Chicago Sun-Times: Range of services at risk due to city, state budgets

[marmar]

Range of services at risk due to city, state budgets
MAKED OUT | A wide range of services are at risk because the city and state -- and to a lesser extent Cook County -- are in deep financial trouble and headed for worse

February 27, 2010

BY MARY WISNIEWSKI, LISA DONOVAN, DAVE McKINNEY AND FRAN SPIELMAN Staff Reporters


It's a gray winter morning in Chicago 2012. You're a single mom, waiting in the snow for a bus.

You lost your job last year as a teaching assistant in the public schools. You'd go back to college to learn new skills, but tuition's high, and financial aid programs are gone.

Today, you're heading downtown to fill out job applications. The bus ride costs $3.50 -- and service is half what it was.

You hope you get back in time to get the kids -- after-school programs are gone, and the streets are scary. Maybe you can take them to the library later -- no, wait, the library's closed on Mondays.

This could be the future -- if the state, city and county budgets continue on their current path. Life for all of us could be poorer, harder, more dangerous, more polluted. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.suntimes.com/news/maxedout/2073759,CST-NWS-maxed28.article

[unhappycamper]

1. unhappycamper: Range of services at risk due to $1 tillion dollar military budget. n/t

[marmar]

2. True that.

[KharmaTrain]

3. Everyone Is Broke...

Unless you work for AIG or Goldman Sachs. State and local budgets have been collapsing as property values fall, retail remains in the dumpers and unemployment remains high (especially in inner cities where services are needed most). The boooosh tax cuts have really hurt as billions that used to go to the states and local governments vanished and all sorts of unfunded mandates drained what reserves there were.

There's no easy fix here as those with the wealth are going to protect their tax breaks and influence while the poorest have little voice or influence.

[michreject]

4. And Chicago spends millions of dollars on a lawsuit that they will lose

Fighting McDonald et al v City of Chicago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald_v._Chicago

[madrchsod]

5. my two republican reps are talking about raising taxes....

that`s how bad it is. i`m not sure if the dems or the repubs have enough guts to raise taxes and reform the pension system.