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[RumblingRosco]

Story here.

Illinois has compiled $14.6 billion in unpaid bills. It’s running a deficit of $6 billion, and its pension liability has soared to $130 billion.

That’s not the worst of it. The state’s nearly two-year failure to pass a budget has sent its bond ratings careening toward junk level, downgraded a staggering eight notches below most other states.

The article continues much further from there. Illinois is seriously messed up and had major issues before the Republican governor (Rauner) took over. It has only gotten worse with Rauner in charge. I'm not sure how they dig out of this hole anytime soon.

 

[BladeoftheImmortal]

By removing safety nets and workers rights.

 

[bggrthnjsus]

rauner is a real shithead, but it probably doesn't help to have 6 governors with corruption charges either

 

[djplaeskool]

The fact that this budget stalemate is still ongoing is nuts.

 

[DonShula]

Blago is tanned, rested, and ready.

 

[Malvolio]

Garbage state run by corruption of the highest order. I used to claim that without Chicago it's just another Iowa, but that's really unfair to Iowa.

 

[Beartruck]

rauner is a real shithead, but it probably doesn't help to have 6 governors with corruption charges either

Pretty much yeah. Luckily Rauner's up for reelection in 2018 so hopefully we can right this ship.

 

[Makai]

That's not a lot of debt for a state with almost a trillion in GDP.

 

[jayhawker]

I feel like we could fix this pretty easily with a progressive income tax instead of the little flat one we have now.

 

[Fuchsdh]

By removing safety nets and workers rights.

That's really not true. But whatever strokes your preconceived biases.

 

[CertifiedFP]

How Illinois failed: Rauner.

Meanwhile he makes campaign ads going on about some stupid duct-tape bullshit where he wears plaid shirts (Really pandering to the Inbred demographic there) and blames ""Springfield Politicians"" for all the problems HE created (Wowza, acting like Diet Trump).

Bitch please, the only "Springfield Politician" to blame for this mess is YOU.

 

[Cesare Borgia]

Illinois was corrupt and broken in many ways before Rauner. He has made it worse, of course, but the problems will exist long after he's gone.

 

[WaffleTaco]

Maybe legalizing weed would help, but nope we just get a terrible form of medicinal marijuana.

That's not a lot of debt for a state with almost a trillion in GDP.

Tell that to the almost closing universities.

Illinois was corrupt and broken in many ways before Rauner. He has made it worse, of course, but the problems will exist long after he's gone.

If he's gone. Everyone outside of Chicago blames the Dems and Chicago. It's pretty sad to be honest

 

[Branduil]

Maybe they should try electing a Democrat who isn't a corrupt piece of shit?

 

[Kor of Memory]

If he's gone. Everyone outside of Chicago blames the Dems and Chicago. It's pretty sad to be honest

Ehh. People in Springfield and the surrounding areas hate him too. Basically anywhere you might find state workers.

 

[The Greek Freak]

At least they're not Kansas

 

[ERotIC]

Crippling debt is the American way. Illinois is actually trailblazing.

 

[Lord_Balkan]

Rauner has made it worse but Illinois was already in a downward spiral before he came to be.

 

[rbenchley]

Pretty much yeah. Luckily Rauner's up for reelection in 2018 so hopefully we can right this ship.

Rauner is a bum and should probably be hounded from the governor's mansion by mobs waving pitchforks and torches, but he's only been in office for two and a half years. Illinois' fiscal crisis has been building over decades. They've had decades of corrupt governors and a corrupt state legislature led by Mike Madigan running the state into the ground, not just Rauner. There will be no righting of the ship. This will end with either the state declaring bankruptcy or the Federal government bailing the state out. Illinois is fucked.

 

[platocplx]

pensions are the reason most states are hurting. People are living way longer than anticipated etc. I have no idea how to satisfy pensions meanwhile govt isnt taking in enough.

 

[WaffleTaco]

Ehh. People in Springfield and the surrounding areas hate him too. Basically anywhere you might find state workers.

Probably true. I have very small anecdotal evidence and that is my conservative parents who blame the pensions, and state that all the teachers are trying to retire in their fifties...I probably should pay attention to my state politics apart from voting for anyone with a D in their name.

 

[pureplayin2]

It is not Rauner's fault. He is literally trying to fix things and the state democrats will not do anything. Last year for the budget Rauner told Mike Madigan to put all their bs aside to just pass a budget for the schools only so they could stay open then deal with the rest after and Madigan said no. Madigan needs to go. He is a career politician with over 25yrs in office here in IL and him and his cronies are ruining this state. Any who blames Rauner really has no fucking clue on what is going on here in IL and if you thinks this and live here then you have been one blind clueless person, sorry. Those are the facts. This state is screwed no matter what. Something needs to get done, too much corruption for far too long. Just like on the federal level, the voters really are fucking morons!

 

[Rhomega Beta]

Everyone outside of Chicago blames the Dems and Chicago.

Yep. "Chicago (and Detroit, among others) prove Democrats should never be in charge of anything! This is what happens when you have Big Government!"

 

[Giant Panda]

Rauner hasn't fixed it, but I doubt anyone could fix the mess that's been building in Illinois for decades, so it seems a bit silly to blame Rauner for this mess. Illinois has been promising too much money for pensions and underfunding them for too long.

 

[reggieandTFE]

Ehh. People in Springfield and the surrounding areas hate him too. Basically anywhere you might find state workers.

Or anywhere with a state university or community college or social service agency. The state universities received less money last year than they did in 2000!!!

Rauner had one goal when he was elected: bust the Unions. He wanted to be Scott Walker in an even bluer state and then run for president. He didn't seem to notice that the democrats had super-majorities in both houses so his plan was to leverage funding social services and universities against state workers and their Unions. Instead, he pissed everyone off into aligning against him. The biggest joke is that Madigan has done some pretty shit things to Unions in the state during the Blago years and probably would have worked with Rauner on stuff, but by personallly and constantly attacking him, Madigan had no choice but to dig in his heels.

He's a goner next year. Running a statewide campaign against Madigan won't work when 99% of individuals walk into vote and his name isn't on a ballot.

 

[CertifiedFP]

It is not Rauner's fault. He is literally trying to fix things and the state democrats will not do anything. Last year for the budget Rauner told Mike Madigan to put all their bs aside to just pass a budget for the schools only so they could stay open then deal with the rest after and Madigan said no. Madigan needs to go. He is a career politician with over 25yrs in office here in IL and him and his cronies are ruining this state. Any who blames Rauner really has no fucking clue on what is going on here in IL and if you thinks this and live here then you have been one blind clueless person, sorry. Those are the facts. This state is screwed no matter what. Something needs to get done, too much corruption for far too long. Just like on the federal level, the voters really are fucking morons!

Republican Detected.

Nah. How about Madigan stays and Rauner goes.

Do Not Compromise With Republicans. #RESIST

 

[reggieandTFE]

It is not Rauner's fault. He is literally trying to fix things and the state democrats will not do anything. Last year for the budget Rauner told Mike Madigan to put all their bs aside to just pass a budget for the schools only so they could stay open then deal with the rest after and Madigan said no. Madigan needs to go. He is a career politician with over 25yrs in office here in IL and him and his cronies are ruining this state. Any who blames Rauner really has no fucking clue on what is going on here in IL and if you thinks this and live here then you have been one blind clueless person, sorry. Those are the facts. This state is screwed no matter what. Something needs to get done, too much corruption for far too long. Just like on the federal level, the voters really are fucking morons!

This is complete and utter bullshit. The Senate Dems and Republicans had a "grand bargain" ready to end the stale mate earlier this year and Rauner told all the Republicans to pull their support and scuttled it. In 30 years as Speaker of the House, Mike Madigan has gotten a budget deal done every single year until Rauner was governor. This included 3 previous Republican governors.

 

[Neoweee]

EDIT: Nevermind, screwed up the quote.

 

[TheMan]

"Failed state" is strong language, no?

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

One of the three states I sell my company's product in is Illinois.

Goes without saying, I basically accept I only get two states.

 

[CertifiedFP]

I'm not a Republican, but I generally agree. Madigan is a serious problem for the state, and he's basically pulling a Mitch McConnell plan to make Rauner a one-term governor. Gerrymandering in Illinois is so severe that Madigan has effectively shielded himself from ever getting voted out.

 

[RumblingRosco]

It is not Rauner's fault. He is literally trying to fix things and the state democrats will not do anything. Last year for the budget Rauner told Mike Madigan to put all their bs aside to just pass a budget for the schools only so they could stay open then deal with the rest after and Madigan said no. Madigan needs to go. He is a career politician with over 25yrs in office here in IL and him and his cronies are ruining this state. Any who blames Rauner really has no fucking clue on what is going on here in IL and if you thinks this and live here then you have been one blind clueless person, sorry. Those are the facts. This state is screwed no matter what. Something needs to get done, too much corruption for far too long. Just like on the federal level, the voters really are fucking morons!

Eh, Illinois had about $6 billion in debt when Rauner took over... 2.5 years later and they have around $15 billion. They've more than doubled their debt in 2.5 years under Rauner's control.

 

[moggio]

This is the only good thing that came out of Illinois:

The Illinois Enema Bandit.

(Based on true events.)

 

[J-Rod]

Considering how many of their former politicians are serving time in a federal prison, it isn't a surprise.

 

[Neoweee]

Sorry, quoted the wrong post.

 

[Siegcram]

Turns out decades of corruption are bad.

 

[Turbo Killer]

It is not Rauner's fault. He is literally trying to fix things and the state democrats will not do anything. Last year for the budget Rauner told Mike Madigan to put all their bs aside to just pass a budget for the schools only so they could stay open then deal with the rest after and Madigan said no. Madigan needs to go. He is a career politician with over 25yrs in office here in IL and him and his cronies are ruining this state. Any who blames Rauner really has no fucking clue on what is going on here in IL and if you thinks this and live here then you have been one blind clueless person, sorry. Those are the facts. This state is screwed no matter what. Something needs to get done, too much corruption for far too long. Just like on the federal level, the voters really are fucking morons!

You sound like a political ad, career politician? They all wanna be career politicians, why would anybody run for office otherwise? I'm sure Rauner has no "cronies". Sounds like Trump cleaning the swamp bullshit.

 

[Laekon]

pensions are the reason most states are hurting. People are living way longer than anticipated etc. I have no idea how to satisfy pensions meanwhile govt isnt taking in enough.

Besides living longer a lot of states are dealing with horrible pension systems. I don't know about IL but in other states you see people with pensions based off their last years total earnings and not salary. They rack up ridiculous over time and receive a pension that is higher then their salary.

 

[Neoweee]

Besides living longer a lot of states are dealing with horrible pension systems. I don't know about IL but in other states you see people with pensions based off their last years total earnings and not salary. They rack up ridiculous over time and receive a pension that is higher then their salary.

Yes. Basing it off the last X years of their job is completely fucked. There's "Golden Parachute" abuse of people trying to give themselves massive pay raises near the end, but the bigger problem is that it just adds across-the-board long-term costs based on salaries that don't correspond with what they were putting in for most of their years of work.

 

[Skiptastic]

Maybe they should try electing a Democrat who isn't a corrupt piece of shit?

Sorry, they wasted the only one in the state by sending him to the Oval Office.

Maybe they could convince him to come back home and by Governor?

 

[McBryBry]

This is the only good thing that came out of Illinois:

The Illinois Enema Bandit.

(Based on true events.)

Hey, I'm from Illinois. I resent this statement, even if my state sucks.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

A look into the actual reasons for the budget shortfall (even before the current governor) is tucked away in the article:

Illinois was creative in how it pays its bills long before Rauner took office. It has for years taken the politically palatable option of avoiding tax hikes while borrowing from pension funds, allowing its pension backlog to balloon and failing to sock away money for emergencies. Illinois is just one of nine states to not have a rainy day fund, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers.

A look at Illinois' tax rate shows that it's pitifully low compared to most of its neighbors.

Pretty good resource here on rainy day funds:

http://www.pewtrusts.org/~/media/assets/2017/04/when-to-use-state-rainy-day-funds.pdf

“Every single member of the General Assembly has a vote. We’ve been asking for a long time, who do we blame? When we started, we went and visited over 40 legislators in both parties and said, please don’t do this. Exclusively, they’d say: ‘It’s their fault,’ and point to the other chamber. The other leader. I’m like: You are elected, you have a vote,” Durbin said. “So for us to boil it down to two individuals is a bit of a cop-out. Right now, the General Assembly and the governor — none of them are choosing to do what’s in the best interest of the state.”

This is political brinksmanship, and will only hurt voters in the longer run. It's absurd that you have billionaires that are willing to spend hundreds of millions on political ads directed to their constituents, but won't pass a budget to pay for necessary resources.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

It is not Rauner's fault. He is literally trying to fix things and the state democrats will not do anything. Last year for the budget Rauner told Mike Madigan to put all their bs aside to just pass a budget for the schools only so they could stay open then deal with the rest after and Madigan said no. Madigan needs to go. He is a career politician with over 25yrs in office here in IL and him and his cronies are ruining this state. Any who blames Rauner really has no fucking clue on what is going on here in IL and if you thinks this and live here then you have been one blind clueless person, sorry. Those are the facts. This state is screwed no matter what. Something needs to get done, too much corruption for far too long. Just like on the federal level, the voters really are fucking morons!

I can blame Rauner and Madigan both.

Madigan has run the Patronage Machine for decades, but Rauner's answer to that is to try to go full Indiana/Kansas. Had he gone moderate, he could have made significant inroads.

 

[Supast4r]

Sorry, they wasted the only one in the state by sending him to the Oval Office.

Maybe they could convince him to come back home and by Governor?

Bams is too busy trying to fix Chicago when he moves back here in 5 years.

 

[Barzul]

Why not just raise taxes? If it's necessary, do it. As it, they might be heading towards bankruptcy.

 

[InfiniteBento]

Why not just raise taxes? If it's necessary, do it. As it, they might be heading towards bankruptcy.

Taxes here are already around 10%.

Increasing it more would fucking suck.

 

[moggio]

Why not just raise taxes? If it's necessary, do it. As it, they might be heading towards bankruptcy.

Buh Big gubb'ment stealin' mah paycheck.

Taxes here are already around 10%.

Increasing it more would fucking suck.

Wow. 10%. So high.

 

[Neoweee]

Buh Big gubb'ment stealin' mah paycheck.



Wow. 10%. So high.

That # isn't right, but 10% for a state income tax would be nuts by national standards.

Illinois has a flat income tax. Of states with flat income taxes, Illinois is the highest. But flat taxes are stupid, and the state should change it to be progressive.

 

[WonderPup]

Republican Detected.

Nah. How about Madigan stays and Rauner goes.

Do Not Compromise With Republicans. #RESIST

This is the dumbest post I've read in a thread in a long time. Elected officials are supposed to set aside their differences and find common ground on issues. That is how government is supposed to work.

The fact that both sides vote down party lines all the time is disgusting. It's constant political grandstanding at their constituents' expense. And the worst part is, we eat it up. We reelect these people over and over again, rewarding them for being bad at their jobs -- Republicans and Democrats.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

I'm not a Republican, and I agree, as well. Rauner is obviously incompetent, but Madigan has spent decades ignoring Illinois's underlying fiscal problems.

Your posts in this thread reflect pretty poorly on you, tbh.