Illinois' Budget Crisis

[mamajoan]

If the lakers hadn't of paid for the parade I am sure Jack would have.
And as far as budget cuts go here in CA they xan start by slashing the teachers pay in LA county where they can only manage to graduate 39 percent of their students. I listen to John and Ken as often as possible and the taxes, spending and government in our state are just insane. And sometimes all the money and funding in the world is NOT the answer. The teachers in LAUSD make great money, the per pupil spending is higher then my sons private school and the buildings in most cases are newer and niceer, yet the successs rate quite frankly sucks. Tenure rules and the students and the taxpayers are all losers.

And I know we aren't supposed to get political but it seems to me from casual observation that the more liberal the state the bigger the problems. I could be wrong about that but that is my observation.

Ummmm isn't Arnold a republican.. therefore more conservative???

My husband and I moved from CA in 2005... dh said he won't go back until The Governator leaves office. LOL.... that's ok... I will come back anytime!

I am a moderate liberal, but even I had problems with the leniency in CA welfare system. I had a middle age patient in the nursing home, he was an illegal immigrant that had gotten in a car accident. The state paid every dime of his medical care from day of injury, no questions asked. I know illegal immigration is a whole 'nother topic.. but it just amazed me that I had to struggle everyday to get PT services ok'd for many, many patients... but for this guy it was a breeze.

 

[FireDancer]

Frankly,
I think it's great.
While Illinois might not have the best record for keeping on a budget, at least cutting welfare programs the state cannot afford is a step in the right direction. It sure beats the heck out of going further into debt.

I have to agree with you. The silly libertarian that I am thinks everyone should have the choice to contribute to charities that handle food stamps, public housing, etc, it should not be mandated through tax.

With liberty comes responsibility for ones self. I am responsible to buy my own food, pay my own mortgage, clothe and feed my children. I am not responsible to do any of those for you. I may chose to do so, and would give to a charity to take care of children, but it should not be mandated by taxes.

Of course this is America and those who are pro-welfare programs have every bit of a right to be for them. I, however, just want people to take care of themselves. I know, God forbid!

 

[MoniqueU]

Arnold CALLS himself a republican. He is not one by any stretch of my imagination and if he were consercative in any way he never would of been elected. He is an out and out liar as well. Our state legislature is just 6 votes shy of a supermajority. The thought frightens me. I was frankly shocked that the voters voted against the massive tax hikes on our last ballot despite heavy support from Arnold, the Dems and the unions. I hear the trip Arnold made to DC on our last election day to suck up for a bailout was all for not and that us Californians are going to have to deal with our own problems instead of count on a bailout. GOOD. Let them make tough budget cuts. There isn't much left to milk dry from the taxpayers here anymore and it seems some are finally fed up with that mentality here as well. I think the only place in the country with a higher overall tax rate is NYC. Just swell, I think Bloomberg also calls himself a republican. I guess that definition is pretty wide nowadays.

 

[mamajoan]

Yes firedancer... it would be nice if everyone could care for themselves. I agree that adults who can should.. no question.

However, please tell me what should be done with those who can not care for themselves? Really, I would like to know the possibilities.
I realize in the good old days people cared for the elder and disabled members of their families. Again, I certainly agree that, if possible, families need to step up.

 

[FireDancer]

Yes firedancer... it would be nice if everyone could care for themselves. I agree that adults who can should.. no question.

However, please tell me what should be done with those who can not care for themselves? Really, I would like to know the possibilities.
I realize in the good old days people cared for the elder and disabled members of their families. Again, I certainly agree that, if possible, families need to step up.

I'm not anti charity. I am actually very pro-charity. I give to many and volunteer for some (notice the Relay for Life link in my signature). What I am against is making those things that should be charity into social programs and then mandating donating to them through taxes. If we had more of the money we earned we would be able to chose the causes we want to support and give. We would have more money to spend which would get more money into the economy which would create jobs that would make more people self reliable.

Generally speaking people do step up. There will be those that take the extra income and just spend it which, while not very neighborly, is also their right.

I also suspect that cutting the bureaucracy that comes with government out of the social programs will help the people that need the help. I don't have the data but am smart enough to deduce that the actual money that makes it down to the target recipients would also be much higher if it goes through private charity than it does our over-bloated government, whether it be at the state or federal level. This, however, is a much more complicated issue than a 3 paragraph post on a Disney message board.

 

[SeedsLuvDisney]

Cut these tax funded programs and give more tax incentives for people that make contributions to charities, that way those that feel they should help others can give until their heart is content.

 

[daughtersrus]

I'm not anti charity. I am actually very pro-charity. I give to many and volunteer for some (notice the Relay for Life link in my signature). What I am against is making those things that should be charity into social programs and then mandating donating to them through taxes. If we had more of the money we earned we would be able to chose the causes we want to support and give. We would have more money to spend which would get more money into the economy which would create jobs that would make more people self reliable.

Generally speaking people do step up. There will be those that take the extra income and just spend it which, while not very neighborly, is also their right.

I also suspect that cutting the bureaucracy that comes with government out of the social programs will help the people that need the help. I don't have the data but am smart enough to deduce that the actual money that makes it down to the target recipients would also be much higher if it goes through private charity than it does our over-bloated government, whether it be at the state or federal level. This, however, is a much more complicated issue than a 3 paragraph post on a Disney message board.

In theory, it sound like it may work in some cases. What if it doesn't? For example, where are the foster children going to go? Who is going to take care of them? I don't have the data either but a recent study showed that the poor give a great percent of the income to charity so one can not assume that donations to charities would be enough to provide basic needs to those that can not provide it for themselves.

Keep in mind that while we're cutting services that provide basic human needs for the most vulnerable in our state, we're using tax money to fund pet projects for the politicians.

 

[daughtersrus]

False, its around 75%-80% for most....

I don't know what the percent is but Drew Peterson is collecting $72,000+ a year since he retired after his wife Stacy disappeared. Even if convicted of the murder of Kathleen, he will continue to receive this pension unless the crimes can be tied directly to his job as a police officer.

 

[SaraJayne]

My sister runs an agency in ILL that deals with mentally disabled adults. They make sure these adults have support systems in place, make sure they are taking their meds, having their needs met, etc.

With the possible cuts, all these people will be out on the street, with no money, no jobs, off their meds and no support systems. Now that sounds like the ideal solution, doesn't it?

She is stressed to the max, because she may have to lay off 40% of her workers.

The ILL gov needs to get their crap together and find things that truly need to be cut, NOT the social services.

 

[daughtersrus]

Maybe we should put an end to the practice of inflating government employee salaries the last few years before they retire. This is a common practice for many school districts. They will pay their administrators a more than reasonable salary and then jack up that salary the last 5 years. Then when the employee retires, the taxpayers are left paying huge pensions for the rest of the lives of these employees because the retirement is based on the high salary.

 

[Carly_Roach]

Move to Michigan and I can guarantee your perspective of "needs" will change dramatically. For instance:

Every single citizen needs police and fire departments, critical infrastructure (roads, bridges) and the like. Not everyone needs Head Start, Pre-Kindergarten, social services for the mentally handicapped, etc. It's as simple and as black and white as that for us.

Last night I watched a young kindergarten teacher, fresh out of school, whining about how we're doing bad things for our future by cutting the pre-school programs. If these children don't get proper pre-school education, they'll be behind in kindergarten. If they're behind in kindergarten, they'll be behind in first grade. Her implication was that they'll be behind for the rest of their educational life because they didn't get pre-school education.

My first thought was: these children will be dead or in a foster home by the time they're seven if they don't get food, clothing and shelter; a daily reality for over 14% of the state right now.

We don't have the money to pay for these services because our income tax revenue has been in decline since 2000. No jobs (or lower paying jobs) means no income taxes (or less income taxes) for the state. The cuts our government are having to make are bloody, brutal and are forcing all of us to really examine what's important in life: food, clothing and shelter.

I do have some empathy toward the folks who are going through this now. I'm sure it's a shock to them as it was a shock to us eight to ten years ago. But the good news it is that you learn what you really need and what you really don't need and you grow stronger from that.

Best of luck to our neighbors in Illinois.

 

[wall*e2008]

Yes firedancer... it would be nice if everyone could care for themselves. I agree that adults who can should.. no question.

However, please tell me what should be done with those who can not care for themselves? Really, I would like to know the possibilities.
I realize in the good old days people cared for the elder and disabled members of their families. Again, I certainly agree that, if possible, families need to step up.

I see the government as the last resort not the first resort. I am also a huge proponent of charities. The less levels of buracracy the more efficient the system in using the money and helping the needy.

For the ones who really cannot care for themselves and have no family to help then the government should step in. On should not be born on the dole and then stay on the dole until they die unless they are born with a disablilty that prevents them from entering society. As far as the elderly, we need to change the mentality that the government will take care of you with SS and Medicare when you are old. One needs to save for retirement and use that money, not leave it to the children, before the government steps in.

Sadly many in the US see the government as the first resort not the last. This true at all levels of government.

 

[daughtersrus]

My first thought was: these children will be dead or in a foster home by the he cuts our government are having to make are bloody, brutal and are forcing all of us to really examine what's important in life: food, clothing and shelter.

.

These are the cuts that IL is purposing. When they cut the money to the social service agencies that provide funding for foster care, food, clothing, shelter... where are these people/children going to live? What are they going to eat? Who is going to feed them? We're talking about people that can not do these things for themselves.

 

[Nik's Mom]

[/QUOTE

The Lakers parade was paid for by the Lakers orginazation & private donations, thank you kindly!!!

Yes, but only after people found out that the city would be paying $1million in the face of huge budget cuts. Then Viaragosa started pleading for donations.

 

[Carly_Roach]

These are the cuts that IL is purposing. When they cut the money to the social service agencies that provide funding for foster care, food, clothing, shelter... where are these people/children going to live? What are they going to eat? Who is going to feed them? We're talking about people that can not do these things for themselves.

Ours are living in shelters, in churches, in parking garages. The lucky ones who have cars are living in their cars.

 

[daughtersrus]

I see the government as the last resort not the first resort. I am also a huge proponent of charities. The less levels of buracracy the more efficient the system in using the money and helping the needy.

For the ones who really cannot care for themselves and have no family to help then the government should step in. On should not be born on the dole and then stay on the dole until they die unless they are born with a disablilty that prevents them from entering society. As far as the elderly, we need to change the mentality that the government will take care of you with SS and Medicare when you are old. One needs to save for retirement and use that money, not leave it to the children, before the government steps in.

Sadly many in the US see the government as the first resort not the last. This true at all levels of government.

I don't think that you answered the question that was in bold type. However, please tell me what should be done with those who can not care for themselves

Charities are not the answer because they rely on a lot of grant money and that will no longer be available. As it is now, they turn down people in need on a daily basis.

There are currently over 17,000 people on the PUNS (waiting list) in IL, 12,000+ of which are listed as being an Emergency or Critical but yet they are getting no help at all. Keep in mind that these are only the people that have registered for PUNS and does not include any of the the other social service needs out there or those that are disabled but are not even aware of the PUNS database.

IL ranks 51 out of 50 states in providing services to the disabled so we can't fall any further.

 

[daughtersrus]

Ours are living in shelters, in churches, in parking garages. The lucky ones who have cars are living in their cars.

You have foster care children living in shelters, churches, garages, cars? Who is caring for them? What about the disabled that can't even feed themselves? Where are they living? How are they eating?

IL is talking about cutting programs to these groups of people as well. Not just Headstart and childcare but to cut programs to those that are completely dependent on others to provide their basic human needs.

 

[SeedsLuvDisney]

I don't know what the percent is but Drew Peterson is collecting $72,000+ a year since he retired after his wife Stacy disappeared. Even if convicted of the murder of Kathleen, he will continue to receive this pension unless the crimes can be tied directly to his job as a police officer.

He earned that pension regardless of what kind of slimeball he is, not sure why he was brought into this thread.. Hopefully that money will go to his children who will not have a mother or basically a father..

I do agree with whoever said something needs to be done about districts jacking up teacher salaries the last 5 years.. Perhaps base the pension on 100% of a persons highest 20 years instead of 75% of the highest 5?

 

[wall*e2008]

I don't think that you answered the question that was in bold type. However, please tell me what should be done with those who can not care for themselves

Charities are not the answer because they rely on a lot of grant money and that will no longer be available. As it is now, they turn down people in need on a daily basis.

There are currently over 17,000 people on the PUNS (waiting list) in IL, 12,000+ of which are listed as being an Emergency or Critical but yet they are getting no help at all. Keep in mind that these are only the people that have registered for PUNS and does not include any of the the other social service needs out there or those that are disabled but are not even aware of the PUNS database.

IL ranks 51 out of 50 states in providing services to the disabled so we can't fall any further.

"For the ones who really cannot care for themselves and have no family to help then the government should step in. "

 

[mamajoan]

just wanted to say that I think everyone who has posted to this thread is doing a very good job at expressing their opinions without being nasty, rude or coarse. I value others opinions and views, for me it is a way to learn the other side.....
The subject matter is intense and volatile. To me the best thing about living in the USA... (and on the DIS) is that people can express their opinions....


Pat on the Back for everybody!!