Illinois’ credit rating downgraded; state drops to worst in the nation (Chicago: 2014, how much)

[wargamer6]

A warning came Saturday morning from state treasurer Dan Rutherford (R) IL State Treasurer. The Standard and Poor’s downgrade from A to A-minus puts Illinois last on the list– and means a higher cost to borrow money.
On Wednesday, the state will issue $500 million in new bonds to pay for roads and other transportation projects. Rutherford says the credit downgrade will cost taxpayers an additional $95 million in interest,
When compared to a perfect triple-a bond rating enjoyed by other11 states including neighboring Indiana, Iowa and Missouri.
“Our problem in Illinois is that we have not substantively and fairly addressed the state public pension issue.”
Rutherford points to Governor Quinn and the democratically controlled general assembly for making matters worse in the last two years– raising taxes but not acting on pension reform.

Read more: Illinois’ credit rating downgraded; state drops to worst in the nation | WGN-TV

But I thought Quinn's tax hike was supposed to fix all this..

Time to boot these fools out in 2014.

[linicx]

Stuff happens. Since Cook County tends to cause these problems you should look to it for the solution. One can whine and blame the union, but you know what? The state agreed to it. Nearly 2/3 of the state population lives in Cook County, and continues to do the same thing while it expects a different outcome.

Four governors from Cook County went to federal prison. The largest majority of legislators in Springfield are from Cook County. Cook County tax revenue is down too, as is the rest of the state. Springfield should not expect 1/3 of the state to bail out 2/3 of the state while it continues to give away millions in pork barrel projects.

Illinois has a wide range of revenue sources being collected while the books continue to be cooked. The first thing we need is an independent forensic audit. WE really don't know who owes what to whom or why. And no annual COL for them while we are in this mess.

Starving poor children to death is NOT the answer. Slashing legislative salaries, future retirement pensions, health benefits, and perks, is a good place to start.

[Maintainschaos]

I think Illinois and California have the same credit rating now.

[sandwalk]

When ever I earned an A- I was pretty happy! ha!

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by wargamer6

Read more: Illinois’ credit rating downgraded; state drops to worst in the nation | WGN-TV

But I thought Quinn's tax hike was supposed to fix all this..

Time to boot these fools out in 2014.

YES!! The Dems are corrupt and incompetent and the Repub's are dysfunctional. And we all pay for it. But c'mon, after almost 10 years of Dem leadership and things getting exponentially worse the lemmings, er-I mean voters-keep re-electing the same tools over and over again
Good luck keeping us all here when our jobs no longer bind us to this area

[linicx]

It makes no difference who Chicago sends to Springfield. They all have the same problem. [1] They don't want to be in Springfield. [2]They want to spend as much time in Chicago as possible.[3] More importantly, NO ONE can fix the mess until we get an independent forensic audit and learn exactly how much monies collected for each source actually reach Springfield, and exactly who the creditors are. Whining about pensions years after the fact is not my problem; I didn't vote for it nor agree to it. .

[nightlysparrow]

Originally Posted by Maintainschaos

I think Illinois and California have the same credit rating now.

Nope. CA just got upgraded:

S&P upgrades California's credit rating - Sacramento Business Journal

[Maintainschaos]

Originally Posted by nightlysparrow

Nope. CA just got upgraded:

S&P upgrades California's credit rating - Sacramento Business Journal

Some of CA's bonds are still only rated A- (up from BBB+), and at the time that I made that post, they had the same rating.

[chicagobear]

Originally Posted by linicx

Four governors from Cook County went to federal prison.

Isn't Ryan from Kankakee County?

[Golden Camel]

Originally Posted by chicagobear

Isn't Ryan from Kankakee County?

And I believe Governor Dan Walker lived in Deerfield, which is in Lake County, at the time of his election.

It's strange to lump him in with the Cook County Democratic machine since he was a blood enemy of the late Mayor Daley and ran on an anti-machine platform.