Women
and children are literally being thrown into the street while the three-headed
monster which runs Illinois government continues to do battle with itself.
Over
a thousand protesters gathered at Chicago's Thompson Center last week to demand
an end to the ugly political war that has engulfed Springfield. The protesters
wanted the restoration of millions of dollars vetoed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich
from alcohol and substance abuse recovery services. The programs keep drug and
alcohol users out of jail by giving them an opportunity to clean up and get
their lives back in order.
The
governor vetoed the money - and a whole lot more - after the House and Senate
failed to pass a balanced budget. Actually, the House did pass a balanced
budget, but it's still sitting in the Senate. The proposal that made it to the
governor's desk was favored by the Senate Democrats but required additional
revenues, which the House didn't approve during the spring session.
The
House came back to Springfield to override some of the governor's vetoes,
including the alcohol and substance abuse cuts. But the House Democrats, who
run the chamber, never took up any funding proposals, claiming that the House
Republicans had refused to negotiate with them at the request of the Democratic
governor. The Senate refused to come back to town as long as the House failed
to pass revenue bills, and then the never-ending finger pointing ritual, which
passes for leadership here, fully engaged.
The
governor blamed the House, the Senate blamed the House, the House blamed
everybody but itself, the Republicans blamed the Democrats, and the Democrats
blamed the Republicans.
Meanwhile,
a facility for homeless families which houses 80 women and 40 children in the
south suburbs, and which relies solely on state funding through the alcohol and
drug program, was preparing last week to close its doors and evict its
residents.
"It's
like our lives (aren't) important," said Demetria Woods, who works for the
suburban facility that was preparing to close its doors last week. The
SouthtownStar reported that Woods was once a resident of the facility who had
changed her life to the point where she was hired to help others. Except now
there will be no one to help.
Back
to the blame game.
The
governor's people had predicted that the Illinois House would bear the brunt of
the blame in this budget fight, but that hasn't happened so far. He made the
vetoes, the House overrode some of them and the Senate won't return.
Politically, the governor and the Senate are taking most of the heat at the
moment. And the more the governor cuts (he has said much more is on the way as
he manages his way through hundreds of millions in additional red ink), the
more blame he will get.
But
this is no longer a merely political story. We're talking real people with real
problems blithely tossed to the four winds while the "leaders" seek
to use the crisis to their own advantage. Blagojevich and Jones want to destroy
Madigan, and Madigan is trying to do the same to them.
Illinois
was always known as a rough and tumble state that still got the job done. No
longer. The rough and tumble has increased exponentially to the point where
"the job" is now a distant second to "the fight."
I'm
reminded of those old Godzilla movies. You may remember Ghidorah, also known as
the "King of Terror." Ghidorah was a three-headed monster who made
even Godzilla tremble. Well, in the Illinois version, Ghidorah's three heads
(Blagojevich, Jones and Madigan) are now fighting amongst each other without
taking even the slightest notice of the devastation they are causing to the
people and infrastructure below. It may be thrilling to watch, unless, of
course, you are those Thompson Center protesters or Demetria Woods, and then
your cries of anguish go unheard while the battling monster tramples you to a
bloody pulp.
Apparently,
the rest of us are doomed to letting this three-headed monster fight itself
until a "win" is declared, or until Ghidorah is too exhausted to
continue. And there doesn't seem to be a whole lot we can do about it until the
war is over, whenever that may be.
I've
never been so disheartened by this state's government as I am right now.
Rich
Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and
thecapitolfaxblog.com.