I. Agree. Completely.
For 43 Wisconsin Republican lawmakers, the urge to bash Illinois and go on record against bailouts for state governments during the coronavirus pandemic was just too good to pass up.
The lawmakers signed on to a letter sent Friday to the members of Wisconsin's Congressional delegation asking them to reject a bailout package for the states.
"No one knows how long and how deep this economic crisis due to to COVID-19 will be, and Wisconsin is not immune to these fiscal challenges," the letter said. "However, we do know our neighbors to the south have spent decades spending and borrowing recklessly.
"After years of failing to fund their overly generous pension system, Illinois is already asking for the federal government to bail them out of these series of poor financial decisions. The State Senate in Illinois has requested $44 billion – and that’s just for one state. Wisconsinites can’t afford to bailout reckless budgeting from other states.
"Wisconsin taxpayers should not be responsible for funding bailouts for irresponsible states across the country, like Illinois, New York and California. Please stand with Wisconsin taxpayers and reject the multi-trillion dollar bailouts being considered by Congress."
(https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/05/09/gop-state-lawmakers-bash-illinois-urge-rejection-federal-bailout/3104096001/)
Illinois government has acted foolishly for DECADES! Our poor leadership and piss-poor financial stewardship got us into this mess....... not the taxpayers of Wisconsin or Nevada or Alaska.
This quote from Wisconsin State Rep. Barbara Dittrich is spot-on!
“We’ve paid down debt, and we had a record amount of money in our rainy day fund here in Wisconsin. Those are things Illinois could have easily replicated but chose not to.”
Grace & Peace & Love to you all -
Matt