Jesse Jackson Jr to Todd Stroger: there are consequences to a vote...

From the Sun Times: Todd's trash talk

On the eve of his biggest day as Cook County Board president, Todd Stroger took to name-calling of elected officials he says have whined too much about having to cut their budgets.

State's Attorney Richard Devine and Sheriff Tom Dart are "prima donnas" who have complained about cuts on "just about every talk show," Stroger said Wednesday.

Stroger's comments came one day after he called Devine "the biggest pain in the ass I have ever met in public life" in an interview with the Daily Southtown editorial board.

Yesterday's Sun Times wrote: Stroger, board near compromise

A compromise is in the works between Cook County Board President Todd Stroger and the commissioners who have just seven days left to pass a $3 billion budget.

The Trib's Editorial sends a message to the GOP board members:

For the five Republicans in particular, this is a gut check: If they exploit these final hours of budget negotiations to savage the bureaucracy, they can boast to constituents of playing a key role in starting the lengthy process of county reform.

If, on the other hand, the Republicans don't insist on wringing hundreds of administrative jobs out of the 2007 budget, they'll spend the rest of their terms battling GOP challengers who portray them as patsies for Cook County's Democratic bosses.

And lays out the questions:

As of Tuesday night, the county budget was a moving target, with many key issues unresolved. Among them:

-Will the county keep all of its health clinics open, including those with very few patients? For the sake of efficiency, it should not.

-Will someone have the common sense to tell county officials they'll have to survive for one lousy year without buying any new vehicles? We can only hope.

-Is it time to start asking if the county can continue to operate three costly hospitals with low occupancy rates? Yes, it is.

-And will Republicans on the County Board unite with reform Democrats to stop protecting the vast army of paper pushers who need to be fired? That's the key to the future of Cook County government.

From the Daily South Town's story, (Note the lower left side of the page. The South Town has links to audio of Stroger.)

The board is scheduled to vote Thursday on the budget. Stroger said Devine is trying to make him appear soft on crime as part of a strategy to lure commissioners to his side of the debate.

"I think the state's attorney is really trying to put the fear on people that criminals won't be prosecuted," Stroger said. "I don't mind saying that because he's been lambasting me like I'm trying to put criminals on the street.

"He's been working me over like a punching bag."

Stroger also said, apparently without irony, that when Devine "gets in the press, he talks about me in a manner that is not befitting a public official."

The two officials disagree over just how many people are cut where in Stroger's proposal. Stroger said the only prosecutors trimmed in his budget proposal were 52 vacant positions.

But Devine laid off 43 prosecutors last week, saying it was required by Stroger's budget.

Finally, Jesse Jackson Jr. teams up Forrest Claypool,

U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. stepped into the Cook County budget mess Wednesday, threatening county commissioners in his congressional district with "political consequences" if they don't oppose board President Todd Stroger's spending plan.

In a joint news conference with Stroger's loudest critic, Commissioner Forrest Claypool (D-Chicago), Jackson (D-2nd), of Chicago, said the proposed cuts to health care and the sheriff's department in Stroger's budget were not acceptable.

"These are not negotiable items, period," Jackson said. "The county board faces a choice, and it should be an easy choice."

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"Let me be clear, we are watching this vote ... and there are consequences to this vote," Jackson said. "Real political consequences."

Sounds a little late to me. We're dealing with real sad political consequences of the last election. This is no surprize. The only surprize is more people haven't been booing more at more Illinois Politicians.