Tossing out squirrely distractions easier than cracking hard nuts in Illinois

In the animated movie “Up,” there was a collar that allowed Dug the dog to talk: “My master made me this collar. He is a good and smart master and he made me this collar so I can talk.

“Squirrel!”

We keep thinking about Dug, intentions and distractions with every headline that comes out of Springfield.

State lawmakers discuss legalizing marijuana for recreational use. “Squirrel!”

Everyone should earn at least $15 an hour in Illinois. “Squirrel!”

Illinois House OKs public funding of abortions for state workers and Medicaid recipients. “Squirrel!”

But the sad part of this equation is that we are Dug. Lawmakers keep tossing out squirrels to distract us from the ugly realities.

Push the single-most divisive issue in the nation to the fore, and people stop talking about a $11.6 billion pile of overdue bills, $130 billion pension hole, two years without a budget and 16 years without a balanced budget. People stop talking about reforms that will bring back jobs. People stop worrying about how high state leaders think your tax burden should be.

Gov. Bruce Rauner and Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan just had a real budget conversation for the first time in more than two years. They better not forget you are already working like a dog becuse you live in this state.

Today is the last day you work to pay your tax burden in Illinois. The rest of the nation was finished a week ago.

But don’t worry about that. There’ll be another squirrel along in just a moment.

This story was originally published April 28, 2017 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Tossing out squirrely distractions easier than cracking hard nuts in Illinois."