DOWN THE FISCAL RABBIT HOLE…

DOWN THE FISCAL RABBIT HOLE…

1/15/11

Here is another reply to a friend, this one concerning the rationalizations for the increase in the Illinois income tax and the prospects for rational fiscal policy in the Land of Lincoln, that I thought my readers might enjoy in redacted form:


1/15/11

The ultimate rationalization is “We already spent it and now have to find a way to pay for it.” I suppose this can masquerade as fiscal responsibility, but only after the fact. If these guys really believed in fiscal responsibility, they wouldn’t have spent the money in the first place so they are “fiscally responsible” only when they are making a move on the taxpayers’ wallets.

The “education” excuse is designed to lure in the gullible and pick up some GOP votes. Call anything “for education” or “for our kids” and the naïve lap it up. It doesn’t really have to have anything to do with education or, if it does, is merely a sop to the teachers’ unions, but inattentive voters go for this bait most of the time.

One could argue that Governor Quinn (no relation) has cut the budget (more than anyone in history is debatable), but such cuts are only on paper. When the rubber hits the road, so to speak, one wonders how many of those cuts will come to fruition, especially now that, with the new revenue generated by this tax increase, the pressure is off.

Yes, we have reached such a tipping point at which Madigan and his minions, including Governor Quinn (no relation), can do whatever the heck they please, and largely because the voters have abdicated their power to this crowd through inattentiveness and indifference; after all, the voters elected the guy who said (though not as loudly as he is telling us he did) he’d increase taxes and now are complaining that their taxes are being raised. Given the quality of our electorate, fiscal sanity in Illinois looks a long way off, barring a crisis hellacious enough to get the electorate to pay attention.