News Progress

•May 31, 2017•

By Jim Nowlan
NP Guest Columnist

In response to my recent challenge, 40 readers provided detailed proposals as to how they would close the gap of about $7 billion between spending and revenue in the Illinois state budget. While there was sure no consensus among readers, predominant recommendations roughly mirror what will likely come out of Springfield in the coming weeks.

As you might recall, I provided readers a necessarily limited template of possible budget cutting and revenue increase options.

Only two respondents seemed to deny reality, at least as I see it, by saying, “No tax increases, no way,” and “We’ll just have to do without, as we did at home when I was a child.” Both suggestions are appealing, though probably not useful at the moment.

Here is a summary of the more detailed responses, obviously representing an unscientific sample:

As for budget cuts, only a few suggested cutting K-12 education, and those few said every budget line, including education, should take a small 1-3 percent cut across the board. Read More

•May 24, 2017•

That one word perfectly sums up the pain, dysfunction and instability Capitol politicians have inflicted on Illinois by their failure to provide a permanent balanced state budget for two years.

As the state’s credit ratings have been repeatedly downgraded, as residents sought greener pastures elsewhere, as community colleges and universities have been gutted, as businesses closed up shop and as social service agencies turned away the most vulnerable residents, elected officials have failed to do their job and show political courage to make the necessary painful decisions.

Who they blame is determined by whether a D or R follows their name. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner is to blame. No, it’s Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan. Don’t forget the decades of politicians who made terrible financial decisions based on what would get them re-elected, not what was fiscally prudent.

The finger-pointing has gone on for far too long.

The state’s fiscal problems have created a crisis throughout Illinois — except in the state Capitol. Maybe the dome deflects the misery that permeates the rest of Illinois. But it can no longer shield elected officials from accepting the blame each member of the House and Senate, and the governor, bears for the atrocious state of the state. Read More

•May 17, 2017•

By Jerry L. Ginther
NP Columnist

Known as the Second Jewel in the Triple Crown of thoroughbred horse racing, the Preakness Stakes is held on the third Saturday of May at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md. The distance for this race is one and 3/16 miles and is the shortest of the three races in the Triple Crown with the longest being the Belmont Stakes at one and ½ miles. The Kentucky Derby, the first of the three races, is just 1/16 of a mile longer than the Preakness, at one and ¼ miles or 10 furlongs. There are eight furlongs in a mile, just in case you’re doing the math, so, a 16th is one half of a furlong.

With the Kentucky race in our rear view mirror we move on to this second race where the Derby winner, “Always Dreaming,” will try to make it two out of three in his endeavor to be a Triple Crown winner for trainer Todd Pletcher. The Preakness will decide if there will be a chance for another three-race winner. Of course, winning the second race keeps the adventure alive if you won the first. If the Derby winner also wins the Preakness, the suspense and excitement grow as we anticipate the Belmont Stakes, the final contest of the three races. That final race will be held on June 10 this year at Belmont, N.Y. It will be a disappointment to many if the chance ends with this second race, but with a purse of one million dollars, the winner will be just as happy to go home with the money even if his horse was never in contention for the Triple Crown.  Read More

•May 10, 2017•

By Jim Nowlan
NP Guest Columnist

I mix in quite varied circles. One day I might be helping at my rural hometown food pantry, and the next, enjoying my home away from home, the Union League Club of Chicago, a 23-story country club in the heart of the city.

When I was a boy 60 years ago, I like to think there were some ties, maybe quite loose, I admit, between rich and poor in a nation then largely of small towns and cities. I worry that those ties have been mostly severed.

The all-volunteer food pantry does a fine job of providing almost bounteous food stuffs once a month to 60 families, which range in size from one to eight, the last a household of three generations. This represents almost 10 percent of the area population.

A faith-based food bank in Peoria and a non-profit operation in the Quad-Cities make deliveries once a month in 18-wheeler trucks to food pantries like ours. The food is often top-of-the-line over-stock or near-expiration stuff donated by big box grocers and food manufacturers. Read More

•April 26, 2017•

By Jim Nowlan
NP Guest Columnist

The state many of us hold dear is being wrecked by elected officials of both parties. I say, let’s sweep them all off the table and bring popular, effective former governor Jim Edgar out of retirement.

Gov. Bruce Rauner is into his third year without ever having proposed a credible balanced budget, with nothing on the horizon.

Rauner has also talked about the need for a big infrastructure program as well as education finance reforms, both badly needed. Yet he has never proposed anything for either. Budget, infrastructure, education—that’s pretty much what state government is all about.

And the collateral wreckage is incalculable. Higher education is imploding, non-profit social service agencies are undergoing a die-off, business investment is tanking because of fiscal instability and uncertainty, and people across Illinois are in a deep funk about their state, which probably encourages flight.

It is surprising that after a successful career doing deals in the private sector, Rauner is an abysmal failure at deal-making in Springfield. Read More