85 Comments - Team Sleep - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:03 am: Thank you, Rich. The decorum around here has been seriously lacking. This site - well, the comment section(s) - has also become very polarizing. I know I’ve “banged this drum” before, but it’s possible to have disagreements and not get too personal or insulting. That happens on EVERY post. I think my overall friendship is split down the middle. I get along with my Dem friends as well as I get along with my fellow Republican friends. It’s okay to be different and disagree. - wordslinger - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:04 am: Perhaps it would be a good idea just to deal with FY 16: $6.1 billion in new debt, even though social services and higher education aren’t being funded at all. That’s a lot on the plate. Leave the past to the history books. - Cubs in '16 - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:06 am: I’d like to see the blame game go away completely. It just doesn’t serve a useful purpose except maybe to try and sway voters. In order to facilitate compromise they all need to focus on things that can be DONE to correct the situation we’re in. Focus on shared goals and beliefs and go from there. Understand neither side is going to be completely happy–which is the essence of compromise. - Jacob Tomlinson - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:09 am: I, a graduate student at Western Illinois University, blame the budget impasse on everyone in Springfield. To blame one person is nonsensical. It is 100% unacceptable for the people that we have elected into office not to do their job. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that I am sick and tired of the bickering. Too many people are being hurt by the inaction of the individuals that should be representing us and our interest. Thus far, I haven’t seen my legislators (nor any other legislator, with the exception of maybe Rep. Drury who also seems to be the most fed up with everything in Springfield) acting in the interest of Illinoisans. If now is not the time for more citizens to be yelling at the people that we put in office, I don’t know when is. - Annoni' - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:09 am: Looka like Capt Fax got into the silly sauce last nite We don’t recall Madigan or Brown ever claimin’ to be “blameless”, but the longevity claim ignores the fact the Madigan never signed a bill into law, appointed an agency director or made a pension investment …. More of his career has been spent with GOPies runni’ the show and the Blagoof/Quinn years were not much of an alliance. Some might suggest blamin’ only serves to delay a resolution — short or long term — of the mess. But hey “delay” might be someone’s idea of resolution. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:13 am: The counter point to this is McKinney… http://www.chicagobusiness.com/section/pensions Lots of blame on Madigan, lots of blame on everyone else too. What is missing in the article is the rules now are based on the Daniels rules passed, that Republicans had no problem voting for for Daniels. - There is power in a union... - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:13 am: Oh if only a great storm would descend upon the state so the tribby edit board could institute their randian free market utopia… /s - Ducky LaMoore - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:15 am: ===It’s also been my experience that if you counter their “Blame it all on Madigan” argument with some basic facts you’re accused of somehow holding Madigan blameless, which is completely ridiculous and if it wasn’t such a childish retort would almost be McCarthyesque.=== Yep. - ash - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:15 am: It is two big egos bent on winning at all costs. Until the rank and file (on both sides) stand up to do what is right, rather than political, we are going to continue spiraling down. - wordslinger - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:17 am: –And he made no bones about what he planned to do years before he was elected - and what we see all around us right now is pretty much what he said he was going to do.– C’mon. He said that, once, years before he was running, at some obscure academic gab fest. It was like talking in an empty room. If he would have put his tens of millions behind THAT message during the campaign he wouldn’t have busted 40%. His whole campaign — no social agenda, not going to push any specific labor legislation — was to obfuscate his intentions. - 360 Degree TurnAround - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:17 am: I miss the status quo, when everything worked. - GOP Extremist - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:20 am: I’m starting to feel like state house chick has thin skin. She recently tweeted that “she don’t give an F” about the haters. I’m not buying it. Two wrongs don’t make a right but sometimes you get what you give. - Earnest - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:23 am: > is pretty much what he said he was going to do In retrospect, perhaps, but that is not what he campaigned on. He took pains to say he had no social agenda and that collective bargaining was not one of his priorities. Besides those who are hurting directly, I think he misled his supporters when he talked about his great negotiating skills and ability to get things done. He could have gotten a lot done for them (and the rest of the state) over the past year. - JS Mill - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:23 am: =Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, did yeoman’s work trying to recalibrate the $30 billion spent on public schools annually.= Nice attempt at sounding “bi-partisan”. We are in the twilight zone now. - @MisterJayEm - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:26 am: His whole campaign — no social agenda, not going to push any specific labor legislation — was to obfuscate his intentions. Correct. One can believe both that 1) there is no excuse for so many voters being fooled by Rauner’s campaign, and that 2) Rauner’s campaign spent millions to deliberately fool the voters. – MrJM - Nope, Nope, Nope - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:27 am: Madigan has been in office for 45 years. Lutheran Social Services and Eastern Illinois were funded for the first 44 of those years. Hmmm, what changed in the last year? - bwana63 - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:28 am: Spot on, Rich. - Downstate - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:30 am: Rich, Thanks for posting that piece. Trying to remain non-political, it would be interesting to compare the powers held by our speaker, as opposed to those in other states. (I’d suggest a state for comparison, but even that debate would create a firestorm!) - FormerParatrooper - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:31 am: Plenty of blame to go around. But to continue harping on who is the blame is only an excuse to do nothing. It is long past time to get to work. As long as the politicians are getting paid they need to put in a honest days work just like the rest of us. Get the budgets together already. - Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:31 am: ===We don’t recall Madigan or Brown ever claimin’ to be “blameless”=== Obvious snark. Well, at least I thought it was. - Mama - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:33 am: ” I don’t at all think they’re right, I’m just sayin’.” Rich, you do NOT think the Dems should be mad at the governor? Hmmm… Interesting - GA Watcher - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:35 am: Here’s a link to the House Rules: http://www.ilga.gov/house/99th_House_Rules.pdf. They are not 129 pages as Ms. McQueary states in her column. - Trolling Troll - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:36 am: I miss the good old days when there was a budget. They are all to blame. I’m hoping that the governor will submit a budget that is fair to all and we can go on with our lives. - JB13 - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:44 am: If you have found yourself of having to defend and make excuses for the 30 years of Michael J. Madigan’s rule in the House, you have already lost the argument. You just don’t know it yet. - Roscoe Tom - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:44 am: You are starting to lean the gov. more and more Rich. Was it more than beer served up for you in your get together? - A guy - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:47 am: The mental synapses going off in CF land with this one must be like the 4th of July. Blame is something there’s no shortage of. No shortage of where to place it either. Thus; this. - Chicagonk - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:50 am: Two men with huge egos surrounded by snarky advisers and yes men. Of course the members aren’t blameless either. It certainly would be refreshing to see some of them take the initiative for once rather than hide behind the party leaders. - Anon - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:51 am: ===I, a graduate student at Western Illinois University, blame the budget impasse on everyone in Springfield. To blame one person is nonsensical. It is 100% unacceptable for the people that we have elected into office not to do their job. === When you paint with a very thick brush you may actually be damaging or failing to support the folks that need your assistance. You may wish to consider that there’s one state wide elected official that has failed to introduce a budget and vetoed the one that was passed by the legislature until a series of demands have been met. Sure, the current situation in the state has been decades in the making, but the immediate crisis is completely self generated by an executive that does not actually seem concerned with the outcomes of his actions or in actions as long as his expressly stated goal has been met. While it’s fine to be frustrated with all of your elected officials and government as a whole, it’s probably going to be more relevant to recognize that the decades of structural issues were delivered by elected officials that had the support of voters. If you don’t want to blame the body politic for the structural problem, that’s fine, but in an essence the state’s elected officials are just trying to get out of paying the bills that the state’s voters don’t want to pay every time they say they’re against raising taxes. So, maybe our elected officials reflect the fiscal responsibility of the body politic as a whole — the folks that want services without paying for them. So — is it really the leadership or is it the folks that chose them to be leaders? Because you seem to want to blame 100% of the leaders, and that’s fine, but that kind of generalization isn’t going to get you to a better place. - Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:51 am: ===They are not 129 pages=== There are other quibbles, too. The House Republicans didn’t change the House rules after Daniels left because they were in the minority. They changed some caucus rules (including leader term limits, which was later deleted). Most of the rule changes were done by Pate Philip, emulated by Lee Daniels and then adopted and expanded by Madigan. Also, the Constitution lays out a GA role in executive orders. I could go on, but it’s kinda pointless. - Moe Berg - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:51 am: The push-back in comments on the suggestion that Rauner was very clear with voters about what he was going to do is warranted. That’s a total rewriting of history. I’m sure the second floor appreciates the cover, but it’s a disservice to the truth. - Anon221 - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:52 am: One of the most heartbreaking things to come out of this whole mess, is the blame by some being heaped upon those who need our social services infrastructure. And that blame can be as blatant as spoken or written words, or as subtle as a head shake and hidden smirk. If a person chooses to get involved in politics, especially to the point of either being appointed or elected to a political position, they then have at least one choice to make, initially- Do I represent everyone in the area I now serve, or do I serve those who got me to this position? As a result of that initial decision- What legacy will I, not do I, leave behind? Legacies last. And, too often, in the race of the moment, that is forgotten. - RNUG - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:54 am: I saw Rauner speak a couple of times during the run up to the primary; different, sometimes contradictory, messages to different audiences. People who were paying attention back then saw the real Rauner. That persona was put away in the closet between the primary and the general election, so if you tuned in late you only saw the less threatening version. A lot of the electorate were fooled. Rauner was no newcomer to politics, but he was used to just pulling the strings from behind the curtain. He knew he would have to deal with Madigan but he made rookie mistakes from day one, starting with the election night phone calls (or no calls depending on whose story you believe). Since then Rauner has blown every opportunity to build trust with Madigan. Madigan is not blameless in this game. Once he figured out he couldn’t trust Rauner, he has pretty much refused to cooperate. Madigan has made it clear Rauner needs to follow the legislative process and he has used his power as Speaker to control which bills get called. But that is just business as usual. Madigan has tried to halfway compromise on the bills Rauner wanted, running the bills but without the poison pills, because Rauner did’t have 60 votes to get those poison pills. Rather than accept the reality he didn’t have the support for his legislative agenda, Rauner just vetoes bills that have 80% - 90% of what he said he wanted. Instead, Rauner has resorted to taking hostages instead of trying to get 60 and 30. Bottom line is that other Governors have managed to work with Madigan or work around Madigan when they had the votes. Rauner doesn’t have the votes and refuses to compromise to work with Madigan … so I see Rauner as deserving the major part of the blame for no budget and the soft shutdown. As long as Rauner is on a crusade to destroy unions by slipping poison pills into every action he takes, nothing is going to change. I realize a lot of the rank and file are frustrated but they only have 2 possible actionns: a) rebel against Madigan and force through revised House rules b) support a recall effort to remove Rauner Neither is likely, but I would bet on b happening before a. - Independent retired lawyer, journalist - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:54 am: Been in Illinois more than 37 years. Never saw this level of political antipathy. Probably because of how Rauner has led the Republican charge. Their Blame Madigan rhetoric makes me think that instead of fighting to live, today’s GOP is living to fight…no matter who gets hurt. - AC - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:55 am: Blame Madigan all you like, but I don’t fear that there’ll be some horrible announcement on a Friday from him. I just wonder how Rauner will address National Wear Red Day which seeks to raise awareness of heart disease and stroke among women. It’s going to be tough for Rauner to top his actions on World Autism Day and of course his anti labor actions heading into Martin Luther King day weekend, let’s hope he doesn’t bother trying, this time. - VanillaMan - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:58 am: We know that we would have been better off if Quinn was reelected. We know this because we have had one year of Bruce Rauner, and it has been an absolute catastrophe. One year - 25% of his entire term has been used up. For nothing. We are worse off than ever. Rauner’s supporters rightly conclude that our situation was bad. Then they need to honestly conclude that the situation is now worse. You do not remove walls by bashing your head into them. You will run out of brains before any walls come down. Rauner doesn’t get that, and this is what everyone since January 2015 has been telling him. Jim Edgar, Jim Thompson, I doubt very highly that Linda Lingle has been telling her boss that he needs to keep ramming his bald head into the walls, because she didn’t do that as a minority GOP governor in Hawaii to get things done. Does Bruce Rauner listen to anyone? We are worse off today, than we were a year ago. If Rauner was a doctor, if you went to him with an open wound - he’d pull off the bandages and not replace them, then tell you as you bleed everywhere that it is your fault for having the accident, not his for not bandaging the wound. Rauner is a disaster of a governor. This is the worse first year of any governorship I have ever read about or witnessed. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:58 am: ===Most of the rule changes were done by Pate Philip, emulated by Lee Daniels and then adopted and expanded by Madigan.=== That’s on me. My bad. - Anonymous - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:59 am: Everyone would like to just put the blame on Rauner now. The reason some agencies were funded is because others weren’t. We have a huge debt and should we just ignore that. Something has to be done….what I don’t know. - Elementary - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 11:06 am: When you are Governor, you own the train wreck. It’s just that simple. - Bill White - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 11:07 am: Q: Something has to be done….what I don’t know. A: If it were January 2015, then a 5% income tax. Today? Maybe 6% to 7% The “blame” for that needs to be shared by BOTH political parties. See, it’s simple. - Very fed up - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 11:08 am: Clearly there is not any responsibility democrats place at Madigans door. He continues to get re as re-elected unanimously without a shred of debate or discussion. - AC - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 11:11 am: ==We are worse off today, than we were a year ago.== Thus is not a subjective statement, and it bears repeating. Numbers from the Comptroller that Rauner appointed provide irrefutable proof that this is true. - Wensicia - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 11:15 am: You can govern poorly, while attacking your political foes, or refuse to govern, blaming your inaction and the resulting meltdown on your foes. Which is worse? For Illinois, the answer is obvious. - Obed - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 11:16 am: I remember drinking beer with Kristen at the MacArthur house back when she was in PAR and Daniels was the Speaker. I also remember the irony that nothing really changed, the same complaints just switched to the other side of the isle. The process was the same, just with a different Speaker. So, her revisionist history doesn’t hold up for those of us who were around at the time. Rich, there’s a reason people get so fired up about Kristen. Her writing style is intentionally inflammatory and I always feel like I’m reading the works of an entitled teenager. I’ll stop now. The problem with our current situation is that both men are waiting for the pressure to build enough on the other to force change. If people blame both sides, does that pressure ever get focused enough to force change? Blaming the Governor and legislature equally doesn’t seem to get anyone to move. - Thoughts Matter - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 11:19 am: RNUG There is an option c, also unlikely The GOP legislators could grow backbones and work with Madigan and together get some veto proof legislation out the door. I am a Republican and I wish my Rep had a primary opponent. - AC - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 11:19 am: ==Clearly there is not any responsibility democrats place at Madigans door.== Madigan did not and is not holding the FY16 budget hostage in order to advance his agenda. Is the issue specifically the FY16 budget, or the fiscal issues that were decades in the making? Both have very different answers. - JS Mill - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 11:21 am: =I saw Rauner speak a couple of times during the run up to the primary; different, sometimes contradictory, messages to different audiences. People who were paying attention back then saw the real Rauner. That persona was put away in the closet between the primary and the general election, so if you tuned in late you only saw the less threatening version. A lot of the electorate were fooled.= This is EXACTLY right. EXACTLY. Madigan- is responsible for many of the problems we face. The entire ILGA is responsible. His leadership position and the duration makes him more responsible. Had they simply paid the bills for the last 20 or 30 years it is highly likely that he would not be dealing with Rauner right now. Madigan has to own that. I am sure both caucuses are bristling under the control of leadership, that is not unusual in any circumstance. The GOP is only kidding itself if they think that they are not bought and paid for though. Rauner showed us his true colors there. This all takes me back to a discussion held about a year or so ago. The speaker said that if the real Rauner shows up and tries to take on the unions and Democratic caucus, it will make Wisconsin’s debacle look like a meeting of the ladies sewing circle in comparison. Boy did he ever underestimate how bad this would be. - walker - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 11:21 am: Why do politics attract all-or-nothing thinking? Pointing out the exaggerations, false history, or errors of one side, isn’t claiming that the other side is blameless. Criticizing one set of proposals for change is not a claim that changes are not needed. Following Team Sleep’s example of respect for others and courtesy, is a bromide for us all. - Handle Bar Mustache - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 11:22 am: Epic comment VM. Those who voted for Rauner and feel the way you do need to tell him: This is not what we signed up for. - 8bar - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 11:23 am: I hope that it is not the case, but one potential theory on Madigan’s behavior may be rooted in his stinging loss on pension reform. He may be trying to vindicate his original claim that things are so bad that “police actions” are necessary in order to renege on constitutional protections. His stranglehold on Springfield may be aimed at eventually being able to say, “I told you so!” - GOP Extremist - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 11:24 am: I guess it’s just a coincidence that the first year we don’t have a buget is the same year Rauner shows up? All those successful negotiations until now, weird??? - wordslinger - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 11:25 am: I don’t think “blame” is the correct idea when it comes to Gov. Rauner’s actions regarding social service providers and higher education. “Blame” implies unintended consequences. I’ve been wrong thinking that social services and higher ed were hostages; they’ve been primary targets to get whacked all along. Nothing else makes sense. You don’t add $6.2 billion in debt and abandon core responsibilities for the “hundreds of millions in savings a year,” that Sen. Murphy told us about yesterday. Those would be the actions of a lunatic. In a refreshing fit of candor last week, Sen. Radogno diagrammed the play: “squeeze the beast” to precipitate the “shake out.” In short, go full Darwin: cut off the life support, and do business at a later date with those who survive. The DHS and Aloha letters to social service providers outlining the exciting new opportunities in the coming post-apocalyptic world are confirmation of the strategy. You don’t follow a game plan for more than a year with these kind of consequences unless the results were your intention all along. As an aside, it’s clear now that local government was on the “squeeze the beast” hit list, too. It was only the near mini-revolt by a handful of House Republicans that got them their reprieve, and their money. Starving local governments, of course, would have served the governor’s bankruptcy and local collective bargaining agendas. I’m quite certain Candidate Rauner was not forthright about his plans during the campaign. If he had been, he would not be Gov. Rauner. Not a chance. But here we are. With three more years of more of the same. I’m certain of it. - Norseman - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 11:26 am: === … blame the budget impasse on everyone in Springfield. === That’s a nice neutral stance, but it doesn’t help us get to a resolution. Everyone will not solve this impasse. Solving the impasse will require action by the governor and the leadership of the General Assembly. The leaders are serving as gatekeepers for what action gets taken. While one can find fault with the actions by all leaders, The majority of the fault for the impasse falls upon Rauner and his poison pills turnaround agenda. (If I were do a meaningless ranking of faults, I’d say Madigan takes second place.) To end this impasse I agree with a recent column by Mark Brown, “Brown: It’s time to take sides in state budget mess.” Rauner needs to feel the heat for not allowing the budget to be discussed. - Anon221 - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 11:28 am: Thoughts Matter- hopefully…hopefully the backbones will calcify this year. Rauner’s constant return to “my way or the highway” on so many issues should be clear now to many GOP legislators. Do they continue to bow to his agenda, or stand up for the People in their districts. Rauner can be made irrelevant on those issues that are important to the long term health of our State. He won’t like it, and there will be more threats, but in the long run, he can always (and will at some point in time) leave the office and huddle up with his buddies go private again. After all, if the ILBEDC was , “Something we should have done 15 years ago,” then go to it risking your own fortune(s), not the fortunes and futures of Illinois. - horse w/ no name - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 11:29 am: A legislative leader uses their position to dictate how legislation moves?! GASP! That’s an awful lot of pearl clutching in describing how pretty much every top dog in every chamber in America operates. - Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 11:29 am: ===Rauner was very clear with voters about what he was going to do=== I didn’t say that. Bite me. - Team Sleep - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 11:43 am: Walker - thanks for the kind words. That was my MO in college. I could disagree with my classmates and friends on nearly every issue and then spend the next several hours after class grabbing a few adult beverages or taking a trip to Denny’s to relax and chat about class. We would leave our angst and anger in the classroom and just have a good time. Why is that so hard? - lake county democrat - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 11:48 am: The voters want a compromise between where Quinn was and where Rauner is. They don’t give a flip about “process” i.e., whether non-budget items are negotiated first. They want political reform. They don’t want unions to be gutted. They want pushback on unions that have far too much power in this state and something to be done about pensions and the mess the state Constitution created. Why hasn’t the media jumped on the rabid anti-Rauner bandwagon (and I don’t just mean the Ferrogopoly)? I think it’s because they want the same thing and they realize that if Rauner gives up all his power (i.e., the veto power on the budget) the rest largely won’t happen. When the Democrats offer compromise on all of this, not just the budget items, I suspect the media will turn on Rauner if he doesn’t respond in kind. - lake county democrat - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 11:54 am: Was Rauner vague about his agenda during the campaign? Yes. Did voters understand he was running to take a far harder line on the unions, especially public unions? Yes. You can more-than-quibble about the degree, but you can’t seriously argue that this is a bait and switch. - jeffinginchicago - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 11:56 am: I take very small comfort in the fact that Pennsylvania is also going through exactly the same process. The funny difference is it is a D governor and R legislative body. That difference makes me think that this is less about personalities as conflict of ideas and lack of compromise in the political world. The legislative budget passed with a $4b deficit was a joke. At this point I think the Governor does need to propose a full budget and let Madigan/Cullerton say no. - tabster - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 12:13 pm: Miller: If Rauner is doing “pretty much what he said he was going to do” then why did YOU state at one point that Rauner “isn’t what many people (myself included) thought he was”? Because Rauner in fact was *not* clear about his agenda at all during the campaign, and its an agenda that has widely been rejected by Illinois citizens since. - ZC - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 12:15 pm: I think some of us are missing the point here. It’s what wordslinger said a while ago: Is it fundamentally OK, to use widespread state suffering and under-funding for poor and vulnerable communities (and young ‘uns) as “leverage” for non-directly-budgetary demands? Are we basically saying, yes, the House Republicans in DC can shut down the Capitol and start to starve the federal government, unless Obama makes at least a few “compromises” and dismantles “at least a little bit” of the Affordable Care Act? Or, y’know, knocks a few million off Planned Parenthood? Is that whole style of “negotiation,” democratically acceptable? My answer is: No. Because holy cow, the precedent it sets. Once this works once, you keep doing it. Why haven’t we gotten a government shutdown recently in DC, or the threat of one, or a debt ceiling default? Because Obama -shut the Republicans down-. He said, “You get, NOTHING.” That’s the only reason. If he’d conceded, anything, we’d be getting perpetual shutdowns and debt ceiling threats to this day. That’s the model Rauner’s pursuing. And frankly it’s terrifying, for anyone who believes in separation of powers and “regular democracy.” Is Madigan at fault? Yeah, sure. But please, save me this idea that we can at this juncture play some kind of namby-pamby, “well, y’know, both sides are kind of at fault … both sides should make some concessions … find a middle ground.” You’re basically saying, Obama should start shutting down the ACA as a “reward” for the government not going broke. So yeah, Madigan’s at fault, of course. But right now, I am 100% in Madigan’s corner. Rauner’s left me with no choice, but to take a side. Again, it’s not that you can’t deliberate or debate. It’s -the context for the negotiations-. This is a hostage crisis, make no bones, no matter now much Rauner tries to deny it. And sometimes in a hostage crisis, it’s sad, but you don’t negotiate, and if that means some hostages die, you’re still saving a lot of future hostages down the road. And if that all sounds extreme (and it does) … well, dude, have you been watching Rauner for the last year? These aren’t normal times. Go Mike Madigan !!! - Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 12:15 pm: ===If Rauner is doing “pretty much what he said he was going to do” then why=== That sentence is linked to a prior statement. Click the link. Move along. Or I’ll move you along. - Buzzie - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 12:19 pm: Observing Rauner and Madigan is like watching Obama and the Congress; in both cases nothing really will be done until after the next elections—–if then. Also, it shouldn’t be forgotten that when Rauner won the election there was no corresponding increase of Republican legislators; the fact being that the governorship race was not so much Republican vs Democrat or even pro-Rauner as it was anti-Quinn. - jake - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 12:25 pm: My formulation is that Madigan often fails to do the right thing, while Rauner goes out of his way to do the wrong thing. - Moe Berg - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 12:30 pm: Apologies for misinterpreting what you meant by “he made no bones about what he was going to do.” As others have said, rather than being perfectly clear, what that phrase means, he spent a fortune to obscure his true intentions with voters and repeatedly denied he would pursue the radical course he has, in fact, pursued. - tominchicago - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 12:33 pm: Is she now praying for a literal hurricane that will wipe the Speaker away? - Driveby - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 12:34 pm: Just another chapter in the “It’s Rauner’s fault” narrative you knew would come from Rich, Dems and unions after about a year. Expect the to gradually expand that, no matter what. Rich, your guys destroyed the state. Deal with it. - Very fed up - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 12:35 pm: Very much agree with you lake county democrat. Im firmly in the camp you described and would consider just term limit and redistricting ballot initiatives to be great wins out of this mess. The clearest path forward to good government again from both sides. - Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 12:35 pm: Driveby’s comment is exactly the sort of childish, near-McCarthyite stupidity I mentioned above. - Anonymous - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 12:39 pm: VM @ 10:58 summed it up for me (I held my nose and voted for Quinn). Thoughts Matter @ 11:19 also nails part of the problem. For the first time in my life, I may pull a Democratic ballot, just because of one man, and that is sad… - History Prof - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 12:43 pm: Ash, are you suggesting the Dems should throw labor under the bus? - cdog - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 12:45 pm: Rauner’s own GOMB stated (1/6/16) that they project a $25,000,000,000 bill backlog at the end of FY19. If a Governor is constitutionally required to submit a balanced budget to the legislature, how can this be? How does this diseased projection have anything to do with Madigan? (Sure Madigan has been in charge for a long time, but his intentions have never been to destroy the State of Illinois.) To participate in the malarkey of playing the blame game reflects on the player. The weak person who indulges in the “blame game” rejects personal responsibility for their actions, or the actions of their team. (In our house, we say “excuses are for the people who make them, nobody else wants to hear it. Fix it.”) This administration is completely illogical, incompetent, and less than trustworthy. Their INTENTIONS are not honorable. I am sure looking forward to Feb 10, Feb 17, and March 15. - wordslinger - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 12:47 pm: –Was Rauner vague about his agenda during the campaign? Yes. Did voters understand he was running to take a far harder line on the unions, especially public unions? Yes. You can more-than-quibble about the degree, but you can’t seriously argue that this is a bait and switch.– Webster’s: Bait and switch, n. : the ploy of offering a person something desirable to gain favor (as political support) then thwarting expectations with something less desirable –CANDIDATE RAUNER: “Let me be clear about collective bargaining: Eliminating collective bargaining is not part of my agenda. It is not part of my agenda……Pushing any specific labor regulation is not my priority at all.” – http://wuis.org/post/does-rauner-have-mandate-labor#stream/0 - History Prof - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 12:48 pm: Bravo - Anon - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 10:51 am: I have never heard it said better! - Anonnymouse - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 12:55 pm: Any chance the GOP might grow a backbone since it’s too late for Rauner to primary an opponent? - Lucky Pierre - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 1:17 pm: In the 8th month of the budget standoff why has no roadmap for a compromise emerged? Is there an elder statesman who could broker a compromise? Like it or not a majority of voters support plans to reform Springfield. No reforms are proposed by Democrats, even common sense plans like Massachusetts implemented. Very tough to sign off on a budget with no reforms. - Union Leader - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 1:22 pm: Any chance the GOP might grow a backbone since it’s too late for Rauner to primary an opponent? –The answer is NO! - Lenny - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 1:23 pm: This was from the Trib? Why doesn’t that suprise me. You would think the corporations they are shilling for would hire editors with more sophistication. - Georg Sande - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 1:49 pm: To the article posted … anyone care to contest the facts offered? - Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 1:56 pm: ===anyone care to contest the facts offered? === I did. Scroll thru comments. - mokenavince - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 3:07 pm: Madigan has been boss for so long he should share most of the blame. Has some one come up with a list of things he has accomplished to benefit the State? Most of the things he does seem to benefit him and his law firm. He’s set things up in the House so without his permission the bills all fail. - Demoralized - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 4:19 pm: I can’t stand the blame game. It drives me absolutely nuts. Only the hyper-partisans of the world would try and blame one person or another. You can find blame in all of them. To suggest someone is without blame is asinine. So, agreed. Anyone trying to blame just the Speaker or just the Governor . . . it’s malarky. - walker - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 4:20 pm: RNUG 10:54 summarizes the situation accurately - NeverPoliticallyCorrect - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 4:39 pm: Lots of interesting comments here with lots of blame being assigned. There is a constitutional process for passing a budget. It was followed initially in the GA passing a budget and then Rauner vetoing it. What should have happened next was to either override the veto or compromise. Madigan and Cullerton have been unable to override and refused to compromise. There is no need to emotion here, the facts are quite simple. Very sad situation for this state. - Norseman - Friday, Feb 5, 16 @ 4:47 pm: === Madigan and Cullerton have been unable to override and refused to compromise. === Funny how things get moved by the General Assembly, when the Governor removes his poison pills, i.e. unemployment insurance, several pass-through bills. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.