Tribune: Stroger “Sullying” His Own Name
In our previous post, we wrote that Todd Stroger was acting in defiance of the county board and the taxpayers.
But the Chicago Tribune editorial board has gone even further, writing that Todd “seems intent on sullying” his own name “and that of his Democratic cronies.”
We wholeheartedly agree. That same Trib editorial continues:
How else to explain that Stroger has hired six top-level employees at high salaries since his defeat in the February primary? How else to explain Stroger’s awarding of pay raises without board approval — including a $54,000 bump, to $230,000, for Chief Financial Officer Jaye Williams? How else to explain Stroger’s reinstatement of Carla Oglesby, his deputy chief of staff — after telling reporters just last week that she would be suspended without pay pending an investigation of how she was hired and why her communications firm then received a county contract? (No, that county inspector general’s probe isn’t yet concluded.) How else to explain Stroger’s veto Monday of a proposed ordinance to place a freeze on most hirings and raises — an ordinance the board passed 16-1 because of Stroger’s reckless stunts at taxpayer expense?
Again, we agree, and will work to override Todd’s veto of the hiring freeze to end his rampant disregard for your hard-earned tax dollars.
Worshipping at the patronage altar
Filed under: Budget, Corruption, Spending, Taxes, Todd Stroger
Lynne Kiesling, senior lecturer in the Department of Economics at Northwestern University, writes in her blog about the direct connection between corruption and higher taxes in Cook County. Especially poignant during this holiday shopping season, Lynne discusses how the county’s sky-high sales tax is specifically affecting county retailers.
She also hits the nail on the head with a simple message that is all too often overlooked by many county voters on Election Day:
Mismanagement abounds, and with all of these patronage jobs on the county payroll, how do these get paid for? The budget is a shambles. Here’s how the patronage politicians pay for the graft: increase taxes. Property tax rates in Cook County are some of the highest in the country, but the latest and most obvious increase was the full percentage point increase in the county’s sales tax last summer. At 10.25% we have the highest sales tax in the country. This tax increase is largely due to Todd Stroger’s patronage and budgetary mismanagement.
Unfortunately, the worst may be yet to come for county taxpayers. When Stroger enacted the increase, he said he wouldn’t be back for another increase for several years. His cousin/county finance director Donna Dunnings, however, has hinted otherwise - and his current budget includes a massive bond proposal that amounts to little more than a back-door tax increase.
Predictably, the sales tax hasn’t served as the “revenue enhancer” Stroger had hoped for. Well, maybe that’s because tax increases aren’t “revenue enhancers” at all. They slow economic growth with means businesses sell less goods and hire less works - both of which equals less tax revenue.
But don’t expect the county patronage-mavens to care about economics. They have long worshipped at the altar of patronage and class warfare - and we don’t expect them to voluntarily change any time soon.
More on the Civic Federation Report …
Filed under: Budget, Spending, Taxes, Todd Stroger
Rob Olmstead writes about the Civic Federation’s report in this morning’s Daily Herald and highlights perhaps the simplest - yet most foreign - suggestion to Todd Stroger and his allies in county government:
“We urge the administration to withdraw its spending proposal and, instead, fund the obligations … from current receipts. This may well necessitate spending or personnel reductions, or both.”
Well said. Then again, it’s a simple idea that, if followed by both county and state government, would completely turn around our economy and put us back on the road to reform and prosperity.
But “spending and personnel reductions”? The insiders will fight it tooth and nail…
Civic Federation Blasts Stroger Budget
The criticisms keep rolling in for the latest Stroger budget. This time, it’s from the Civil Federation, who released a report this week blasting the proposed budget, which calls for massive borrowing:
Calling the proposed FY2009 Cook County budget an exceptionally bad deal for taxpayers during extraordinarily difficult economic times, the Civic Federation’s analysis of the spending plan calls on the Board of Commissioners to reject plans to borrow any funds for County operations. The Federation opposes the $2.9 billion budget as the result of an extraordinary and irresponsible failure of County government to consider the long-term implications of its fiscal actions.
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