Is This Man In Touch With Reality At All?

I usually very seldom dive into political issues in this blog, but I have really had it with the Governor of our State, Rod Blogojevich. Illinois has historically been known as a State full of corrupt politicians, and this guy is carrying on the tradition quite nicely. I was some-what stunned that he was re-elected this past fall... but then again, I was not, because that's the way things go in Illinois. Think I'm nuts? Ask yourself, how many other states can boast that the immediate predecessor to the current Governor has been sentenced to prison? (By the way, he still has not gone to prison, and if I were a betting man, I would say that Ryan will die before the appeals are exhausted. Nope, he will never go behind bars.) Another side note, if memory serves me correctly, Illinois can boast of three former Governors being convicted of crimes within the past 50 years alone. If justice is done, the current sitting Governor will be number four, when his tenure is completed.

Blagojevich, for those of you who do not know, raided the State Retirement Fund (mostly the Teachers Retirement fund) to try to float the State budget. In 2005 and 2006, a total of 2.3 Billion dollars were diverted from the retirement funds, and over a ten year period, a total of 4.8 Billion is scheduled to be diverted. This is known by us common folk as robbing Peter to pay Paul. Where is the money going to come from to pay these folks who will be retiring? Rowdy Rod does not care, because by that time he will be out of office having set his sights on the Oval Office. A lessor known fact is that while he has raided the Teachers Retirement fund, the Chicago Teachers have a separate retirement fund, to which the State has contributed $75 million which keeps that system completely funded. Do you see the picture? Chicago teachers have a full retirement fund, while the teachers of the rest of the state are in serious trouble. The latest figures I could find are that while the State owes 97.2 Billion in retirement/pension liabilities to "non-Chicago" teachers, they only have $58.6 Billion in assets. Can you smell trouble? This guy is leading Illinois down a slope that we most likely will not be able to scale again.

Now Blagojevich is running around the State touting his health care plan that would guarantee health care to the "less fortunate."
Hey, sounds great, but we are broke Rod! Where do you propose the money come from to fund this?
Well, he wants to increase the State Income tax for beginners. Then he wants to add a "Gross Receipts Tax" to all business that gross over $2 Million in receipts. You know that sounds great, but it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that if this happens, these businesses will close up shop and head for the boarder! Do you really think any large corporations would consider bringing their business to Illinois when faced with this extra tax when they can go to any one of the bordering States or, dare I say it, Mexico?
Rod.... take your head out of the bucket and get a clue. Illinois is looking a whole lot like the Titanic, and you are trying to fix her with a blow torch, making the hole bigger and bigger.

Folks... we are in serious trouble.