Posted on 01/25/2013 7:30:41 PM PST by Libloather
SPRINGFIELD — Illinois fell to the bottom of all 50 states in the rankings of a major credit ratings agency Friday following the failure of Gov. Pat Quinn and lawmakers to fix the state’s hemorrhaging pension system during this month’s lame-duck session.
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service downgraded Illinois in what is the latest fallout over the $96.8 billion debt to five state pension systems. The New York rating firm’s ranking signaled taxpayers may pay tens of millions of dollars more in interest when the state borrows money for roads and other projects.
“It’s absolutely bad news for taxpayers,” said Dan Rutherford, the Republican state treasurer. Illinois received its bottom-of-the-pack ranking when it fell from an “A” rating to “A-minus.”
That’s the same rating as California, but California has a positive outlook.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
I guess it’s about time Illinois raised taxes through the roof again.
They haven’t done that in about a year.
While I detest Dems as much as anyone here, one has to be fair. Illinois has been screwed by Dems and Pubs alike for decades. Both parties are irretrievably corrupt in this State.
I can’t wait for it to crash.
They haven’t done that in about a year.
Actually in about an hour.s/
5% isn’t enough - even for a “temporary” tax. So what will the grafters ask for next?
Don’t draw any hasty conclusions. It is probably only a coincidence that Illinois is infested with tax and spend Democrat at every segment of government at the state, major city, and the major county level.
Rahm is just following Obama’s lead, maybe they have a bet going to see who destroy those they are responsible for first!
Democrat rule, corruption, union control, Liberal social programs. Doesn’t make for a pretty campaign advertisement. And to think that’s where our illustrious president came from.
Illinois is cursed.
PSALM 59
Warnings against Sin
59 Listen! The Lord’s arm is not too weak to save you,
nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call.
2 It’s your sins that have cut you off from God.
Because of your sins, he has turned away
and will not listen anymore.
3 Your hands are the hands of murderers,
and your fingers are filthy with sin.
Your lips are full of lies,
and your mouth spews corruption.
4 No one cares about being fair and honest.
The people’s lawsuits are based on lies.
They conceive evil deeds
and then give birth to sin.
5 They hatch deadly snakes
and weave spiders’ webs.
Whoever falls into their webs will die,
and there’s danger even in getting near them.
6 Their webs can’t be made into clothing,
and nothing they do is productive.
All their activity is filled with sin,
and violence is their trademark.
7 Their feet run to do evil,
and they rush to commit murder.
They think only about sinning.
Misery and destruction always follow them.
8 They don’t know where to find peace
or what it means to be just and good.
They have mapped out crooked roads,
and no one who follows them knows a moment’s peace.
9 So there is no justice among us,
and we know nothing about right living.
We look for light but find only darkness.
We look for bright skies but walk in gloom.
10 We grope like the blind along a wall,
feeling our way like people without eyes.
Even at brightest noontime,
we stumble as though it were dark.
Among the living,
we are like the dead.
11 We growl like hungry bears;
we moan like mournful doves.
We look for justice, but it never comes.
We look for rescue, but it is far away from us.
12 For our sins are piled up before God
and testify against us.
Yes, we know what sinners we are.
13 We know we have rebelled and have denied the Lord.
We have turned our backs on our God.
We know how unfair and oppressive we have been,
carefully planning our deceitful lies.
14 Our courts oppose the righteous,
and justice is nowhere to be found.
Truth stumbles in the streets,
and honesty has been outlawed.
15 Yes, truth is gone,
and anyone who renounces evil is attacked.
The Lord looked and was displeased
to find there was no justice.
16 He was amazed to see that no one intervened
to help the oppressed.
So he himself stepped in to save them with his strong arm,
and his justice sustained him.
17 He put on righteousness as his body armor
and placed the helmet of salvation on his head.
He clothed himself with a robe of vengeance
and wrapped himself in a cloak of divine passion.
18 He will repay his enemies for their evil deeds.
His fury will fall on his foes.
He will pay them back even to the ends of the earth.
19 In the west, people will respect the name of the Lord;
in the east, they will glorify him.
For he will come like a raging flood tide
driven by the breath of the Lord.
20 “The Redeemer will come to Jerusalem
to buy back those in Israel
who have turned from their sins,”
says the Lord.
21 “And this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit will not leave them, and neither will these words I have given you. They will be on your lips and on the lips of your children and your children’s children forever. I, the Lord, have spoken
“That’s the same rating as California, but California has a positive outlook.”
Chortle.
Illinois actually has a flat income tax provision in its otherwise dysfunctional constitution. For a long time, despite its insane sales tax, the income tax has been relatively low compared to the neighboring states. 3% until two years ago, now 5%.
It’s going to get very bad, soon. But that’s why I hold minimal property in this state. I want to flee now, but my family is too stupid to see what’s coming.
TO #9: WHo gives a good crap? Illinois got what they wanted and voted for. Let them suffer the consequences.
I’m responsible for myself, not Democrat Aholes. Let the great “uninformed” sink into perpetual poverty while their leaders live in luxury. If they are too stupid to realize what is going on, nobody can help them. We tried. You can’t do much more than that.
Did I miss anyone?
Good thing Rahm tried to strong arm the banks today over financing gun makers. I’m sure the banks will know what to do now that Illinois bonds (and Chicago bond) are looking more and more like Greek bonds.
I had to address this specific point though:
For a long time, despite its insane sales tax...
The depth of the insanity of Illinois' sales tax depends on where one lives. I live in Will County. It's 6.5% (or 6.75%, I forget.) Just across Will/Cook Road in C(r)ook county, it's 10.25% in Orland Park, IL. That's .50% higher than Downtown Chicago!
Personally I refuse to buy anything outside of Will County to minimize my sales tax expense. When and where possible, I mail-order via the Internet for everything from clothes, shoes, etc.. so basically food, medicine and gas are the only things I buy in-state. Have to make up for the 2% income tax hike that the bastards stole from us somehow!
They paid off union workers to get them to vote democrat... time to pay the piper.
“Illinois credit rating sinks to worst in nation”
The solution?
Why, raise taxes again, of course!
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