quote:

Meanwhile, on Monday Fitch called the weekend developments “concrete progress,” noting that it appears the legislature may have enough votes to override Rauner’s planned veto of the tax hike. S&P called the actions a “meaningful step.”

Really? These rubes at S&P are apparently the ones who also found the mortgage pools of the early 2000's "meaningful" if they think passing this budget changes anything. At this point, Illinois is toast regardless their bond rating.

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
The biggest single problem in IL: Mike Madigan.

llinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, at the state Capitol in Springfield, Ill. on July 2, 2017.

Rauner: Tax hike 'a 2-by-4 across the forehead'

Gov. Bruce Rauner on Wednesday compared the state income tax hike he vetoed to "a two-by-four across the forehead," shortly after House Speaker Michael Madigan announced plans for a vote to try to override him Thursday.

Rauner called the tax hike "booby-trapped" and implored lawmakers not to override him without approving some of the measures he has sought, like a property tax freeze.

"This isn't just a slap in the face to Illinoisans, this is a two-by-four across the forehead," the governor said during an appearance at a tavern in Chicago's Hegewisch neighborhood.

Madigan said Wednesday that he has scheduled a vote to override Rauner's veto of a major tax hike and spending plan.

Madigan, the Republican governor's chief nemesis in a budget battle that has consumed state government for more than two years, said he expected the package of bills to eventually become law.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/...-20170705-story.html

This is about flexing his muscle to show the governor he's boss. If Madigan was looking out for the people, he would be working with Rauner and helping to put forth Rauner's common sense solutions to this budget mess.

Yep, he is the smug asshole that has Illinois circling the bowl. If people only knew even a little what he is really about............

quote:

Originally posted by grumpy1:
Yep, he is the smug asshole that has Illinois circling the bowl. If people only knew even a little what he is really about............

But his friends are getting paid...

Terrible News For Illinois: Moody's Puts State On Review For Downgrade To Junk Despite Budget

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/...-junk-despite-budget

The passage of Illinois' budget, which is scheduled for tomorrow despite the veto of Gov. Rauner which was duly overriden on July 4, was supposed to be critical catalyst that saved the state from a downgrade to junk status by the rating agencies, a first in US history. Unfortunately, moments ago Moody's said that the passage of the budget may have been too little too late, and moments ago the rating agency said that it had place the rating of Illinois’s Baa3 general obligation under review for possible downgrade, citing the state’s failure to fully enact timely budget for fiscal year that began July, and its failure to achieve broad political consensus on how to move toward balanced financial operations.

A downgrade from Baa3, even by just one notch, means that Illinois would become the first US state rated junk, potentially forcing many muni bond managers to dump its bonds, and sending its costs of funding sharply higher despite a relief rally that took place today on hopes the state's day of reckoning had been pushed indefinitely into the future.

In short: the scramble to pass a budget may have been for nothing.

House overrides the veto of Gov. Rauner.
Taxes going up.... can kicked down the road.
Nothing fixed. No pension reform.

Iowahawkblog talking about Chicago today. He's a former resident - moved to Texas a few years ago.

I guess Madigan just wants to try to hang on until they bury him....then whatever happens happens.

Illinois' loss will be a gain for several states with more favorable business and tax climates.

When I lived there, it was because I had to - my occupation required me to stand in a building located in downtown Chicago at Jackson and Clark. Technology changed, and I can now do what I do from a computer anywhere in the world. I chose a state with year-round golf, no state income tax, property taxes that are half of what I would pay in Chicago and a sales tax a full 4 percentage points lower than Chicago.

Did you folks not see it, the state has $15.1 billion in unpaid bills. Any other entity managed their obligations like that would be forced into bankruptcy, and rightly so.

quote:

Originally posted by ChicagoSigMan:
I guess Madigan just wants to try to hang on until they bury him....then whatever happens happens.

Illinois' loss will be a gain for several states with more favorable business and tax climates.

When I lived there, it was because I had to - my occupation required me to stand in a building located in downtown Chicago at Jackson and Clark. Technology changed, and I can now do what I do from a computer anywhere in the world. I chose a state with year-round golf, no state income tax, property taxes that are half of what I would pay in Chicago and a sales tax a full 4 percentage points lower than Chicago.

I believe the master plan is for him to install his daughter as governor. The people are stupid enough to vote her in if his bid to install her doesn't work.

I just hope the people leaving IL don't poison their new states like people from California did to Austin, TX and Colorado.

Where did you settle to in FL?

At least we can play Mega Millions again, according to CBS Chicago.

They didn't say Illinois will pay on a win, just that we could buy tickets again.

Bleak.

quote:

Originally posted by wcb6092:
Terrible News For Illinois: Moody's Puts State On Review For Downgrade To Junk Despite Budget

I just don't get the game Moody's is playing. The budget these criminals passed changes nothing from a week ago. On the contrary, I would argue it makes a bad situation worse. Yet Moody's seems to want to play some covert game with this issue. Just downgrade Illinois' bond rating and be done with it. To do otherwise would be even more criminal than the act of passing this ridiculous budget was.

quote:

Originally posted by BamaJeepster:
Iowahawkblog talking about Chicago today. He's a former resident - moved to Texas a few years ago.

That is the truth. I live in an area that used to be high demand homes but these days it is slow and values are not anywhere near past highs. People look and then see the property taxes and are like "are you fucking kidding me" as property taxes can be as much as principle and interest while the school districts cry for more.

Since we bought our home in 1992 property value has increased only about 68 percent in 25 years while property taxes have gone up 500 percent.
In the same area the first home I bought in 1975 tripled in value in less than 20 years.

quote:

Since we bought our home in 1992 property value has increased only about 68 percent in 25 years while property taxes have gone up 500 percent.

I used to be on the local school board.
When they want to raise property taxes they always make the argument that the tax increase will increase property values because we will be "a destination" school district.

Of course, if you point to other school districts with higher property tax rates, the valuations are usually lower.

The truth is usually the exact opposite of what the Left wants you to believe.

But... as long as they get their tax increase, consequences be damned.

The sooner Madigan curls up and dies, the better. His daughter is just as bad.

THEY NEED TO GO TO JAIL FOR THIS.


I'm serious. Politicians, whether local or national, need to be sent to jail for running deficits and increasing debt. Jail.

$100 a month per 100K income going into the black hole of Illinois instead of being spent in the local economy. Business tax rate also going up up up. No need to keep businesses around I guess. What happens when too many people and businesses leave, raise taxes again of course. The saddest part is this is not even the day of reckoning for the State. I am hoping I am gone before they are FORCED to pay all their obligations. Those that are left will surely get a good whack upside the head when that happens. God damn this State sucks.

quote:

I just don't get the game Moody's is playing. The budget these criminals passed changes nothing from a week ago. On the contrary, I would argue it makes a bad situation worse. Yet Moody's seems to want to play some covert game with this issue.

Why Illinois budget Armageddon will spread to other states

What do you get when even the perceived sober truth tellers don't really tell the truth?

What do you get when political leaders refuse to lead, refuse to compromise, and refuse to see beyond the next election?

Here's what you get: the sorry state of Illinois.

Who's to blame? A lot of the same old suspects you see in a lot of states, especially the politicians and state worker unions.

But in the case of Illinois, a new villain has come onto the scene in guise of the sober, supposedly truth-telling entities known as the ratings agencies.

First off, let's look at some of the ugly details. Illinois finally did pass a budget Thursday evening, ending a two-year impasse. But the damage is still massive as the state has $15 billion in unpaid bills. It has a staggering $251 billion in unfunded pension liabilities, in a widely quoted and accepted figure according to the Illinois Policy Institute. And in what may be the most obvious public embarrassment, Illinois even suspended its participation in the the Powerball and Mega Millions lotteries because it couldn't guarantee its share of the jackpot payouts.

Enter Moody's and Standard & Poor's. Things started to change earlier this year as soon as those agencies started to say that they may make Illinois the first U.S. state with a "junk" rating on its debt. S&P even inched the state's credit rating to just one notch above junk in June.

Suddenly, things started to move. Even though new budget measures proposed by the Democrats included a whopping personal income tax rate increase of 32 percent and a corporate tax rate increase of 33 percent, the ratings agencies urged all the lawmakers to vote for the deal.

"What do you get when political leaders refuse to lead, refuse to compromise, and refuse to see beyond the next election? Here's what you get: the sorry state of Illinois. Who's to blame? A lot of the same old suspects you see in a lot of states, especially the politicians and state worker unions."

That clearly scared enough Republican legislators to cave on voting for tax increases that, on paper, would increase state revenues by $5 billion. The Illinois Senate overrode Governor Bruce Rauner's veto last week and now the House has followed suit. At least now, Illinois can start making headway on those unpaid bills and avoid further financial penalties and budget downgrades for not passing budget. That makes the ratings agencies heroes, right?

Wrong and wrong.

Let's get real. There isn't enough taxable money in Illinois to cover that pension liability. And analysis after analysis shows it's the expanded pension liabilities that are the main source of Illinois' fiscal problems. When Governor Rauner tried to reform those pensions and shrink those liabilities, the municipal unions dragged him to court time after time. And they won time after time as state judges refused to budge or find any legal way out of the state's constitutional promises to honor all pension obligations no matter how financially untenable. These retirees are asking for every penny but by not compromising they risk getting nothing at all when the state can't pay.

That was bad enough, but by endorsing tax hikes and the simple act of passing yet another "kick the can down the road" budget, Moody's and S&P are helping to perpetuate the problem instead of solving it. It's not that the ratings agencies didn't mention the pension issue, but they undermined any warnings about it by pushing for a bill that did not address that problem. Who knows what kind of positive reactions from the politicians and even the courts the ratings agencies could have induced had they been more honest and clear about the pension issues and the spending problems in general? Instead, they pushed for tax hikes as if they're an answer. They aren't.

Oh, but it gets worse. Even though the bill has been passed, Moody's says it may still make that downgrade to junk status because, of a lack of "broad bipartisan support" and the unsolved pension problems. That sure seems like Moody's is playing both sides of this game. First, it pushes for a tax hike bill, and now it reserves the right to later say it wasn't enough when reality hits Illinois anyway.

This is not the first time the ratings industry has acted as a dissembling enabler for continued out of control government spending. When S&P downgraded the U.S. federal debt in 2011, it made specific and clear statements calling on Republicans to agree to tax increases and blaming them for the problem, while only more generally mentioning the need to reform the real issues in our budget posed by the unsustainable Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security programs. In other words, if you think what happens in Illinois stays in Illinois, you're sadly mistaken.

Of course, there's plenty to blame Republicans for at the state and federal levels when it comes to spending. In general, they haven't proven to be much more fiscally responsible when they've been in power compared to the Democrats. And while he had the right idea from the beginning, Republicans like Rauner are generally useless if they who fail to win over enough political or legal support for needed reforms.

Rauner made a potent argument against the tax increase bill while standing in front of a South Side Chicago bar Thursday when he said: "Don't listen to Wall Street. Don't listen to a bunch of politicians who want power, listen to the people of Illinois." But that clear argument was too little, too late. In the end, the word of nameless, faceless, and un-elected ratings agency wonks held more sway over members of Rauner's own party than their duly elected governor.

And it's a shame really, because these companies do have that power to persuade but they've misused it time after time or simply failed to use it all. Many combinations of that misused and unused power were to blame in the housing crisis that led to the financial collapse of 2008.

But no matter how persuasive S&P and Moody's are, their ability to get tax hikes passed in Illinois or anywhere else in America amount to just a drop in the bucket compared to our massive federal and state entitlement debts. S&P and Moody's may seem like they have a clear message, but they've really just muddied the waters. This is not help, it's just another form of avoiding the hard truths.

That makes the ratings agencies part of the problem, not the solution. The people of Illinois will just be the latest folks to pay for that as they cough up more in taxes and get no significant dent in their state's debts to show for it. But as long as the voters and the politicians don't see the agencies and their off-the-mark warnings for what they really are, Illinois-level pain will come to the rest of us soon enough.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/07...ates-commentary.html

^^^And that's my point exactly. It is not S&P and Moody's job to drive public policy in Illinois or anywhere else. They are an investment rating company. Nothing more, and should confine themselves to just that. If S&P and Moody's actually functioned as they should, they should have laid out specifically the conditions that had to be addressed in the Illinois budget to avoid a bond rating adjustment. Just the 'conditions,' not a road map of how to address them (i.e. raising taxes). Then they should have stood back and let the Illinois legislature hash it out. If it met the requirements in its budget, no penalty. If it didn't, downgrade to junk.

The new budget solves nothing and actually creates a myriad of other financial problems. Moody's & S&P should be held criminally complicit when or if Illinois defaults on 'any' of their obligations.