Change the Game
January 23, 2010
You'll find similarly good candidates up and down the ballot. A new Tribune poll shows the Republican primary for governor is a three-way fight. Businessman Andy McKenna is our choice. It's heartening to hear the candidates talk about fiscal discipline, but McKenna set that tone early and stuck to it.
McKenna wants to roll back state spending to 2006 levels until revenues rebound. He has offered specific ideas. He thinks the state shouldn't spend more than it takes in, and he's willing to risk work stoppages to get costs under control.
The two other front-runners, Kirk Dillard and Jim Ryan, have spent months talking about cutting programs but still haven't offered much in the way of specifics. They say a tax increase is a last resort, but can't seem to articulate Plan A. That doesn't inspire confidence.
Illinois' fiscal mess can't be remedied simply by scouring the budget for cost efficiencies. Medicaid and the state pension plans need complete overhauls, for starters. McKenna has the instincts and the business skills to meet the state's responsibilities while making reforms that could save billions of tax dollars.
Read the entire article here.
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