Quinn’s Fuzzy Budget Fix Numbers
Look closely, very closely. The real score on Quinn's plan: $900 million in spending reductions vs. $3.5 billion in tax hikes.
Take a look at this budget chart released by Governor Quinn today. It purports to explain how he’ll tackle the budget deficit. Look closely.
At first glance, it appears that he’s relying more on spending cuts ($2.6 billion in “total spending reductions”) than tax increases ($1.8 billion in “total revenue increases”) to help balance the budget.
Should fiscal watchdogs cheer? Nope.
Look closer. He’s actually relying far less on spending cuts than on tax hikes.
He starts off with $2.6 billion in spending reductions, but then “restores” $1.7 billion in spending under the revenue category, netting just $900 million in spending cuts.
When you add the $2.8 billion income tax hike with $700 million from a tobacco tax hike (bad idea) plus “loopholes” (e.g., new taxes on plastic bags, music downloads, and soda), we’re looking at a cumulative tax hike of $3.5 billion.
He’s giving the impression that the revenue from a tax hike — when “restored to FY11 education appropriations” — doesn’t count toward a total tax increase. Wrong. It still does — you’ll still be bound to send government more of your money in higher income taxes.
The real score on Quinn’s plan: $900 million in spending reductions vs. $3.5 billion in tax hikes.
We’ve got an alternative budget that balances the FY 2011 budget without tax hikes. And stay tuned next week when we’ll release an updated version of our Pension Funding & Fairness Act that tackles past debt while getting a handle on future spending growth.