Editorial: Rauner continues political blame game

Staff Editorial

*This editorial originally was printed in the Wednesday March 9 edition of The Daily Eastern News 

Let’s all take a step back for a minute to process the fact that Gov. Bruce Rauner said the word “Eastern.”

It was almost jarring, as we have all gotten used to his silence in the face of our university’s concerns.

But on Monday when the pro U.S. Rep. John Shimkus tour stopped in Mattoon, Rauner began with comments about how Eastern and MAP grants need to be funded before he went into promoting Shimkus’ reelection campaign.

It’s nice to know that on some level, our voices are being heard. Whether it was all of the Eastern students rallying in Springfield, the massive Fund EIU rally held on our campus, or the flood of individuals contacting his office—Rauner knew he would not be able to stop in a location so close to Eastern without touching on one of this community’s greatest concerns.

After neglecting to even mention higher education funding during his annual budget address in February despite hundreds of protesters from public universities across the state, this certainly appears to be a step in the right direction.

However, it wasn’t long before Rauner fell back into the same old rhetoric that has been perpetuating the budget stalemate all this time.

Essentially, he said everything is Madigan’s fault.

His sentiments were that if House Speaker Michael Madigan would only agree to his reforms, stop demanding tax hikes, etc., Illinois would have $160 million to fund its universities “right today.”

Instead of talking about what his opponents and everyone else needs to be doing to solve this, it would have been great to hear what Rauner himself has done to work toward a solution.

If compromises are on the horizon, what are they? When can we expect answers?

That’s not to say the Democratic party in Springfield is not at fault, but when we’ve gotten to month nine without a budget, the blame game has become exhausting to listen to.

Not surprisingly, many Eastern faculty members were present Monday at the venue, Stadium Bar & Grill, and expected to be able to listen to Rauner speak and ask him questions.

Those who arrived carrying picket signs were not allowed entrance into the restaurant, so some ended up congregating outside in protest of the lack of higher education funding.

The Shimkus team and restaurant management were hesitant to allow pro-Eastern people into the backroom where the politicians were speaking, so many ended up sitting in another area where they could not hear what was being said.

Obviously, Rauner and Shimkus’ whole point for being there was not to talk about Eastern; it was to promote Shimkus’ campaign.

But this does illustrate what a strange and dire situation Eastern is in.

In any normal year, university employees would not have been feared but welcomed.

At the risk of tomato throwing, sign holding, or even innocent question asking, they were literally and metaphorically pushed aside.

Through all of this, though, Eastern has proven with persistence, activism and compassion that no matter how small we are, our community truly is a family that will not go down quietly.

The daily editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial board of The Daily Eastern News