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Quinn being played by legislative leaders

We have an $83 billion pension crisis in Illinois, the worst in the country. After the Democrat-controlled legislature adjourned for the summer without solving this problem, Gov. Pat Quinn commented that he was placed on this earth to solve the pension crisis. Big words. Quinn then called for a special session of the legislature to meet on August 17th to address the pension issue.

So what happened? Nothing! Republican leaders stated they agreed to a majority of the points raised by the governor’s office but wanted to discuss several others. Quinn, Michael Madigan and John Cullerton stated that unless the Republican leaders agreed to all the Democratic positions on the pension crisis, the issue would not be called for debate.

So why didn’t Quinn do what he was put on this earth to do? Easy — he is controlled by Madigan and Cullerton. As governor, Quinn could have marched into both chambers, pointed at its leaders, Madigan and Cullerton, and stated that these leaders refuse to allow the chambers to discuss the pensions, and that they better figure out what to tell the people of Illinois why. Instead, he called off the fight and sent everyone home again. By delaying this crisis, the Democrats are costing us over $26 million a day.

As a fellow elected official, I challenge every Democrat running for state office to either criticize the leaders of their party for not addressing the pension crisis or to state why they believe letting it go unaddressed is a good idea.

Hey, Governor, that feeling of a hand sliding up the back of your suit coat might indicate that you are not a governor, but a mere puppet.

Joseph Farwell

Arlington Heights

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