carolinablue232
Player Valuation: £70m
I already referenced Kansas as another failure. Read the last paragraph.
Current Affairs Donald Trump POS: Judgement cometh and that right soon
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All I can figure, which I think LL already said, is that in this day everything will eventually be made public, so get it out in the open. That works in the business world--get the info on the table and cut a deal--and maybe he thinks it parlays in politics and his legal responsibilities.
And surely (right?) he's acting on consent from his legal counsel.
But no, this doesn't look good at all, although it's really what most people have presumed for the last 6 or so months.
This is really really "Stupid Watergate"...
abelard
Player Valuation: £35m
A lot of states in the US are terribly managed - New York State, where I used to live, is solidly Democrat, and a disaster at the state level. But imposing a strictly partisan filter on the problem obscures more than it illuminates - the problems are often deep-rooted and far more complex than just "red legs bad blue legs good" or vice versa.
I suspect in Illinois, apart from a general nationwide decline in manufacturing (which is why most Midwestern states aren't growing either), people are leaving at least as much because of the terrible quality of public services than because of the tax rate (admittedly among the nation's highest). Most people are happy to pay higher taxes - California, New Jersey, Connecticut - in exchange for good schools, hospitals etc.
Anyhow, I think the real culprit in Illinois and other states is that public engagement at the state level is usually deplorably low, which means private interests - be they Koch brothers or unions - tend to hold sway, hence the simultaneous assault on public services, and lavish pensions, in Springfield.
I suspect in Illinois, apart from a general nationwide decline in manufacturing (which is why most Midwestern states aren't growing either), people are leaving at least as much because of the terrible quality of public services than because of the tax rate (admittedly among the nation's highest). Most people are happy to pay higher taxes - California, New Jersey, Connecticut - in exchange for good schools, hospitals etc.
Anyhow, I think the real culprit in Illinois and other states is that public engagement at the state level is usually deplorably low, which means private interests - be they Koch brothers or unions - tend to hold sway, hence the simultaneous assault on public services, and lavish pensions, in Springfield.
Pretty sure this comes from Kushner's amended security clearance reports and they are leaking to get out ahead of the press. Not really helping much, it seems. On Pence - 6 months into this Administration he has formed his own Political Action Committee. Wonder why that is?
carolinablue232
Player Valuation: £70m
Good post. My initial argument was simply to say that Democratic policies also aren't the clear answer as promising entitlements gets you in trouble as well. One question I'd ask is why you think the public services in Illinois are so poor? At this point, the state literally can't afford to support public services because of how poorly the finances have been managed.
Everyone in Congress is going to be in a real happy mood at sweltering in DC and missing their annual vacations.
mmmmsnouts
Player Valuation: £40m
What an absolute piece of garbage. How many of these people knew what was happening with Russia? Bet they're going to try and ram a bunch of stuff through before we all find out that they did.
abelard
Player Valuation: £35m
Your post was interesting too. I think State-level politics are really important, and chronically overlooked, by the public at large (in part because so many districts have been gerrymandered beyond competitiveness), but especially, by the Democrats and the left. The people who fund Republicans have been far more calculating and sophisticated at this level for some time. And the fact that regional newspapers everywhere are failing and unable to cover this in sufficient detail only exacerbates things.
I don't really know enough about Illinois to answer your question, but I think you're right that it's probably pension expenses. I just poked around on Google, but apparently Illinois spends more on teacher pensions than higher education as a whole - and, in turn, state universities there have acquired a disastrous reputation as of late (which is one area I do know something about). I think part of the problem is that many of these pension funds were based on the assumption of approx. 8% annual growth, which is pretty unrealistic anywhere post-2008, and also that the annual funding contributions haven't been met for years on end, which makes it increasingly difficult to meet the overall commitments. Penny-wise, pound foolish, in other words. One of the consequences is that newly minted teachers and state employees have had their benefits slashed, which means they are unlikely to ever recoup anywhere near the value of what they have to contribute. I'm in over my head here, but suffice it to say, I think the problem far transcends partisan blame games.
Edit: Some of those links are agenda-driven, but I don't have time to really get into it more just now
Going to be huge pressure to pass some kind of healthcare reform, or even just a repeal bill on its own.
Sounds like a window salesman describing double glazing.
Anyone got the feeling there is more to come?
Pence distancing himslef from Trump...lol
mmmmsnouts
Player Valuation: £40m
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