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The impasse almost killed a baby

Friday, Feb 10, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The abject failure of this government’s leaders to get their acts together is flat-out immoral

One mother says her son’s facing death, all because the government isn’t paying its bills.

“It’s just been awful, it really has,” Kenea said.

Her twin one-year-old boys were born premature, but while Kade is just fine, Kobe lags behind. His lungs still haven’t fully developed and he struggles to breathe on his own.

“It’s very scary, very, very scary,” said Kenea.

That’s why in between the happy noises of their big family, in their home, you can always hear the constant drone of a machine pumping critical oxygen into Kobe’s lungs, without which, he can’t survive.

“Kobe would be dead or in a hospital permanently,” Williams said.

Kenea works for the state of Illinois. Like many of us, she relies on her insurance. She pays her premiums and expected that the state would pay its bills.

But she says she was wrong.

After three years, Illinois still doesn’t have a budget and is now billions of dollars in debt to service provides.

Byrd-Watson, the company that supplied Kobe’s oxygen machines, told Kenea they wanted Kobe’s oxygen machine back.

“She stated to me many times, we are not getting paid for your equipment,” Kenea said.

Kenea was in a panic. But the worst moment came with a bang on the door.

Marion County Sheriff’s Deputies showed up at her home, the supplier at their side, demanding their equipment.

What kind of company does that?

And what kind of government allows this to get to the point where a baby’s oxygen machine is threatened with seizure?

Go read the whole thing.

* Related stories about state worker health insurance…

* IL Comptroller visits SIU campus to discuss budget impasse

* Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza Visits SIU Carbondale Campus

* Illinois comptroller talks to SIU employees about state health insurance payments

       

78 Comments
  1. - 47th Ward - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 2:20 pm:

    That’s how you run state government like a business. Lead pipe cruelty.

    Heck of a job Raunie.


  2. - Archiesmom - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 2:21 pm:

    This is an obscenity.


  3. - Wow - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 2:22 pm:

    Tell that lady not to worry: as soon as we get term limits the whole world will be right again.


  4. - Henry Francis - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 2:28 pm:

    “We have to be competitive so we can afford to be compassionate.”

    Bruce Rauner (2/10/17)


  5. - Anonymouse - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 2:30 pm:

    This is exactly what Rauner wants. This is his leverage. He has no idea of the kind of pain his “persistent” quest for dubious reforms is causing.

    This is real pain.

    Rauner. Does. Not. Care.

    It’s obscene.


  6. - Stones - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 2:37 pm:

    I can’t use words strong enough to express my disgust with this situation. The fact that this situation has dragged on this long has exceeded even my most pessimistic projections. I’m not sure what it will take to get it fixed.


  7. - btowntruth from forgottonia - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 2:37 pm:

    Rich?
    What kind of government allows this?
    The kind of government led by a Governor who says this……
    “Crisis creates leverage to change . . . and we’ve got to use that leverage of the crisis to force structural change.”


  8. - wordslinger - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 2:39 pm:

    –The abject failure of this government’s leaders to get their acts together is flat-out immoral…–

    –”We can’t be compassionate if we’re not competitive.” Bruce Rauner.

    This is completely predictable. If you accept hostage-taking, squeeze-the-beast and reneging on contracts as acceptable political tactics to leverage stuff like term limits, then this sort of thing is on you.

    The governor has signed appropriations for K-12. He has doled out tens of millions in tax credits for the likes of Amazon and Capital One. Those priorities get paid.

    Rauner chose to shred the social services infrastructure. No Republicans joined Democrats to override his vetoes to fund those contracts. Those are undeniable facts.


  9. - Daniel Plainview - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 2:39 pm:

    Last I checked only one leader put preconditions on a budget. He’s free to drop those any time.

    But what would you expect from a guy that raised the price of a lifesaving drug for infants by 1300%?

    What kind of company does this? Rauner’s kind.


  10. - Ducky LaMoore - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 2:40 pm:

    Who knew despotism could be the result of gross incompetence?


  11. - tobias846 - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 2:40 pm:

    We’re going to hear more stories like this if the “grand bargain” fails.

    Rauner drove the state into a ditch and refused to call the tow truck unless his demands were met. Now it’s looking more like he’s driving us off a cliff.

    I think it’s notable that a St. Louis TV station reported this. Here in Illinois, the impasse is generally reported as if it was an 11-dimensional chess game between Rauner and Madigan with no real victims.


  12. - DuPage Saint - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 2:42 pm:

    Works for the state? Wait till her paycheck stops
    What an immoral mess


  13. - Wow - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 2:43 pm:

    “Tobias” : what do you mean “of the grand bargain fails” ?? The Governor sent his dogs ( Proft n IPI) out to kill the bargain 10 days ago…


  14. - Reality Check - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 2:44 pm:

    And Rauner is trying to force moms like Kenea to pay double what she’s paying now for health insurance, while freezing her pay for four years.


  15. - Jocko - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 2:44 pm:

    ==Rep. Cavaletto says he would be open to a small tax increase to get a balanced budget.==

    Was he one of the six voting present on Wednesday or did he vote no?


  16. - Thoughts Matter - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 2:48 pm:

    This is what happens when you demonize and illegitimize
    your entire public employee work force. The Governor sees us all as cogs in a wheel. He could pay cash for that baby’s machine and not notice he spent any money.


  17. - CCP Hostage - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 2:49 pm:

    If there’s no budget soon, these stories will be an every day occurrence. We providers are taking it on our backs to hold our clients harmless in this disaster, but payments of even court ordered money are slowing down, our credit is gone, and we’re mortgaged to the eyeballs. When we start going down, our clients will too. How about a budget before the real harm to real people happens every day?


  18. - Emily Miller - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 2:50 pm:

    It’s important to remember that each and every consequence of this budget impasse were and continue to be foreseeable.

    Not to defend the company that wanted to take back their machines, but they run a business. Yes, it seems there are probably some community relations issues that should be considered before a business goes and disconnects a baby from an oxygen machine, but then there are probably some community relations issues that should be considered before a state puts a business in a position where they’d literally repossess the one thing keeping a baby alive.

    This is what happens when we don’t have a budget. I wish the folks who talk about their frustration with the short term pain and discomfort this impasse is bringing would sit down with this mother and explain to her how the turnaround agenda is going to pump oxygen into her baby’s lungs.


  19. - Been There - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 2:52 pm:

    ===The governor has signed appropriations for K-12. He has doled out tens of millions in tax credits for the likes of Amazon and Capital One. Those priorities get paid.=====
    And my guess is the cost to pay those new “essential” employees that came from Mungers office to fill “vacant” positions would be enough to pay for this poor kids equipment.


  20. - AlfondoGonz - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 2:52 pm:

    Governor, I don’t like you, I don’t respect you, but I plead here, hat in hand:

    A budget, please.


  21. - Echo the Bunnyman - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 2:54 pm:

    I doubt this is the first we will hear. Awful. Let’s be clear. Every present vote. Madigan. The governor. Are all responsible. The amount of state workers that have to pay cash or not see a doctor because nobody takes the insurance is a joke. A deadly one. How many of these stories we don’t hear about. Don’t kid yourself. There’s plenty more.


  22. - Harvest76 - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 2:56 pm:

    “We have to be competitive so we can afford to be compassionate.”

    Bruce Rauner (2/10/17)

    Didn’t Jesus say this first?


  23. - btowntruth from forgottonia - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 2:58 pm:

    Emily,that is nothing but right what you said.
    And this part…..
    “I wish the folks who talk about their frustration with the short term pain and discomfort this impasse is bringing would sit down with this mother and explain to her how the turnaround agenda is going to pump oxygen into her baby’s lungs.”

    Every single last one of them.
    From Rauner to Cavaletto.


  24. - Honeybear - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:01 pm:

    I can’t figure out why it’s not illegal to do this. Almost every state worker has a story now. Just think about a shut down. God help us.


  25. - dude - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:02 pm:

    Rauner does not care. Reminder from a 2014 Republican Newswatch article.

    http://republicannewswatch.com/wp/?p=13297

    “GTCR’s foray into the nursing home business might have been good for the bank accounts of Bruce Rauner and his friends. But according to court documents, some elderly residents of those nursing homes paid the ultimate price.”


  26. - Henry Francis - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:04 pm:

    Keep in mind, this isn’t a result of the Governor making a decision to cut a particular program based on policy. This is a Governor who is simply stiffing contracts.

    With Illinois businesses.

    He takes and takes everything he can under the contract, but when it comes time for the quid pro quo, he just shrugs his shoulders.

    How can a “fiscal conservative” businessman break almost every contract his administration signs?

    Arduin’s contract got paid, didn’t it? How about all of the outside consultants? Have those contracts been paid?


  27. - tobias846 - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:05 pm:

    What would happen if the next headline doesn’t include the word “almost”?

    I’m trying to imagine how Rauner runs in 2018 if he’s the defendant in a wrongful-death lawsuit. “If we had term limits, that baby would be alive today!”


  28. - Anonymous - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:10 pm:

    This! This is the type of story that Kennedy and the Dems should connect to Rauner and his “heartless”. As OW would say, do this all day, every day.


  29. - No Raise - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:12 pm:

    This is outrageous. But I have posted before about the program which pays providers 90% of their claim upfront and 10% upon final payment from the State. The lender simply gets all of the interest due on the claim. Thus, if the provider does not want to wait for the State and it’s generous interest payment down the road, they can still get 90% within 30 days of the claim if they elect to go with the privately-funded program.


  30. - Huh? - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:13 pm:

    This is what we get for electing a businessman to run the State like a business.

    Illinois does not have to be competitive to be compassionate. Other states have demonstrated that taxes can be raised, spending increased, bills paid and still be competitive.

    It was a relief to read that the Sheriff in the story left without taking the equipment.


  31. - Hickory - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:18 pm:

    I missed seeing the Speaker mentioned above.


  32. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:19 pm:

    Thanks, as always, to Emily Miller.

    Thanks to Rich for Posting stories like these that need to be told.

    To the Post,

    All I want to add, to the comments, Rich’s in the Post, Emily Miller’s in Comments and everyone’s real concern to the victims of what is happening here in Illinois.

    Remember this tweet. Remember what was the “game” sting this tweet, and tell me why I should look beyond what this tweet tells me…

    The tweet…

    “I’m frustrated 2, but taking steps towards reforming IL more important than short term budget stalemate.”

    That was the mantra. That has been the message.

    Telling me… that this isn’t a strategy, causing harm until…

    … I’m not going to believe you.

    Oswego Willy


  33. - Almost the Weekend - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:19 pm:

    It seems President Cullerton and Leader Radogno are the only individuals who care about the budget. The other are more worried about ego


  34. - DuPage Saint - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:19 pm:

    Yes No Raise you are absolutely right. And which politicians own that company again?


  35. - Arock - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:21 pm:

    Madigan allowed the temporary tax increase go to the wayside with no intention of working with Rauner to reform government or reign in spending. Madigan has dug in just as much as Rauner and they are both at fault for this mess. Illinois was in the ditch long before Rauner became Governor and Madigan had done nothing to right the ship before Rauner’s arrival and has shown no willingness to compromise with Rauner. It has been nearly two years since Madigan’s pension fix was found unconstitutional and he has done nothing to address that problem as well. The Madigan crowd thinks that by raising taxes that this will all be solved, there has to be changes or Illinois will continue to lose good paying jobs, businesses and population.


  36. - No Raise - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:24 pm:

    Agree that politicians may somehow have an interest. But that’s not the immediate issue. These people need access to health care and it appears that the availability of this option needs to be publicized to providers.


  37. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:24 pm:

    - Arock -, - Hickory -

    “I’m frustrated 2, but taking steps towards reforming IL more important than short term budget stalemate.”

    Capiche?


  38. - James Knell - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:26 pm:

    I have nothing against rich folks, God Bless them, but I dream of a society without Oligarchs.


  39. - Echo the Bunnyman - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:30 pm:

    This is one story. There’s hundreds more that work for the state and doctors don’t take state insurance. It’s not the business or doctors fault the employee pays for insurance that is useless. Blaming the governor for this is ridiculous. Every legislator for the last 40 years owns this. Plenty of blame to go around. Let’s see solutions now for our past spending.


  40. - Not It - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:31 pm:

    Reaction A: This is all Rauner’s fault. If he would just promise a balanced budget everything would work out.

    Reaction B: This is all Madigan’s fault. If he would just help build up our economy with common sense reforms everything would work out.


  41. - Skirmisher - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:35 pm:

    Criminals. Rauner because of his cynical actions, Madigan by his equally cynical lack of action. For that matter, every legislator who has been bought by these two. This story is an outrage.


  42. - Truthteller - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:36 pm:

    It’s not the “impasse”, it’s Rauner who almost killed the baby. Fortunately it’s more difficult for a governor to get away with murder than it is for a hedge fund manager. Rauner’s nursing homes had a terrible track record on care for their patients which the voters ignored on the first run. He won’t get away with it in 2018. Standard and Poor’s has identified him as the culprit . And now the Civic Federation has blamed him for the mess. Only Dan Proft, the Tribune editors and a few other folks with their heads up their a…s don’t recognize that this is on Rauner


  43. - tobias846 - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:36 pm:

    No Raise, my understanding is that it’s up to the providers to enroll in the program you described.

    My experience is that smaller providers, like labs and dental clinics, don’t want to bother with this and prefer to just bill the patients for the full amount—and then send them to collections if the patient can’t pay. “This is your problem, not ours” is a phrase I’ve repeatedly heard when dealing with my unpaid medical bills. (The more polite ones say, “We know this is not your fault, but the bill is still your responsibility.”)


  44. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:37 pm:

    - Not It -

    What do you not understand about…

    “I’m frustrated 2, but taking steps towards reforming IL more important than short term budget stalemate.”

    That has been the plan. It was decided the budget isn’t important enough, compared to the Rauner demands.

    Vetoes proved this tweet.

    “Yellow” votes proved this tweet.

    Paying state workers, refusing to pay social service vendors… proved this tweet.

    “…taking steps towards reforming IL more important than short term budget stalemate”

    That’s what has been going on. We’ve been told, we’ve been shown. We need to realize, that this tweet is real.


  45. - Handle Bar Mustache - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:39 pm:

    This is what an abject failure looks like. This is malpractice. This is incompetence.

    It’s not “the impasse”. It’s Bruce Rauner, people. Objective reporters need to start calling it out.

    Rauner’s apologists and enablers cannot offer any straight-faced answers to these tragedies - which they have caused.


  46. - No Raise - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:39 pm:

    Hard to understand why a provider would forego 90% in 30 days and prefer to bill a patient which could take several months and/or a payment plan to receive full payment. However, we are talking about Illinois so anything’s possible.


  47. - Columbo - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:47 pm:

    Governor Rauner and the evolution of “arrows”

    July 30, 2013 - “Somebody’s got to take the arrows”

    July 11, 2015 - “I’m a governor who will lead and take some arrows because we’ve got some tough decisions to make,” said Rauner.

    Jan 25, 2017 – (State of the State) – “We all know this is very difficult. There is a lot of arrows. Please don’t give up, please keep working, and please keep trying. The people of Illinois need you to succeed.

    March xx, 2017 - I’m saddened that Illinois citizens have had to take some arrows.


  48. - Anonymous - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:49 pm:

    No raise: that program closed last spring when the lenders ran out of money. It opened again in the fall when they found another bankroll. And as others have said, it’s optional. Some businesses prefer to go after employees directly.


  49. - Liberty - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:52 pm:

    The governor vetoed a budget citing it was 4 billion out of balance. Where are we now?


  50. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:54 pm:

    ===The governor vetoed a budget citing it was 4 billion out of balance. Where are we now?===

    The governor signed a stopgap $8 billion out of balance.

    “Where are we now?”?


  51. - Grandson of Man - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:58 pm:

    Never before have we seen this, just like we’ve never faced a state employee strike. This is on one person.


  52. - Echo The Bunnyman - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 3:59 pm:

    OW … all due respect. But one guy for two years of inaction is not the cause of every legislature for 40 years to not fund TRS… that alone would have stopped this mess. The gov is culpable. But this dumpster fire of a state has been burning for years.


  53. - Mama - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:02 pm:

    I’m concerned about what will happen to Kene’s twin babies if there is a stop pay &/or a strike.


  54. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:03 pm:

    “… all due respect”?

    “… all do respect”?

    This.

    All. Day. This.

    “I’m frustrated 2, but taking steps towards reforming IL more important than short term budget stalemate.”

    What about that tweet confuses you?

    The number in the middle?

    “…more important than short term budget stalemate.”

    All due respect? You kidding yourself or mocking me?

    Has to be one or the other, there isn’t a 3rd choice.


  55. - NeverPoliticallyCorrect - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:03 pm:

    Truly interesting all the commenters who can so easily avoid assigning any blame to the democrats. It’s this kind of political amnesia that has caused the mess that Illinois finds itself in.


  56. - Echo the Bunnyman - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:06 pm:

    A difference of opinion. Much respect. Better for the 3rd option?
    There’s too many to blame. I will concede this. He’s got the gig now. He needs to act.


  57. - Grandson of Man - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:09 pm:

    “Truly interesting all the commenters who can so easily avoid assigning any blame to the democrats.”

    That’s not it. The governor is heavily outnumbered but keeps insisting on what he can’t get. He’s too smart to not know this. He could have had a budget plus reforms that the Democratic majority GA was willing to give. He knows what he’s doing.


  58. - Not my red anymore - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:13 pm:

    No worries, Mr. Sauer is going to Springfield and he looks terrific. Until the ladies and gents in his district can’t renew their license plates or are otherwise inconvenienced, who cares about poor people dying . . . Did I mention Rep. Sauer looks dashing?


  59. - commonsense - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:18 pm:

    This has become not only ridiculous but tragic. They only care about their power, not trying to serve us. Plus the fact that they wait till beyond the last minute to do the minimum is a good reason to get rid of all of them.


  60. - Pundent - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:20 pm:

    =Truly interesting all the commenters who can so easily avoid assigning any blame to the democrats.=

    I blame math. Math is what’s keeping Rauner from achieving his agenda. An inability to count to 60 and 30. And his response to the math has been to “squeeze the beast” presumably with the hope that if he squeezes hard enough it will overcome the math.


  61. - Crispy Critter - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:23 pm:

    == I’m trying to imagine how Rauner runs in 2018 if he’s the defendant in a wrongful-death lawsuit. “If we had term limits, that baby would be alive today!” ==
    Keep in mind that article when Rauner was running for office about his nursing home fraud that caused elderly deaths? He does not care.
    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-bruce-rauner-nursing-home-bankruptcy-20140922-story.html


  62. - m - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:26 pm:

    BVR- Hey, I’m gonna need some stuff to sign a budget.
    MJM- No.
    BVR- It’s gonna get bad for people if I don’t sign a budget.
    MJM- Still no.
    BVR- This crisis will make it easier for one of us to defeat the other in 2018.
    MJM- So then we agree.


  63. - Larry - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:28 pm:

    So the CapFax informs us this week that Union instructed the Senate Dems that the Union is adamantly opposed to most of the budget measures simply because it may “appear to give Rauner a win”, despite the fact that their members are not harmed by said budget measure proposed in the Grand Bargain.

    The Dems are beholden to the Unions who claim they are protecting their members; So I must ask; How is Union opposition to the Governor helping their very own member and her poor child in this sad story?

    The answer is simple; the Illinois Democrat Party and their Unions care more about playing partisan hack politics than they do about their own members and this woman’s sick child!!!
    .


  64. - Echo The Bunnyman - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:32 pm:

    Larry… it’s only rauners fault. Keep up please. There is no room for anyone else to be blamed. Except Madigan. Because it’s his fault too. But mostly rauners.


  65. - walker - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:33 pm:

    Hopefully the Sheriff’s deputies showed some compassion and used some discretion — and the kid’s still breathing.


  66. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:34 pm:

    This tweet isn’t “both sides”

    “I’m frustrated 2, but taking steps towards reforming IL more important than short term budget stalemate.”

    Enough of the… “Madigan too”

    Enough of … “40 years”

    Enough of… “Rauner is…”

    Enough.

    “…taking steps towards reforming IL more important than short term budget stalemate.”

    There was a choice, Rauner put his marker down.

    I shortened the tweet so the “reading impared” can sound out the words that are left.

    Geez, Louise…


  67. - 47th Ward - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:35 pm:

    ===The answer is simple; the Illinois Democrat Party and their Unions care more about playing partisan hack politics than they do about their own members and this woman’s sick child!!!===

    Larry, you are an ignoramus sir. Did you miss the part where the Senate Democrats voted for the things that the union specifically urged them to vote against?

    This isn’t a fake news site. We are not stupid, most of us are following the action very closely. Please take your uninformed partisan rant back to your local newspaper comment section and stop polluting this blog.

    P.S.: It’s the Illinois Democratic Party. Moron.


  68. - Diogenes in DuPage - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:43 pm:

    Why isn’t the mainstream media reporting on this, too?


  69. - Arthur Andersen - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:44 pm:

    Anyone have an idea of what the monthly rental rate on these machines might be? Google threw a lot of data back at me.


  70. - Echo The Bunnyman - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:45 pm:

    OW… If the solution to all our states problems rest on one man. Then I’m shocked we have been in such a mess to begin with.


  71. - northsider (the original) - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:45 pm:

    Governor’s own.
    Usually they possess enough humanity to care, or at least enough sense to avoid the distasteful publicity that results from killing employees’ family members.
    This Governor does not.


  72. - m - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:47 pm:

    =There was a choice, Rauner put his marker down.=

    As did Madigan, with a “budget with no preconditions.”

    When you decide that suddenly, now, for the first time in the history of the state, nothing can be tied to the budget, you are drawing a hard line.

    Saying that getting your reforms is more important than having a budget, that’s a decision.

    But saying that not getting those reforms is more important than a budget, that’s a decision too.

    Decisions have consequences, and everyone knew what they would be. The bigger concern is how many of the rank and file were willing to follow their leader’s decision, knowing what the consequences would be.

    Luckily, Cullerton’s and Radogno’s marker was “I’ll negotiate.” And now maybe there is an end in sight.


  73. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:48 pm:

    Read.

    “taking steps towards reforming IL more important than short term budget stalemate.”

    What part or word is confusing in this sentence.

    Reforming is more important.

    Stalemate. Notice not “impasse”.

    This is a choice. “more important than… budget stalemate.”

    You tell me… what part is the head scratcher?


  74. - pawn - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:49 pm:

    No Raise, that vendor assistance program is not available to all. It is only available under certain conditions, which include being eligible for interest under the Prompt Payment Act. The Act includes many exemptions. I don’t know whether this particular company is eligible or not, but I’m just pointing out that it is only available to a limited number of vendors/contractors.


  75. - walker - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:50 pm:

    Sorry about the comment 4:33 above. I missed Rich’s link to “read the whole thing.”

    The cops were in fact compassionate and did the right thing.


  76. - sal-says - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 4:55 pm:

    Read it all. Suspect other cases similar. What is life? Some with services taken away a year ago probably will never recover to the life they had back then.

    If there’s a crowdfund for this kid, post it, we’ll find a way to help; done it before.

    But this is on all of us. Politics in IL now is like a third world country. DISGRACEFUL!

    Tell EVERY ONE of your reps & our failed gov to GET THIS FIXED ! NOW!


  77. - Arthur Andersen - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 5:07 pm:

    This company is not eligible for the Vendor Payment Program based on the story because the family is enrolled in Health-Link. Health-Link, however, is eligible and not too long ago placed a substantial sum of receivables in the program.

    If anyone wants to throw in some money to pay a year’s rental, count me in for a couple months.


  78. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 10, 17 @ 5:11 pm:

    Rauner’s constant vetoes… that only a governor can do… makes that tweet hold water.


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