Socialist Overlords on Third Floor Spend More Than Governor Requested. Again.

Here's a fact that won't show up in many campaign mailers from tea party Republicans next year: Despite all of the hot air about the evils of government spending, Republican legislators have once again passed a budget that exceeds the spending recommended by Democratic Governor Jay Nixon.

This happened in 2009 and 2010 too.

I think the Governor and General Assembly could be doing a lot more to reduce tax expenditures and increase tax revenues with a more fair, progressive tax code (the horrors!).  They could also be working to make multinational corporations pay their fair share, increase cigarette taxes to a reasonable level and collect online sales taxes from huge online retailers. 

But no matter what the revenues actually look like, the state still needs leaders to keep the state's fiscal house in order.  And that leadership has once again come from the second floor of the Capitol, and not the third.  Can you imagine what type of fiscal shape our state would be in today if Gov. Nixon had simply signed the budgets passed by the MO GOP the last few years and spent that money?  We would make Illinois look downright thrifty.