W<\/span>ell it finally happened this month. Illinois passed a budget for the first time in nearly 3 years. Unbelievable. Like I said before, suddenly things started to break loose and stand still all over again as poorly oiled malfunctioning machines will do.<\/p>\n How bad did it get in a state without a budget for that long? In short, “no budget” was the standard pat answer for every unresolved issue from neighborhood associations to matching federal funds for education.<\/p>\n Everything and everyone suffered to some degree without exception. Elections came and went with campaign rhetoric and promises to pass budgets, cut spending, save spending, raise taxes, cut taxes, marches on the capital, bomb threats, Christmas decoration cancellations, very near junk bond rating for the state, and the list goes on and on…<\/p>\n Hopefully some of the state’s finer treasures survived the hardships. Take the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum for example. Surely it’s not in disrepair and shuttered…<\/p>\n Yeah, again, it was a tough 2 1\/2+ years!<\/p>\n (…ok I jest, this isn’t actually<\/strong> THE Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum<\/a>, but it felt like it was headed here at times. Again, glad that’s over.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" …the list goes on and on. Well it finally happened this month. Illinois passed a budget for the first time in nearly 3 years. Unbelievable. Like I said before, suddenly things started to break loose and stand still all over …<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.midwesternmeditations.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/MMeMv13i44a.jpg\")
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