A State Teeters on the Edge of Bankruptcy?
Food is too Expensive to Buy?
Illinois’ personal income tax rate, now 3 percent, would climb to 5.25 percent for four years under the plan Cullerton outlined. After that, it would drop to 3.75 percent…..
Democrats say they have no choice but to raise taxes as one part of a solution to Illinois’ massive budget crisis. The state deficit could reach $15 billion in the coming year. The government is borrowing money to cover some obligations, letting bills go unpaid for months and cutting corners everywhere from state prisons to state parks.
“We are in desperate need,” Cullerton said at a news conference in his office…….Republican leaders have not been included in tax and budget negotiations, and there was no indication Thursday that they were prepared to cooperate with the Democrats.
“If they think this is a solution, they should go ahead and put their own votes on it,” said Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont.
Haartez reports on food price riots in Africa, the Caribbean and Indonesia as we see worldwide inflation in the price of food.
Wheat has risen nearly 50%, corn more than 50%, soy 34%. In India, annual inflation rate for food is at 18%.
In part this is due to the awakening of China. China is expected to buy 60 percent of globally traded soybeans in 2011/12, double its purchase of four years ago.
The unrest in Tunisia began when young Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire December 17 after police confiscated the fruits and vegetables he sold without a permit.
Bouazizi had a university degree but no steady work, and his hardship resonated with many in Tunisia, where unemployment stands at 14 percent but is much higher outside the capital…..
A 17-year-old high school student set fire to himself in his school principal’s office on Thursday after the school prevented a group of students from organizing a march in solidarity with Bouazizi’s funeral gathering. At the funeral, some chanted “Mohamed, we weep for you today, we will make those who caused your death weep.”