Cook County budget update

By state law, the county must have a budget in place by Friday. Board President Stroger won't negotiate with anyone else on the Board, but at least it looks like his big expansion of the county government won't happen:

Commissioners and labor union leaders say Stroger will get the votes if he:

• • Scales back his plan to increase spending 7 percent and add 1,100 new employees to the payroll.

• • Agree to a long-discussed plan to give up control of the county hospital system to outside professionals.

• • Commit to a more modest sales tax increase than the 1.25 percentage point increase he's holding at.

The issue is that the board lives in a bubble that is inflated with their own sense of self-importance. If the county government disappeared, with its functions rolled into other levels of government, would it matter? Clearly not. Tony Peraica and the fiscal conservatives understand this, but Stroger and the liberals don't.

And here I am again, feeling like Al Bundy and campaigning against a 2 cent beer tax increase:

On the table and set for a vote today are tax plans that could ultimately end up costing you more to buy a plane ticket, a drink at a bar, a car, hotel room, clothing or other merchandise.

As a final point, the problem any time a level of government raises the sales tax is that sales taxes go up every year anyway as the prices of goods go up. Raising the rates is just a figurative kick in the junk of the wallet.