10/18 updates on fiscal government stories

I know I'm becoming a broken record here, but Cook County Board President Stroger's arrogance is breathtaking. Here's his new plan, which adds back in the 2% increase in sales tax (bringing the total to 11% in the city of Chicago):

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger admits he wants more of your tax dollars than he really needs to operate his government every year.

But, he argues, it's more fiscally responsible to ask for more now, so as not to have to keep coming back to ask you for more year after year.

I don't think he understands what fiscal responsibility is. It means being a good caretaker of taxpayers' money that he's been entrusted with, not taxing too high to pay for his bloated, corrupt government. But here's the kicker:

Besides, he adds, if he can get more from you now, he might even be willing to give back some of it later...

"There simply are not enough cuts left to fully close our budget gap while maintaining vital services," Stroger said, saying that the common practice of elected officials coming back each year to ask for taxpayer funds is too cumbersome and results in only "patchwork taxes."

He predicts he could repeal the gas and parking taxes in future years -- and simply rely on adding 2 percentage points to the sales tax to provide, year after year, necessary funds for county government. Because a sales tax wouldn't be approved until later in the year, the county wouldn't realize a full year of its benefits, leading to the need for other taxes in 2008, he said.

Anybody who thinks he's ever going to advocate cutting a tax doesn't pay attention to politics. He's a liberal Democrat whose appetite for spending is so great that he can never have enough tax money. The issue is that if the county is bringing in all this tax money, they are going to spend it on something. The best thing to do is starve the beast, not give it more money and make it fatter. Luckily, a majority of the county board is against his plan.

The news in the city government is also interesting, although less eventful. Apparently, some aldermen are finally going to represent their constituents rather than just rubber-stamp everything the mayor wants:

Now there's another sign that a City Council long known as a rubber stamp is preparing to flex its collective muscle: Daily meetings of the Progressive and Independent Caucus.

From six to 15 aldermen have been meeting privately this week to get expert briefings about city departments scheduled to testify during City Council budget hearings later the same day.

The more they learn from housing, health and environmental advocates, the more pointed their questions of the mayor's cabinet members.

That's good news, since they are the city's legislative branch. They don't represent the mayor, and hopefully this is a small step in the direction of breaking up the machine politics here.