Does Budget Create More Problems than it Fixed?
The short answer to that question is yes. All that happened in Springfield last week was somewhat of a smoke screen designed to cover the real fiscal problems until later in the year. That does absolutely no one any good, and as a matter of fact it compounds the problems by creating further uncertainty for those who rely on state services and an even larger deficit that will eventually have to be filled.
The budget that was passed relies on one-time funding gimmicks as a means to pay for the day-to-day operation of state government. I had to oppose the two main components of the spending plan, one that allows our already indebt state to borrow $3.5 billion and the other that appropriates billions of dollars to state programs but is clearly out of balance and does not stipulate what will be funded or where the cuts will be.
In what many are referring to as a pension bond scheme to barrow $3.5 billion dollars in order to make this years pension payments and freeing up that same amount to be spent elsewhere, I just could not support piling more debt on are already outstanding deficit. This is real money that must be paid back, and it must be paid back with interest. Meaning next year that $3.5 billion which was used on state programs this year won’t be available and that knocks a built in hole to next year’s budget. We will also have to start paying the loan back to the tune of $770 million for the coming five years, so actually we already have a $4.25 billion dollar deficit for Fiscal Year 2011.
Practices such as this are the very reason we have a current multi-billion dollar deficit. Borrowing simply allows those who created this mess to turn their back on the real problem of living within our means, and instead provides them free rein to continue their uncontrollable spending. Until those in control decide to make the tough decisions and significantly reduce government spending, our debt will continue to pile up at an out of control rate.
To really put into perspective what happened last week, you have to look at it in terms of a smaller scale. A lot of people will slowly pay off their credit card bills making monthly payments, but what the state is doing is refusing to make those payments and instead taking out a loan to pay for other services. So essentially it would be akin to someone paying off their credit card with another credit card, and then getting another loan to pay off that other credit card. Basically we are paying off current debt with additional debt. It is a horrible fiscal policy that will eventually come back to haunt us down the road.
Only in Chicago
As the state of Illinois cemented itself in debt for years to come and the city of Chicago just announced the layoff of more than 400 city workers, the Cook County community of Evanston is proposing the question of limiting the number of cats a resident can keep as pets. After a woman was discovered to have over 90 cats in her home, city council members decided to propose an ordinance limiting the number of pet cats to four. I doubt anyone wants to live next to someone with 90 cats in their home, but I have a feeling this could be covered under alterative statutes that are already in place. Maybe there just isn’t a purrrrfect resolution to this whole scenario.
