The Arrogance of Power

The Powers that Be in Springfield; Governor Pat Quinn, Senate President Tom Cullerton, and House Speaker Mike Madigan, are poised to abandon the state’s obligations to our children’s school transportation and teacher’s pension payments.

The net result will be local districts will absorb these costs and have to cut classroom programs, eliminate staff, and raise local property taxes.  Gov. Quinn, Senate President Cullerton, and House Speaker Madigan, said the state is broke and can no longer afford to fulfill its’ financial obligations to the children of Illinois. They further went on to say that we suburban residents will have to “bear our fair share” of the budget crisis caused by their fiscal mismanagement.

“Bear our fair share” is quickly becoming politician babble for “do not hold us accountable for squandering the many resources the public gave us these past 10 years.”

Now, in a mind boggling move of incredible hubris, these very same leaders are demanding a pay raise. This is straight out of an episode of The Twilight Zone. By any measure of the private sector, or common sense, how do the state constitutional officers and state legislature deserve a raise?

Most employers, both public and private, use an evaluation process for merit raises. By any measure, except those established by Quinn, Cullerton, and Madigan, the elected state officials should be giving money back to the treasury if not fired outright. Quinn, Cullerton, Madigan’s party caucus members refuse to hold their leadership accountable for this ongoing disaster that is state government that has no end in sight.

I do not think these longtime politicians have such a political tin ear that they are unaware of their anemic performance. I think they simply do not care because they feel there are groups of voters who will support them regardless of what they do in government. The state election results of the past 10 years and beyond would support this thesis. Simply put, they are going pay themselves more because they know they will not be held accountable for it. A majority of Illinois residents are making less than they did four years ago. It's time the ruling political class “bear their fair share.”

Shortly after barely securing re-election in 2010, Governor Quinn muscled a 67 percent tax increase through the legislature with nothing but votes
from his Democrat caucus. Governor Quinn stated if he didn’t get the tax increase, aid to education would be cut. After the Democrat caucus passed the massive tax increase, it was discovered several members of the caucus were offered everything from jobs for themselves to funding pet projects for their vote. The massive tax increase was passed, the state is still not paying its bills, and education is getting cut anyway. Governor Quinn was using the school children of Illinois as a hostage for more patronage spending by his caucus.

If you do not want to see millions cut from your child’s classroom, your property taxes skyrocket, and the value of your home forced downward even more, you have to let the legislature know that you are going to make them “bear their fair share” of responsibility when you vote in March and
November. The ruling political class expects you will still vote for their candidates because a certain union will endorse them, or certain politician
running for higher office will have their picture taken with them, or claim “it would be much worse if I didn’t do what I did.” Really? How much worse could it have been?

Is it that the ruling political class is that stupid, or they just think we are?

I think it is the latter.

Dean Casper has been a member of Community Consolidated School District 146 since 2003, serving as President from 2007-2011. Casper has been a volunteer at District 146 since 1993. Casper was also a founding member of the Stevenson Local School Council from 1989-1993. Casper can be reached at  deancasper@sbcglobal.net and Twitter: @deancasper146.