Hamas in Deep Dog Doo Doo

Gatewaypundit.com

Op-ed: Despite pompous declarations, terror group faces problems on multiple fronts

Published:  01.27.12, 00:43 / Israel Opinion Nothing stopped Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas prime minister in Gaza, from making Ahmadinejad-style declarations that Israel’s days are numbered and calling for the establishment of an Arab Jihad army for Palestine’s liberation. Yet behind the pretentious slogans lies a grim reality for Hamas that can no longer be hidden. First, Hamas’ alliance with Iran has come to an end. This pact was unnatural to begin with, given that we saw a Sunni organization endorsing a non-Arab Shiite state. Yet when Hamas refused Iran’s orders to support the fading Bashar Assad, Tehran shut its door to the group. What’s worse, the flow of money used by Hamas to pay some 50,000 officials and troops in Gaza has ended. So where will Hamas get money? This is why the organization is engaged in bitter disputes with the Palestinian Authority and Arab League over funds supposedly owed to the group. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4181496,00.html http://goo.gl/TzL5E7 TweetMe Please

STATE BUDGET GAP JUST ONE THAT MUST BE FILLED

MADELEINE DOUBEK  

JUN 24, 2014 

We’ve got way too many gaps in Illinois. We’ve got a state budget gap. And then we’ve got a public finance literacy gap and that’s all exacerbated by a huge credibility gap.

1. The state budget gap. Democratic majorities in the House and Senate sent Gov. Pat Quinn a unbalanced $35.7 billion budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. But without a tax increase, the state is projected to have at least $1.8 billion less to spend next year.

2. The public finance literacy gap. All of us citizens and taxpayers have trouble wrapping our brains around those big numbers that begin with B. Billions are just so hard to fathom. And so far, we just don’t seem to care. A Reboot Illinois automated poll conducted by We Ask America last week illustrates the finance literacy gap. More than 65 percent of those polled want the income tax rate to drop, as scheduled, from the 5 percent rate to 3.75 percent (which will add to the budget gap, of course). Even nearly 50 percent of those who call themselves Democrats want the rate to drop. And more than 55 percent of Chicagoans polled want it to drop. That’s some pretty strong support for no tax increase and it explains why majority Democrats were loathe to pass one before they face voters in November.

http://goo.gl/1v2qbP

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ONLY IN ILLINOIS: ILLINOIS BUDGET HONESTY HARD TO COME BY

MATT DIETRICH MADELEINE DOUBEK  

JUN 6, 2014 245 0

This week Reboot Illinois teamed with Rep. Scott Drury, D-Highwood, for an Illinois budget forum in Lake Forest titled “Spent and Taxed.” Also on the panel were Rep. David Harris, R-Arlington Heights, Stericycle Executive Chairman Mark Miller and Carl LaMell, president of Clearbrook, a suburban agency that serves people with developmental disabilities. The topics of the evening were Illinois tax and budget policy. Much of the focus was on the recently approved and deeply flawed 2015 state budget. Though members of different parties, Drury and Harris both were very critical of both the process behind the budget and the plan that eventually was approved. Though the budget passed on Democratic votes, Drury was a consistent dissenter on the eight bills it comprised. A few high points from the discussion included Harris calling out Democratic leadership for pushing a “maintenance” budget that managed to find extra funding for a handful of select entities.LaMell noted that agencies serving the developmentally disabled asked for an increase that amounted to $15 million, but got nothing. Drury, one of two House Democrats who had vowed to not vote in favor of making permanent the 2011 income tax increase, gives an interesting explanation why he believes taxpayers need to live under the promised tax decrease if they really want it. We’ve boiled it down to the highlights for this week’s “Only in Illinois.”

http://goo.gl/aVwY9h

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ONLY IN ILLINOIS: VOTING FOR A BUDGET OR VOTING FOR A TAX INCREASE?

MATT DIETRICH MADELEINE DOUBEK  

MAY 15, 2014 440 

Not long ago, lawmakers agreed that Illinois by current law will have $34 billion to spend next year. But this week the Democratically led General Assembly began creating a state budget that will spend $37 billion. That figure assumes the General Assembly will approve a tax increase by May 31.

Leading Democrats say they’re just identifying the state’s needs and will worry about where the money comes from later.

Sound backward? It sure does to Republicans in the legislature. That’s the focus of this week’s “Only in Illinois.”

http://www.rebootillinois.com/2014/05/15/uncategorized/mattmadeleine/illinois-voting-budget-voting-tax-increase/8612/?utm_source=onlyil_20140516&utm_medium=email&utm_content=&utm_campaign=