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By Greg Hinz
Crain's Chicago Business
6/1/09
What a mess!
If Gov. Pat Quinn, House Speaker Michael Madigan and other leading Democrats had gotten drunk in a bar while drafting a fictional script about a dysfunctional political system, they couldn't have produced anything much worse than they did on Sunday.
Democrats own absolutely everything that counts in Springfield, everything. Yet, they failed to fulfill the most basic responsibility of any government -- to produce a comprehensive and balanced budget on time -- while having the gall to blame minority Republicans for not saving them from themselves.
They can't blame Rod Blagojevich, either. He's watching the Missus imbibe las cucherachas in Central America.
The result of the budget meltdown:
Some of the state's most vulnerable citizens face devastating cuts of up to 50% in services from in-home health care for ailing seniors to early childhood classes for inner-city kids who need a break. Other programs -- aid to public schools, Medicaid and pay for state workers -- seem safe for now, but it's hard to tell how this will play out in the end.
Thousands of state workers could lose their jobs, though those lucky enough to keep them will get full pay.
The state's desperately needed capital plan could be vetoed and certainly will be stalled as the summer road-construction season begins in earnest. Reform of the state's sorry employee pension plans, already $50 billion in the hole, was kicked down the road again. Then there's political reform, or the lack thereof.
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