Ed Rutledge for Lieutenant Governor

The budget is the 800 pound gorilla in the room. Illinois is teetering on insolvency, if it is not there already. We have an enormous current budget shortfall, and a staggeringly large amount of long-term debt and unfunded liabilities. According to the current Comptroller, “Illinois ended the year in the worst fiscal position in its history.”

Politicians from the status quo have proven to be a disaster for Illinois. They have never met a program that they didn’t like, they are always looking for ways to give jobs to friends, and they love the idea of buying votes. But they simply do not have the guts to force their constituents to pay for their generosity.

Instead, our politicians have consistently chosen to put the burden of their largesse on others. They choose to put the burden on our children, through extensive borrowing. They choose to put the burden on venders, through delayed payments. And they choose to put the burden on the union members, by stealing from their pension funds.

So now we have finally come to the cliff’s edge, and the status quo is at a loss. One of our opponents says that we must raise taxes. The other says that he will not raise taxes, but he also refuses to commit to any other solution.

This is unacceptable. The path we are on has led us to the abyss, and our career politicians want us to follow it over the edge. It is time for them to stand up and accept responsibility for the mess that they have gotten us into. But we all know that this would be too much to ask from the status quo.

Illinois is in a fiscal crisis, and doing more of the same is not the solution. Instead, we need to reassess what is meant by “vital service.” We need to readdress how truly vital services are funded and administered so that they do not become endangered by a bankrupted state. We need to dramatically cut spending, reform the state’s retirement systems, restructure how Medicaid is delivered and administered, and rethink the financial relationships among federal, state, county and municipal governments.

We cannot afford to rely on increased revenues as the solution to our financial problems. If history is any indication, a tax hike in any form will only embolden our politicians to spend still more while further encouraging the relocation of jobs and people to friendlier economic climes. No society has ever taxed its way into prosperity, and raising taxes on any Illinoisan is not the answer.

This situation needs to be fundamentally resolved, and soon. You can see the proposed Libertarian budget at http://www.electlex.com/papers/budget.php. We understand that this medicine may not taste so good, but it needs to be taken if we are serious about restoring Illinois to fiscal health.

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