Nice post about the state budget.

I enjoyed this post from PeoriaStory about the Illinois budget. Another article here at the Peoria Journal Star explained the budget problem's implications for higher education.

One thing I don't understand is why the Comptroller's Office says in this fiscal year (which is in its eighth month now) that $1.9 billion has been given to higher education, including, according to the Comptroller's website, $583,369,628 to the University of Illinois (leaving only $184,417,870 unexpended). If the state has given $583 million to the University of Illinois and only has $184 million left to give, then how can it be true, as we're told, that the state is way behind on its funding for the U of I. We're being given (temporary) pay cuts and the reasoning is that since the Illinois State hasn't given the money allocated to the University, therefore we must make these sacrifices to get by. And yet, according to my understanding of what the Comptroller's Office claims, the University has had much of it's allocation expended. So, what happened to the $583 million supposedly given to the University of Illinois for FY 2010?

- Eric

Understanding politics and Truth over Happiness.

Jodie Allen and Richard Auxier of the Pew Research Center have put up an article at the Atlantic Monthly's online site about how the public receives messages from the president.  This article gives some excellent insights into how the public respond to a president's speech or press release.

The article makes a reference to "Happy Talk," which will hopefully call to mind the scene and song from the musical South Pacific.  An apt use of a cultural reference if ever I saw one.

State Budget Deficit is 9 billion?

There's a good article about the Illinois state budget deficit at the Journal-Register. Dan Hynes has been warning about a shortfall for months, but before this week I had never heard that he warned we could face anything like a $9 billion deficit. 

In a related note, the Capitol Fax blog discusses some of the politics around the state budget deficit and federal politics. 

Dan Hynes has a pretty good webpage for the Comptroller where you can read about budget issues related to various policies.