Krug: Tantrums don’t work for governors, either
If you don’t give me a Popsicle, right this very instant, mommy, I am going to hold my breath until I turn blue in the face, and then you’ll be sorry. You’ll see, mommy.
If you’re a parent, that hostage situation is no mystery to you.
You lived it. You didn’t cave in. You crossed your arms and waited for your little Veruca Salt to pull the thumb from her mouth, to cease pinching her nose, and to finally exhale.
It might take a few painful moments, but they always exhale.
But this game of wills isn’t always played over a frozen fruit pop. And the tactic that Gov. Pat (Plan B) Quinn is implementing with his 2010 doomsday budget threat is no summertime treat. If you missed Kevin Craver’s story in Saturday’s Northwest Herald, dig it out of the recycling pile and give it a read. Local social service agencies are on pins and needles fearing that Quinn might not be bluffing. Many have announced significant cutbacks to staff and programs.
Quinn is bluffing. He must be bluffing. Even in a state where the governor’s office has become an apprenticeship for future license plate fabricators, no one could be so cruel and calculating as to stick it to the people who need state funding the most.
But Quinn is desperate. He’s trying to bridge a $9.2 billion budget gap, which he seeks to narrow by increasing Illinoisans’ income tax by 50 percent. Elevated from his days as a professional greeter and parade participant to the white-hot lights of the governor’s chair, Quinn is spinning. Clearly, he is out of his depth.
As we inch closer and closer to July 1, the start of the state’s new fiscal year and the deadline for passage of a new budget, Quinn continues to hold his breath in defiance of the consequences.
In the meantime, people in McHenry County have been told not to come in for work next week. Others have been informed that the programs that they and their families depend on to help them make it through their lives have been eliminated. These are real programs and run the gamut from mental health to shelter for battered and abused women and children. This isn’t about some superfluous program that offers free tuxedos, caviar and limousine rides.
We’ve seen this tactic before – typically employed by the local school board that runs short on ideas and threatens to take away varsity sports or art and music programs if its referendum isn’t passed. As if.
The one ray of hope for all of us: It. Never. Works.
At least it hasn’t worked yet.
Such machinations eventually are exposed for what they are – empty threats that serve to do nothing more than to focus attention on the funding shortage. Whether it is a few million for teachers’ salaries or, in this case, Quinn’s $9.2 billion, the threats always have been hollow.
When the game is played at the local level, the stress is placed on the unwitting children who wonder whether they are going to be able to play football or the clarinet the next September. The board, in effect, leverages the sympathies of the parents who want Johnny Quarterback out there on the field and not hanging out in their living rooms playing Wii.
Quinn is terrorizing the sick, the old, and the helpless. And right along with them, he is sticking it to the people who have the courage and conviction to commit their lives to working as caregivers, counselors and support staffers at local nonprofits and state agencies.
It’s simply not fair to hold them hostage as a ploy to raise state revenues. And if Quinn actually follows through on this threat, it would be an abomination to all the people of Illinois.
The Legislature is scheduled to reconvene Monday in Springfield for another round of haggling over the budget. Our local legislators repeatedly have told the Northwest Herald that they will hang tough against the threats. Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, wrote an at-large op-ed piece that we published on Saturday’s Opinion page that scolded Quinn for his shenanigans.
Here’s hoping that the people who watch our backs in Springfield stick to their guns, work with their cohorts, and help Quinn pull the thumb out of his mouth. Where they stick it after that is entirely up to their creativity.
As for the “Might He” Quinn, my friend, you should try this game on for size: Cross your arms, stomp your feet, shed a tear, and cry out in your shrillest voice that we don’t love you anymore because we won’t give you more tax money as you slam the door to your bedroom.
And if you hold your breath behind that door, don’t expect any of us to coax you to come to your senses.
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Twitter bugs: Ever wonder what would happen if the government ran the newspapers and monitored all the electronic media? Click your way out to Twitter.com and type in “Iran” or “IranElections.” I think that would give you a pretty good idea.
In case you are missing all the madness in Tehran, let me summarize: People there are dying to ensure that their voices are heard after what appears to be the latest in a long series of tainted elections.
Oh, and if you’re wondering, I think about 15 percent of eligible McHenry County voters turned out to vote for our last municipal election.
Must have been some fantastic programs on cable that day.
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Bus stop: It was disappointing to learn last week that Van Galder would discontinue its service from McHenry County to O’Hare, effective the end of July. The transportation company, based in Janesville, Wis., had offered the airport shuttle from McHenry County since 2003, and in that time had become a terrific alternative for slogging down to the nation’s most maddening transportation hub and risking fate by leaving your car in either the short-term parking purgatory or long-term parking Hades.
Obviously, not enough people took advantage of the service to make it work on the financial side, but there is little doubt that those who used Van Galder for that awful run to the airport will miss it.
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And finally … : Here’s to the folks at the Johnsburg Educational Partnership Foundation, who put on a fine golf tournament Friday at McHenry Country Club. In the past few years, the foundation has found creative ways to raise money to supplement school technology and fund specialized programs in Johnsburg without going back to the taxpayers while rattling the tin cup. Partnerships such as these truly ease the burden placed on the public and, perhaps as important, also develop a special kinship that helps strengthen a community.
If your school district isn’t taking this route, maybe it’s time to step up.
Yeah, I’m talking to you, baby.
• Chris Krug is executive editor of the Northwest Herald. Contact Chris by calling 815-459-4122, or via e-mail at ckrug@nwherald.com. Keep up with Chris’ rants, raves and insights throughout the week by following ChrisKrug (no space) at Twitter.com.