Breen's bi-partisan pose pure poppycock

My state rep Peter Breen sure put one over on the local media endorsers in the Illinois 48th. They've all fallen for Breen's self-styled posturing as a bi-partisan freshman in the Illinois House. One argued: "He has succeeded in getting a handful of Democrats on board with his bills to advance his legislation." They all tout bills he got passed in his freshman year with Democratic support. Yet all these bills have no impact the devastating budget cuts affecting a million Illinoisans, one out of every thirteen. They have no impact on the escalating delay in paying state vendors, driving many to desperation; some to bankruptcy. They have no impact on poor woman who must stop working because critically needed state childcare was withdrawn. They have no effect on entrepreneurs avoiding investing in Illinois because it refuses the most basic fiscal responsibility: passing a sound budget.

The budget impasse resulted from the most radical departure from gubernatorial-legislative bi partisanship in Illinois history when Republican Governor Bruce Rauner refused to approve a budget until Democratic lawmakers acquiesced to non-budgetary measures reducing middle class state wages, busting unions and cutting the social safety net. That's not bi-partisanship; that's blackmail, and it has never occurred before in our Illinois lifetimes. And when Peter Breen walked into the Illinois House in January, 2015, he said 'This approach is for me.' Breen joined the governor in lockstep to lock out the needy, workers, state vendors, students and entrepreneurs. Firing off dozens of constituent emails in his first term, Breen reiterated endlessly he'll, in effect, run Illinois over the fiscal and moral cliff to turn on the governor's 'turnaround' agenda.

A truly bi-partisan and compassionate Illinois Republican once said "You can't fool all of the people all of the time". The Breen corollary is "You only need to fool a majority of the people every two years". Maybe this year he won't.