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Voice of The Southern:
Deficits and elections: Accept no pat answers

We have solved the state's budget crisis. Given the state's estimated deficit is about $12 billion and its annual payroll is about $3 billion, the answer is clear.

For four years, we abolish state government and lay off every state employee. It's simple: $3 billion saved times four years equals $12 billion. Voila.

It's actually absurd on its face, yet we continue to hear campaign rhetoric that Illinois needs no new or increased taxes, that line-by-line analysis and reductions (cutting the fat from government) or that stimulating the private sector will dig us from this pit our leaders have spent years digging.

And let's not forget the state and nation are on a predicted long, slow path of recovery from what's been dubbed "The Great Recession."

For too long, Illinois officials have created programs and handed out money with largess, put today's bills off until tomorrow and knowingly underfunded pension obligations. It's been nothing less than a shell game, with both parties complicit. Not to gloss over the incompetence of Democrat Rod Blagojevich's administration, but do you remember which governor last maneuvered a large-scale public works bill?

Before the Pat Quinn administration, which used a plan largely forged by former congressmen Dennis Hastert and Glenn Poshard - a northern Illinois Republican and a Southern Illinois Democrat - that would have been George Ryan, a Republican from Kankakee and now an inmate of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

Yet even the sensible, transparent Hastert/Poshard effort nearly perished in the rancid atmosphere of the state Capitol.

Now, with the Feb. 2 primary bearing down, we are greeted by twin joys: Comptroller Dan Hynes and Gov. Pat Quinn slinging mud at each other, and a passel of Republican gubernatorial candidates who reassure us it's all about fat-trimming and economy-boosting.

Quinn and Hynes have plans involving income tax hikes. They argue over whose tax plan is better. Quinn advocates a plan he admits asks for a 50 percent increase, but he adds it can't be accurately described without taking into account protection (tax credits) for families earning $60,000 a year or less. Hynes, meanwhile, holds to a tax-the-rich tack, saying his plan would only put the hurt on people making $200,000 or more.

And for the GOP, as political commentator Mike Lawrence put it not long ago in these pages, "Republicans vow to erase a deficit expected to reach nearly $12 billion next year simply by stimulating employment in the private sector and downsizing state government - a proposed remedy that may entice voters but affronts reality."

Well, like Lawrence, we're not sold on either strategy. Bottom line: We can neither solely tax nor cut ourselves away from a deficit of about $12 billion.

Illinois is going to have to make more (that's new revenue sources, also known as taxes) and spend less.

No given plan must last forever. Sunset clauses can be put on new or increased taxes; spending can be adjusted.

The simple truth is, if we Illinoisans want jobs and want our state to be seen as attractive to new business, then we need discipline from our elected leaders.

The best advice we can give for the coming statewide elections: Accept no pat answers, demand a real plan ... and be prepared to sacrifice.