Who's payin' for this?

The unfortunate facts:

FACT: Illinois has a massive budget crisis

FACT: The crisis was, to a large degree, the fault of the George Ryan Administration and previous legislatures. And don't discount free-spending administrations prior to Crooked George.

FACT: Illinois needs to solve this crisis -- as soon as possible.

FACT: Any solution Illinois tries is going to hurt. A lot.

Now, here comes the hurt.

While we were huddled over our Memorial Day grills, broiling brats and swilling Wisconsin's finest, our legislature put the final touches on another budget scam.

They've declared a 'pension holiday.' That's a nice way to say they're just not gonna pay into the state pension fund for a couple of years and hope like hell the state can make up the difference in, oh, 30 of 40 years. Fat chance.

Wonder if Ameren CP would mind if I declared a 'power holiday' and delayed paying my power bill for a couple years, hoping like hell I can make up the difference in 30 or 40 years. Gonna get awful dark in my house, I'd bet. Ameren will NOT be amused by such accounting practices.

I'm all for creative financial solutions for the state's budget mess. I KNOW it's gonna take a few years to pull us out of the red ink. I KNOW it's gonna hurt. But this?

Stinks.

It kinda feels like George W-imbecile's solution to paying for his little unnecessary, illegal and immoral war: Make all war appropriations come as little extra items and supplemental appropriations not included in his yearly budget; build up the national debt to astronomical proportions, and hope like hell our kids or their kids can pay it off.

Stinks.

I don't often agree with Rep. Bill Black of Danville but he had me nodding at a quote from Monday's News-Gazette:

"You are mortgaging our future," said State Rep. Bill Black, R-Danville. "You are playing with fire, you are playing with potential bankruptcy of the pension systems."

He's right. It stinks.

And so it goes.

Must be a holiday

Like about everone else, I'm taking the weekend off from blogging to entertain guests, cook brats, maybe drink a beer (perhaps two) and pretty much ignore cyberstuff for a few days. I'm sure the world will get on quite nicely without my words and thoughts. I know I will.

And so it goes.

and where's Bill Murray?

Wonder when Mike Madigan will emerge from his hole, look around, see his shadow and declare that the legislature has a budget?

Or will we have six more weeks of debate?

And so it goes.

Pay it forward

Note to Champaign City Council member Ken Pirok:

The next time someone gives you a campaign contribution, take the money and spend it down at Jerry's IGA on groceries. After all, if you don't eat well, you can't very well be a good candidate, can you? And be sure to tell the contributor that's where his/her money went. Not on your campaign, but for a package of Twinkies and a Ding-Dong or two.

Think that generous contributor (if it's not your mother) is going to donate anything else to your campaign? Ever?

Then think about just how deep you stuck your foot down your throat at Tuesday night's council meeting.

In case you missed it, today's News-Gazette reports that Pirok (and fellow co-conspirator Kathy Ennan) told Champaign Library Board President Rustry Freeland that the board darned well better be raising more than the $3 million in private contributions it promised to raise to help finance the new library. And the extra money should NOT go to the library but to pay off the city's bond debt.

Pirok said he thought the library foundation "can and should be able to raise more than $3 million," and that any extra money raised should be split in some fashion between the library and the city, with the city portion going to reduce bonded debt.

Needless to say, that didn't go over too well with Freeland, who suggested that with that kind of incentive, there's no way they could raise more than $3 million.

Imagine his pitch: "Thanks for the $50,000 to help build the library, sir. That puts us just $20,000 over the top of our goal, so we'll be sending the remainder down to City Hall. Surely you don't mind...'' How quick will that check be pulled back?

Money given to the library should GO to the library. Maybe Ken and Kathy can raise money by using a bait-and-switch tactic, but don't demand others do it.

And by the way, Ken, did you notice the little slam from your fellow council members last night?

Two council members, Tom Bruno and Michael La Due, defended Freeland.
"How successful do you think fundraisers for the University of Illinois library would be if potential funders were told one-half would go to Springfield?" La Due asked.

Some questions don't need answers. Have another Twinkie, Ken.

And so it goes.

A noticible limp

The poor W-imbecile.

First the Senate caves in and stops him and The right Rev. Frist from nuking those uppity Democrats.

Now the House has passed and very soon, perhaps today, the Senate as well is expected to pass a bill that would lift restrictions on embryonic stem cell research.

In defiance of the president. Open, blatant defiance.

The W-imbecile has promised a veto. If he can figure out how.

In recent weeks, both houses of Congress have expressed little support for the W-imbecile's moronic Social Security dismantling-by-privatization scheme. Lawmakers in his own party are giving him an increasingly hard time over everything from a free-trade pact for Central America to his plan to ease immigration laws.

Fron an AP report last week:

Also, the Senate is moving toward approval of a giant highway bill that exceeds the spending ceiling set by the White House....
Misgivings by four Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee triggered a three-week postponement of a vote on the nomination of John Bolton to be U.N. ambassador.

Speculation is that the W-imbecile's becoming a lame duck a lot quicker than most presidents in their second term.

This week's stem cell movements seem to be particularly galling.

The W-imbecile even put on a little dog-and-pony show yesterday in hopes of swaying someone -- anyone.

From today's Sun-Times:

At the White House Tuesday, Bush expressed his opposition to the legislation by appearing with 21 families that either adopted or gave up for adoption frozen embryos that remained after fertility treatments.
"Twenty-one children here today found a chance for life in all its stages," the president told an audience that included many active and noisy youngsters.
"Research on stem cells derived from human embryos may offer great promise," Bush said. "But the way those cells are claimed today destroys the embryo."
"The children here today remind us there is no such thing as a spare embryo," he said. "Every embryo is unique and genetically complete, like every other human being."

Poor W. Even while he was tugging at our heartstrings, the House was passing and the Senate eagerly awaiting the measure, where it's expected to pass easily, although probably not by a veto-proof margine.

You almost expected the W-imbecile to break into a chorus of Monty Python's 'Every Sperm is Sacred.'

Every sperm is sacred.
Every sperm is great.
If a sperm is wasted,
God gets quite irate.

Sorry, W-imbecile

You're wrong again. Saving a dab of tissue vesus potentially saving thousands or millions of people with ailments from spinal cord injuries to alzheimers?

Do the math, W

And so it goes.