On Wisconsin!

[updated, 2/20]

As a proud resident of the State of Illinois, I am doubly proud that our state has been home to the Wisconsin state senators who did the only thing they could do to stop the steam-rolling of union rights in their state. So, welcome state senators! Try a Chicago hot dog in lieu of one of your delicious brats!

On the surface – if we believe Governor Walker – this is a fight about fiscal solvency and balanced budgets. However, coming from a state that actually is not all that bad off in terms of fiscal health, it is hard to swallow that the government needs to strip away the rights of its citizens to supposedly come up with a balanced budget. Spare us the cover story, governor. This is about politics, Republican “values,” and taking advantage of people and their weakened condition.

It is most interesting that Governor Scott Walker, newly elected governor of the Cheese State, is looking to crush the collective bargaining rights of certain state employees, like teachers and nurses, but is not touching the rights of police  and firemen.  Why is that? Do you think it is because he values police and firemen more? Maybe it’s because the police and firemen gave more to his campaign than did the teachers and nurses? Check the facts out. Just proves that this is more about politics than it is about sensible and fair policies. This is a watershed moment…similar steps are afoot in Ohio, Tennessee and elsewhere. Newly elected Republicans, claiming some sort of “slash and burn” mandate to reduce spending and keep taxes low (an untenable position), are using the financial difficulties of states to justify the un-democratic assault on unions and their workers.

In an interesting twist, even those unionized workers who are not being impacted today – including police and fire – are starting to join the protests against Governor Walker. This is nothing new for Scott Walker. Since his days in Milwaukee he has been the source of very strong measures and a lightening rod for some of the same people/issues that he has in Madison. It is a great tactic on his part, and clearly the result of deeply held beliefs, and we suspect that he will start to make the list of potential candidates for the Republican nomination in 2012. Don’t Tread on Him!

Yes, everyone needs to give something in these tights times. Salaries need to be reviewed. Pensions need to be reviewed, managed and saved. We should not have to rely solely on tax/fee increases to improve states’ financial pictures. If fiscal management requires all people (including union workers) to give more, then so be it. But using this logic to crush unions is bad politics and bad policy. Collective bargaining helps to protect workers’ rights, and it provides the less powerful a bit of a leg to stand on. Rather than try to crush the unions, Republicans should be trying to provide all workers a fair wage and a respectable position.

This is not about unions and education. It is not about arcane and bizarre work rules that unions somehow “impose” on employers. This is not about charter schools versus public schools. Those  are different fights and should be waged out in the open. Unions are not perfect, but they are also not the cause of all of our problems. Yes, we need to examine unions, and unions need to adjust their tactics and goals, but subverting them in this way cannot be supported. Buck up Badgers, and hang in there! You are fighting the good fight.

For more: Wisconsin Leads Way as Workers Fight State Cuts – NYTimes.com.

Chicago Politics – The Song Remains the Same

Ok, so I only live in the suburbs of one of the greatest cities on the planet. I do not pay city taxes – not even Cook County taxes (DuPage and Will Counties), and I have not ridden the El train regularly since 1991. However, I grew up in the Chicagoland area, live there now, and did live in the City of Chicago at one point earlier in my life. Even as a teacher back in the 1990s I assigned my high school students a project to locate a statue somewhere in the city and to write a short report about it. I compelled them to go into the city because so few of the suburban kids had ever been. Wow, did I ever get flak from some parents on that (you mean I need to drive my kid into the city?!?)!

So, needless to say, I do feel that I have the right to comment on issues around the Chicago mayoral race. After all, my evening news is full of Chicago political news, so I should have an interest in who is mayor. So it is clear, my interest lies with having Rahm Emanuel take the helm after the Daley reign. His chief opponents, Carol Moseley Braun and Gary Chico label Mr. Emanuel as “an outsider.” Precisely, and that is why he should lead. While Mr. Emanuel is hardly the “Washington outsider” that Moseley Braun labels him, Mr. Emanuel will bring a cosmopolitan style with him that is backed by significant experience in Washington DC. The last thing we need is some entrenched politico who lives and breathes the ethos of Chicago two-bit politics.

The most lively conspiracy theorists will see today’s appellate court decision as a dark-handed attempt to influence the outcome of the mayoral race and to prevent democracy from working. They may not be far off the mark, but that would be giving too much credit to those who are working to undermine the system. Those seeking to have Emanuel removed from the ballot are not capable enough to engineer such a surprising and arrogant decision as handed down by two of three appellate judges. The dissenting judge’s comments speak volumes (see link, pp. 25 on): “The majority’s new standard is ill-reasoned and unfair to the candidate, voters and those of us who are charged with applying the law [and] disenfranchises not just this particular candidate but every voter in Chicago who would consider voting for him.” Even those seeking Emanuel’s removal from the ballot were surprised by the decision. Bad judicial decisions generally are surprising. Both the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun Times agree.

The good news is that Mr. Emanuel is not quitting. He still plans on participating in an upcoming debate, and he has asked the Illinois Supreme Court for an emergency stay to prevent the printing of ballots without his name. He will fight unfairness with his bare knuckles if he has to. Frankly, that is why he should be mayor.  Hopefully his ongoing efforts will upend the sleazy tactics of those around him. Maybe one day we will get the full story behind this challenge to Mr. Emanuel’s candidacy. In short, it is democratic cowardice, brought upon those who can muster neither the votes not the money to win fairly. Certainly, it was not simply a lawyer and his two clients labeled as “concerned citizens.” Chicago politics are too rough-and-tumble to believe that.

Illinois Wakes Up?? – Part 2

Well, Illinois continues to be at the forefront of the news, albeit the part of the news that you want to avoid. Budget deficit. Crushing debt. Crumbling pension system. Bankruptcy?? The Land of Lincoln, home of the Daleys, the City of Big Shoulders and Caterpillar? Say it ain’t so!

Sadly, it is so.

Two recent articles highlight Illinois’s ongoing issues, as related to my original post:

The deficits will continue, despite the ongoing embarrassment. Granted, the current governor in Illinois is hobbled by years of mismanagement not of his making, but Mr. Quinn will need to continue to look for a long-term solution to our issues. Of course, making that “temporary” tax increase will be the first step. 🙂 It is somewhat relaxing to see that Illinois has had some of the lowest income taxes across the country (see graphic below), so it is about time we caught up?

With a more frightening prospect, we now hear about a movement by which states might be able to claim bankruptcy. Huh? Just so that a state can avoid pension obligations? This would be bringing the worst of corporate culture to an institution (state government) that has long prided itself on being different from a corporation. Any person in the state that is tied to a public pension should begin to worry. Those pensions, while maybe overly generous, have always been a source of stability for state workers. Keep in mind that state pensioners (like teachers) were never obligated to contribute to Social Security precisely because the pension was their retirement nest-egg. If the pension must be adjusted, it should be for state employees entering the system today, not 20 years ago.

[following was posted on Jan 18]

According to a recent editorial in the New York Times, the State of Illinois has “awoken” to its fiscal mess. How so? By raising state income taxes by 66%, and passing a significant increase in the corporate tax. According to the editorial,  Illinois has finally come up with a plan to help reduce its deficits and to close the budget gap. The deficit has been projected to be about $15 billion in the next fiscal year, but the “temporary” tax increase will reduce that deficit by only about $7 billion. Across the nation, Illinois is held up as a major financial basket-case, so something needed to be done. Yes, something needed to be done. Of course, how are we going to close the budget gap even further? More taxes?

Citizens – both private and corporate – are outraged for sure, but the  investors who track the fiscal stability of states see this move as very positive, and trumpet it as a signal of the creditworthiness of Illinois. Wow, how different can be the perspectives of those paying the taxes and those making money by lending even more money to the State?

Of course, nobody believes that this tax increase will be “temporary.” The last time Illinois raised income taxes, in 1989, the increase was supposedly temporary – until 1993 when all was made permanent. So, let’s call a spade a spade...it will be permanent. Granted, taxes had not been raised since the late 1980s, and our taxes remain below some of the states that have criticized our tax increase (New Jersey and Wisconsin). Nevertheless, such an abrupt and large tax raise gets one pretty excited. After all, the lack of tax increases has been easily rectified by the raising of every fee imaginable (multiple times) in Illinois. So, the State has received its fair share even without the income tax. But, what has the Land of Lincoln done with my taxes and fees?

Now, I am the first to support taxation and reasonable state and federal use of those taxes. In fact, I am likely a more strident proponent of taxation than your average American. Aside from all of the inevitable government waste that worries me about the destination of my taxes, I believe strongly that our governments in the United States need sufficient taxation to support the services that we all require. While some need unemployment support and welfare, I need roads, fire, police, schools and the military.

In an effort to make us feel better, the Democrats in the Illinois legislature passed a restriction that will potentially eliminate the tax increase if the state surpasses its self-imposed spending caps. If the budget rises more than 2% per year over the next few years, the State may rescind the tax increase. Sorry, but how come I do not believe this will happen?

But when are the true budget cuts going to happen, and from where are they coming?  The Democrats in the legislature claim that they will make the budget cuts necessary, but can we really expect Michael Madigan to faithfully make that happen? He has been there for too long, and he has overseen this mess as much as the two disgraced former Governors Ryan and Blagojevich.

This State needs leadership. Quinn is not it, and the Republicans have been unable to field a true leader. What will Illinois do?

Good News for Illinois?

 

 

Well, it depends….

Anytime Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has a say in the future of Illinois, we need to worry. After all, he will one day have to answer to the fact that he has led the Illinois House through one of the most tragic periods in state history, and he needs to be held partially responsible for our fiscal mess, political backwardness, and general sad state of affairs. Yes, our previous two governors – one Republican in jail and one Democrat the laughing-stock of the nation and on the verge of going to jail – have much blame on their hands. But it has been Madigan who has been the constant through this period.

Illinois needs a reset button. But until then, politics as usual. In that context, despite the wave of Republican victories across the nation and in Illinois, the Illinois Democrats still have some good news. They still run things in Springfield. Part of that power will bring the ability to redraw the congressional districts around the state, presumably to favor as much as possible the Democratic base.

Good news for Democrats; good news for Illinois if Madigan and Quinn do the right thing. Do what is right for Illinois – yes, redraw the boundaries, but start to figure out how to get the entire state out of the ditch.

Green Party Monster Bash – Again

[Amended to include results of Illinois gubernatorial race]

When will members of the Green Party learn?

This post will undoubtedly get me in trouble with some my environmentalist friends, but it needs to be said. My environmentalist credentials are solid enough – try to reduce driving, increase our recycling, reduce energy use where possible, etc. I honestly believe that global warming is real and needs to be addressed, and there is plenty of research and data to support this view. I do, however, believe that we need to approach environmental issues with a balance that takes into consideration economic and social needs, but that is just reflecting my generally pragmatic viewpoint. So, all said, I definitely feel that we need to be very environmentally conscious and that our policies need to reflect a concern for the future of the planet.

That said, does the need to address these issues justify the Green Party’s ongoing attempts to make a dent in the national electoral map even when they are confronted by failure after failure? They may argue that winning is not the goal of their candidacies, but is rather merely an attempt to get a “green” agenda into the national debate. But how many failures need to occur before they realize that such a goal is a destructive use of resources?

Was the election of 2000 not enough of a lesson? Because of Nader and his Green Party candidacy, Al Gore lost Florida and therefore lost the edge to combat the Republican takeover of the presidency. Yes, if Gore had won his home state of Tennessee, he could have won the election even without Florida. We all know the story, and Gore’s loss cannot all be blamed entirely on Nader. But, the numbers do not lie – simple math shows that the Green Party’s fantastical candidacy in 2000 left us with eight years of George Bush during which we saw some of the most abusive assaults on the environment since the green movement began. How does this sit with members of the Green Party? My guess is that their self-absorption in trying to combat the “two-party” system leaves them blind to their misguided priorities.

Yes, the Green Party lives on. In the process of trying to achieve something via the ballot box, the Green Party continues to squander realistic attempts to achieve real environmental progress. When will they learn? The election of 2010 has provided another set of examples – albeit smaller that the 2000 fiasco, but no less destructive.

A more thorough review of Tuesday night’s election results could probably bring forward even more examples, but a quick review of two races clearly shows the impact of the Green Party – an impact that clearly helps the Republican Party, not the party that can actually do the most for the environment.  That impact does not seem to align well with the platform of the Green Party.

I have heard the arguments – can we assume that all Green Party voters would vote for a Democrat if left no other option? Of course not, but I cna bet that a good portion would cast a ballot for a Democrat before a Republican……

Illinois Senate:

Republican Mark Kirk: 1.765M votes

Democrat Alexi Giannoulias: 1.694M votes (71K less votes than Kirk)

Green Party LeAlan Jones: 117K votes

Assuming that 75% of those Green Party votes went to the Democrat, Giannoulias wins. One more Democrat in the Senate.

Colorado Senate:

Democrat Michael Bennet: 799K votes

Republican Ken Buck: 783K votes

Green Party Bob Kinsey: 36K votes

Bennet wins…but this was too close. Assuming that 75% of those Green Party votes went to the Democrat, Bennet still wins but by a broader margin. Democrats should not have to fight to their left in these tight elections. In a similar vein…

Illinois Governor:

Democrat Patrick Quinn: 1.721M

Republican Bill Brady: 1.702M (19K difference)

Green Party Rich Whitney: 99K

I understand the Green Party’s desire to break the two-party system, but they need to get real. Even the upstart Tea Party produced winners in the election process. Not the Greens. They are just producing more Republicans who can further erode the environment.

Stay green, but join the Democrats so that they can actually win with better margins and do something to help you.