Kirk Dillard took his gubernatorial campaign to ABC 7's studios this weekend, where he was a guest on their Sunday interview segment NewsViews.  Not suprisingly, when asked whether Illinois could dig itself out of this budget crisis without a tax increase, the Republican state senator answered, "Yes .. And I've done it before." What followed was Dillard's all-too-familar recounting of how he and his old boss Gov. Jim Edgar "inherited a mountain of debt" in the early-Nineties and "left a billion-and-a-half budget surplus ... all without an income tax increase." Watch it:

Of course, as we've noted repeatedly, Dillard's version of events conveniently omits that Edgar also "inherited" a load of new revenue upon taking office in 1991, thanks to a temporary income tax increase passed in 1989 and made permanent by the new governor.  Considering how often Dillard uses this line, it'd be nice to see a reporter respond with the relevant context.

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