Friday Letters: Knock on Gov. Rauner shortsighted

Thursday’ editorial critical of Gov. Bruce Rauner was shortsighted and narrow-minded. Typical criticism with no solution.

Let’s start by asking Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan for a balanced budget. Each expense has to show where the money will come from. Hundreds of companies have left Illinois and no corporation chooses Illinois for expansion because Illinois has no financial discipline. This has been going on for over a decade. The Sun-Times editorial suggests this began with Rauner. Boeing headquartered in Chicago but built a huge factory in South Carolina. This happened well before Rauner took office.

Public unions are a scam. For years the City of Chicago and the state legislature omitted funding union employee pensions. Not one union head, including Karen Lewis, stepped up to demand what was due. Richard M. Daley and Mike Madigan were in charge. If a union cannot protect their members pensions, what value do they present?

For well over ten years Illinois has been among the most exited states in the union, according to United Van Lines statistics. Illinois has lost nearly 1 million in population. This didn’t start with Rauner. The Sun-Times and Mark Brown need to exert more pressure on Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton, who are the real culprits for having trashed Illinois.

What can be done to reverse this disaster? How about Mike Madigan submitting an honest, balanced, disciplined budget. It is his responsibility! Corporations will see Illinois in a new light. I would push for legislative map reform and relent on term limits.

Joseph A. Murzanski, Palos Heights

Rauner editorial dead-on

Today’s editorial on Gov. Rauner was about as incisive, insightful and dead-on as it could have been. Couldn’t have said it better, myself.

Rich Rzadski, Portage Park

Blame is on Madigan and Cullerton

Thursday’s editorial — “Rauner Doing Real Damage to City, State” — observes that past editorials equally blame Gov. Bruce Rauner and House Speaker Mike Madigan for the Illinois budget mess. But today’s editorial, on balance, mostly faults Rauner. The editorial, however, overlooks a fundamental, constitutional fact of governing: the Legislature, not the governor, appropriates funds, and the total appropriations cannot exceed revenues.

When the Legislature passes appropriation bills and presents them to the governor for his approval or veto, as it did last year, and the governor vetoes them, as Rauner did, then the vetoed bills return to the House and Senate for a vote to override the governor’s vetoes. Both the House and Senate have veto-proof Democratic majorities. But, assuming the vetoed bills were even called for a vote last year, the Democrats in the legislature did not override the vetoes.

The constitutional responsibility to appropriate is now in the hands of Speaker Madigan and Senate President Cullerton. What appropriations legislation has the Legislature passed and presented to the governor this year? Put the budget mess blame where most of it belongs – not on CEO Rauner as governor but on CEO Madigan as Speaker.

Dennis Dohm, Oak Lawn

Wheaton College failed test

It’s laughable. For Wheaton College administrators to state that Dr. Larycia Hawkins left by mutual agreement is deceiving. “Parting ways” is code for “We’re giving you the opportunity to resign before we fire you.” Wheaton College administrators had an opportunity to show the world what it means to be Christian. They failed. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Tony Galati, Lemont