Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » Still not getting it
SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax      Advertise Here      About     Exclusive Subscriber Content     Updated Posts    Contact Rich Miller
CapitolFax.com
To subscribe to Capitol Fax, click here.
Still not getting it

Monday, Jul 21, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Somebody finally notices, but he buries it way down so nobody else will likely notice

With all of the budget folderol from last week, it’s worth remembering that back in May, the House passed another budget that didn’t increase spending nearly as much as the one that landed on Blagojevich’s desk. However, it was never called for a vote in the Senate, so that was that.

Basically, this budget mess didn’t have to be this way.

It’s difficult for readers to remember if hardly anybody ever told them it happened in the first place.

* A downstate editorial goes on and on about the veto overrides and the general nastiness in Springfield without mentioning the budget bills still sitting in the Senate

The entire Senate should have a say on whether to accept the cuts made by the governor - and senators should have that say before November and without any threats regarding what will happen if they don’t follow the wishes of Jones.

But, in refusing to bring the Senate to Springfield to act on the governor’s amendatory veto, he is following the same pattern he did a year ago, so no one should be surprised.

* This editorial blames the governor for the budget mess, but also doesn’t mention the bills idling in the Senate…

Now there will be pain. And no matter how he prefers to view it, the pain comes from the governor’s hand. Unless voters send a radically new membership to the House in the November elections, the governor should plan on either coming up with more realistic revenue plans or inflicting more pain in the next two years. He should also plan on being held accountable for it.

* Related…

* Lawmaker pay rates exceed neighbors

* Emil Jones finagles a raise

* Illinois budget cuts to have broad impact

* Stalled renovations empty Lincoln Hall

* Ralph Martire: Ideas to generate new state revenue woefully lacking

       

16 Comments
  1. - GoBearsss - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 9:25 am:

    The Governor should come up with more revenue plans? really?

    How about… you know… anybody else… coming up with… anything?


  2. - Dan S, a voter and Cubs Fan - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 9:32 am:

    Can you say con-con? More ammunition to vote yes for a con-con.


  3. - Pot calling kettle - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 9:52 am:

    Question for the budget hawks: After the Gov. made his cuts, how close was the “improved” budget to the oft overlooked one sitting in the Senate?

    I’m betting it was pretty close. If so, the Gov. should blame the grief he gets for the vetoes on Emil. (Not that he will.)


  4. - wordslinger - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 9:57 am:

    It’s the kind of story that combines two elements the mainstream press avoid: process and numbers.


  5. - anon - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 10:15 am:

    I wonder why the Speaker did not make more of the fact that the House passed a less expansive budget. Last year, he repeatedly noted that the House has passed a budget that the Senate did not take up. Perhaps, if he or others in the House had been more vocal, the story would have had some legs. I am sure the Speaker and Mr. Brown know that.


  6. - Captain America - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 10:48 am:

    Senate President Emil Jones has enabled Governor A to paralyze State government for two years now. When is the Seante caucus going to wake up and overthrow him? Every Democratic Senator who fails to speak out vigorously in public against Senator Jones’ flawed leadership shares the responsibibilty for this debacle. Each Senator who fails to demand that the Senate reconvene to consider the overrides or other interim funding alternatives is a political coward for failing to stand up against Jones.

    Con-con seems to be the only alternative to the average informed citizen, liberal or conservative, to express their discontent when our represntaitves in Springfiled fail to speak out and act decisively to minimize the consequnces of the megalomania and resultant gridlock in Springfield. In the immortal words of Senator James Taylor , we are tired of the executive-legislative-administrative “bulljive” that has characterized Illinois governemt in recent years.

    PS i’m not absolving MJM from his share of the responsibility - just ranking the blame proportionately to the culprits: (1) Blago, (2)Jones, and (3) Madigan


  7. - Ghost - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 10:55 am:

    Imagine how many papers the main stream press could seel if they investigated facts and reported complete information. Its almost like people have to go other places for good neews.

    The flat rate budget sitting in the Senate should be headlining the budget dispute. Every time the Gov complains about an out of whack budget somone should ask why he did not push for the flat growth budget or just use his veto pen to restructure what he got to match the no growth version sitting stalled by jones/Hendon. Then follow that with stories about hendon passng out 20k to firends and Jones stalling for a 12% pay raise.


  8. - Pot calling kettle - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 12:02 pm:

    anon: I’ll speculate that the Speaker is keeping quiet because he knows any high-profile infighting is advertising for a con-con. The Gov., on the other hand, is a con-con proponent’s dream. Every press conference where he complains about the House is a free ad.


  9. - Rich Miller - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 12:04 pm:

    ===I’ll speculate that the Speaker is keeping quiet because he knows any high-profile infighting is advertising for a con-con.===

    He’s not keeping quiet about other issues, so I don’t think you’re correct.


  10. - South Side Mike - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 12:39 pm:

    Capt. America,

    I’ve wondered the same thing myself. But I wonder if the Senators *like* the gridlock and politics of the last two years. The Dem. Senators get all of their appropriations, unlike the Dem. House members. They are covered from any unpopular stands by their almighty leader, all the while soaking up the benefits of public office (see Hendon, RickEy).

    If they were to overthrow Jones and install a leader who actually allows votes, then they might have to justify their actions/inactions to voters. No, it’s safer and easier to cower from Jones than it is to serve the Illinois public.


  11. - VanillaMan - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 12:48 pm:

    We cannot expect a better government from these people. They have either shirked their responsibilities or simply don’t understand them. How any legislator could just sit back and do nothing as these corrupt stunts occur around them, is like watching firefighters roasting hot dogs on a five alarm blaze.

    We have had years of this. It is quite clear that expecting reform from this body of elected officials is dreaming. We are being forced to take this situation into our hands and vote for a Con-Con in 2008.

    The longer we sit here, the worse the situation becomes.


  12. - Capitol View - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 1:21 pm:

    Madigan did not want the blame for the cuts, so he is being quiet that he proposed a slimmed down budget as damaging to human services as the gov’s - let the focus be on “Blago getting what he wanted” including cutting out raises for direct service community based workers that the unions worked to get into the FY 09 budget.

    An expansion of the sales tax to services already collecting it for an ancillary part of what they do would have raised enough money to avoid most if not all of the human services vetoes. But the dollars from this overdue tax reform would never to go to just human services, everyone’s stepchild… until the community based human services sector finally collapses due to state underfunding, which it is dangerously close to doing. No annual COLAs since the second year of the Edgar Adminstration mean that many sectors’ rates are down to 70% of actual cost. And now the IDOA Community Care Program is having its 12th month payment deferred into FY 10. What a terribly run state government, and what an abuse of non-profit providers…


  13. - Captain Flume (a former anon) - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 2:14 pm:

    Maybe the smaller House version of the budget was a cover, or a Plan B. The Speaker did not need to flaunt it because a “big” budget was more agreeable to the Senate AND to the Governor. Since the Repubs in both chambers seem to have had some Kool-Aid slipped into their sloe gin fizzes, the Speaker and many House Dems decided to just let them all dangle with deep cuts, no ill-conceived revenue sourcing, and sharing the responsibility for the budget we wound up with. There might have been some good PR in passing a revenue bill to help pay for the House overrides, and perhaps forcing the Senate into action. But I am still hearing stories critical of the Senate not wanting to vote on pay raises. So maybe pressure from the media and the public will better serve than too much ballyhoo from the Speaker.


  14. - Pot calling kettle - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 7:52 pm:

    Rich: That’s why you make the big bucks while I sit in my cave and speculate. :)


  15. - I wonder... - Monday, Jul 21, 08 @ 11:20 pm:

    how many state employees and”or contractors will lose their jobs and from what agency?


  16. Pingback ArchPundit | Inane Editorial of the Day - Thursday, Jul 31, 08 @ 12:02 pm:

    […] and who had a no growth budget in May […]


Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.


* Endangered caracal captured without injury
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Fundraiser list
* Mayor Johnson appears to change tune on Springfield
* Energy Storage And Clean Energy!
* A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away
* Question of the day (Updated)
* Today's must-read
* We have the receipts, Mr. Mayor
* Open thread
* Isabel’s morning briefing
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition
* SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today's edition of Capitol Fax (use all CAPS in password)
* Live coverage
* Selected press releases (Live updates)
* Yesterday's stories

Support CapitolFax.com
Visit our advertisers...

...............

...............

...............

...............

...............

...............


Loading


Main Menu
Home
Illinois
YouTube
Pundit rankings
Obama
Subscriber Content
Durbin
Burris
Blagojevich Trial
Advertising
Updated Posts
Polls

Archives
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004

Blog*Spot Archives
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005

Syndication

RSS Feed 2.0
Comments RSS 2.0




Hosted by MCS SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax Advertise Here Mobile Version Contact Rich Miller