Alexi Giannoulias's Hypocrisy on Debt

In contrast to Hynes's opposition to the borrowing plan, Giannoulias was inclined to support the additional borrowing. According to the Rich Miller with the Capitol Fax Blog:

Treasurer Giannoulias told reporters this afternoon that he is leaning in favor of supporting the plan. That would put Hynes out on a limb all by himself. Giannoulias apparently stressed that the federal Medicaid match would more than make up for interest and fees and that the money could be repaid.

Giannoulias's claim that the federal Medicaid match would help pay off the loans when they came due was doubted by the people at the Illinois comptroller's office.  Again, according to Miller: 

I just got off the phone with the comptroller’s office. They were pretty surprised to learn that the treasurer’s people think there’s enough liquidity to pay off these short-term loans, even with the Medicaid match.

Finally, it should be noted that Giannoulias has been the state treasurer of Illinois since 2007. Since he took office, Illinois’s budget deficit has more than quintupled, going from $2.328 billion in 2006 to over $13 billion currently.

Giannoulias supported the stimulus, and said it should have been bigger.  He supports Obamacare. He was a willing participant in sinking Illinois even further into debt. His preaching about fiscal responsibility is like Tim Geithner preaching about the importance of paying your taxes.