Dear Sen. Harmon,
Watching our governor on Chris Matthews’ show last night with Gov. Rendell brought me to the conclusion that this man truly has no idea what problems this state faces. As he was yucking it up welcoming all of the out-of-state legislators (Indiana and Wisconsin) to enjoy our museums and restaurants, it crossed my mind — how would this leader have felt if all the Republicans fled the state in the middle of the night during the lame-duck session in which state income taxes were increased.
Please communicate to the governor from this constituent that we are in a mess! The state’s most recent bond issue last week had our state paying enormous juice because of our fiscal nightmare. Two weeks ago our governor had the chutzpah to tell the Illinois people that the $8 billion he wishes to raise to pay off our past debts will be a stimulative measure. The recipients of this debt are the companies and charitable organizations who have been waiting patiently for these reimbursements and have been borrowing and begging to stay afloat. The governor expects me to believe that this money, when received, will be deployed into new services and expenditures, and is therefore stimulative. Instead, what a normal person would understand is that this action will only pay back the people they have been borrowing from!
Illinois did not get into this mess overnight, nor by one party. I believe this state needed a state income tax increase as long as there were shared sacrifices by all in order to have a thriving state, and not one that is now the butt of jokes regarding its fiscal mess. Since our government won’t address the hard issues, Illinois is required to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in added interest to pay investors for our “junk” status, leading to cuts in programs for the truly needy people of our state — a matter all of us should be outraged by.
Sean O’Malley
Oak Park