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*** UPDATED x1 Madigan suggests another way *** A look ahead
Tuesday, Nov 9, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller *** UPDATE *** House Speaker Michael Madigan is throwing a bit of cold water on all this “mandate” talk by Gov. Quinn…
But then Madigan went on to lay out how the governor might improve his tax package…
And that means a one percentage point income tax hike won’t be nearly enough. * Unlike others, I believe that Gov. Pat Quinn has at least some right to claim a limited mandate from last Tuesday. How many people ran for governor this year promising to increase income taxes and still won? I think he’s probably the only one. That took guts and he prevailed. But the governor does not have the right to misstate the facts…
The “majority” voted for someone else, governor. Also, Bill Brady, Scott Lee Cohen and Lex Green all flatly opposed a tax hike. Total up their numbers and you get 51 percent. Words matter, governor. * Meanwhile, this free rides for seniors debacle is almost a perfect microcosm for how screwed up our politics have been in this state…
Madigan’s key word there is “eventually.” That could mean next year, it could mean in 20 years. The longer the program remains in place, however, the tougher it’s gonna be to kill or modify. Blagojevich used his amendatory veto powers to add the free rides provision. And even though people in both parties screamed bloody murder, the General Assembly didn’t dare knock down his AV. Seniors vote. And once you give them something, it’s politically dangerous to take it away. The House has tried to come up with a compromise in the past to only give the free rides to the “truly needy,” but it’s been stopped in the Senate and Gov. Pat Quinn has threatened to veto it. If they can reach a compromise in the coming months, then that could be a sign that the majority party is willing to stick their necks out on other items. * Whether they’ll go this far is doubtful…
Madigan was the chief co-sponsor of House Bill 1 last year, which would’ve increased the motor fuel tax by 8 cents per gallon. The money would’ve been used for capital projects, but the House Republicans refused to go along and pushed video gaming instead. Raising the fuel tax partially for mass transit would require one heck of a huge compromise with Downstate legislators, to say the least. * And we still don’t know for sure how the governor’s income tax increase will play out. Back in late July, Gov. Quinn seemed to say that he would veto anything other than his one percentage point tax hike… Quinn was attempting at the time to control the damage done by his budget director, who predicted to Bloomberg that the income tax would be hiked by two points in January, which would be double Quinn’s proposal. * But a one point hike that includes property tax relief doesn’t do a whole lot to balance the state’s budget. And without further cuts, many legislators will be reticent to vote for any tax increase…
Franks will never vote for a tax hike no matter how much the budget is cut. But he may not be too far off with that prediction of his. * There are those who are attempting to look at the local tea leaves to claim that the citizenry is opposed to higher taxes…
16 out of 37 is actually a pretty decent batting average, as far as recession-era tax hike referenda go. Hinsdale passed a sales tax increase, for example, as did Lake Zurich and even Macon County, where Bill Brady cleaned up. Even so, local sales and property tax referenda are different animals. I’m not sure there’s a direct comparison here.
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- soccermom - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 3:06 pm:
Here’s one voter who would love to see the whole tax system reformed — as much as possible within the limits of the state constitution, anyway. I wouldn’t mind a tax increase so much if we expanded the EITC and the personal exemption, and gave some substantial relief to property tax payers. (And no, $100 bucks is not substantial in the suburbs.) Here’s a passionate, if not optimistic, request to the Dems to bring fairness to our ridiculous state tax code. Once it’s fair, I think people will be more likely to accept the idea of a tax increase — if it’s presented along with real, provable cuts in state spending.
- wizard - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 3:09 pm:
PQ was on Don and Roma this am saying the free rides for seniors will not be revoked.
- dupage dan - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 3:17 pm:
I’m sure PQ will drive each and every senior around in his own car if mass transit goes belly up. He is true to his word, that Pat. I wonder how many people can fit in the back of an AMC Gremlin? (I know it ain’t a Gremlin, I just forgot what he does drive - the Gremlin fits, tho)
- grand old partisan - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 3:20 pm:
“The people understood my position and they voted for me”
Okay, assuming that’s true, Governor, what evidence is there to suggest that the accurate conclusion to that statement is “because of it,” and not “in spite of it??” After all, it’s really not accurate to say that you “ran on” your tax increase proposal. It was never mentioned in any of your ads, after all. Based on your ads and stump speech you have a mandate to (a) not be a successful real estate developer, and (b) continue “fighting for jobs.” I’m not sure where raising income taxes fits into that platform.
What burns me up the most about Quinn is that I’m a private sector employee who didn’t get a raise in 2010, and will probably get only a small one in 2011, if at all. But Quinn wants to raise my income taxes in order to fund a government staffed by public sector unions who (mostly) DID get raises. It’s maddening – and for those of you out there still unsure what the TEA party is about, that’s it right there in a nutshell.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 3:22 pm:
===for those of you out there still unsure what the TEA party is about, that’s it right there in a nutshell.===
Brady attended several tea party events, including some in the Chicago area. He lost. So did they.
- Morning in America - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 3:28 pm:
As I recall, you said Quinn won only two counties (perhaps a thrid by 25 votes). Those were Cook and St. Clair, both known to be bastions of Demoratic machine politics, where his majority undoubtedly came from voters working for or connected to government or in union employment. Those are groups, who see tax cuts as taking food off the table and raises coming from tax increases (when all else fails).
As far as they are concerned, he does have a mandate to do whatever it takes to feather their nests.
- Wardley - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 3:30 pm:
Rich,
Not that it matters but the time stamp on comments looks like it needs to be reset. Unless it appears wrong on my computer in which I ask forgiveness and advice on how to fix it.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 3:32 pm:
Wardley, another commenter noticed that in mid-morning. I can’t fix it until tonight or it’ll jumble up the comments.
- Ghost - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 3:35 pm:
The only way to do this witou a tax increase is a very large loan to absorb the econmic impact over time.
The problem is wehave a lot of the bonds out there already, and we can only spend so much of our anticipated income before we create problems in the future servcing the debt and operating the State. We need to stop kikcing the can donw the road. Kicking the can down the road from the last iscal crisis gave us ramped up pension payments which are why we are sturggling now. The payments are artifically high to ofset prior plans to address fiscal donwtunrs by passing the buck.
Not ot mention we still have a 10 billion pension bond ou there we have to pay back, and after blago dumped the bond money into the pension, he shorted the contributions completly undoing the benfit of the existing bond.
- Wumpus - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 3:37 pm:
If he can declare a mandate, then anyone can. This was a razor thin margin. he won, that is clear, but it is not like he won by double digits (%)
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 3:40 pm:
It’s not like he won by single digits, either.
- Bring Back Boone's - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 3:45 pm:
Couldn’t we just say that PQ’s win was a mandate not to have a socially conservative Governor?
- cermak_rd - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 3:46 pm:
Blago was clever in laying something out there that would be difficult to unwind. The question I have is how much money will be recovered by just undoing the free rides program? How many seniors will simply start driving again? How many seniors won’t make trips they would have had they been free to them? How many seniors are riding on half empty vehicles that will roll whether they’re there or not? How many of the seniors taking free rides will still qualify for free after means testing is used?
- OneMan - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 3:46 pm:
You really have 4 knobs to turn to fix the budget issue.
Increase Revenue (Taxes, fees, gaming, economic growth)
Sell Stuff (Buildings that the state leases back, the tollway, land, etc)
Decrease spending (cut: programs, positions, salaries, benefits)
The less you turn one knob, the more you have to turn another. Also turning one knob will likely have an impact on the others over time, for example if you turn the borrowing knob, you will need to turn the other knobs to pay for it over time.
So Pat, which knobs are you going to turn?
- grand old partisan - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 3:47 pm:
Rich – I was simply pointing out that opposition to taxes in the face of government waste (whether real of merely perceived) is what fueled/fuels the TEA party movement, contrary to what many on the left would have everyone believe. Now, you yourself pointed out that the majority of voters pulled the lever for someone who opposed increasing income taxes. And, it should not be forgotten that TEA party backed candidates captured the 11, 14, 8 and 17th Districts. In light of that, I don’t think it’s accurate to say that Brady’s loss evidence enough to say that the TEA party “lost” last week. On the contrary, it could just be that an ultraconservative downstater with a light resume and a vague platform came as close as he did to winning in one of the nation’s bluest states because of the broad appeal of the TEA party’s underlying sentiments (if not the public faces and label of the ‘movement’ itself).
- cassandra - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 3:48 pm:
Singling out middle class seniors for elimination of government benefits (free CTA passes) which the users have already probably priced into their budgets doesn’t seem all that smart. A huge amount of middle class wealth has already been lost in the recession.
The idea, I thougt, was shared sacrifice. Why target middle class seniors. Why target them first? There are lots of special deals in the state budget/tax code for Illinois citizens. Why not target, for example, free state early retiree health care, a big money-eater which the Dems, beholden as they are to union cash, are loath to even mention. Or retiree pensions both public and private. All are state income tax free in Illinois. Could it be because (mostly Democratic these days) legislators are also beneficiaries of these financial goodies?
Democrats. They always go for the easy button.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 3:50 pm:
Mandate schmandate. Quinn also is fond of saying winning by one vote is tantamount to a landslide. He takes liberties with the language, that’s not his greatest sin, nor is he alone in that regard.
The far bigger worry is that he actually believes that his brilliant decision-making and leadership is what got him re-elected. The win is only going to validate his horrible instincts. SLC got Quinn elected Governor and Quinn won’t learn a single lesson from all of this. That’s the big story here, not the poor use of the wrong word.
- Phineas J. Whoopee - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 3:50 pm:
I wish Quinn would announce some type of commission to root out Medicaid fraud and abuse before announcing tax increases.
I also think any tax increase should be temporary and be re-evaluated after we come out of this recession.
Quinn needs to understand that State Reps only have 2 year terms and nobody else campaigned on a tax increase. He needs to give them some cover.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 3:51 pm:
This is funny. According to some posts here, actually winning the governorship means nothing at all. You have no “mandate.”
But, at the very least, you definitely have to be accounted for, on everything, for the next four years. Most of the time, you have a pretty big say.
It’s a powerful good gig, as all but Blago would say.
- steve schnorf - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 3:53 pm:
Or it could be that the citizenry is as unsure as our government officials exactly what to do about the biil of goods that’s been sold over the past years: you can have ever expanding services for the public, good wages and benefits for public employees, etc, etc, and best of all you don’t have to pay for it. That’s a myth that took hold over many years and isn’t going to be easy to dispel, at least among the general public.
Of course, it isn’t true and never was, but boy, it seemed so easy and felt so good for so long, how can we just abandon it?
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 3:54 pm:
===The win is only going to validate his horrible instincts.===
LOL. If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard that in the past week….
- steve schnorf - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 4:01 pm:
Uh, PJW, I think Senator Noland voted for and defended during the campaign, his vote for a tax increase.
You can root out all the Medicaid fraud and abuse you want, and it will make about as much difference in our budget problem as p_____g in the ocean makes to sea levels. Total state tax Medicaid spending in Illinois is less than $4B. Suppose 10% of it is fraud (it isn’t)-total net savings in GRF $370M.
People’s continued obsession with the idea that there are painless ways out of this are a big part of the total denial we’re in. Someone (probably multiple someones) will get screwed fixing this problem. It’s a matter of determining and assigning the pain.
- OneMan - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 4:04 pm:
There is not enough fraud nor waste to eliminate to solve this budget issue nor even enough to make a significant impact.
Sorry…
It’s going to take real pain….
- Angry Chicagoan - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 4:09 pm:
If Madigan continues with his CYA performance on this and so many other issues, I’ll only have one use for Chicago transit; bus connections from the South Shore train bringing me in to work from Indiana, where I’ll be able to more or less escape the consequences of their inaction. Seriously, they’ve kicked the can down the road so far their feet must be sore.
We need a tax increase. We need sales tax reform. We need cuts and reform in Medicaid. We desperately need pension reform. We may need tolls on more highways. When you have a 40 percent deficit, nothing can be off the table.
- grand old partisan - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 4:10 pm:
Wordslinger, I can’t speak for any other posters to whom you are referring, but all I am saying is that it’s a logical fallacy to declare that because you won you have a mandate for implementing every individual policy position you took during the campaign. (That’s the kind of thinking, it should be noted, that led Bush to believe that he could push through Social Security reform in 2005 – and we all remember what a stunning success that was.) When someone wins, especially in a tight race like this, their “mandate” is limited to the one or two issues that they campaigned on the hardest. For Quinn, it is jobs, not an income tax increase. If he wants to pass that, he will have to convince the legislature, which is full of people from both sides of the aisle who feel that their mandate is to hold the line on taxes.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 4:12 pm:
Well, from Madigan’s perspective, it looks like the income tax needs to be increased more than the governor would like. It also looks like the Democrats have to do it without GOP votes. So if you’re in the Dem caucus, why would you vote for a 1% increase when, given the enormity of the problem, you’ll likely have to vote for another 1% or more increase in the next year or two? Raise it once, with one vote, and by enough to solve the problem.
The GA should double the income tax rate to 6% and add in tax credits to make it somewhat progressive. Take that vote this spring and get it over with. The combination of a new map and Obama on the ballot in Illinois in 2012 means most Dem members should be relatively safe from the ensuing backlash.
And when the economy turns around sometime before 2014, Lisa can campaign on cutting the rate to say 5%, once she’s elected. That’s what I would do if I were in the Speaker’s shoes.
Remember, he’s planning far ahead of where everyone else is today. The governor is thinking about his legislative agenda for the upcoming spring session, Madigan is thinking four years from now, and eight years after that.
- Phineas J. Whoopee - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 4:13 pm:
No Mr. Schnorf it’s probably more like 25% which is what I think they estimate Medicare fraud and waste is- but it really doesn’t matter. The point is to do everything possible to root out waste before asking for a tax increase. It makes it so much easier for reps to vote for an increase if voters think their also cutting waste. I know you ran the state budget so 370 mil seems negligible but it’s a start.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 4:21 pm:
Phineas, try the Google. It’s not 25 percent.
- one man raises a good point - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 4:33 pm:
why isn’t the state selling more stuff? like the freaking planes? How many do we really need? (And why can’t legislators take commercial flights like the common folk?)
- OneMan - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 4:34 pm:
Phineas it’s about 13%
http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/FIN-242319/Obama-Plans-to-Sign-Executive-Order-to-Target-Medicare-Waste-Fraud
So lets say if you are really luck you can save 10% by eliminating fraud, waste, etc….
Why 10% (I think that number is high) all the audits in the world are not going to eliminate all fraud and waste.
- OneMan - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 4:38 pm:
Dude, I like the name..
But overall not much of the aviation budget can be replaced by eliminating the aircraft.
I think we have like one King Air that isn’t a law enforcement aircraft.
It’s a big state and some state owned air capability is not a bad idea.
Finally it’s a bad time to try and sell an aircraft.
- cassandra - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 4:38 pm:
Maybe the Dmes in the Legislature could send Quinn a bill incorporating an income tax increase to 6 percent and Quinn could wrestle it down to 5 percent using veto power. Presto, Quinn becomes not the tax increase but the tax decrease governor. Why wait for Lisa? The seniors get to keep their free rides and the retirees get to keep their tax free pensions. Money abounds. Quinn runs in 2014 as the lower taxes governor, especially since everyone will have forgotten the details.
- Irish - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 4:44 pm:
Tax reform is needed. That would help ease an increase. But that is not going to get done in time to help the fiscal problem. An honest open presentation of the revenue need and an honest open explanation that if an income tax increase isn’t passed there will be a tax on something else. How many people have you heard complain about the increase in license fees? Hellooo that was a tax increase. So for everyone out there with their head in the sand who thinks we haven’t been getting tax increases every year it’s time to wake up. I would for one would rather have it out in the open, with the largest pool of contributors as possible, and to be as fair as possible.
- D.P. Gumby - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 4:52 pm:
Gee, can Brady still do his forensic audit and find all the savings?
Maybe PQ can use his mandate to totally restructure the god-awful tax-structure in Illinois…how many commissions have said so?
- Rambler - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 4:53 pm:
Quinn has repeatedly used the word “majority” to describe his victory. He might consult a dictionary.
Several referenda for pension reform passed overwhelmingly in suburban Cook County:
Brookfield 79%
Burr Ridge 88%
Countryside 81%
La Grange 85%
La Grange Park 83%
Lyons 79%
Norridge 84%
Orland Park 81%
Palos Park 81%
Prospect Heights 79%
Roselle 86%
South Holland 88%
Stickney 81%
If lawmakers are looking for a mandate, those results might aid the search.
- downstate hack - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 5:03 pm:
for those of you out there still unsure what the TEA party is about, that’s it right there in a nutshell.===
Brady attended several tea party events, including some in the Chicago area. He lost. So did they.
Tea party candidates won four congressional seats held by democrats. Brady lost, I am not sure I agree with you Rich that the Tea Party lost.
- DRB - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 5:03 pm:
The State owns multiple aircraft including several King Air, a few single engine, and helicopters.
- Amalia - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 5:04 pm:
oh, Pat, please give up the free rides for all Seniors. start by
doing what they should do for social security…..means testing. it’s done in some respects already. when I reach pension age, my social security check will be reduced with the amount of public pension income in mind, so social security in general should be mindful of other funds available to seniors. this is also actually what an income tax does….tax by amount of money available to a person. means testing for some services, income tax not property tax, these are the equitable ways of raising revenue.
what can be cut? the State is a more difficult proposition than the federal government where the defense department is a giant sink hole. (NOTE TO ALL FEDERAL LOVING DEMS….apparently
the extra engine that no one needs is a project located in…wait for it….Boehner’s district.) Pat Quinn needs to be a fiscal conservative. He needs to present a comprehensive review of State spending and a rationale for how the government can function more efficiently in these times. no, we cannot cut our way out of it. but sharing the pain with the public by cutting government is part of the pact government must make when raising taxes.
- Reformer - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 5:12 pm:
Quinn deserves credit for campaigning for a tax hike BEFORE the election, unlike Jim Thompson, Jim Edgar in ‘94 and George Ryan.
- Responsa - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 5:20 pm:
==The point is to do everything possible to root out waste before asking for a tax increase==
Yes! That is exactly the symbolic act of faith that most people in Illinois have been vainly waiting for, and want to see evidence of, as demonstration that pols in both parties “get it”. Of course these cuts and measures to control waste, fraud and bureaucratic redundancy will not SOLVE the larger problem. But such dollar and cents measures aren’t chopped liver, either. Serious and clear attacks on government spending will demonstrate that our leaders are conscious, listening, and are capable of doing something proactive beyond borrowing, raising taxes, and kicking the can (all of which will probably be done as well).
Illinois families have been cutting back in many areas and are looking to save money wherever they can. Using coupons, repairing items instead of buying new, finding ways to creatively use leftovers, limiting car trips to save gas, grooming the dog at home, turning down the thermostat, etc, etc. These small frugalities don’t immediately serve to pay off a large credit card bill or recoup an underwater mortgage. But they do undeniably leave more funds available every month to go toward the car payment or school tuition than would have been there otherwise. Furthermore, all the family’s members become more aware and invested in decisions regarding funds and how best to maximize them. The people of Illinois understand all this in their own lives, and are highly irritated that politicians do not seem to.
And to those politicians, agencies and staffers who say that expenses have already been cut to the very bone and that there is negligible waste and fraud to root out, I think most Illinoisans would mightily disagree and would tell you that you are not looking hard enough.
- Phineas J. Whoopee - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 5:24 pm:
My experience with government programs is that for all the blatant waste and corruption you can identify and correct-you could find additional savings through better management and oversight.
Maybe I should have more respect for a bureaucrats sharpened pencil-but I don’t. I have seen countless examples of budgetary waste in all levels of government.
When combining the already corrupted healthcare system with IL government-the waste just has to be more than 10%
- just sayin' - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 5:42 pm:
Wow, 16 out of 37 is a great batting average on these things. I’m really surprised by that high percentage. Really undercuts the argument that group was trying to make.
- steve schnorf - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 5:45 pm:
Sweet Jesus. PJW, who is this “they” that does the estimating?
There is a difference between Medicare and Medicaid. 60% of the waste and fraud the article identifies is in Medicare.
Unfortunately for the state of the State, many on here (and elsewhere) equate “waste” to “payments to people I wish didn’t get them” and/or “payments to people I’m glad don’t live in my neighborhood”.
Also (pay attention now) federal requirements prohibit (that means don’t allow) the state from increasing eligibility requirement, including proof of eligibility, and the state would be financially punished (that means the Feds would take away some of our Medicaid money) if we did so.
Casey Stengel said it best, about the Mets.
I’m all in favor of eliminating waste or fraud. i am also in favor of understanding unintended consequences. I am also in favor of knowing my a__ from a hole in the ground.
- one man raises a good point - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 6:04 pm:
From the Auditor General’s report:
The State fleet consists of 16 aircraft: 4 Beechcraft Kings, 2 Sikorsky helicopters, 9 Cessnas and 1 Bell helicopter. The Beechcraft and Sikorsky craft are used primarily to trnasport state officials. The Cessnas and Bell are used for aerial surveys and airport inspections, and to support DNR and Illinois homeland security.
IDOT uses the fleet to run three round-trip shuttle flights daily from Chicago-Springfield. For more information, please visit http://www.auditor.illinois.gov/Audit-Reports/Performance-Special-Multi/Performance-Audits/FY06-IDOT-Aero-Mgmt-Digest.pdf
- steve schnorf - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 6:06 pm:
The 4 King Airs are about 9 or 10 years old. They get a lot of cycles per hour because of the short distances involved.
- soccermom - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 6:07 pm:
Schnorf –
This is the kind of fraud we should be looking for: http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/11/08/gvsb1108.htm
- steve schnorf - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 6:12 pm:
Ought to be worth $5-7M to us.
- one man raises a good point - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 6:17 pm:
I know the King Airs are not new and shiny. I just think that it’s hard to make the case to the voters that we need a tax increase when we are unwilling to take one of the six scheduled commercial flights — or the train. It’s a place we can cut back — and even if we don’t get a great price for the equipment, we can sure cut down on operating costs if we reduce the fleet. It is not the place of government to run a private airline.
- steve schnorf - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 6:19 pm:
My point was, based on past experience, we are probably getting close on a decision point as to replacing them. The most cost-efficient choice last time was jets.
- Dan Johnson-Weinberger - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 6:31 pm:
The Senate passed a free riders for seniors means test this year. Senator Hendon and Sandoval reached an agreement and moved the bill over. Representative Bassi refused to call the bill in the House in the last week of the session. The means test in the Senate bill was higher (more seniors would get the free ride) than the House bill. But the Senate did finally move on it this year.
The bill is HB4623.
- Phineas J. Whoopee - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 6:54 pm:
Steve Schnorf,
I really have no idea what you are writing about. My original point is that Quinn should look like he is cutting as much as possible before asking for a tax increase-for political reasons.
If you don’t think that Medicaid would be a good place to start-I guess you know better than I-but I would truly be surprised and I mean truly be surprised.
- Retired Non-Union Guy - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 6:56 pm:
I’ve said it before (both here and in letters to the editor) and I’ll keep saying it. Using the State’s own numbers for caseworkers versus clients (published a few years back when Rod hired more caseworkers and you know they haven’t hired more since then and the recession has caused the level of need to go up), each caseworker only has about 20 minutes PER YEAR to meet with each client, establish their problems, determine what assistance is required, establish a plan to supply that assistance while also establishing a plan to work towards self sufficiency, fill out the necessary forms to provide said assistance, and schedule appointments for follow-up on the “case”. Even if we assume that there are two minors for each adult, that just expands the time to one hour PER YEAR per client “family”. While I don’t know the fraud level, that limited amount of time sounds to me like nothing more than throwing money at a problem with minimal review or follow-up … which is one hell of an invitation for rampart fraud at much higher levels than 10%. I’ve stated I would support MORE case workers if they did the job they are supposed to do instead of just throwing money away (and yes, I know there is a hard core percentage of needy that will never be self sufficient).
Then there is the whole procurement process to just get things the State needs. It can be (and has been) successfully gamed on lots of procurements even with all the “safeguards” in the procurement laws. Following all the procedures has a high cost; quite often most the potential bidders take a look at the paperwork requirements and decide to pass rather than bid, leaving the State with little choice between a few large corporations who don’t give their best price on the bid because of (a) the cost of bidding and (b) previous practices of going back for multiple rounds of bids on the same procurement. I suspect money would be saved if the process was simplified and a truly independent audit team was hired to review every transaction after the fact and bring criminal changes against whoever abused the new system.
Every current or former State employee can easily identify stuff like the above. I used to submit cost saving proposals to that board they had. Some of them were so obvious it was like “duh!”. None of them got acted on. I never even got a “thank you for your suggestion” reply. They weren’t serious about saving anything.
Evert may not have said but: “A million here, a million there, pretty soon we are talking about real money”
- Amalia - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 7:05 pm:
so was Illinois in on the Glaxo case?
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 7:29 pm:
Election results were clear…for every dollar of tax increases, there should also be a dollar of spending cuts.
Voters are pragmatic enough to realize that’s the fastest solution to our deficit/debt problems, as well as a good political compromise.
It’s not rocket science.
- Phineas J. Whoopee - Tuesday, Nov 9, 10 @ 7:49 pm:
I wish people would read what Retired Non-Union Guy said and take it to heart because it is exactly how waste in government happens. “You see examples of blatant waste so obvious it is like, duh” but when it’s reported nothing changes.
Don’t defend the undependable-fix it or cut it. Medicare and Medicaid waste and fraud doesn’t happen in the ivory tower where high level bureaucrats sit with blinders on thinking things are under control-it happens in the medical equipment store on Devon Ave or in the back office home healthcare agency of a Fullerton Ave medical clinic. It is rampant and costly.
- Soccermom - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 12:09 am:
Schnorf– A $750 settlement and we would only get 5-7 mm?How come?
- steve schnorf - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 1:51 pm:
Most goes to the feds…historically we would get 4-6% of what was left
- Oh, Please! - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 4:47 pm:
The MFT increase is a non-starter on many levels, most notably it can’t be used in a way that actually changes our transportation status quo given formula constraints. We need to start giving legitimate consideration to variable rate congestion pricing on heavily traveled urban corridors. Use the revenue to fund both parallel high quality, affordable, and reliable transit alternatives and highways. The revnue collected should be used *exclusively* in the corridor where it is collected. It’s a win-win for highways and transit, provided we invest in *real* transit, not new lanes with fancy express busses running in mixed traffic. Decreased congestion, enhanced economic activity, and no new highway lanes . . . as LaFleur pointed out at the symposium, new capacity (added highway lanes) clog back up in a very shorrt amount of time, so why keep doing it?