In August of 2013, State Rep. Larry Walsh Jr. (D-IL Dist.86 - Crest Hill, Joliet, Rockdale, Elwood, Channahon) put out an official State mailer to the constituents of District 86.  We will show you some of his propaganda and how its misleading the citizens of District 86.

Here's the cover of his mailer and 'right off the bat' it poses questions:

Question/Statement ... If you want to stay in touch with the community, then since May of 2012, when you first took office, to present date in 2013 (over 1 year later), why don't you still have basic communication tools? ... Meaning, most every state legislator has an official Facebook page and Twitter feed... Why don't you?  If you care about "communicating" with the residents of District 86, then this SHOULD be done (instead of a once a quarter or annual mailing)!  You see he's using the "Friends and Family" propaganda plan, used by former Rep. Jack McGuire (and Jr.'s 40-year friend of the family).  The method is to NOT inform citizens of what's happening in our District.  He's following the playbook of the previous representative: disinformation and misinformation.

Next, we'll go straight at one of his biggest lies, to the citizens of District 86, so that you don't have to scroll to the bottom of this blog.  His misleading statements about the economy and jobs:

Question/Statement ... Fiscally responsible state budget? Job creation? Economic growth?

First, let's not forget about this....

http://savejolietiyc.blogspot.com

Next, you have got to be kidding... Fiscally responsible state budget?  Have you been reading the news lately?  Let's take a look at the budget Larry Walsh Jr. approved in Springfield this year (mind you, these are official state COGFA budget statements - click image below to enlarge):

((( click-on image to enlarge )))

Walsh Jr., you "encouraged job creation"... to who?

Current July/August (Joliet/Will-County) Unemployment is at/around 10% - Learn More

Maybe this is the "economic growth" Larry Walsh Jr. was talking about?

WNIJ - Northern Illinois News Reports 7/15/13:

""Illinois dropped eleven spots in a national survey of the best places to do business.

The CNBC survey ranks Illinois 37th overall.

But the state gets especially poor marks when it comes to the cost of doing business - Illinois comes in at 44th out of 50 states.""

Let's read more about Walsh Jr.'s economy and his "fiscally responsible" government...

Reboot Illinois and Capitol Fax Blog Both Reported on the Illinois’ Debt this week (8/30/13):
""Back in 1981, Illinois reported $164 million in debt service “interest” expense. By 2012, Illinois’ accumulating debt led to a reported $1.6 billion in interest expense — about 900% higher than in 1981, despite a 95% decline in general interest rates! To boot, Illinois has had a longstanding ‘balanced budget’ requirement in the state constitution, which theoretically constrained state borrowing.

In 1981, Illinois reported $8.4 billion in total liabilities. By 2012, that amount had risen to over $100 billion. And that is just the amount reported by the state under current government accounting standards. These standards have long allowed states to accumulate massive off-balance sheet liabilities for retirement programs for government employees. Truth in Accounting estimates these obligations totaled over $120 billion in Illinois as of fiscal year-end 2011 – an amount about equal to the state’s total reported liabilities.

$164 million in interest expenses in 1981 would be equal to $421 million in today’s dollars, and $8.4 billion in total liabilities in 1981 is equal to $22 billion in 2013 money, so the percentage increases aren’t quite as dramatic as claimed.

Still, that’s a whole lot of debt.”"

Lastly on this subject, is it wise that Walsh Jr.'s "fiscally responsible" government is spending your tax dollars, in the middle of our current Illinois Depression (with state unemployment still sitting at/around/above 9% ), spending your money on projects such as this:

As reported the week of 9/7/13: "As part of a $50 million renovation project of the state Capitol, it recently was discovered that the newly installed front doors are costing taxpayers $669,608.  A cynic might point out that the public mainly uses the east and north entrances. The west entrance (where the copper doors are located) — that's for legislators and lobbyists."  Well as long as Walsh Jr.'s lobbyists can reach him in style is all that's important right? 

And let's not forget this little GEM!

Next, on page 2 of Walsh Jr.'s propaganda, he talks about education:

Question/Statement ... Education.  Let's talk education:

Here’s a direct statement from the Illinois State Board of Education:
""The FY13 State General Fund allocation to ISBE totals $6.5 billion, an overall reduction of $861 million (11.6 percent) from FY09 appropriation levels. The state’s education budget has seen more than a dozen items reduced and more than 30 items totally eliminated since FY09.”"
Continued from the I.S.B.E.:
"“Statewide, we’ve seen at least 6,400 full time teacher and aide positions cut since FY09 – often meaning larger class sizes and less time for teachers to interact with individual students. Districts have also been forced to slash academic, extracurricular and enrichment activities, from foreign language to sports, art, music and many more programs.""
Further:
Due to the fiscal crisis, districts and other vendors have received late payments from the state since 2010. As of March 4, 2013 ISBE’s FY13 payment backlog stood at $634.3 million, representing nearly 12 percent of the State’s total backlog. At times during the past few years, ISBE’s portion of the backlog has topped $1 billion.”
Some Further ISBE Stats:
“The percent of low-income students went from 42.9 percent in 2009 to 49 percent in 2012. Our students classified as Limited English Proficient has also grown from 8 percent of all students statewide in 2009 to 9.4 percent in 2012. Homeless students are also on the rise, with about 29,000 in November 2010 compared to nearly 36,000 in November 2012.”

 Go ahead, I dare you to read the full report: "The Illinois Education Report"  You want to learn the truth, don't you?

Next, on page 3 of Walsh Jr.'s propaganda, he talks about Seniors:

Question/Statement ... So you think Walsh Jr. cares about Seniors?  Well how about this:

The Bill was SB2840 and it cut medication subsides for children and the elderly. Illinois Cares Rx is a critical lifeline for over 160,000 Illinois seniors and people with disabilities. Larry Walsh Jr. VOTED "YES" and he cut services to seniors!

Next, on page 4 of Walsh Jr.'s propaganda, he talks about The State Budget:

Question/Statement ... Again, with the "fiscal responsible." Live "within its means"?  Let's approach this with a little bit of reading... Are you ready?  Well...

The Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, Says:
"The fiscal problems that have historically plagued Illinois are on full display in the FY2014 General Fund budget passed by the Illinois General Assembly. The state’s accumulated deficit remains significant, and in all likelihood will be in the $9-billion range by the end of FY2014.The projected General Fund deficit for FY2014 is significant, but it is also nothing new. According to the Illinois Comptroller’s Office, Illinois has had a deficit in its General Fund for at least 22 consecutive fiscal years, dating back to 1991 (the records do not cover years prior to that date)."   Coincidence, that in 1992 to 2012 was the exact amount of time that Democrat Jack McGuire (D-IL Dist.86 Joliet) was in office and was an Assistant Majority Leader.  Huh!

Within Its Means?

The Illinois Policy Institute Reported in May of 2013:
"The Truth Behind Illinois’ FY2014 Budget: Broken Promises

The Illinois General Assembly increased spending to more than $35.4 billion, up approximately $2 billion from what was approved for the [2013] current fiscal year.  The budget handouts being passed around the Statehouse describe this as an “honest budget.”  The truth is, not only is this gearing up to be the largest budget on record, but it’s also one of the most dishonest budgets to date. 

This budget:

1. Fails to prepare for the legally required tax-hike sunset. In 2011 lawmakers passed a record 67 percent tax hike. The increased personal income tax rate is legally required to sunset to 3.75 percent in January 2015 from the current 5 percent. That means the state will have less revenue in 2015 than it does today. In fact, Illinois’ projected revenue for fiscal year 2015 is approximately $33.4 billion, or $2 billion less than the projected $35.4 for fiscal year 2014.

Any responsible family in Illinois who knew they were going to start taking in less income in a year would begin the belt-tightening now; that is, if they hadn’t already started. But lawmakers did nothing in the fiscal year 2014 budget that would allow them to keep their promise and sunset the tax hike in 2015. They actually went the other way and made the sunset even more difficult to follow through on.  

2. Deliberately ramps up spending to set the stage for even higher taxes. Sunsetting the tax hike is more than a promise – it’s in the statute. Lawmakers should have used the fiscal year 2014 budget as an opportunity to make the cuts and reforms necessary to sunset the tax hike next year. Instead, they intentionally ramped up state spending. Why? Pushing rapidly growing state spending even higher this year sets the stage to make lowering the tax rate next year look like a political impossibility.

Closing out the next fiscal year with record spending simply gives lawmakers a few talking points on the “draconian” cuts they’d be forced to make without a little more revenue in the state’s coffers. Not only does this set the state to make the tax hike permanent (as was already proposed during the current session) but it also gives lawmakers an out to make the case for another multi-billion tax increase – a progressive income tax. Quinn has already said that passing a progressive income tax is “one of my goals before I stop breathing.” Another tax hike may sound unlikely as the recent one was a complete flop but the appropriations bills being passed now show that lawmakers are gearing up for record breaking levels of state spending, which, as Illinoisans should know all too well, means higher taxes.

3. Ignores reform. Perhaps one of the most dishonest parts of the planning that took place around this budget is the fact that lawmakers simply ignored reform, and in some cases actually made things worse.

And lawmakers passed the Medicaid expansion, one of the major provisions of ObamaCare. Not only are the costs of implementing an expansion of Medicaid completely unknown, but the passage of this bill also will overload a program that is already on the brink of collapse. 

Lawmakers already broke their promise regarding how they were going to use the tax-hike money. They said the tax hike was designed to pay down the state’s unpaid bills and restore fiscal order. Instead, 80 cents of every 2012 tax hike dollar went to pensions. That was broken promise number one.

Now they are setting up the fiscal year 2014 budget to break another tax-hike promise by ramping-up spending instead of preparing for a sunset. That’s broken promise number two.

Higher taxes will only end with more broken promises and even bigger problems in Illinois. Lawmakers haven’t earned the right to take more taxpayer money. And the fiscal year 2014 budget is proof of that. This is what failed leadership looks like. It’s time for change."