Budget Balancing
Many woeful remarks this morning about the closing of state parks and historic sites.
The cuts are fine with me -- when you're $2 billion in the hole, you've got to start cutting and cutting fast. Too bad he didn't do more.
And of course the governor is grandstanding. He's always grandstanding. But so is the legislature; apparently striking poses is part of their job description.
The sooner they get started making real cuts in the budget, the better. Sad to say, neither seems willing to confront the state's budget problems the way a businessperson would: when your income doesn't match your expenses, you either raise income or reduce expenses, or both. Closing a few parks isn't going to reduce expenses $2 billion.
The cuts are fine with me -- when you're $2 billion in the hole, you've got to start cutting and cutting fast. Too bad he didn't do more.
And of course the governor is grandstanding. He's always grandstanding. But so is the legislature; apparently striking poses is part of their job description.
The sooner they get started making real cuts in the budget, the better. Sad to say, neither seems willing to confront the state's budget problems the way a businessperson would: when your income doesn't match your expenses, you either raise income or reduce expenses, or both. Closing a few parks isn't going to reduce expenses $2 billion.
posted by Allthenewsthatfits at 4:49 AM
7 Comments:
First cut: all elected officials get a 30% pay cut.
Why? Because they aren't doing their jobs.
Second cut: ALL Illinois employees get a 10% pay cut. ANYONE making more than $100k gets cut back to $100k. Sorry, we're your employers and we can't afford to pay you at the rate you're currently receiving. If you don't like it, you're welcome to go find work elsewhere. That's the free market, you know.
Third cut: No one leaving will be replaced at this time.
Fourth cut: 2% to 5% cut ACROSS THE BOARD. May not even need to be that much given that we've made massive cuts in salaries.
Fifth cut: State employees get 8 holidays, period. NO ONE gets more than a month's vacation in a year, no matter how long you've worked. Like most businesses, 1 week after a year, 2 weeks after 3 years, 3 weeks after 7 years, 4 weeks after 14 years. All other days you get your ass in to work--that's what we're paying you for.
Sixth cut: Pensions. Sorry, we can't afford that massive bill anymore. What you've got you get to keep, but as of Day Zero, pension benefits get cut back to a reasonable level. Do your own damn saving for retirement, don't expect the taxpayers to pay you not to work for the rest of your life.
A possible modification: You can keep your current salary but you pension benefits are cut. Or you can plan ahead and keep your pension benefits at their current level, but you have to take a salary cut of 15%.
No more budget deficit.
Unfortunately all those state workers and elected officials would piss and moan and whine if we tried to do this.
So the only thing we can do is simply do a 15% cut across the board, nobody gets out without getting cut. And gawd knows how many people who wouldn't do the rational thing (the above plan) will simply be out of a job altogether.
Taxpayers in Illinois have paid enough. Those who work for us can no longer expect constant increases in salary benefits and retirement.
We need to draw the line.
Closing all of the parks isn't going to erase $2,ooo,ooo, but is that what you are suggesting?
Actually, no, although if I had to choose between closing parks and closing social service offices, I'm afraid the parks would have to go.
Honestly, I don't know enough about the state budget to make an informed claim.
I don't think Anon 1's ideas, which sound a lot like declaring war on all state workers, are the way to go, although I do agree that personnel costs are usually the biggest part of any employer's budget, and something on the order of a pay and/or hiring freeze might be a necessary part of getting the budget into balance. But defaulting on pension obligations seems quite foolish to me.
One thing that does gripe me is the gov.'s & legislature's unwillingness to come to grips with the simple proposition that income must equal outgo, and that gimmicky devices such as casinos are not going to balance the budget. If we look across the river, we can see one approach that has been taken: cut the hell out of programs for the poor, basically throwing them out of the sled to feed the pursuing wolves, and get away with no tax increases. Of course, Mr. Blunt and his party paid a political price for that choice.
I think the poor anonymous state worker hater is a disgruntled office seeker. Much in the same vain as the one that shot Garfield. Either he didn't get his state job or lost an, maybe many, elections. He must be fortunate enough to not have a dvelopmentally disabled child that needs state aid through a Transitions type program. Or he just doesn't care that we don't have enough trained child abuse investigators to protect children in dangerous environments. Either he just doesn't think about the good and vital programs government provides or he is a dick that thinks being poor or disabled and disadvantaged are sins that deserve the punishment of apathy. God bless him this Yuletide Season.
2:12
You sure resemble the whiny Oracle. Long may he lay dormant!
I just noticed that I left three zeroes out. 2,000,000,000.
I hope yourself or a family member never needs the services provided by Transitions or any other government funded help program 7:12. Merry Christams friend.
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