Peraica Proposes Reforms - Cook County Board Votes ‘Em Down
Filed under: Budget, Casino, Mayor Daley, Reform, Spending, Taxes
This week, Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica introduced a number of budget amendments designed to streamline the budget in these challenging economic times.
Given the fact that the County Board enacted a massive sales tax increase last year - and is looking to pass $740 million in bonds this year…you’d think they’d all jump at the chance to streamline the budget.
Yeah, right.
Here are the results of how these proposals fared:
- Amendment to eliminate the $1,200 monthly “stipend” paid to each commissioner (as detailed in this Fox Chicago News segment): No commissioner (Republican or Democrat) would even second Peraica’s amendment.
- Amendment to cap the budget of each commissioner’s personal office to $320,000 per year, which would equal a total budget cut of 10% of the FY 2008 budget. Currently commissioners receive varying budgets - and commissioners are certainly allowed (as does Peraica) to return excess or unused funds to the county coffers. This amendment failed to pass.
- An across-the-board county budget cut of 4% of the FY 08 budget - which would still leave the budget significantly higher than the FY 2007 budget, which had represented a budget increase of 13% over the prior year. This amendment failed to pass - but all Republicans voted for it.
- A compromise, modest 2% across-the-board budget cut of the FY 08 numbers. Commissioner Schneider joined all the Democrats in voting against this budget cut.
Looks like the county budget will continue to increase…and the county taxpayers will continue to foot the compounding bill.
We agree (!) with Progress Illinois re: casinos
While we disagree with her views on hiking taxes, we do agree with Angela Caputo’s post - A Losing Bet on Casinos - over at Progress Illinois.
Angela makes many of the same points we make here, namely that casinos are not the panacea that some lawmakers claim:
Despite a growing body of evidence that gaming is not the quick fix lawmakers would like to believe, Illinois officials can’t seem to let it go. The reason seems fairly simple: it takes less political courage to hand out a gaming license than adopt sustainable and progressive revenue sources.
Where we begin to differer, however, is what constitutes a “sustainable and progressive revenue” source.
As Progress Illinois is a liberal blog, they no doubt favor the good ol’ “high tax = new revenue source” model.
We, however, choose to follow history, which clearly shows that, while higher taxes equal increased revenue in the short term, they squelch production and growth and lead to economic contraction in the longer term.
But, more on that debate later.
For now, let’s just point out our agreement on the casino issue. It is not a substitute for a real, meaningful, common sense economic growth plan.
Understatement of the Year
Filed under: Blagojevich, Casino, Corruption, Mayor Daley, Reform, Taxes
In a post titled “The False Allure of Hope and Change,” the Media Monitors Network publishes the understatement of the year:
Illinois politics, which is run entirely out of Cook County, has always been riddled with corruption, and the allegations against the Governor likely only represent a tip of the iceberg.
No kidding.
Our international reputation for corruption and ineptitude is bad - and only getting worse.
What surprises us most about the revelations of our governor is how many voters are actually shocked and surprised by his behavior. Granted, the audacity and stupidity with which he engaged in this behavior (on the phone when just about everybody in Illinois knew he was under surveillance) was shocking.
But his actions? Shocking? Surprising? C’mon.
Kass on the County’s New Casino
John Kass (as usual) hits the nail on the head in today’s column about the new casino slated for Des Plaines.
Here’s an excerpt that enforces what we’ve written here previously:
Board members couldn’t give the license to Rosemont, since politicians were shocked, shocked I tell you, when they found out a while back that Rosemont has connections to the Chicago Outfit…
… Last week, the gaming board members couldn’t give the casino to the other town that wanted it, Waukegan, because board members were privately worried that indicted Republican boss Big Bill Cellini had hidden connections with the deal, and they didn’t want to look stupid later.
So Des Plaines got the casino license. For some strange reason, perhaps it’s just hives, my itchiness tells me that politicians see a jackpot and that the guys behind the guys in Rosemont will wet their beaks in Des Plaines. It’s almost across the street.
Cook County and gambling, cont’d…
As a follow up to our previous post about Cook County and gambling, we find this little nugget in today’s Wall Street Journal:
Deep in the federal affidavit accusing Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich of trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s Senate seat is a brief passage about a state law — passed twice — to prop up Illinois’s horse-racing industry.
The law, worth tens of millions of dollars to the industry, has gone largely unnoticed. But its supporting role in the Blagojevich drama shows how legislation was allegedly hijacked by the governor’s office and now may be jeopardized by the taint of federal charges.
The affidavit alleges Gov. Blagojevich attempted to pressure a horse-racing official for a $100,000 campaign contribution in return for the governor’s signature on the legislation.
Gov. Blagojevich signed the bill into law — six days after his Dec. 9 arrest — requiring the state’s four top-earning casinos to give 3% of their gross adjusted annual revenues to the horse-racing industry. He has said he has done nothing wrong and will be vindicated.
So, at the risk of sounding repetitive, we just say: Cook County. Gambling. An interesting mix, to say the least.
What happens in Cook County …
Filed under: Budget, Casino, Corruption, Taxes, Todd Stroger
Corruption. Organized crime. Casinos.
Are we talking about Las Vegas or Cook County? Try both.
With Des Plaines being awarded Illinois’ 10th casino license this week, Cook County has hit the trifecta. We are officially big time.
Bright lights. Big county.
It is so fitting that, at the same time Cook County’s very own hometown governor - Rod Blagojevich - is in the national spotlight for alleged corruption, our county wins the state’s latest casino license.
Cook County and and a casino. It just seems right.
One town with a reputation for corruption and alleged mob ties loses out in the casino license competition - so they just put it in the town next door. Makes sense. That’s the Cook County way.
And, as far as the state is concerned, gambling has long been the answer to our budgetary prayers. Remember when the lottery was supposed to close our education funding gap?
Oops.
We suppose the new casino will be solve the problem, too.
Now, whether or not you agree with gambling, we’d like you to consider whether or not state-controlled gambling is a fitting substitute for a real, honest economic growth agenda.
And whether or not a corrupt state government like that in Illinois should have control of casinos. And whether a corrupt county like Cook should be able to host one.
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