Starve the beast!

[snapper54]

I do agree that the unfund pension needs to be redone. You can't keep giving out more than you can afford.

[ccjarider]

Originally Posted by snapper54

Smaller gov means less police. less fireman, less roads fixed, and less teachers. How do we solve that problem? I kinda agree with linicx that if it is done proper it can help. When people are working, taxes are being payed in so things can be payed for.

First response - What is wrong with less qty of any or all of these items?
Do we have an optimal number now? Perhpas we could survive quite nicely with less of each.

Second response - having worked with local and state governments in both IL and WI, it is clear that there are millions of dollars wasted through inneficiency, bureacracy, Union rules and blatent politics.

We never hear of government performing benchmark studies against other governments, countries or businesses to capture the best methods of performing work. Usually the foxes guarding the henhouse only care about their own survival.

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by Stiery23

Yeah I'd say the pension system needs to be fixed after a specified time. Say, people more than 10 years from retirement would get 10% less of their current pension guarantees (the top-tier gets 80% of their income after they retire with the current system).

We also need to reduce the size and scope of government. Stop funding roadside checks--they are too expensive and do not pay off. Get rid of the Lt. Gov. position--it's unnecessary. Although not popular, a transition to a four day school week could reduce transportation and building operation costs.

Also, we should do a detailed audit of Illinois government spending. Surely this would reveal tens of millions of wasted tax dollars for pork projects and bribes.

Term limits on representatives would eliminate "career politicians" and further reduce the opportunity for bribes and nepotism.

Some good ideas BUT:
4 day school week? Who watches kid(s) the 5th day? Perhaps cheaper to pay a little more in school taxes than pay a full day of daycare. 4 days will also lower learning.
Eliminate government waste. Reduce jobs through attrition by outsourcing to private companies who do it cheaper/better. Ask the politicians to freeze their pay or take reductions.

So far the biggest losers are school age kids as school districts across the state prepare for big budget cuts due to big reduction instate aid. Some districts are considering the elimination of all after school activities and sports. Some are trimming around the edges and reducing or eliminating enrichment programs like music, art and gifted programs. Anyone else read the article in Sunday's Tribune about Morton HS District possibly laying off over 200 teachers?! IF (BIG IF) the state can prove to me they have eliminated fraud & waste THEN I might be more open minded to paying more taxes. IF this occurs, I strongly prefer paying directly to a local taxing district like my school districts, library district or park district instead of the $ going to Springfield and being grossly mis-managed

[Stiery23]

Originally Posted by prideful1

Getting state workers to reduce their pension would be easier said than done, would be legally challenged.

All I'm going to say is: desperate times call for desperate measures. We need to trim the fat while avoiding going into debt at all costs. Most everyone I know (even neighbors making 200k per year) has tightened their belts since the recession--it's time for Springfield to do the same.

Instead of postponing a financial disaster, let's get through the sh** we need to get through now so that when the good times start to roll we can spend more on the things we need, like infrastructure. Illinois's infrastructure is crumbling, and if I were in charge, IDOT would get a significant funding increase once the state budget was back in the black for a few years.

[pvande55]

Getting rid of the Highway patrol would stimulate the hot rod industry in Illinois. I heard a radio interview with a candidate for office who tried to evade the question but finally put ending free rides for seniors. I wonder if Brady has any serious answers on what to cut. Well, he will need to once he assumes office in January.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by snapper54

Smaller gov means less police. less fireman, less roads fixed, and less teachers. How do we solve that problem? I kinda agree with linicx that if it is done proper it can help. When people are working, taxes are being payed in so things can be payed for.

No, it does not. Wasteful and reckless spending in a time of recession means smaller gov-less police-less fireman-less roads fixed, and less teachers.

[NYrules]

I don't know why this is so hard for "Libbys" to understand. For libbys, do you shop at Wal Mart? Hear me out. You shop at Wally World? Why? Cheap prices? Probably. Lets use cereal as an example as I just bought some 2 days ago... A box of Cheerios for instance is $4 a box at Jewel and $2.50 a box right now at Wal Mart. Lets say it costs both stores $1 per box from their supplier. Jewel sells 100 boxes in a day meaning $300 profit for the store, while Wal Mart sells 300 a day at the lower rate meaning $450 a day in profit for Wal Mart. Which store just made more money? Which store now has more money to work with to buy more items to put on their shelves, to hire more people, do more repairs to their store, pay out benefits, etc.? This is no different that in state or national government only change it to lower taxes = more businesses which have more money to work with meaning they can hire more employees, buy new machines, pay out pensions, etc, oh ya and pay taxes.

If you lower taxes on businesses they will stop fleeing the state for "greener pastures" across state lines into Indiana or Missouri for instance. Heck lets look at a micro scale... Ever look at how all of a sudden once you cross the county line from Crook County into Dupage on 88 you see a bunch of businesses and high rises lining both sides of 88 in Dupage Co.? Co-inky-dink? I don't think so. The businesses chose to go there to avoid the horrid taxes of Crook County. What does this mean? More tax revenue for Du Page Co. and less for Crook. What is Toddy's solution for this loss revenue? Raise taxes... What happens? More busiesses flee. If folks still don't understand this including Toddy, do yourselves a favor. Turn this off, go to Wally World and pick up your own version of "Sim City". Load it into your computer once back home and start out from scratch. Play with the tax rates as the city grows, you will find at some point you can raise taxes so much that businesses and residents will up and leave and you will actually come out with less money had you kept taxes low meaning you will have to borrow just to keep your city afloat.

Wal Mart has the right idea, it's better to have a million customers paying a little bit of profit, than to have a few thousand paying a high profit because guess what. If you loose a few thousand customers for whatever reason and had a million to start with, no big deal, but if you lose a few thousand and only had a few thousand to start with guess what... You're bankrupt.

[linicx]

It is a sign of the times when realtors and lawyers close offices. We always here the same tired mantra from the same people: Cut the size of state government and they point to state and teacher's pensons, Il teachers have an option. They can pay into the teachers pension, into social security or both. Cutting teacher salary or pensions is not a solution.

The biggest problems with Illinois government is unnecessary expense. The governor needs to keep his seat at home and eliminate all non-state business expence he incurs that he is not willing to pay for out of his own pocket. The idea that the taxpayers were burdend with paying for a petulannt Chicago crony to sleep in Chicago every night plus pay for a state plane to ferry him between Springfield and Chicago twice a day is as outrageous as duplicate offices and services and empty buildings. Yeah we need Illinoi medicade offices and drivers license staions, but do we need one in every low resident county? If you can drive ten miles to City X to shop you can drive there to renew your plates. We certainly do not need two Offices of Tourism. We do not need 10 duplicated offices in Chicago. One large central office with the same number of employees can serve the city just as well. We can talk about the illegal aliens that have been hiding in Chicago and sucking up city and state services for 40 years, too. There is more than one way to trim state fat without cutting necessary services. The state can also close all museums one day a week and cut back employees at the state parks that have very few visitors. Open these only for tourist or hunting season. And some offices can be down-sized, too.