The Truth
If you were holding out any hope that Indiana legislators were looking out for our interests in Indianapolis -- think again.
Elkhart County residents, already struggling with high unemployment and a weak economy, will feel the immediate effects of the mess brewing in the General Assembly Wednesday morning if legislators can't come up with a budget agreement.
If you are unemployed and haven't already qualified for benefits -- or if you need food stamps and haven't already qualified -- you won't be able to until Republicans and Democrats can find enough votes to pass some kind of a budget.
So far, they can't even agree on the length of time the budget should cover.
It all means that most of the state government will effectively shut down Wednesday. Only public safety departments will remain running. No license branches. No lottery. No state parks. Only the basics will keep going, Gov. Mitch Daniels said Friday.
Daniels said he didn't expect it to happen, but he heard the special session might not be over by Tuesday's deadline.
Matthew Tully, in a recent column in The Indianapolis Star, quoted a couple of legislators who we believe represent the collective mindset in the General Assembly about this problem.
State Sen. Greg Taylor, D-Indianapolis, said there is about a 50-50 shot that the Legislature will meet the Tuesday night deadline. He likened it to a "game of chicken. We're going to see which side blinks first."
He also said the whole deal was starting to feel like an episode of "Jon & Kate Plus 8."
But it gets better: State Sen. Mike Delph, R-Indianapolis, blamed the voters for the mess lawmakers are in because voters elected a Democratic House and a Republican Senate.
"'The voters voted for a divided government," Delph told Tully.
That's priceless, isn't it? It's somehow our fault that legislators can't put aside partisan differences to agree on what's best for the people who got them there to begin with?
The people of the state of Indiana, worn out by the political rhetoric, do not deserve this treatment by the legislators who work for us.
Maybe legislators shouldn't get paid until their work is done. There's some incentive to finish.
Legislators planned to meet in secret this weekend to try to make some headway. Let's hope they can so the House and Senate can get a budget to Daniels by Tuesday at 11:59 p.m.
If they can't, it just proves they've chosen politics over their constituents.