GOPer’s Going Wobbly on Spending Restraint?

It seems the attack on Bill Brady’s budget suggestions are having some pay off.  One area Republican wanting to run for state rep., actually believes that the state living off of 90 percent of last year’s budget is a reckless idea.  24 year old Adam Brown is wobbly, reports the Decatur Herald:

“Brown said he disagrees with the spending plan proposed by state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington, the presumptive Republican candidate for governor. Brady proposes a 10 percent across-the-board cut to all state agencies.

“I don’t think 10 percent across the board is going to be effective,” Brown said. “I think we’ve got to look through the budget line item by line item and determine where our priorities are.”

Here’s something Mr. Brown needs to know.  The spenders in Springfield are lying.  Yes, as an emergency measure across the board spending cuts are one way at tackling a budget problem.  While at the Illinois Policy Institute I said as much just a few years ago:

“Apply across-the-board spending cuts. While this approach is administratively simple, it has one major drawback. It treats good-performing and poorly-performing units of government the same. It would be better to make targeted cuts, based on unit effectiveness and importance.”

Everyone claims Illinois is in a crisis, that’s the justification for tax hikes.  Yet, when it comes to spending restraint, it suddenly becomes time to study the problem.  (In addition the Institute offered eight other methods of attacking various spending issues in the paper.)  Across the board cuts are legitimate emergency actions.  And if tax hikes are one way of closing an emergency shortfall then so should 10 percent across the board spending cuts?

But like the Institute, Brady’s pronouncements offer more than just across the board cuts. You can see for yourself at Illinois Statehouse News.  At the 3:17 mark Brady says, “We have to create a budget that is reconciled, deconstructed and reconstructed, meet our priorities while living within our means but also providing a surplus to pay off our bills and short term debt.”  He’s talking in shorthand of the various kinds of five r long-term solutions to reducing state spending without throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Brady goes on to explain that families are having to break down their family budget and make priorities in tough economic circumstances.  This is nothing less than a call to systematically look at the budget and make priorities.  Just as the young Mr. Brown would like.

Granted, it’s legislativese, a language unfamiliar to even some who practice it.  But by no means is Brady simply calling for 10 percent across the board cuts.  He is saying that’s a better deal than tax hikes.  And that is something everyone should be agreement with.

Republicans don’t need to go wobbly on 10 percent across board cuts, they need to defend and explain why that’s a better solution that’s better than a tax hike.

University Presidents Cry Poverty to IL GA While Taking Golden Parachutes

The Senate Appropriations Committee is going to hold hearings today taking another whack at Bill Brady’s suggestion in the primary campaign that across the board cuts are a way of tackling 8 years of overspending leading to a budget gap of $13 billion this year.

Yesterday, the presidents of Southern Illinois University and the University of Illinois testified before the Appropriations Committee:

Committee members heard from university officials about how devastating 10 percent cuts would be to higher education, but took no action. They’re expected to continue going over other budget cuts Thursday morning.

State Sen. Donne Trotter, D-Chicago, introduced the bills but extended the cuts to only eight agencies that make up about half of state spending.

The committee’s work was seen by some as Democratic ploy to demonstrate the drastic effects of Brady’s proposal. Democrats denied any such purpose.

“We are not trying to put anybody on the hot seat,” said State Sen. John Sullivan, D-Rushville, the committee’s chairman. “Republicans have said they want 10 percent cuts across the board to services and we wanted to highlight today what the effect of cuts would be.”

Brady did not attend the committee, but said he hopes the cuts are taken seriously.

“We have a horrific problem,” he said. “

Sullivan made clear the cuts were not for show.

“There is no doubt in my mind that (these cuts) are definitely seriously being considered,” he said.

Leaders of two large universities appeared to be taking it seriously as well.

A 10 percent cut would cut $74 million out of the University of Illinois’ budget from last year and cut $23 million out at Southern Illinois University. Both schools’ presidents said the toll would be tremendous.

“It’s easy to erode the quality and access (of higher education). Iit’s not so easy to reconstruct it,” U of I President Stan Ikenberry said.

SIU President Glenn Poshard said an immediate 15 percent reduction in his university’s workforce would be necessary to accommodate the cuts.

Sounds ominous doesn’t it?  But don’t worry University Presidents in the state system will still be taken care of:

University of Illinois Springfield Chancellor Richard Ringeisen would make $273,500 annually as an adviser to the U of I president after his retirement this fall, under a proposal to be considered next week by the university board.

Under the agreement, Ringeisen would serve as consultant for long-range planning and special assistant to the president from Nov. 1 through 2011. His pay would be equal to his current salary as chancellor.

Ringeisen earlier this week announced he will step down as chancellor on Oct. 31. The U of I board of trustees will consider Ringeisen’s retirement and vote on the 14-month deal during its March 10 meeting.

Ringeisen’s new duties would include making recommendations for the Springfield campus’ development, aiding the transition to new leadership, and planning in development activities and other events to promote the Springfield campus.

Ringeisen would also be a consultant to the next U of I president (the university has yet to name a successor for former U of I President Joseph White).

Tom Hardy, University of Illinois spokesman, said this type of agreement is not unusual for senior administrators.

So, the University President retires and then gets a gig as a consultant at the same pay rate — which he’ll do from Florida with his grandkids — and another guy will be hired to run the University of Illinois at Springfield presumably for another quarter of million dollars.   But don’t worry,  this common practice. Please.

Some Budget Crisis.  With university presidents threatening 9% to 20% tuition hikes; threatening lay offs of 15% if they have to live with 90% of what they have this should be a non-starter.  It also proves these hearings are a sham.

And oh, since the MSM didn’t say so allow me to point out that Glenn Poshard was the Democrat nominee for governor in 1996.  If the shoe were on the other foot, you can bet that would be an issue.

Starbuck’s Thrust Into Open Carry Debate

Three cheers for Starbuck’s Coffee.  They’ve unwillingly been thrust into a debate about open carry of pistols in their coffee chain.  Here’s the story from Fox News:

The “open carry” movement, in which gun owners carry unconcealed handguns as they go about their everyday business, is loosely organized around the country but has been gaining traction in recent months. Gun-control advocates have been pushing to quash the movement, including by petitioning the Starbucks coffee chain to ban guns on its premises.

Businesses have the final say on their property. But the ones that don’t opt to ban guns—such as Starbucks—have become parade grounds of sorts for open-carry advocates.

Starbucks on Wednesday, while bemoaning being thrust into the debate, defended its long-standing policy of complying with state open-carry weapons laws, in part by stating that its baristas, or “partners,” could be harmed if the stores were to ban guns. The chain said that in the 43 states where open carry is legal, it has about 4,970 company-operated stores.

The company added: “The political, policy and legal debates around these issues belong in the legislatures and courts, not in our stores.”

This is a good example of a company not caving to political pressure one way or the other.  It’s a good example of them exercising their property rights, too.

Yesterday, hearings on concealed carry legislation got a bit testy over the issue of exemptions from the law.  Rich Miller has more.   There are also more than one person in the comments section that need to be educated on concealed carry, the nature of firearms and  their uses.  Very much worth a read.

More Than 6 People Per Job Opening

Of course this is why those who want to hike taxes are wrong.

You have to have income to pay income taxes.

IL GOP Legislators Who Privately Say We Need A Tax Hike Should Step Forward Or SHUT UP!

I prefer the latter.

Republicans who privately say that we can’t solve the state’s budget problems without tax increases should be reported on.  And Republicans who feel that way should come forward.

You ladies and gentlemen know who you are.  5 of the 7 gubernatorial candidates have now said that they will make the tough decisions to get the state out of the mess it is in.  Instead of bailing out liberals who wrecked the Illinois economy you should be cheering them on, not privately dissing them.

In fact, if these Republican are so sure that it can’t be done, then they should say so publicly.  If they don’t have the guts to do so, then they should be the ones that should be dismissed because obviously the don’t have the cahonnes to do what they are saying is necessary.

Pat Brady said it correctly.  Illinois has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.

Republican GOP Hopefuls Running on Gun Control?

This is interesting, because Democrats won’t even run on the gun control issue because it cost them Congress:

ISRA-PVF Press Release: Jim Ryan Picks Up Where He Left Off in 2002 – Stumbling Aimlessly Down the Road to Defeat

CHICAGO, Dec. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The following was released today by the ISRA Political Victory Fund (ISRA-PVF): “I’ve never seen a suburban Republican try so hard to look like a Chicago Machine Democrat,” is how ISRA-PVF spokesman Richard Pearson characterized the behavior of Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Ryan. Pearson’s remarks came as follow-on to a published interview during which Ryan pledged to enact a ban on semiautomatic target rifles and shotguns. In that same Chicago Tribune interview, Ryan also pledged to deny law-abiding citizens the opportunity to carry defensive firearms to protect themselves and their families. Ryan’s latest affront to the state’s 1.5 million law-abiding hunters, sportsmen and firearm owners comes only days after the Ryan camp was forced to issue a retraction of the candidate’s claim that he had been endorsed by the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) during his unsuccessful 2002 run for the governor’s mansion. In reality, neither Ryan nor his Democratic opponent, Rod Blagojevich, received ISRA support in 2002 as the two were deemed equally unsuitable for office. “We were not at all surprised by Ryan’s remarks in the Tribune,” said Pearson. “Ryan’s hostility toward law-abiding firearm owners extends way back to his days as DuPage County State’s Attorney. Ryan’s philosophical distaste for the fundamental rights guaranteed under the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution make him particularly unqualified to serve as Illinois governor. As we saw in 2002, Jim Ryan has slammed the door in the faces of Illinois firearm owners. As primary day draws near, Ryan may find that, if you keep doing the same things over and over, you will keep getting the same result.” The ISRA-PVF is a political action committee affiliated with the Illinois State Rifle Association. A copy of our report is available for a fee from the Illinois State Board of Elections, Springfield, Illinois. This press release is posted on PRNewswire.com. Posted Mon Dec 14 07:52:32 CST 2009

Bob Schillerstrom, Andy McKenna and Jim Ryan are clearly anti-gun.  Jim Ryan’s attempt at spinning — if it’s constitutional — just shows he knows he’s in the wrong.

On concealed Ryan touts his law enforcement credentials.  But one state wide law enforcement group, the County Sheriff’s Association,  has all ready endorsed concealed carry.

This penchant for regulations that only impede law abiding individuals and don’t do what the proponents say they’ll do — affect crime rates — is either a) pandering or b) demonstrates that they aren’t the champions of liberty and free markets they claim to be. Because if you are willing to regulate something as important as the individual right to defend one’s self, then imposing yourself on our economic transactions as well as other freedoms isn’t really a problem for you.

Speaker Madigan and Me

Speaker Madigan has now been quoted as saying something that I’ve been saying for a long time:

“For those that think that tax increases are the answer, it’s a partial answer,” Madigan told an audience gathered for a panel discussion at the annual Illinois Legislative Latino Caucus Foundation meeting in Rosemont on Thursday. “Because you can raise the rate on the Illinois income tax, but if the economy is not performing you’re not going to get an increase in money out of the increase in rate.”

128 Years of Melting Polar Ice

Tim Blair notes the NY Times has warned us that the sky if falling the North Pole is melting 17 times since 1881:

From the New York Times, 128 years of looming polar doom:

• 1881: “This past Winter, both inside and outside the Arctic circle, appears to have been unusually mild. The ice is very light and rapidly melting …”

• 1932: “NEXT GREAT DELUGE FORECAST BY SCIENCE; Melting Polar Ice Caps to Raise the Level of Seas and Flood the Continents”

• 1934: “New Evidence Supports Geology’s View That the Arctic Is Growing Warmer”

• 1937: “Continued warm weather at the Pole, melting snow and ice.”

• 1954: “The particular point of inquiry concerns whether the ice is melting at such a rate as to imperil low-lying coastal areas through raising the level of the sea in the near future.”

• 1957: “U.S. Arctic Station Melting”

Check out the entire list.

Hypcorisy, Thy Policy Is Illinois Gun Control

Steve Chapman:  ”In Chicago, only criminals and aldermen are armed. Forgive me for being redundant.”

If the average Illinoisan had as much contempt for the rule of law as the political then Illinois would be anarchy…

Some Good Health Care Reform News

One problem with markets is asymmetrical information.  When one side in a market exchange has more information on a given transaction, they have advantage that they can press against the other side.  Markets really only work when both sides gain from a transaction.  When one side games the system that creates mis-trust and the market system becomes distorted and dysfunctional.

When, for example, a person buying health insurance doesn’t disclose they have a pre-existing condition they can use that information to get a lower health care premium than they otherwise would. This hurts everybody in the insurance pool.  Ways to combat that are disclosure clauses for insured  and recision clauses for the insurer.  Remember before warrantees and lemon laws how you could never trust a used car salesman?  It’s the same thing.  Here, the seller had more information — the auto was wrecked, had a bad engine, flood, etc.

Hospitals have never  – because they are so often monopolies in their communities or when they aren’t they engage in behavior that would illegal under our anti-trust system if they were any other business –published prices or other consumer information.   This puts the hospital industry in a pretty sweet spot compared to the health care consumer.

The answer to this problem has been an effort to get hospitals to become more transparent.  And now Illinois has taken that first step:

“For the first time, consumers can pore over abundant data – much of it previously unpublished — about Illinois hospitals and surgery centers on a state-sponsored Web site that launches Thursday.

The 2008 data include information about what these medical providers charge, how many procedures they perform, how often they deliver recommended care, and how consumers rate their care.”

The site should be up by now.  It is being launched today. You can go to:  www.idph.state.il.us or www.healthcarereportcard.illinois.gov to find it.

By disclosing information on both cost and care, hospitals will have to compete on price and quality.  That in a normal market is how you get better goods and services for lower and lower prices.  Introducing competition is a better more efficient way than government interference in the provisioning of care.  And it’s lot better than anything coming out of Washington these days.

I know this is a first step and I’m sure some will try undermine to protect their interests, but this is a good first step and a step that all Illinoisans can be proud of.

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