As the Illinois General Assembly wraps up its second week of past-due budget wrangling, Reboot Illinois' Madeleine Doubek looked at what House Speaker Michael Madigan might be thinking:
Shhhhhhhush. Pay attention. The Speaker is speaking. No, not that Speaker. The Speaker. Michael Madigan, also known as The Velvet Hammer.
Listen carefully:
The governor and I, The Speaker, are always cordial with each other. The Speaker has been, is, and always will be professional and cooperative with the governor (except, understandably, when it comes to passing policies that do not help the Speaker, politically, at least until such time as I may change my mind.)
The most important issue facing the state is the budget deficit (which I helped grow for many, many years now). It must be fixed through a mixture of cuts and revenue increases, using a balanced and moderate approach. (Please hear that with a proloonnnged emphasis on balanced and moderate.)
The governor (Bruce Rauner) is extreme. Did you pay attention when I mentioned the governor is extreme? He wants to force people onto Medicaid, into emergency rooms and onto welfare rolls.
Listen closely. The governor is extreme. The Speaker is the one here protecting the poor and the middle class...
Pay no attention to the facts and history behind the velvet curtain.
Check out those facts and history and the rest of the "Speaker's" "speech" at Reboot Illinois.
The chamber under the leadership of Madigan, the Illinois House of Representatives, passed a workers' compensation reform bill through the votes of Democrats, even though Republican representatives warned that Rauner plans to veto it. The bill passed 63-39 and will head to the Senate next. Read what the bill entails and why Rauner is not a fan at Reboot Illinois.
