I've mocked claims that Illinois' House and Senate Republicans are somehow responsible for our current budget disaster, in language very similar to this:
What Madigan just flatly refuses to acknowledge is that Democrats could take the first major step toward fixing the state's finances all on their own. More specifically, they could bring to the floor some version of HB 174, which passed out of both the Illinois Senate and a House committee last May. In its basic form, this legislation brings in new revenue via an income tax hike while offsetting the burden on low-income taxpayers by boosting the state property tax credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit. Nine Democrats could vote against the bill and the caucus would still have enough votes to approve the measure by simple majority.
In short, Speaker Madigan and his allies in Springfield need to stop whining about the Republicans when they have the votes to pass a sustainable budget on their own. No one is going to buy the idea that the GOP is responsible for the inaction in Springfield. Such an argument makes the speaker -- and the party as a whole -- look dysfunctional and cowardly. Come November, that perception could hurt Madigan's precious majority more than an income tax increase.
(Emphasis added.) The difference, this time, is that this is coming from Progress Illinois, an excellent liberal blog sponsored by SEIU.
They're right, of course. If Democrats in Illinois think that the best solution to our budget problems is a tax increase, they can pass one all by themselves, with votes to spare. They don't need Republicans any more than they need them for anything else.






