Never let a crisis go to waste! Americans have died and continue to suffer under an economic shutdown due to the Wuhan coronavirus.
Illinois Senate Democrats decided to use the crisis as a way to receive federal aid, but not for the people of the state.
They want federal aid to bail them out of their financial crisis caused by useless spending and bloated government.
Illinois Senate President Don Harmon pleads to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) to fight for $41 billion in federal aid. He sent the letter to the state’s delegation, too.
Harmon cries that the coronavirus will cause the state to lose $14.1 billion for 2020-2021:
“I realize I’ve asked for a lot, but this is an unprecedented situation, and we face the reality that there likely will be additional, unanticipated costs that could result in future requests for assistance,” Harmon wrote in a Tuesday letter to members of the state’s congressional delegation.
He is not wrong. The pandemic is causing many states and cities to lose money.
Harmon tried to justify his demands by stating the aid already received went to “costs directly related to the COVID-19 outbreak.” But now the federal government has not addressed the “negative effects to state and local economies across this country.”
But $41 billion? Harmon wants:
Yes, Harmon wants the federal government to give Illinois $15 billion to help the state spend more for the next 2.5 years.
Pensions drag down Illinois. Harmon notes in his letter that the state’s “largest liabilities are its unfunded pension liability at $138 billion and other post-employment benefits liability at $54 billion.”
Harmon forgets that it is not the federal government’s responsibility to bail out state governments. This especially applies to corrupt and wasteful states like Illinois.
I mean, the CARE Act sent $2.7 billion to Illinois along with $2.2 billion to local communities.
On Saturday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he “was not aware of the content of the letter” before Harmon sent it:
“There’s no reason why a senate president in Illinois can’t send a letter to the delegation. I don’t object to people communicating with our federal representatives. I do it all the time,” Pritzker said.“It’s different than what I have been talking to the federal representatives about,” he continued. “I really believe the state’s need to have some unencumbered dollars that come in that will help us with the coming year’s budget — every state has this problem.”In a statement, Pritzker’s office said: “We’re working with our congressional delegation, as well as [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer, to ensure another aid package includes funds for the state of Illinois and the flexibility to use them in our budget.”
How about you stop spending?! This is a great opportunity to go through the Illinois budget and cut wasteful spending. Illinois never has money in its rainy day fund.
Karma is crazy, isn’t she, Harmon? I knew the out of control spending and corruption would eventually bite my state in the butt.
Then again so did everyone except these tone-deaf legislators in Illinois.
[Featured image via YouTube]
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