Illinois Governor J.D. Pritzker told reporters this week the big goal of his February 19 State of the State speech will be this message: speech

“If we balance the budget again this year, I believe people will finally see that Illinois can govern itself.”

Wow.  What a concept.  Every red state balances its budget every year, This isn’t putting a man on Jupiter.

Pritzker is looking at a budget hole of more than $3 billion, with mandated hikes in education and pension spending exploding the budget every day.  He faces yet another looming teacher strike in Chicago (the teacher union is relentless) within the next six weeks, and a Chicago transit system that has a $770 million deficit with a ridership just over half its pre-COVID levels.

Last year, Pritzker raised taxes by $750 million to balance the budget. That led to a further exodus of jobs and tax refugees.

Adding to the misery is that taxes aren’t even going to pay for roads or bridges or public safety, but fat pensions for retired state workers. Illinois has four of the 10 worst public pension systems.

Our prediction is that Pritzker will come knocking on Washington’s door for a federal bailout.  Trump should reply: drop dead.