Many fingers have been pointed and words have been shouted across both sides of the state legislature and across Illinois in regards of blaming each other for the current budget crisis.

A lot of this blame often goes to Gov. Bruce Rauner, with very good reason.

The Daily Eastern News has been incredibly vocal about Rauner’s role in Illinois’ financial crisis and how he is hurting state universities.

But when the state has gone an astonishing eight months without a budget, it makes sense that he would not be the only one at fault.

Although Rauner is responsible for much of the economic suffering in Illinois, it is a blatant unwillingness to compromise in those from both political parties that keeps the budget stagnant.

Both Democrats and Republicans will say they want to cooperate with each other- it’s just the other guys who won’t stop being so darn stubborn.

However, neither one considers any movement in any direction a “compromise” unless they get exactly what they want.

Obviously, this is not a compromise.

In any compromise, someone’s going to be left unhappy.

According to The Chicago Sun-Times Gov. Rauner said they could have had the budget done if it was not for Speaker of the House Michael Madigan.

However, also in The Sun-Times, Madigan accused Rauner of using “diversionary tactics” that show he is acting extremely to push for non-budget issues such as business reform.

This one case of name-calling is a symptom of a larger disease plaguing Springfield- the disease of never ending conflict and stubbornness that has inflicted both parties.

Both Rauner and Madigan, and many more, are invested in name-calling and passing the blame to the other and Illinois is none the better for it.

According to The Northwest Herald, whenever Madigan wants to advance legislation, he “obviously keeps one eye on the next election and how each bill will impact his party’s chances” and he is a “skilled legislator” who knows how to maintain power.

He, like Rauner with his business reform, has an agenda he wants to push, which jeopardizes the state of higher education as well as the state as a whole.

Those in power in Illinois do not have higher education in mind- they barely have the state they govern in mind, and they do not care about the people they are hurting as long as they get their agenda passed.

Unless either of these men get everything they want, Illinois and Eastern will continue to live in uncertainty.