Bloomberg has closed 20 fire departments at night and is proposing layoffs in every single city agency . #6 In the state of Illinois, lawmakers recently pushed through a 66 percent increase in the personal income tax rate. #7 The town of Prichard, Alabama came up with a unique way to battle their budget woes recently.  They simply stopped sending out pension checks to retired workers.  Of course this is a violation of state law, but town officials insist that they just do not have the money. #9 The state of New Jersey is in such bad shape that they still are facing a $10 billion budget deficit for this year even after cutting a billion dollars from the education budget and laying off thousands of teachers. #10 Due to a very serious budget shortfall, the city of Newark, New Jersey recently made very significant cuts to the police force.  Subsequently, there has been a very substantial spike in the crime rate. #14 Oakland, California Police Chief Anthony Batts has announced that due to severe budget cuts there are a number of crimes that his department will simply not be able to respond to any longer .  The crimes that the Oakland police will no longer be responding to include grand theft, burglary, car wrecks, identity theft and vandalism. #15 In Connecticut, the governor is asking state legislators to approve the biggest tax increase that the state has seen in two decades . #16 All across the United States, conditions