Fed deficit down, Illinois deficit up

Folks over at Illinois Review debate if Bush undercut Topinka when he touted US economic growth while they've been taking shots at Blagojevich for lack of growth. Well, growth is relative is the point and Illinois hasn't been managing the revenues from that growth very well when compared with what's happing nationally. From Frank Watson reviewing Hynes's report on Illinois's deficit,

The deterioration in the state’s fiscal condition occurred during a period of very healthy revenue growth. The Governor managed to increase the deficit during a year in which state income tax revenues grew by $1.332 billion and other state tax revenues went up by $833 million.

And compare that with the NYT's story from July 9,

Tax revenues are climbing twice as fast as the administration predicted in February, so fast that the budget deficit could actually decline this year.

The main reason is a big spike in corporate tax receipts, which have nearly tripled since 2003, as well as what appears to be a big increase in individual taxes on stock market profits and executive bonuses.

Illinois could be growing faster and could be managing the revenues better. There's plenty for JBT and Birkett to chomp on if they would come out swinging.