Illinois' debt is simply mind-numbing
Say what you want about our politicians or our press, the right or the left, liberal or conservative, capitalism or socialism, but it was just announced Illinois' debt has risen to $180 billion! Calculators don't have enough digits to account for a number this size. It's mind numbing.
The current governor has been in office for two years. The speaker of the House has been speaker of the House for 38 of the last 46 years.
In 1971 the total debt for the state of Illinois was $1.6 billion. The state of Illinois has spent over $4 billion more than it takes in every year for the last 46 years.
This isn't all the current speaker's fault since there have been Republican governors who have simply signed budgets allowing this mind-numbing level of debt to accumulate.
Illinois' debt is nearly the same as the total revenues of Canada. Mind-numbing. eh?
Mike Simon
Glen Ellyn