Sorry folks, Illinois is closed

If the yay-hoos in the Statehouse and the Governor of Chicago Illinois don’t pass a budget by August 1, then the state will shut down.

Come on, folks, think about that for a minute.

If the state “shuts down”, that means there would be no IDOT to fix or clear roads, inspect bridges and overpasses, etc. There would be no DCFS to protect abused and neglected children. There would be no SOS to issue illegal CDL’s. (Okay, maybe that’s not so bad…) There would be no IDPH to inspect your restaurants to make sure they aren’t serving salmonella specials and E. coli platters. And I don’t even want to consider what a “gubment shutdown” would do to the prison system. Ooof.

True, there might be some state employees temporarily deemed unable to be paid (myself included). True, there might be some agencies that lose funding for certain programs. And true, the State Fair might be affected. Heaven forbid–wherever will I get my gator on a stick?

But the state will not just come to a grinding halt, as everybody seems to be panicking will happen. Being a state employee, I have a rather vested interest in this situation, but to say the state will just simply shut down is “loodacruth”, as Mike Tyson would say. (That’s the boxer, not the former Cardinals second baseman from the 70s.)

Anyway, I’m not a conspiracy-theorist by any means, but personally I think this is all a big smoke screen to try to get the spotlight off of what an enormous douchebag the Governor is. I’m betting a budget just “miraculously” is reached in the 11th hour (it’s probably been reached already) and they’ll spin it to make Blowjo Blago look like a hero for “saving” the state from certain demise.

When will people learn that Chicagoville politicians are friggin’ crooked? Even those from as far “downstate” as Kankakee (no names mentioned… {cough} Ryan {cough}). Not that politicians from central and/or southern Illinois are necessarily shining examples of integrity, but how would we know until one that isn’t from Chicago is elected, instead of those that are from Chicago that get the election bought and paid for, as is true with the last couple we’ve had? We need a governor that serves the interests of ALL of the people of Illinois, not just the rich in Chicago. We need a governor that won’t drag his family to the State Fair for photo ops (since that’s the only reason he’d even consider attending in the first place) and then turn around and complain about the vulture-like photographers and reporters. We need a governor that actually works- and LIVES- in the capital city, which, last time I checked, was still Springfield. And even if that governor is too good to live in a little piss-ant one-horse town like Springfield and wants to commute every friggin’ day, then s/he can do it at their own expense instead of sodomizing his/her taxpayers for 6 friggin’ G’s a day. And if that’s not bad enough, Blowjo Blago has the nerve to publicly berate the Senators and Representatives for not being in Springfield working every day?

Hello, kettle? This is Hot Rod. You’re black.

Look, Bozo, the taxpayers of this great state pay for you to live in that enormously large house at 5th & Jackson here in THE CAPITAL CITY, whether you’re in it or not. The least you could do is live in it. It’s within walking (jogging?) distance of your REAL office (that would be the Statehouse, genius), and it’s gated, so it’ll keep all the riffraff–like your constituents–out of it. We’re paying for your security staff, various wait staff, landscapers, maintenance staff, et al, anyway; what say you actually let them earn their damn money? Either that or pass a law decreeing your precious Chicago the new state capital and save us 6 bills a day, not to mention the futility in believing you actually care about us little people outside your little Bubble on the Lake. Oh, and regarding your little healthcare program? How about coming up with a plan for affordable healthcare for everyone, not just making us working stiffs foot the bill for the poor? Oh, and stop giving yourself and the likewise already overpaid Senators and Representatives pay raises. How about all of you contributing your per diems toward the budget problem, since it’s your collective faults this situation is occuring, thus allowing you to receive the per diems for no reason, since none of you are actually doing anything? Tom Brokaw used to have a segment on the NBC Nightly News about the “fleecing of America”. Mr. Governor, you are fleecing the shit out of us and we’re tired of it.

No matter, though… you’re not going to be governor much longer. Your own party is pretty much fed up with your bullshit tactics. Soon we’ll be able to have a new governor… to take advantage of all of us that don’t live in Chicago.