State Journal Register: Cross: Budget battle good for state government

[Tweed]

http://www.sj-r.com/Sections/News/Stories/46569.asp

"House Minority Leader Tom Cross knows it's not a popular position, but he thinks Illinois' ongoing budget woes have been good for state government.

A nasty political spat and a $2.3 billion deficit delayed last year's budget by two months, and climbing pension debt, health-care and education spending and a lack of new money coming in are expected to leave lawmakers with another multibillion-dollar budget gap to close this spring.

But Cross, R-Oswego, says that will ultimately benefit taxpayers by forcing lawmakers to prioritize better and make government "lean and mean."

"When you have excess money, the tendency is to just spend - you don't have to make tough decisions," Cross said in an interview with The Associated Press. "And when you go through some tough times, it forces you to analyze, 'Do we really need this agency? Can we get by with 80 people instead of 100?' You don't do that when you have money."

Lean, mean government? Someone should tell Tom Cross that Republicans don't do that kind of budgeting anymore.