Good, bad and ugly in the budget

There is some good news to come out of the budget agreement approved and signed into law late Wednesday.

Legislators elected to represent us did seem to hear the message we're all struggling and now was not going to be the best time for a dramatic tax increase.

They passed a budget that will restore most funding to programs that help care for the disabled, needy and elderly.

And, it would seem in the past few weeks, that the Democrats in control finally understand that shared sacrifice really will be required. The agreement calls for $2 billion in cuts, including perhaps as many as 2,600 state worker layoffs, and 12 furlough days for legislators.

But the devil always is in the details. And the extent of the details provided by the powers that be isn't a whole lot more than what was provided in the sentence above.

And therein lies the start of the bad news. Not only do we not have much detail, as is far too typical for far too long, the rank-and-file representatives and senators who approved this spending plan didn't have much more than that when they voted on it.

As usual, Gov. Pat Quinn and the top Republican and Democratic legislative leaders hammered out this agreement, keeping details close and then pushed through the votes to pass it in the dark of night. The detail, public airings, hearings or debate was scarce.

It's clear from the way in which it was handled and from the way in which the most painful decisions were pushed off, that political self preservation still rules the day in Springfield.

They might claim otherwise, but Democrats Quinn, House Speaker Michael J. Madigan and

Senate President John Cullerton put themselves first and did what they needed to do to try to retain their power as the next election looms.

Here are the other broad strokes to prove it: The state will borrow $3.5 billion to be paid back with interest. It will refinance debt and raid special state accounts to find another $1 billion to plug the $12 billion budget hole. Illinois government will not pay its bills on time _ again. And, by doing all of that, the still-expected tax increase vote now will be delayed until January when a new legislative calendar begins. That maneuver allows all the politicians to see how much election competition they have before a vote and requires fewer numbers to pass a tax increase.

For his part, Quinn offered little detail on where cuts might be made, but suggested the state had moved forward and that he thought he was doing a "fine job."

The only things moved forward were the tough decisions and billions in debt. Quinn and the others need to accept, like many of us have, that trying to borrow your way out of debt can be catastrophic. They can still learn. They should host hearings and provide details now on budget cuts and prospective tax hikes and keep the information coming.

That would be refreshing leadership.