Springfield And Washington - Capitols Of Cowardice

CNN's Jack Cafferty slammed the Democrats in Congress last night for their failure to pass a federal budget (see the video below). Although he was scolding the Dems in Washington for their lack of resolve, Cafferty could have been talking about Illinois legislators in Springfield. Although the Illinois General Assemby did pass something of a budget in early June, they just couldn't muster the courage to include any substantial spending cuts. Governor Quinn, a Democrat himself, just can't muster the courage to veto that worthless budget. WJBD Radio reports that Quinn "did say however he wishes that the General Assembly had done more to close the state's spending gap. Instead, lawmakers have handed Quinn the power to make the cuts he deems necessary." The state's fiscal year ends on June 30th, 19 days from now, but they just could take the time to hammer out the needed cuts in billions of dollars being misspent and wasted. They passed the buck, literally and figuratively, to the hapless Pat Quinn. WJBD says that he "is still pushing for the Senate to pass a four-billion-dollar borrowing plan to pay down the state's pension debt." Quinn, however, is as cowardly and as clueless as the legislators: On the one hand, he wants the lawmakers to reduce the state's deficit, yet on the other hand he thinks that borrowing four billion dollars to do that is somehow better than actually reducing spending. In other words, neither the Illinois Governor nor the Illinois lawmakers have the courage to make politically unpopular - but absolutely necessary - cuts in spending. As Jack Cafferty would say, "they can’t be seen cutting things in an election year." "The budget approved by the General Assembly last week has a $25.9 billion general fund, that has already been cut by $1.3 million. But with $6 billion in overdue bills and a $3.7 billion pension contribution due in a little more than a month, programs and services will be eliminated," reports The Quincy Herald-Whig. "Mike Rein of Transitions of Western Illinois said the state owes $2.5 million to that agency, which serves people who have disabilities and those needing mental health counseling. 'Illinois is a deadbeat state. They don't pay their bills,' Rein said." The "deadbeat state" of Illinois is so bad a paying vendors and service providers that a debt-brokering company in Georgia is moving to take advantage of the situation. Put simply, the company will loan money to qualifying vendors who are stuck waiting for "deadbeat" Illinois to pay them for services rendered. MyFoxChicago reports that Alpharetta Industries can arrange "for struggling vendors to sell their overdue paper at a discount. Sellers would get most of the money owed to them now. The buyers would collect the full amount from the state later. [They] would take a cut as the middleman." While some would call Alpharetta Industries "vultures," MyFoxChicago quotes one vendor as saying that, "At the end of the day it was better to have some money than no money." Those are the words of Na-Tae Thompson, "whose nonprofit True Star Foundation is waiting on $75,000 from the state that hasn't arrived." (Source: Ibid) If Alpharetta is a "vulture," then the State of Illinois is a parasite, sucking out lifeblood and giving nothing back. It should be remembered that vultures do not kill. Rather, they clean up the mess. Parasites, all too often, cause death or incapacitating illness, and only then do the vultures have opportunity. Unlike a real vulture, however, debt brokers offer the victims of parasites the time and hope needed to heal and, possibly, recover.

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"See, it’s an election year; they can’t be seen cutting things in an election year." xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx

Cafferty said: At a time of skyrocketing federal deficits and a national debt that just passed $13 trillion, the Democrats in Congress can’t be bothered to pass a budget for next year. That’s their job. Congress is supposed to decide how to spend the taxpayers’ money. They are mandated to pass a budget; and presumably to stick to it… but that’s a whole other story. Yet efforts to pass a budget have stalled in the House because Democrats can’t agree on what and how much to cut..... Cafferty gets then turned sarcastic, but his words ring true: See, it’s an election year; they can’t be seen cutting things in an election year. As I said, that applies to the cowards of Springfield, too. Republican Bill Brady is Quinn's challenger in the Illinois gubernatorial race, and the latest Rasmussen pol shows Brady ahead of Quinn by 11 points, 47% to 36%. It's no wonder. Voters know that it's the Democrats who call the shots in Springfield, and that Quinn is one of them. The voters know that it's the Democrats who sunk Illinois into its current financial abyss, and most seem to understand that the Democrats are incapable of pulling us out. Perhaps the voters themselves can pull us out by means of voting for real change - and fewer Democrats - in November. RELATED: Debt Broker Will Make Money off Illinois' State Budget Crisis‎ MyFox Chicago Pain of Illinois state budget woes will be felt by all‎ Quincy Herald Whig Universities Owed $630 Million; Borrowing Power Not Yet Approved Illinois Statehouse News Our opinion: Budget problems ultimately will cost taxpayers more 24newstime.com Rasmussen: Brady Holds Lead Backyard Conservative We Buy Ugly Statehouses St Louis Today