* Tina Sfondeles at the Sun-Times…

Sen. Dick Durbin on Monday called Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s motion to halt state employee pay without a budget a “bold move” that will force Gov. Bruce Rauner’s hand.

Durbin — who last year opted not to run for governor — told the Sun-Times the budget impasse, which he said has shredded a safety net and cut off care for the most disadvantaged, hasn’t been enough to create a force for compromise.

“I think what she’s saying is ‘Let’s face the reality.’ The [Illinois] Constitution says you can’t appropriate it. You can’t spend it unless it’s appropriated. And if she tests that, and it comes through, it’s going to force the hand of the governor as to whether or not that the things he’s insisting on are so important that it would create an even worse situation in our state,” Durbin said. […]

“It’s no surprise that Dick Durbin is spinning like a career politician,” state Republican Party spokesman Steven Yaffe said in an email. “Durbin knows ridiculous political attacks by Mike Madigan and the money men who fund his machine don’t work, but exposing the failure of Madigan’s decades of rule in Springfield does. Dick Durbin is unwilling and afraid to stand up to Mike Madigan. It’s why Durbin chose not to run.”

Discuss.

* Meanwhile, Jim Dey’s take is right out of “Mad Men”…

Jim Dey: Is Lisa Madigan rescuing ‘Dadigan’?

Little Lisa is making a big splash.

The Diminutive Daughter of the Diminutive Don of Illinois politics shook things up big time last week when she inserted herself into the 19-month-old state budget battle between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and her father, Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Wow. Words fail me.