Editor’s note

Gov. Pat Quinn has taken on “pension reform” as a moral cause, even though it will take a huge chunk of the state budget away from human services. Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka has ruled out borrowing money to pay the state’s bills, including those owed to nonprofits, hospitals and nursing homes that care for the state’s most needy. House Speaker Michael Madigan is sponsoring a legislative resolution to make sure unionized state employees don’t get a raise. Patrick Yeagle reports this week (p. 8) that Madigan’s no-raise resolution covers “personal assistants” like Kevin Holmes of Springfield, who makes $11,000 a year working seven days a week to care for a man with severe disabilities. These “leaders” are getting radical in their newly adopted belt-tightening roles. They need to calm down. –Fletcher Farrar, editor and publisher

Cover: Illustration done by David Gobble