Dysfunction Capital of U.S. Moves to Illinois

[xchrom]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-17/fighting-irish-make-illinois-center-of-fiscal-dysfunction.html

Three brawling Illinois Democrats are presiding over a fiscal muck that has made the state the new archetype of dysfunction as longtime champion California last week projected its first surplus in a decade.

Years of indecision, gridlock and mismanagement have produced a $97 billion pension-funding deficit and more than $9 billion in unpaid bills, saddling Illinois with the nation’s lowest rating from Moody’s Investors Service. As a result, taxpayers are paying more to borrow, and the state’s ability to provide essential services is withering as annual retirement obligations devour more money.

Illinois reached this stalemate without the excuse of partisanship, which has hamstrung efforts in Washington to cut the federal debt. The state Capitol is controlled by Democrats - -Governor Pat Quinn, House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton. They’re the fighting Irish, three Chicago politicians who can’t settle on how to pull the state from a pension hole that gets $17 million deeper each day.

“Madigan and Cullerton do not agree on the fundamental framework of pension reform, and Quinn is unable to bring them together,” said Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno. “There is a bit of a power struggle going on.”