If you listen to the voices in the street, the Illinois Legislature and Gov. Pat Quinn are about to bring wailing and gnashing of teeth to the state with a state budget that only partially funds most of the human services that constitute a safety net for the most vulnerable citizens.
If you listen to Quinn himself, he co-signs those voices of protest, and he is trying to cajole the legislators to come back to Springfield and give him the budget he wants.
That budget, unfortunately, contains a 50 percent hike in the state income tax, which may be the most unpopular prospect offered in a budget in many years.
If you listen to the Democratic leadership in the Legislature, there is no problem with the budget, even though the one they passed has a hole big enough to drive a successful Republican candidate through it. No one in the Legislature is willing to champion a tax increase, but it is clear that something has to give. House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton fiddle as Springfield burns, and this high-stakes game of chicken continues, as July 1 looms as the state budget deadline.
We have listened to all of them, and we know that there has to be a budget - a viable budget - by July 1. It should adequately fund those services that provide for those who are unable to provide for themselves. It should also contain the kind of fiscally prudent initiatives that keep government spending from spiraling higher, even as the economy spins down the drain.
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