Illinois To Change Light Bulbs, Also Governors

11:49 am, 10/9/05

Illinois to Change Bulbs, Governors
Insert joke here.

CHICAGO - In an effort to help Illinoisans conserve energy, save money, and reduce greenhouse emissions, Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today proclaimed Wednesday October 5th as ENERGY STAR Change a Light, Change the World Day, with a pledge to change one light at home to an energy-efficient model.

"Lighting accounts for nearly 20 percent of the electricity we use at home," said Governor Blagojevich. "Switching to energy - efficient lighting is an easy step we can take to make a difference for our energy resources and our environment, while saving money on energy bills today. I am urging all Illinoisans to take the ENERGY STAR Change a Light Pledge with me."

If every household in Illinois pledges to replace one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR certified compact fluorescent bulb, the change would save more than $31 million in energy costs and prevent more than 513 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to taking nearly 47,000 cars off the road.

That's nearly as much money and unpleasant gases as we'd save if the Governor quit issuing press releases. What I want to see is the AP photo of Blagojevich on a step ladder changing the light above his desk.

As for Governor Blagojevich's latest "For The Children" adventure, it seems that he intends to fund it by moving everyone on Medicaid into a managed care program. For those who haven't experienced this, managed care is health care in the finest Canadian tradition: You get a choice between having your medical treatment decisions made by an indifferent, incompetent bureaucrat or being whacked in the kneecaps with a baseball bat. Smart consumers choose the bat.

Huge savings can be realized by significantly reducing the quality of services delivered by the Illinois Soviet, but there's just one little ongoing problem: If we save money in Medicaid, we really shouldn't spend it, because we can't pay the bills we already have:

Tony Sartoris looked at the check and couldn't quite believe what he saw.

The state of Illinois was months behind in paying his chain of pharmacies for providing medicine to poor people. The company was borrowing money to stay afloat while waiting for its $2 million. It was cutting costs wherever possible.

And the state sends him $6.27.

Meanwhile, disagreements among the state's top officials are blocking action that might provide temporary relief - a short-term loan so that the state can pay its bills.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich has agreed to the loan proposed by his fellow Democrat, Comptroller Dan Hynes. But Republican Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka says she has questions about how the money would be used.

Hey, I have questions about how the money would be used.

Bailey said he has had to pay income taxes to the state on Medicaid funds that the state hadn't even sent him yet.

The Illinois Pharmacists Association surveyed its members recently and found that about half had borrowed money to stay in business. Four in 10 said they were considering cutting off service to Medicaid customers.

Nursing homes and hospitals report similar problems as they wait on overdue bills amounting to hundreds of thousands - or even millions - of dollars.

Comptroller Hynes has called for the state to borrow $1.1 billion to pay the overdue bills. Hynes also is refusing to write checks from a $55 million fund for special projects, arguing the money should instead go toward Medicaid bills.

Blagojevich aides scoff at [critical] comments, noting that Topinka has repeatedly approved short-term loans in the past. They also point out that her position in a legal disagreement over tapping some special government funds has tied up $200 million that could be used to pay Medicaid bills.

Yeah, by taking money out of funds for firefighting, medical safety, parks, computers in schools, and dozens of other projects. Worse yet, that money was supposed to be earmarked to fund the education system. Now they're claiming it could be used to pay Medicaid bills? Great googly moogly, no wonder Topinka is worried about what they're going to do with a billion-dollar loan. I wouldn't let these guys count the change in my couch unless they agreed to have an out-of-state forensic accountant present.

"We're being handcuffed by the state of Illinois and their irresponsible actions," Sartoris said. "I can't go on another year like this."

Clearly, what we need to do is make this system available to every child in Illinois. Doug Finke nails it:

On the other hand, we have I-Save Rx, the prescription drug program that's been pretty much a bomb. We have KidCare, an existing health plan for children that's enrolled only about half the kids who are eligible. And now, Blagojevich wants to launch a vast new program?

You'd think they might want to get one of them right before starting a new one.

But nooooOOOOoooo...