First do the cutting, then talk about taxes

The Herald reported Tuesday that Gov. Pat Quinn is twisting arms in Springfield to get the votes needed to make the temporary income tax hike permanent. He says that without the increase there would have to be savage budget cuts, but he did not elaborate as to what those cuts will be.

Quinn did not say if he would need $55 million for another re-election slush fund similar to the one he set up in 2010 and that is currently being investigated by federal prosecutors. He also did not say if he needs the money to keep separate Chicago transit agencies, rather than consolidating them as proposed by his own task force. But since consolidating them could lead to elimination of redundant and useless jobs held by Madigan appointees, that will never happen.

Politicians seem to have a bad habit in cutting programs and services that will be noticed by the general public, such as reduced road maintenance or closing state parks, never government waste. At some point we need to tell our representatives to first clean up the government waste and corruption in this state, then come talk to us about the need for more of our money.

Michael Haase

Mount Prospect