David Ormsby Questions Andrzejewski's "Forensic Audits" Proposal

David Ormsby (photo) is Editor of The Illinois Observer, one of the best of the best of Illinois political blogs.* He says that Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Andrzejewski's recent call for "forensic audits" are a nice idea, but not necessary. Ormsby commented on our Nov. 19 post, in which gubernatorial candidate Adam Andrzejewski called for selling off the official "luxury aircraft" operated by the State of Illinois, and that as governor he would "open up the books" in Springfield and conduct a "forensic audit of the state's expenses." Ormsby wrote this regarding the forensic audit proposal: As laudable as Adam Andrzejewksi's "forensics audit" proposal is on its face, it is important to note that each state agency, board, commission, university, etc. have been and continue to be audited--both with program and finance audits--every two years by the Illinois Auditor General. The incumbent, Republican William Holland [the Illinois Auditor General] , is respected by both sides of the aisle. Holland, whose audits helped undo Rod Blagojevich, would have found "billions" of dollars lying around in the state sofa cushions had it actually existed. Lack of audits is not what ails the Illinois budget. A 11% unemployment rate and the loss of income tax revenue is the culprit. An audit is unnecessary to tell you that. Ask a voter. So there. Will Adam Andrzejewski respond to Ormsby's interesting observations? I would add this to Ormsby's comment: The state's high unemployment rate and tax revenue loss are due in part to many years of raising taxes. From the City of Chicago to Cook County to the State of Illinois, higher taxes drive out businesses and force some small employer to reduce the size of their payroll. Higher taxes also cause people to shop outside of Illinois or their high-tax counties if possible, or to relocate to another state or county that has lower taxes. All of that has the cumulative effect of lowering the tax revenue streams and contributing to higher unemployment. The Democrats' idea of "fixing" the problem of lower tax revenues is to raise taxes. That's a bit like telling a drowning man that his only hope is to inhale more water. Ask a taxpayer. * The Illinois Observer ranks at #6 among the top 10 independent Illinois political blogs. (For comparison, Chicago News Bench ranks #22, in the Top 50). Leave a Comment Conservative T-Shirts Follow CNB on Twitter RSS Feed