The Joke that is the Illinois Republican Party

Here’s a simple question — how can so many people on our side fail to make use of so much information? And to top everything off, our Republican governor has all the money that’s needed to get facts like these to the Illinois public. So why don’t they? No imagination and not enough skill? We won’t get this state on the right path until Illinois conservatives and Republicans learn how to fight and win the information war.

Note these recent articles from the Illinois Policy Institute:

Illinois AFSCME Workers Receive, on Average, Nearly $110,000 in Total Compensation
The highest state worker salaries in the nation, overtime pay, generous state pensions, taxpayer-subsidized health care coverage and free retiree health insurance for career workers combine to give the average Illinois AFSCME worker six-figure annual compensation.

Illinois Supreme Court’s Denial of Quicker AFSCME Appeal Means Taxpayers Still on the Hook for Millions Each Month
AFSCME obstructed progress for months on a new contract for state workers. Whether AFSCME and the state are at impasse in negotiations now sits with the Illinois courts – and the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision not to take a direct appeal of the case means taxpayers must continue to pay an additional $35 million to $40 million each month in health care costs alone.

Illinois Revenue Free Fall: Fiscal Year-to Date -8.1 Percent and Worsening
Illinois’ revenues are falling each month of this fiscal year, and it will be difficult to change course.

Moody’s Warning of an “Inflection Point” in Illinois Signals Need for Spending Reforms
Illinois lawmakers should heed Moody’s Investors Service’s warnings about the state’s precarious economic health and dire fiscal situation and enact major structural spending reforms to balance the budget.

Unpaid sick leave spikes Illinois teachers’ pension benefits
Pension costs for state government workers reached an all-time high in 2016, consuming 25 percent of the state’s general budget.

Why are Illinois Democrats Preparing to Bail Out Bankers and Cash-Strapped Local Governments
Bailout bills moving in the Illinois General Assembly would attempt to turn Illinois’ massive debt problems into guaranteed profits for banks and bondholders and a lower standard of living for other Illinoisans.

Making Sense of the Economics of Illinois
The Land of Lincoln has economic potential growing from its farmlands and churning from its factories, in its suburban corporate headquarters and downtown tech start-ups. But the state’s economic engine is choking on a host of tax and economic policies that squash job opportunities.