In a fairly comprehensive interview with the AP, Illinois Green gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney discussed his platform and his run for office.
From Bloomberg Businessweek (originally from AP):
The Green Party candidate for governor told The Associated Press on Monday that Illinois has been moving toward smaller government and that it has led to dangerously overcrowded prisons, less care for the mentally ill, higher college tuitions and furlough days for state employees.
“You know, for all the people that have been saying for years ‘small government, small government, small government,’ hey, you’re getting it,” Whitney said. “It’s getting smaller right now. How do you like it?”
The Carbondale attorney said Illinois, which is struggling with a record $13 billion deficit, could afford to pay for much-needed government services if it overhauled its tax system by imposing a sizable bump in the state income tax, a new tax on complex financial transactions and fees for pollution, among other things.
In two or three years, he said, the budget would be balanced and Illinois could offer free college tuition, which Whitney estimates would cost almost $4 billion annually.
“It’s something I think we can afford, and I think we have to afford it,” he said.
If elected, Whitney said he would turn to liberal advocacy groups to find aides and agency directors. Someone from the Sierra Club, for instance, might be named to run the Environmental Protection Agency.