Is Illinois in Good Hands? Allstate CEO Doesn’t Think So

by Amanda Griffin-Johnson According to a Bloomberg News article, Thomas Wilson, CEO of Illinois-based Allstate Corporation, recently “called for political leaders to cut costs.” Wilson is quoted as saying “Government borrowing is way out of control. We need to get our house in order.” Bloomberg reports: The middle class is “going to bear the brunt of the...

by Amanda Griffin-Johnson

According to a Bloomberg News article, Thomas Wilson, CEO of Illinois-based Allstate Corporation, recently “called for political leaders to cut costs.” Wilson is quoted as saying “Government borrowing is way out of control. We need to get our house in order.” Bloomberg reports:

The middle class is “going to bear the brunt of the impact from all the things that we haven’t fixed in the past whether that’s borrowing too much money at the state of Illinois or a bad education system,” Wilson said.

Illinois, whose $13 billion deficit is about half its budget, had the cost of insuring debt against default more than double earlier this year. The state’s debt is rated fifth- highest by Moody’s, at A1, matching California’s as the worst among U.S. states. The Illinois debt rating from Standard & Poor’s is A+.

The article continues:

“Nobody has the intestinal fortitude to actually move forward to try to change anything,” Wilson said of government debt at the federal, state and local levels. “They’re just sort of sitting there waiting for disaster to happen.”

Even as the cost of borrowing goes up, Illinois has plans to borrow more! Is there another way? Check out Budget Solutions 2011, the Illinois Policy Institute’s plan to get the state back on the right track without borrowing or a tax hike. To read the full Bloomberg article, click here.