Illinois' path offers lesson

[anvi]

I don't disagree with the point Beet is making.  I think the article itself glosses over, as many reports have done since these hikes were instituted, how low the base rates were to begin with before the tax hikes.  But, all the same, Illinois is still bleeding for cash, and Quinn is staggering around looking for corners to cut.  Conditions are surely very bad here.  

I'd only briefly suggest that, when we throw around the phrase "cutting spending" in these discussions, we often trivialize what sorts of things will actually be cut given dramatic austerity measures, and what the consequences will be.  When we say that government spends too much, it sounds like the government is just blowing its allowance for expensive drinks and ladies of the evening in Vegas or something. But going through an actual state budget and identifying which programs to gut can be an incredibly painful exercise.  I'm not just talking about political patronage either, I'm talking about decisions regarding cutting off people in need or people who have for a long time provided valuable service to a state.  It's all too easy for us to bitch about government spending on an internet forum, actually being responsible for clipping the needy or long-standing public servants off at the knees is something else.  JMO