The worst run state of the United States?
Editor’s comment: We recently read the jobs pitch from the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce in their emails and on their website. Their focus is to support for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Campaign for Free Enterprise. This new national effort, called American Free Enterprise. Dream Big is a comprehensive, multiyear campaign to raise awareness among all Americans about the essential role that free enterprise plays in the success of our country. The announcement comes on the heels of the U.S. Labor Department’s announcement of unemployment exceeding 10%, a number that hasn’t been reached in over two and one-half decades. State Chamber president Doug Whitley and his team are trying to get Illinois to create 670,000 new jobs in Illinois in the next ten years. We continue to support the State Chamber and urge all of our readers to consider joining the organization that is most effective at pointing the way toward improving the climate and culture for Illinois business.
However, despite their strident efforts, we will be amazed to see new jobs come to our fair state in its present configuration. There are a number of reasons but the most glaring is Illinois is the epicenter of truly bad government. The Democratic Party that is now in control at every level appears to be trying to shoot themselves in the foot in the worst possible way. As you read this, the Chicago Sun-Times points out Mayor Richard M. Daley in Chicago is spending at least $300 million each year more than he collects in taxes—he has already sold the Chicago Skyway and the city’s parking meter income for the next 75 years to make up the difference and is looking for more assets to fire-sell. Cook County Board Chairman Todd Stroger is fighting like a wet cat to keep sales taxes for his taxpayers the highest in the country (and possibly the highest retail sales tax on the globe) and despite the painful tax bite, he is still running his government at a deficit.
Now we learn our Governor is secretly letting convicted bad guys out of prison because he is out of money and someone thinks letting crooks and felons out early is a good method to cut costs! Please understand we feel Governor Quinn is a generally honest man and has lived his life as a political reformer. We truly feel his efforts to reform Illinois politics are being hamstrung by other Democrats who will not allow him to either cut spending or raise taxes. The “borrow-spenders” in the state Democratic party feel we won’t notice a budget deficit that will be well over $10 billion dollars annually. When you consider the whole state budget is about $50-60 billion, a deficit of that size is staggering.
Guess what—every one of those government bodies have hilariously poorly run workers’ comp programs. They won’t provide workers light duty which maximizes lost time and encourages over-treating. They won’t look for vendors who are honest and will fight to save them money—WC vendors are still selected the old-fashioned way; you have to donate heavily to the right politician’s war chest to get in. These governments won’t use WC surveillance to catch malingerers—they are worried they will catch someone’s brother’s-cousin’s-uncle’s-kid and cause embarrassment. Their WC litigation levels are off the chart—the State of Illinois has over 400 total and permanent disability claimants who are collecting over $7 million a year in WC benefits. If these workers are also eligible for a state pension, there is no offset for the WC benefits; they get both and receive a lot more money on the dole than they ever made working!
Finally, we always laugh to hear this state’s WC administration is penalized regularly and routinely by this state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission!!!! Wouldn’t you think the administrators in this state would fold these two groups together so they stop the silly and embarrassing practice of having one hand slapping the other to the wild benefit of state workers and their selected lawyers?? Not so fast, not so fast, that would make way too much sense! Welcome to Illinois, folks.
Yesterday, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Associated Press reported repeat drunk drivers, drug users and felons convicted of battery and weapons violations are serving less than three weeks’ total time behind bars under a secret change in policy by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn’s prison system. They have analyzed records which show that since September more than 850 inmates have been released weeks and months earlier than they ordinarily would be. The Corrections Department is “saving money” by abandoning a policy that requires inmates to serve at least 61 days and awarding them discretionary good-conduct credit immediately upon entering prison. Following this policy, some prisoners have enough good-conduct days to qualify for release almost immediately or even before they’ve had a chance to demonstrate any conduct at all, good or bad. The inmates are kept at the Department’s prison processing centers and released after as few as 11 days. One of our readers indicated the fur will start to fly when one of these quick-releases kills someone while they should have been incarcerated.
The problem is finding viable alternatives and we are looking to the Republicans for someone who can figure out government has to live within its means, just like your household or ours. Our readers should know the statewide primary is in the first week of February 2010 or about six weeks away! At risk is just about every major job at most levels of government. We also want everyone to know a majority of the members of the Illinois Supreme Court will be running in the fall elections—it is possible Illinois voters could bring in new justices to our highest court who would not be quite so strongly concerned for the interests and generous donations of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association who aggressively represent the very strong Plaintiff bar in this state.
One other timeline to watch is the trial of our former Governor that is currently set to start on June 3, 2010. We are advised he will not cop a plea and will risk the rest of his adult life on the chance a jury might vindicate him. Therefore, we will have to watch and wait to see if this potentially lengthy and “untidy” trial will show the inner workings of a state that so badly needs reform at every level. We are hoping the next Governor, Cook County Board President and some day, the Mayor of Chicago might actually be solid administrators who can live within our means and run their governments to encourage job growth.
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