BY MIKE CETERA
So, money to help run a battered women's shelter is pork, but a check to pay for "solar speed limit signs" is a good use of taxpayer dollars?
Gov. Rod Blagojevich's promised line-item veto of the state budget included the elimination of hundreds of thousands of dollars of aid and projects slated for the Fox Valley, particularly Aurora.
And, you know what, that would be fine if Blagojevich was serious about saving taxpayers' money. But he's not. The governor instead is playing games, seemingly cutting projects based not on merit, but rather based on which lawmaker asked for the dough (Some folks are suggesting the governor's own party members were targeted).
A list of area funding (maybe) eliminated by the governor can be found below.
The governor didn't make it easy to find out exactly which "pork" projects he cut (and it's not over yet -- see below). You must compare his veto message to the specific line in the budget. So, no promises that this is an exhaustive list, but here are some of the Fox Valley items that (maybe) fell to Blagojevich's pen:
* $250,000 -- Project CeaseFire in Aurora
* $200,000 -- Aurora Police Department station for station construction
* $25,000 -- Quad County Urban League
* $100,000 -- Village of Montgomery (for a land grading project at a future village hall site)
* $20,000 -- Carpenter's Place
* $25,000 -- Mutal Ground
* $100,000 -- Southern Kane County Training Center (a firefighter training facility)
* $75,000 -- Aurora Township for programs
* $20,000 -- Our Lady of Good Counsel to repave a parking lot
* $20,000 -- Aurora University “for working with the East and West Aurora school districts”
* $250,000 – Provena Mercy Medical Center “for all costs associated with capital investments in equipment and building, restricted to Aurora and Elgin locations”
* $35,000 -- Kane County sheriff, squad car
Curiously, most, if not all, of the projects in House Minority Leader Tom Cross' district remained intact, including $50,000 for the Oswego Police Department for that solar speed limit sign project mentioned above.
But wait! The always great Capitol Fax Blog says this ain't over. It may just be a ploy to get Democrats, who haven't been terribly cooperative with the governor, back to the bargaining table.
And so, the battered women must wait.
If politics is like making sausage, then looking into these sort of details is never going to be pretty. It's part human nature, and part democracy...and it's bi-partisan to be sure.
Conversly, you could focus on the expanded school funding and healthcare for Illinoisans, which of course what most people in our state will notice...not that Oswego got a new radar sign.
I suppose my take on this is that historians can assign blame and motive...I'm just glad we got a budget passed.
Now I hope we can move on...
I am glad having a Democratic state rep, Democratic state senator, Democratic Mayor as well as the lobbyst all helped us....
Oh wait, it doesn't look like it did.
Mr. Cetera's post is misleading to imply battered woman (at Mutual Ground) will have to "wait" or anything like that. Mutual Ground gets hundreds of thousands of our taxdollars and this $25,000 is just a small portion. It's bad there is any domestic violence by men or women, but the way Mr. Cetera exploited the issue for the post is not proper and he should apologize.
CETERA RESPONDS:
Lisa,
Not sure what you want me to apologize for. I think it's shameful the governor would choose to eliminate funding from the budget willy-nilly based on which lawmaker inserted the item, not based on whether or not it's truly "pork."
I used Mutual Ground as an example because the governor has been pushing for funding to help people (i.e. health insurance), yet he makes these cuts that have the potential to hurt people. And yes, if I had the choice, I would choose to fund a battered women's shelter (no matter how much money it already receives)over something like "solar speed limit signs," no matter whether they help people slow down or not.
I agree with OneMan's point. A Democratic mayor, state rep and state senator failed in a Democratic-controlled legislature with a Democratic governor, so what does that say? Why are we paying Dan Shomon, the Democratic lobbyist? Is that because he got Mr. Weisner the endorsement of Obama?