Gov. Pat Quinn on Tuesday unveiled a caustic budget plan that would borrow billions of dollars to stay afloat and push even more debt down the road, hoping to persuade leery lawmakers to instead raise taxes in an election year.
Quinn aides warned the plan would cost some 13,000 teachers and staff their jobs, cut off poor seniors from help in paying for costly prescriptions and shut down some health care programs for the indigent. But even after about $2 billion in cuts, the state would still be $11 billion in the hole.
Note that he isn't eliminating any state earmarks, consulting contracts for friends of the legislators, and various grants for graft, nor is he trimming union pension plans and state hiring. In other words, it's the usual "scare the rubes" tactic.
The administration's warnings served as the precursor for the Democratic governor's Wednesday budget address before a joint session of lawmakers who want to wrap up their business in two months so they can focus on their re-election.
Quinn is expected to restate the unsuccessful call he made last year for higher taxes. But the political dynamics for a tax increase have grown only worse as the election-seeking Democratic governor confronts campaigning legislators who fear a voter backlash in the Nov. 2 general election.
"He's not included a tax increase in this budget, and that's a conversation that has to happen," Jerry Stermer, Quinn's chief of staff, said of the governor's plan. "The General Assembly has not acted on a tax increase and have given signals they don't want to act on a tax increase."
Quinn's gambit, to propose cuts in education and social services, represents the latest step in the increasing divergence between the state's very real deteriorating fiscal situation and the rhetoric of politicians who believe the public doesn't want or trust Springfield to get any more money from their wallets.
Similar cries about slashing services last year ended up being papered over by increased borrowing. Many lawmakers privately expect that fears among rank-and-file lawmakers about a voter revolt will lead to a repeat of last spring's session. |