illinois’ unemployment rate were equal to the average of its neighbors, 100,000 more Illinoisans would be working. Yes, jobs are slowly returning to the state, but that’s despite Springfield’s policies of overspending, overtaxing and over-borrowing — not because of it," they write on the IPI blog.
Prison TV Costs $2.2 Million: From 2010 to 2012, the state of Illinois spent $2.2 million in taxpayer money on MTV, ESPN, Fox Sports, BET, Home Shopping Network and other cable TV stations for the state's prison inmates, according to the 2012 Piglet Book assembled by our friends at the IPI.
Maybe steady doses of Rihanna and Chris Berman keep the cons happy and quiescent.
At $38,268 a year, the state spends more per inmate than our Indiana neighbors do. The Hoosiers spend $14,823. If you're one of the unlucky Illinoisans to have lost a job, pay TV was probably one of the first things you cut back on.
Pretty Pennies in Someone's Pocket: Your wallet may be lighter, but you can be assured Illinois is a national leader in one respect — our state lawmakers are among the highest paid in America. The average salary for a member of the General Assembly is $77,382, according to the Better Government Association.
The average salary for the average Joe in the Land of Lincoln: $46,550.
In judging the value we get for the dollars spent on our reps, the BGA notes that former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker led a special State Budget Crisis Task Force that studied Illinois' financial condition and issued a special report. Let's just call it a job performance review for state government.
"Infrastructure is deteriorating. Education is threatened. Public safety, public health, and care for the needy all are at risk. Taxpayers and the state’s competitiveness are also at risk," the report concluded. "The culture of budget gimmickry and short-sightedness pushes costs off to the future, but eventually that will be impossible — retirees may lose their pensions as the funds dwindle; low income and disabled people may lose their healthcare as costs escalate; and citizens and businesses seeking a stable environment may face steep and sudden tax increases."
Guess you don't get what you pay for, after all. Humbug.
This Patch on Politics post is published throughout the Chicago-area Patch network. This post was closed to comments Jan. 3, 2013.
But you don't expound on this? t You can be Catholic and not agree with every ass-backward piece of Church hierarchical canon and dogma. Do you tell your Priest this too?
The Fiscal Cliff that we are fast approaching is not the fault of President Obama, maybe some but nowhere near all. John Boehner has been invoking the "Hastert Rule" and not negotiating in good faith for what's best for the country. If they come up with a plan that can pass the house with support from both the Democrats and the Repupublicans, he won't bring it to a vote unless it has majority support within the GOP ranks only. How does that help avoid economic disaster? Other than trying to put more blame on the President, that is. Just like you're doing. So which high income category do you fall into that you're so opposed to the President's plan to raise taxes on the very rich? Most likely, you would benefit from his plan but you'd rather see all of us plummet rather than see President Obama succeed. What incredible damage has this turkey has done? Re-build a shaky economy, kill bin-Laden, help keep the auto industry viable? That damage? More rhetoric with no support, now that's what I call pathetic.
1. The Democrat "stimulus" bill he signed into law piled more debt on our grandchildren than they will ever be able to pay, but did absolutely nothing to ease unemployment. 2. Oh, and how about that clever "cash for clunkers" program. Now that was a stroke of genius. 3. His "saving" of the auto industry was nothing more than payback to the union cronies that helped get him elected. Both GM and Chrysler would have been better off going through a normal bankruptcy, where they would have been able to jettison those dreadful union contracts, which will eventually put them both out of business anyway. 4. Oh yes, and don't forget "Obamacare" (the icing on the cake). We have yet to see how far into the toilet this piece of socialist legislation will put us........can you say GREECE? 5. I'll give you one. He did tell our Navy Seals "yes you can take out Bin Laden", but is there anyone on this earth, no matter how clueless, who wouldn't have done that? 6. And now he will take us all over the cliff, due his stubborn "punish the successful, and reward the lazy" ideology. Yes. This is indeed pathetic.
The Republicans don't care about the Middle Class. All they care about is the rich and big business.
So all of the 50 states have high unemployment and are billions and billions in debt. You are so misinformed and your hatred for Obama is showing
1. "The Democrat "stimulus" bill", is a continuation of the TARP program started under President Bush. Both Bush and Obama did the right thing. 2. Cash for clunkers was a bad idea. A lot of cars were sold, many already repossed and took a lot of viable used cars are out of the market, thus raising those prices. 3. The auto industry, again the right thing to do because it saved American jobs, union or not. Plus most if not all of that money has been paid back. 4. Obamacare? It's still too early to know for sure, but may end up being very good for the country. Most in the healthcare industry believe it will be. Also, keep in mind, it's not healthcare reform, it's health insurance reform. 5. Bin Laden? Yes, President Bush would have had the opportunity but turned his focus away from Tora Bora, where bin Laden was likely trapped and went to Iraq. Does that count as clueless? I like and respect President Bush, that's why I voted for him twice but Iraq was a mistake. 6.Fiscal Cliff, please read the news and see where the real roadblock is and try to focus on the truth, not just what you perceive as the truth.
Top ten monkey names from Monkey World: Rocky Mojo Hebe Evie Busta Lulu Peanut Sage Tito Adidas
The hate of wingnuts toward a man who is more of a moderate GOP than Lefty DEM would be only a shade better if he embraced and signed more trade and slave labor treaties with the Biz partners of the Robme's and Bushes this is also one reason we are not to mention the Bush name they have been in the COMMIE SOCIALIST paradise for 22 years as partners of the same RED ARMY that ROBME is in partnership with the off shore drilling Corp. The NEO WING NUT running this blog will propably delete this as he has my last 4 posts i think this Independence 666 wing nut SON OF LUCIFER 666 is the editor.
Several of you are abusing the "Terms of Use" you agreed to when you signed up. Here's a little friendly reminder to stick to the topic at hand, be respectful of each other and avoid personal attacks against other posters. Acceptable Use While we encourage people to be honest and post what’s on their mind, communities thrive when people care about each other, and as such, Patch expects all of its users to be respectful of others. This means that whether you are being complimentary or critical, whether you are agreeing or disagreeing with the subject of an article or another user’s comment, you should act in a civil manner and refrain from personal attacks – after all, these are your neighbors. Thank you for keeping this site civil :-) Have a happy day!