There are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of dirty little secrets in Springfield. But the one of which I know the most, is the Capital Bill. Did everyone already forget that we raised taxes and fees in ’09? It wasn’t income tax. It was sales taxes, license plate fees, and the fool’s gold of video poker. This is funding the Capital Bill. Did you know the Capital Bill is $31 Billion? Did you know that none of the money went to pay our overdue bills? Nope. The money went to new “projects”.

The Capital Bill is basically Illinois’ version of the Stimulus bill. Both bills spent about $2600 per capita. Both were supposed to create jobs. The types of “job creation” programs in both bills are similar. In fact, some of the funds in the Capital Bill merely match stimulus money. The biggest difference between Illinois Capital Bill and the Stimulus Bill was that the Capital Bill regrettably enjoyed much Republican support.

While attending a function at which Senator AJ Wilhelmi spoke, he actually bragged the following fact. In the last few years, states across the US have passed $38 Billion in Capital expenditures. Of that, Illinois has $31 Billion. Digest that please. The fiscally worst state in the nation is spending four times more than the rest of the 49 states combined! This was reconfirmed by him at a later forum — proudly.

The Illinois budget deficit is $15 billion. Last time I checked, $31 Billion is greater than $15 Billion. Did anyone think of cutting some waste from the Capital Bill to bridge the budget crisis? No. I don’t have the time or resources to FOIA details of the thousands of expenditures in the Capital Bill. But here are some of the secrets I do know…

United Neighborhood Organization is getting $98 Million. Sounds like a nice organization. I decided to google them. Their home page is here. It states that it is “Modeled after the Saul Alinsky style of community organizing.” If you don’t know who Saul Alinsky is, google “Saul Alinsky Marxist”. The CEO of UNO is a gentleman by the name of Juan Rangel. He also happens to be one of Rahm Emanuel’s campaign co-chairman.

Read more at For the Good of Illinois

Searchable Database of Capital Projects Here