9:26 AM
I am a bit late in getting this out......but what a great time in Cordova on June 20th! Rich and Betsy Morthland did a superb job in organizing this event. The folks were excellent and I met many concerned citizens that want a change in state government.
I talked about the current state of affairs with the budget crisis. The situation is not good with several state agencies unable to function because of a lack of money. We need to address these problems and bring Illinois back to a "functioning" public entity. When road repairs are suspended due to a lack of money, obviously something is wrong.
Several cuts have been proposed if the State House of Representatives does not approve more revenue for the state budget. But we must address some other issues first. I included my call for a major, independent auditing firm to go through the state's books and look for fraud and waste. Also the proposed budget needs to get to the legislative branch sooner and a three-fifths majority in both the House and Senate before a tax increase can go to the Governor.
We frankly need to get back to basics. The pension meltdown continues and the unpaid Medicaid bills are piling up. The need for spending cuts is here so that these problems can be addressed and that we can move on to fix the other problems.
The leadership role I would assume if elected is simple: keep a vote on a BALANCED BUDGET alive. Don't sit idly by and allow revenue projections to be too high. That's why the FY08 budget is out of tune....revenue projections were too high!
The message is resonating and the people are listening!
I talked about the current state of affairs with the budget crisis. The situation is not good with several state agencies unable to function because of a lack of money. We need to address these problems and bring Illinois back to a "functioning" public entity. When road repairs are suspended due to a lack of money, obviously something is wrong.
Several cuts have been proposed if the State House of Representatives does not approve more revenue for the state budget. But we must address some other issues first. I included my call for a major, independent auditing firm to go through the state's books and look for fraud and waste. Also the proposed budget needs to get to the legislative branch sooner and a three-fifths majority in both the House and Senate before a tax increase can go to the Governor.
We frankly need to get back to basics. The pension meltdown continues and the unpaid Medicaid bills are piling up. The need for spending cuts is here so that these problems can be addressed and that we can move on to fix the other problems.
The leadership role I would assume if elected is simple: keep a vote on a BALANCED BUDGET alive. Don't sit idly by and allow revenue projections to be too high. That's why the FY08 budget is out of tune....revenue projections were too high!
The message is resonating and the people are listening!