Be specific about where to cut spending

The Daily Herald published a guest view article by Republican state Rep. David McSweeney of Barrington Hills on why Illinois should not increase state taxes. In his article Rep. McSweeney refers to out-of-control spending, no spending reforms, mismanagement of taxpayer money and a need to cut spending in Illinois. He mentions pension reform, Medicaid reform and property tax relief as some areas in which the General Assembly neglected to act.

Many people believe that the state is in debt and has failed to pay its bills in a timely manner and it has not made the required contributions to the pension funds. If this is indeed the case, then why wouldn't the state need more revenue to pay these obligations rather than less revenue?

I ask the Daily Herald to give Rep. McSweeney equal space to tell us specifically just what state spending cuts he proposes. How would he address the pension reform issue? How would he reform Medicaid? If some people were to be dropped from Medicaid, who would they be? How would he provide property tax relief if the state was collecting less revenue? Which state agencies are being mismanaged?

I ask the representative to be specific about his proposed spending cuts. It's not enough to say that he would cut waste. All politicians say that they intend to cut government waste.

James A. Spengler

Palatine