by Fran Eaton
If you're wondering why we're not spewing disgust about Governor Blago's universal preschool bill signing yesterday, well, there's nothing more to be said.
IR contributors voiced our opinions last spring (here, here, here), and the whole Illinois House (both Dems and Republicans) jumped on board in support of Blago's constituency-buying plan and only ten courageous Republican senators resisted.
We were frustrated then and are frustrated again today. Yesterday's preschool program bill signing is just another in the Governor's summer-long PR plan of churning out extravagantly-expensive programs. The fury in which his pen has been working has been breathtaking. He's in campaign mode. He's running for re-election with our money.
At the same time, we're being labeled as the state with the nation's biggest deficits. Hospitals are turning away our children because we're 200 days behind in paying our Medicaid bills. Yet the Governor lauds the expansion of the taxpayer-funded All Kids health care program and more taxpayer-funded classes for 3 and 4 year olds.
All this, while the feds are searching through his administration's computers and files, trying to figure out whether federal laws were broken with state hiring practices and no-bid contract deals.
It's embarrassing. It's embarrassing and frustrating. There's nothing more to be said about it. . .
Except . . . don't be surprised if you see your name listed on the Governor's D2s next month. Whether you know it or not, you and I as Illinois taxpayers, have contributed to his re-election campaign.
