BY MIKE CETERA
So the very people hurt by Gov. Rod Blagojevich's budget cuts had their say Wednesday night in Aurora. I'm sure it was cathartic, but I doubt that it accomplished much.
If the goal was to sway public sentiment, these folks were preaching to the choir. If the goal was to shame the governor, I doubt it's going to work.
For the politicians involved, this game held at 19 locations throughout the state is an exercise in one-upsmanship. As I mentioned before on this blog, the governor's veto poses some very real problems locally. Unfortunately, these hearings, I fear, aren't going to generate the pressure the groups whose budgets have been slashed hope they will.
Here's what others have had to say on the statewide hearings:
Rockford Register Star -- Politicians should quit phony hearings and get to work:
Here’s what the politicians need to do: Quit the histrionics. Call off the political show hearings and no-news news conferences. Go back to Springfield and don’t bother the long-suffering people of Illinois until there’s some real news to report.
Illinoize -- The art of compromise:
So the governor is punishing people who don’t want to compromise on his health care plan, but lawmakers rejected his health care plan because the governor wouldn’t compromise on the funding source. We're running in circles following these disagreements.
OneMan -- "I realize this is mostly a PR activity, but I think it will have worked out well for Linda (Chapa LaVia).
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