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The Disaster which is Illinois

calamity

calamity

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Pretty good article here dissecting the current situation. I guess, you could say this is what happens when Democrats run amok.

https://www.gty.org/library/questions/QA138/what-is-biblical-discernment-and-why-is-it-important

Illinois is on the verge of becoming America's first state with a junk credit rating. The financial mess is the inevitable result of spending more on pensions and services than the state could afford -- then covering it up with reckless budget tricks.

After decades of historic mismanagement, Illinois is now grappling with $15 billion of unpaid bills and an unthinkable quarter-trillion dollars owed to public employees when they retire.
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Whoops
 
In fairness, all politicians promise something for nothin' in order to get elected. Nobody says pay as you go, unless it's directed at what the other side wants to fund. It's why we're in such debt, both national and local.
 
Illinois Governor Out to Smash Bankrupt 'Blue Model'
George Will, Boston Herald

[FONT=&quot]. . . In 2018, Rauner will try to enlist voters in the constructive demolition of the “blue model.” It is based on Madigan’s docile herd of incumbent legislators, who are entrenched by campaign funds from government unions. Through them government, sitting on both sides of the table, negotiates with itself to expand itself. Term limits for legislators, which a large majority of Illinoisans favor, would dismantle the wall.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A 60 percent supermajority of the legislature is required for such a constitutional reform. So, next year voters will be urged to oppose any legislature candidate who will not pledge to vote to put term limits on the ballot. And all candidates will be asked how often they have voted for Madigan for speaker — he has a 26 percent approval rating — and to pledge not to sin again.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]“I love a fight,” says an ebullient Rauner, whose rhetoric cannot get much more pugnacious. He calls Madigan “the worst elected official in the country” and Madigan’s machine “evil.” The nation has a huge stake in this brawl because the “blue model” is bankrupting cities and states from Connecticut to California, so its demolition here, where it has done the most damage, would be a wondrous story enhancing the nation’s glory.[/FONT]
 
Hawkeye10 said:
As a Rockford native let me correct the record.....this is what happens when partisans refuse to work together for the greater good over a long period of time.
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Rockford is a great example of what happens when industry decides it doesn't need your town anymore.
 
calamity said:
Rockford is a great example of what happens when industry decides it doesn't need your town anymore.
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Rockford was in big trouble before the mass export of its jobs in the 80's, so much so that in 1974-75 under new Mayor Mcgaw a lot of us were wearing giant "ROCKY PRIDE!" buttons. We just could never get over the loss of the Elm Trees. Then there were the massive strikes of the 70's too.
 
calamity said:
Rockford is a great example of what happens when industry decides it doesn't need your town anymore.
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Hawkeye10 said:
Rockford was in big trouble before the mass export of its jobs in the 80's, so much so that in 1974-75 under new Mayor Mcgaw a lot of us were wearing giant "ROCKY PRIDE!" buttons. We just could never get over the loss of the Elm Trees. Then there were the massive strikes of the 70's too.
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When I was a boy (1950's-60's) my parents had good friends who lived in Rockford. They had a big house on a tree-lined boulevard. Coming from my small southern Indiana town, I remember being impressed when we visited.
 
Jack Hays said:
When I was a boy (1950's-60's) my parents had good friends who lived in Rockford. They had a big house on a tree-lined boulevard. Coming from my small southern Indiana town, I remember being impressed when we visited.
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I just missed them, moving there as a baby in 1963, but I remember well how much mourning there was over their loss still in the late 60's, and we know what was going on in the world then too, and the early 70's too, spiritually it was as if someone stepped on Rockfords throat and would not get off, this conservative mid-West town/city could not catch a break....the news was always bad.

Then things got worse.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
I just missed them, moving there as a baby in 1963, but I remember well how much mourning there was over their loss still in the late 60's, and we know what was going on in the world then too, and the early 70's too, spiritually it was as if someone stepped on Rockfords throat and would not get off, this conservative mid-West town/city could not catch a break....the news was always bad.

Then things got worse.
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I can't recall the name of the street. Does "Colorado Avenue" ring a bell?
 
Jack Hays said:
I can't recall the name of the street. Does "Colorado Avenue" ring a bell?
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Sure, I lived a bunch of years on Kentucky just around the corner, when my brother Andrew was born I stayed for a day and half with a family on Colorado, it was the first time I ever remember seeing a dishwasher, I was impressed.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
Sure, I lived a bunch of years on Kentucky just around the corner, when my brother Andrew was born I stayed for a day and half with a family on Colorado, it was the first time I ever remember seeing a dishwasher, I was impressed.
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Boulevard? Two-story houses?
 
Hawkeye10 said:
Sure, I lived a bunch of years on Kentucky just around the corner, when my brother Andrew was born I stayed for a day and half with a family on Colorado, it was the first time I ever remember seeing a dishwasher, I was impressed.
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Greetings, Hawkeye10. :2wave:

The place that most impressed me when visiting on a trip as a child was staying at a house owned by friends of my parents in Richmond, Virginia that had an original cannonball on the floor that had gone through the wall of their home during the Civil War! The local Historical Society had put them on a list of historical sites, and I was a duly impressed youngster that my parents knew such famous people - the cannonball was just additional icing on the cake! :lamo The other thing about that trip was how very hot it was - living in NE Ohio I had never seen streets that bubbled from the heat before, and us kids were warned not to go near the street! :wow: I still remember that particular vacation trip out of all the places they took us over the years.....
 
Jack Hays said:
When I was a boy (1950's-60's) my parents had good friends who lived in Rockford. They had a big house on a tree-lined boulevard. Coming from my small southern Indiana town, I remember being impressed when we visited.
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It was the machine tool capital of the US until the 80's. IIRC, they were also known for screw machines and furniture. Those days are long gone, of course.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
Rockford was in big trouble before the mass export of its jobs in the 80's, so much so that in 1974-75 under new Mayor Mcgaw a lot of us were wearing giant "ROCKY PRIDE!" buttons. We just could never get over the loss of the Elm Trees. Then there were the massive strikes of the 70's too.
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Resurgence now is as a bedroom community for Chicago's booming far NW suburbs.
 
calamity said:
It was the machine tool capital of the US until the 80's. IIRC, they were also known for screw machines and furniture. Those days are long gone, of course.
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IIRC the male half of the friend couple was an executive with US Steel.
 
calamity said:
That's, of course. the West Side. East side is a medical and aviation industry paradise. Good pay, low cost of living.
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No kidding, I figured out a few years ago that our place on Kentucky was worth dollar for dollar about a third of what my dad paid for it in 1965.
 
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