伊利諾州即將面臨破產 
千萬不要以為政府是萬能的。
政府也是由人所構成的，
因此它的能力也受限於它的組成份子
（亦即政府公家員工）；
它的資金也受限於所徵到的稅收
（呃…如果政府不道德的亂印鈔票例外）；
它的時間也跟我們一樣每
天只有24小時；
所以可以得知，
任何個人可能發生的狀況，例如：
有盈有虧、被告或控告、宣布破產、甚至死亡等
政府也是有可能發生同樣的情形。
當人民自立自強，
相對他們的政府就會越來越強
（相當於第一、二次世界大戰的美國）
當人民越來越軟弱依賴，
相對他們的政府就會越來越無能、
效率不彰、越管越多、甚至獨斷獨裁。
伊利諾州即將面臨破產
l 營業稅短徵46億美元
l 所得稅短徵41.7億美元
l 公營事業短收4.2億美元
l 遺產稅短徵1.8億美元
今年還要面臨更嚴重的短徵情形。
Illinois enters a state of insolvency
By: Paul Merrion, Greg Hinz and Steven R. Strahler
As Illinois' fiscal crisis deepens, the word "bankruptcy" is creeping more and more into the public discourse.
"We would like all the stakeholders of Illinois to recognize how close the state is to bankruptcy or insolvency," says Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, a fiscal watchdog in Chicago.
"Bankruptcy is the reality that looms out there," Republican gubernatorial candidate Andrew McKenna Jr. says.
While it appears unlikely or even impossible for a state to hide out from creditors in Bankruptcy Court, Illinois appears to meet classic definitions of insolvency: Its liabilities far exceed its assets, and it's not generating enough cash to pay its bills. Private companies in similar circumstances often shut down or file for bankruptcy protection.
"I would describe bankruptcy as the inability to pay one's bills," says Jim Nowlan, senior fellow at the University of Illinois' Institute of Government and Public Affairs. "We're close to de facto bankruptcy, if not de jure bankruptcy."
Legal experts say the protections of the federal bankruptcy code are available to cities and counties but not states.
While Illinois doesn't have the option of shutting its doors or shedding debts in a bankruptcy reorganization, it seems powerless to avert the practical equivalent. Despite a budget shortfall estimated to be as high as $5.7 billion, state officials haven't shown the political will to either raise taxes or cut spending sufficiently to close the gap.
As a result, fiscal paralysis is spreading through state government. Unpaid bills to suppliers are piling up. State employees, even legislators, are forced to pay their medical bills upfront because some doctors are tired of waiting to be paid by the state. The University of Illinois, owed $400 million, recently instituted furloughs, and there are fears it may not make payroll in March if the shortfall continues.
伊利諾大學警告
伊利諾州同加州面臨破產
'We're close to de facto bankruptcy, if not de jure bankruptcy.'
— Jim Nowlan, University of Illinois
Without quick corrective action or a sharp economic upturn, Illinois is headed toward a governmental collapse. At some point, unpaid vendors will stop bidding on state contracts, investors will refuse to buy Illinois bonds and state employees will get paid in scrip, as California did last year.
"The crisis will come when you see state institutions shutting down because they can't pay their employees," says David Merriman, head of the economics department at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
…
While the Illinois Constitution protects vested pension benefits, that promise, like all the state's obligations, is only as good as its ability to pay. The Civic Federation warned lawmakers last fall that "there is mounting evidence that a judge could find the state is already insolvent. If the state is found to be insolvent under the classical cash-flow definition of insolvency, which is 'the inability to pay debts as they come due,' it is not only the pension rights of non-vested employees that will be in jeopardy. All the obligations of the state, whether vested or not, will be competing for funding with the other essential responsibilities of state government. Even vested pension rights are jeopardized when a government is insolvent."
原文（全）連結：
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?articleId=32910&seenIt=1
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