Nice try, Denny, but they won’t pass a capital bill next week
May 23rd, 2008 at 09:59pm Chuck Sweeny
The futility of it all! That sums up the collective feeling at Giovanni’s Friday after former U.S. House Speaker Denny Hastert made an impassioned plea for Illinois lawmakers to pass a $31 billion capital bill before they adjourn May 31.
If they don’t, he said, the state risks losing $9.3 billion in federal transportation funds.
But Illinois probably won’t pass a capital bill for one reason: No one trusts Gov. Rod Blagojevich. His word is no good in Springpatch. Lawmakers haven’t been able to pass a to pass a capital bill since he took office in 2003.
Leasing the lottery, even 80 percent of it, is a non-starter to many lawmakers. Selling off state assets is like selling your house, room by room, to pay the mortgage on it. Pretty soon you’re living in a pup tent in the back yard, and your mortgage still isn’t paid.
As for gambling expansion, that’s been tried numerous times in Springfield, and they’ve never been able to do it because nobody can agree on how much more gambling there should be, or whether there should be more gambling at all.
State Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, had it right when he said the responsible approach would be to increase the state’s 3 percent income tax by three/quarters of a percent.
But Blagojevich maintains he won’t support income tax or sales tax increases. And Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan doesn’t seem inclined to support anything the governor wants to do. They’e at loggerheads.
So, I don’t think we’ll see a capital bill anytime soon.
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3 Comments Add your own
1. Right Of The Star Blog | May 24th, 2008 at 12:22 am
Wait, our state is one of the few that taxes gas with a percentage tax, meaning that for every dime gas goes up everywhere else it goes up 11 cents here (rounding up). That money goes to the state and they still can’t figure out a budget without increasing taxes?
The price of gas in 2003 when Blagojevich took office was about $1.73 (tax is 19 cents plus 6.55% or 29 cents) Today it is $4 a gallon (19 cents plus 6.55% or 44 cents) That means that per gallon the state is taking in 15 cents more per gallon or $2.70 per tank of gas.
That is a whopping 34% increase and they can’t figure out how to get by on that!
Oh, and Dick Durbin complaining about Chicago having the highest prices for gas, when for every dollar increase everyone else pays Chicago pays an extra $1.07 shows a complete lack of understanding of the excessive taxation on Illinois citizens.
For the $2.27 increase in price since 2003 16 cents was caused directly by the state!
David
2. railrider | May 24th, 2008 at 10:57 am
This is insane. I would like know when the media and citizens are going to start expressing outrage at a state government controlled entirely by one dysfunctional party, the emocrats. The democrats simply cant govern. The Governor raids the transportation fund every year diverting hundreds of millions of dollars to non-transportation related programs, and the democrat leaders and rank and file legislators go along with it. This is really bad, and folks need to start realizing that this is a symptom of a state government that is controlled solely by one party democrat rule. Blago’s corruption scandals could far exceed what George Ryan did, and yet he and his democrat party seem to go unscathed in the election process. Under Edgar and Ryan we met our states needs, without raising taxes, and balanced the budget. Our economy thrived, and our roads were built. We need a change in Springfield this coming November, and it is important that at least one body of the legislature is led by the Republicans, for the sake of checks and balances, and good government.
3. Chuck Sweeny | May 25th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Dear. Anonymous Railrider,
The Register Star editorial board has written countless editorials expressing just such outrage. I have written numerous columns about the same thing.
Perhaps you were absent on those days.
This is not a state governed by one party. This is a state with the worst governor in the history of governors. He simply cannot be trusted, no matter what party you’re in.
Let’s see, Blago’s corruptio scandals exceed what Ryan did? Geroge is in prison, so that’s a pretty low standard to set for the Land of Lincoln, don’t you think?
The Republicans in Illinois are hopelessly split, and they’ve done absoluely no organization building for the last 10 years or more. Indeed, DuPage County, once the most reliable county for the GOP, is no longer a safe bet for the party in national elections.
Let’s face it; we live in a corrupt state with , in reality, one party, the “Give and Take ” party — we give, they take.
Do you honestly want to return Kjellander and Cellini to power?????? Oh, wait a minute, they’re still IN power.
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