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Pantagraph EditorialMonday, July 21, 2008 12:02 AM CDT
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Hard to get excited about dead-end roads to budget
By the Pantagraph Editorial Board
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Gov. Rod Blagojevich calls a special session for legislators to address the budget situation - then makes his $1.4 billion in cuts before they have much of a chance to act.

House Speaker Mike Madigan offers a dramatically scaled down version of a capital construction program, coming in at $1.8 billion compared to the governor's $34 billion proposal.

House Minority Leader Tom Cross announces a seven-point "Agenda for Action" that calls for such things as property tax relief and affordable college education.

There are merits to some cuts made by the governor, to Madigan's idea for capturing federal money with the smaller construction plan and to the House Republicans' agenda - and we will address those in greater detail in future editorials.

But it would be easier to get enthusiastic about these various plans if we thought there was real dialogue going on.

Instead, the excitement is dampened by the suspicion that these proposals are being made to score political points and with an eye toward the next election more than they are being offered as real solutions to Illinois' problems.

Even if all parties were sincere about the proposals they have made, there is no chance they will be approved until all sides are talking - and there is no reason to get our hopes up until they do.

Senate President Emil Jones doesn't even plan to call the Senate back into session until after the November election, despite the multitude of unfinished projects which could use input from the Senate.

For example, the House has overridden some of Blagojevich's cuts. Jones thinks the state can't afford more spending. He is entitled to his opinion, but more than his opinion should count.

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.

The sniping seems to be getting nastier - if that's possible - and the consequences are getting greater.

Illinois taxpayers are tired of hearing about elected officials who won't talk to each other and won't even sit in the same room with each other.

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Reader comments on this story - 1 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

Jarhead71 wrote on Jul 21, 2008 11:49 AM:

" THE QUESTION, Pantagraph, is WHO elected King Emil Jones to be president of the IL Senate? If the IL Senators elected him, then they should all, ALL, be voted out of office in favor of new blood in November. But we ALL know that is not about to happen. I have a hunch, Chicago area Democrats elected King Emil and do not need downstate Senators to control the IL Legislature. That is really what this is all about. Emil Jones is not making enough money from his part time job. He wants a raise, so he is not going to give anyone a chance to spoil that for him. King Emil Jones is actually more powerful in IL than Governor. Without his calling for votes on the floor of the Senate, NOTHING GETS DONE IN IL. "
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