Governor Pat Quinn's gubernatorial campaign this week called on GOP opponent State Senator Bill Brady (R-Bloomington) to detail his plan for the Illinois budget, arguing that the campaign clock is ticking.
"Thus far, Sen. Brady has shown no understanding of what it takes to balance the budget," Quinn campaign manager Ben Nuckels said.
"What he has said would require massive cuts to our schools and police departments across the state. It would mean skyrocketing property taxes. And it still leaves an $8 billion dollar hole."
With just 12 weeks until Election Day, Brady has provided precious few details for his plan to address the $13 billion Illinois budget gap, according to Quinn's campaign and most informed political observers.
Even former GOP Governor Jim Edgar has called Brady's budget ideas "naive".
"While Governor Quinn has shown leadership by taking decisive action and making the difficult decisions to reduce the state's spending, Bill Brady hasn't even attempted to offer his own solutions," said Nuckels. "It shows that Brady either has no solutions or doesn't have the courage to submit his ideas for public scrutiny."
A message sent to the Brady campaign for a response to Quinn's blast was returned with silence.
However, Brady recently acknowledged--to his credit--that his 10% across the board budget cut--his principal budget policy proposal thus far--would indeed apply to the Illinois elementary and secondary education budget.
"Sure. It would apply to everything," said Brady at a press conference last week.
A 10% cut next year applied to this year's fiscal year 2011 local school budget would reduce state government education spending by $706 million.
And, as Chicago Sun-Times columnist and Capitol Fax publisher Rich Miller noted, Quinn attacked Brady last week on this 10% cut to education.
I know that there's going to be false prophets running around Illinois saying, 'We don't have to do anything, just stand still, cut the budget of state government for education by 10 percent.' Make sure that everybody knows what this fellow is talking about. He wants to cut the school budget in Illinois, the education budget, by 10 percent. How are you going to fund the schools?
Even though Quinn cut education by $241 million or only 3.2% this year, the governor himself had threatened to slice $1.3 billion or 18% from education earlier this year before the Illinois legislature refused to act on his 1% income tax surcharge for education.
"I don't know what to say about Mr. Quinn, because every time he opens his mouth, he says something different," said Brady.
It makes even my head dizzy.
Quinn's campaign noted that the governor has "faced... an unprecedented budget crisis and the nation's worst economy since the Great Depression" and has cut $3 billion from the Illinois budget in the last two years.
Despite these cuts, the Illinois budget deficit has grown from $9 billion to $13 billion on Quinn's watch and that state's unpaid bills totaled $4.7 billion as of June 30--a historic high, though the final amount will likely be closer to $6 billion. Moreover, Illinois vendors are waiting, on average, 153 days or longer to be paid.
In fairness to Quinn, he had backed various income tax increase schemes in the last 18 months to plug the deficit, a politically perilous course amidst a higher than national unemployment rate in Illinois and surly voters bleating for blood. But the legislature balked.
Undaunted by the glum Illinois budget conditions and the ghosts of income tax plans past, Quinn's team remains intent to press this line of attack against Brady, much the way the governor's primary opponent, Comptroller Dan Hynes, did against him.
"It is incomprehensible that a gubernatorial candidate would fail to address our state's budget challenge," Quinn's Communications Director Mica Matsoff added. "Illinois voters need a real budget solution, not a platitude that could fit on a cocktail napkin."
This is Quinn channeling Hynes.
Meanwhile, the Quinn campaign this week also announced the creation of a "Brady Budget Clock" on its Web site, QuinnforIllinois.com. The feature will track the number of days since Brady has been the Republican nominee for Governor, during which he has campaigned "without any coherent plan to fix our state budget."
Quinn's "Brady Budget Clock" may be ticking, but its ticking noise may be indistinguishable from the Illinois budget deficit bomb ticking simultaneously.
This is for sure: one of these will stop ticking.
Follow David Ormsby on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@DavidOrmsby
No one is asking if their own wonderfully progressive State Representative will again back Michael Madigan for Speaker. ASFME, IFT, SEIU, and other progressive groups need to go after these 26 Dems in the 2012 primaries or accept Illinois being a right-wing fake blue state. Anything less than a full scale insurrection of the left is political masochism.
I am predicting a Brady win. My only wish is that he is not Right Wing enough.
As for your Obama remark. Do you really believe a repub would have this country in better shape than Obama ? A McCain win would have us at 25% unemployment and more wars but the rich would have more tax-cuts.
Can't believe this is what we get to choose from for governor!!
A third party choice would be welcome but the Dem-Reb hold on politics means, this is what we get.
Illinois is in the gutter politically and financially and we have no leaders.
I agree with Shocking1p that some of the budget cuts have been misdirected in that there needs to be more administrative cuts and less in the field and trenches. However, those at the top always make sure the ball rolls down hill. Under Brady, the ball will be bigger and whack more people out of jobs - unfortunately our best bet in the current economic scenario where we are playing out our lives is with Quinn.
Jim Edgar was a good governor--remained pro-choice, balanced the budget, sought to raise the income tax to pay improve education funding; and opposed the right wingoids.
So in May 2009, the IL senate passed a 2% income tax hike. And Madigan didn't use his ususal iron fist to enforce party discipline, and 26 IL house dems voted against it. And it failed. And we have lost our jobs. And we should be pissed. If you pay anybody back, it should be those 26 house dems. Maybe you live in one of those districts? As ususal, the GOPers do a better job of organizing so check the roll call vote at ntui.org, and make your anger count for something.
Actually, "normal people" do spend more than they have to spend--home loans, home equity lines, car loans, credit card debt up the wazoo. It was "normal people" treating their homes like cash stations to buy cars, vacations, etc. that intensified the financial crisis, piling up historic levels of debt.
"Normal people" helped cause this mess.
From the campaign standpoint, Quinn is unfortunately saddled with the doom & gloom reality of our state's budget crisis, and because he's actually working as Governor, he is forced to lay out the unpleasant burden we'll have to face next year.
Higher taxes...laid-off teachers/state police/highway maintainers, there's just no escape...no way to keep all that vague until after the election.
So who can blame Brady for doing that....for spewing out false promises & naive generalities? Unfortunately...that will WORK for him, big-time.
Quinn is pretty much of perfect-storm of defeat; a bad candidate saying/doing weird things who is also hobbled & handcuffed by the realities of being our acting governor.
I really hate Brady, but I honestly can't see how he'll lose.