I have designated Governor Quinn of my homestate of Illinois the worst governor in the country. Not content to rest on his laurels, Governor Quinn has continued to misgovern the Land of Lincoln with the skill of a spendthrift who is afraid that he has a cent somewhere that remains unspent. Such diligence will always reap a reward, and one has now come to Quinn:
Illinois, unable to solve its long-running financial problems, was given the lowest credit rating of any state in the country by Moody’s Investors Service on Friday, a move that will increase costs to taxpayers.
A second agency, Standard & Poor’s, left its Illinois rating unchanged but warned of a negative outlook that could lead to a downgrade in the future. A day earlier, Fitch Ratings also left the rating unchanged and declared a stable outlook.
Lower credit ratings generally mean the state winds up paying more interest when it borrows money by selling bonds.
Both Moody’s and S&P said they are troubled by Illinois’ failure to balance its budget and strengthen government pension systems, although a tax increase and other measures have helped.
Moody’s cited “weak management practices” and a recent legislative session that “took no steps to implement lasting solutions.”
Moody’s now rates Illinois “A2,” below any other state. Only one state, California, qualifies for the next-highest rating. All the rest are ranked higher.
Go here to read the rest. Any governor can mess up during his term in office, but to oversee the looming bankruptcy of a once prosperous state like Illinois takes a true genius! Governor Quinn, I salute you!
Congratulations, Illinois!
I was TDY at Chanute AFB one winter. That was enough Illinois for me. Although, winter in the TX panhandle was . . .
When you least expect it, expect it.
The US is next.
Winter in Central Illinois, America’s Siberia at its worst, can indeed be memorable T.Shaw, as I thought to myself one day in 1979 when I was trudging to class at the U of I and found the fabric of my parka beginning to crack in the 37 below zero temperatures.
It seemed that only things cutting the wind between the North Pole and Chanute/Champaign-Urbana were barbed wire and outhouses.