Detroit files for bankruptcy
Detroit files for bankruptcy
Chicago’s triple-notch credit downgrade
Chicago’s triple-notch credit downgrade
Pension costs are already unraveling the state’s finances. Now it’s the city of Chicago’s turn. The city’s out-of-control pension liabilities and “accelerating budget pressures associated with those liabilities” has resulted in another credit downgrade by Moody’s Investors Service. The national credit rating agency downgraded the city’s nearly $8 billion in general obligation bonds to A3...
Detroit goes bust
Detroit goes bust
It’s official: the city of Detroit is bankrupt. The Detroit News reported that the city filed a petition for bankruptcy protection this afternoon. The city is in a severe economic crisis and simply lacks the ability to raise sufficient taxes to pay its mounting bills. The city’s population fell more than 26% from 2000 to 2012 and...
Pool of ObamaCare insurance providers continues shrinking in Illinois
Pool of ObamaCare insurance providers continues shrinking in Illinois
The nation’s largest insurance company, UnitedHealth Group, won’t be participating in Illinois’ health insurance exchange, Crain’s Chicago Business reported on Monday. UnitedHealth Group is the second-largest insurance company in Illinois’ nongroup market, the market in which the exchange will operate. Although state officials recently predicted 16 insurance companies would participate in the exchange, Crain’s reports that just...
The league of attorneys general: Protecting the people from coffee mugs
The league of attorneys general: Protecting the people from coffee mugs
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has succeeded in taking down a serious threat to the fight against drug abuse – coffee mugs that look like prescription drug bottles. Madigan, along with attorneys general from more than 20 other states, sent a joint letter on May 22 to Urban Outfitters CEO and Chairman Richard A. Hayne regarding the...
Medicaid plagued with wasteful spending
Medicaid plagued with wasteful spending
The Medicaid welfare program has long been plagued with wasteful spending. The U.S. Government Accountability Office designates Medicaid as a high-risk program, largely because it is “particularly vulnerable to fraud, waste, abuse and improper payments” and has inadequate oversight to prevent wasteful spending. Indeed, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, reports an improper...
The food stamp decade: a million more Illinoisans dependent on SNAP
The food stamp decade: a million more Illinoisans dependent on SNAP
The real story behind Illinois’ decade of fiscal and governance crises is that the number of jobs is shrinking and food stamps are taking their place. Illinois’ massive pension debt, perennial overspending and high taxes are squeezing out the private sector and jobs, while Springfield’s dysfunction and the state’s collapsing credit rating are destroying investor...
States to spend millions promoting ObamaCare
States to spend millions promoting ObamaCare
by Jonathan Ingram If you’re like many Americans, you’re already worried about the impact ObamaCare will have on you and your family. So, in an effort to avoid what Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., termed a “huge train wreck” in the making, the federal government has enlisted the help of several state governments to market the law. The...
Illinois should look to Wisconsin and Indiana for education reform inspiration
Illinois should look to Wisconsin and Indiana for education reform inspiration
by Josh Dwyer Illinois’ education system is struggling. Fewer than half of public school students are college-ready in reading, math and science, and last year82 percent of Illinois districts failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress – a key measure in No Child Left Behind that gauges school success. What’s even more startling is that these poor outcomes...
Right to Work gives states a competitive advantage
Right to Work gives states a competitive advantage
by Paul Kersey CNBC released its rankings of the friendliest states for business last week. Illinois dropped further down the list, but one nearby state is climbing, in large part because its elected officials passed a Right-to-Work law. CNBC’s Scott Cohn took notice, reporting that the Michigan moved from 33rd to 29th. CNBC’s rating of the state’s...
Twinkies and the bakers union: don’t call it a comeback
Twinkies and the bakers union: don’t call it a comeback
by Paul Kersey Plans to reopen Hostess Brands bakeries, including one in the Chicago suburb of Schiller Park, are going forward. The company has announced that the Twinkie will make its glorious return on July 15. But while the reorganized Hostess is making what it calls “the sweetest comeback in the history of ever,” the bakers...
Cheaper across state lines: buying gas in neighboring Wisconsin and Indiana cities saves money
Cheaper across state lines: buying gas in neighboring Wisconsin and Indiana cities saves money
It’s no secret to drivers in the Greater Chicago area that gas prices are cheaper across state lines. Illinoisans who live or work near bordering states often drive the extra few miles out of their way to take advantage of cheaper gas in Wisconsin and Indiana. So how do gas prices – and taxes –...
90 out of 102 county-level governments failed the 10-Point Transparency Checklist
90 out of 102 county-level governments failed the 10-Point Transparency Checklist
by Brian Costin Illinois is notorious for government corruption. Since 1976, the state has had the third-highest amount of public corruption convictions in the country — including four out of the last seven governors. Outside of Springfield, things aren’t much better. Chicago has been called “the most corrupt city in America.” A report by the University of Illinois-Chicago and...
FOIA reveals 200 IRS employees work for union full time
FOIA reveals 200 IRS employees work for union full time
Responding to a Freedom of Information Act request from Americans for Limited Government, the Internal Revenue Service revealed that 200 of its “employees” actually work full time for the National Treasury Employees Union, or NTEU. The special union arrangement, known as “official time,” means that rather than working on investigating and collecting taxes, public workers whose...