safe for now

The state legislature has averted the latest transit funding doomsday. Phew!

I'm relieved that they finally passed this bill. However, I have to wonder how much Blago's free rides will contribute to future doomsday scenarios. In the short term, how soon will the rest of us have a fare increase to pay for those free rides? I'll bet that it will happen within the year. And how many non-seniors will borrow grandma's card to get free rides. Probably more than a few.

Some seniors are truly deserving of a free ride, but many of them have the money to pay. Many say that the existing reduced fare program is just fine. As a demographic category, the percentage of single mothers who are desperately poor is probably a lot higher than the percentage of seniors who are very poor.

The State Constitution should be amended to allow a simple majority to override a Governor's veto, particularly when the veto is used to bludgeon the legislature into passing a half-baked measure as Blago has done today.

Blago's reckless, irresponsible spending of money the state does not have may do lasting economic damage. It does not help that he has a childish, petty tendency to pick unnecessary arguments with people he should have a working relationship with. The prospect of how much damage he could do in the remainder of his term is truly scary. He lives in a bubble, out of touch with regular people, too much like Shrub. The Feds can't indict his sorry a$$ soon enough.

Julie Hamos deserves our everlasting gratitude for her persistence in getting this bill passed. I hope she's having a fine celebration tonight.

public hearing on transit funding

As Julie Hamos pointed out on Chicago Tonight last night, they are required to hold a public hearing on changes in transit funding. Even though it's last minute, there will be one tomorrow, Wed. 1/16, 2 p.m. at the Thompson Center, 100 W. Randolph.

I'd like to send out another big thank you to Julie Hamos for her tireless work to pass this funding bill in spite of the clash of enormous egos that's been going on around her.

no fix for transit this year

Today's news that the stooges in Springfield have failed yet again to agree on a transit funding plan was no great surprise, unfortunately. Rod Blagojevich and Mike Madigan deserve big lumps of coal in their stockings. Julie Hamos deserves the reward of a long-overdue agreement. Stay tuned for the next round after the first of the year....