Activists Want Governor to Restore $326 million, Not Just $26 Million

Pfleger to Rauner: “The blood of our children is on your hands”

By Chinta Strausberg

A diverse group of faith based and community groups Monday held a press conference outside of the James R. Thompson Center to ask Gov. Bruce Rauner to not only restore the $26 million he recently promised to do but the entire $326 million he cut from the budget.

A number of ministers and activists attended the protest rally that was sponsored by the Alliance for Budget Equity (ABE) where they called on Gov. Rauner to restore the cuts to the 2015 level and they asked him not to make similar cuts for FY 2016.

Some of those attending the rally were: Rev. Phalese Binion, president of the Westside Ministers Coalition, Rev. Dr. William E. Crowder, Jr., Park Manor Christian Church, Saint Sabina’s Father Michael L. Pfleger, Father Thulani Magwaza, Rev. Dr. Donald Dew, executive director of the Habilitative Systems, Inc., Cook County Comm. Richard Boykin, Senator Jacqueline Y. Collins (D-16^th), Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez (D-24^th), Clerk of the Circuit Court Dorothy Brown, Valerie Leonard, community activist, Lawrence Benito, executive director of Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights; former Cook County Board President Bobbie Steele, Rev. Dr. Janette Wilson, Rainbow PUSH senior advisor to the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.; Maurice Chapman, director of SHARK, WVON talk sow host Mark Wallace and others.

Representing the Lawndale community, Leonard said, “45 percent of our people are living below poverty, 25 percent of our local economy is non-profit organizations and social services…. Do you realize that social services have borne the greatest amount of cuts proportionately across the state?

“The bottom line is this. When you take a stroke of a pen and cut X millions of dollars, you are not just cutting dollars. You are cutting peoples’ lives.” She said there are 17,000 people in Lawndale who qualify for Medicare. “You want to cut $107 million to Medicare. Where is your heart? I am going to start calling you the Tin Man…the man without a heart. We need you to restore those cuts,” said Leonard.

Taking a line from Leonard, Father Pfleger, who brought two busloads of supporters and was armed with hundreds of petitions calling for the cuts to be restored, said he came to talk to “the Tin Man. It’s time to get a heart. We understand that he put back $26 million and we’re grateful to that, but you cut over $326 million and we’re angry about that,” he said.

“When you are cutting programs, you are cutting lives in the city of Chicago, and we’re not going to let you cut down our children….. We understand you talk about shared sacrifice….. We have people in our communities struggling to put food on their table, to put a roof over their head and now you’re cutting programs that support our families….”

Father Pfleger referred to last weekends shootings said, “5 people were killed, 30 people shot. People are mad about a movie called Chiraq. This is Chiraq….” Pfleger said as long as Rauner fails to restore the funds, shootings and homicides would increase. He warned the governor, “The blood of our children is on your hands.”

Collins wants to know where is Rauner’s “compassion.”

“When you cut from job opportunities, job training, employment and a chance to work…where is the compassion”? She said these cuts are ruining any chance of youth to have any viable future.

Collins said, “92 percent of blacks males between 16-19 are unemployed, and the situation is not improving. In the meantime, the number of shootings in Chicago has increased 14 percent over the last year…. When you defund programs, what you are doing is destabilizing communities, diminishing hope and deferring dreams. “

Rep. Hernandez said, “Gov. Rauner is a businessman. He understands business, but the state of Illinois cannot be run as a business. You cannot put a profit or a loss margin on human life. We must invest in human life…. I commit myself. I will fight the fight to restore these funds so that families can live a better life in the state of Illinois.”

Crowder said to the governor “You may have the position, but we have the power.” Rev. Dew said, “We are the faces of hope.”

Rev. Binion addressed Rauner’s reducing grants to bury the poor. She too labeled the   governor as ‘the Tin Man.” She too vowed to fight for the restoration of all of the funds even if she has to come in a wheelchair.

Clerk Brown said, “This is the same governor who came to our churches asking for our vote. “ She too called on Rauner to restore the budget cuts.

Rev. Wilson called on the governor to convene a meeting with the stakeholders, with those whose services he has cut. “I believe we have a plan not only to help you maintain the state but also those services which are essential to our people.

“You cannot be cutting services to young people,” Wilson said. “We have 20,000 homeless children wandering the streets of Chicago every day.  When schools close, where will they eat? Our community is not properly funded. You can’t cut anymore without an excessive amount of blood

Wilson warned Rauner not to cut the services for the youth. Given the unrest in Baltimore and in Ferguson where the police killed unarmed black men, Wilson said, “it’s clear to me” that we need to reinvest in the human infrastructure.

Maurice Chapman, director of SHARK, said, “In Illinois, there are 43,000 people living with HIV, about 20 percent of them don’t know infecting others. We are making a difference in the lives of people at risk and living with HIV…, but we need the resources to do the work….”

WVON’s talk show host Mark Wallace went a step further saying if Rauner doesn’t restore the budget cuts; Illinoisans should launch a recall movement and get somebody who has a heart for the people.

“It only take 10 senators and 20 state representatives” to initiate a recall,  “If this governor doesn’t want to do the right thing, to invest in all the people of Illinois, we, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, can recall this governor and elect someone who understands the needs of the poor.

“You cannot cut your way into prosperity. You have to invest in resources…the people of Illinois…. Restore the cuts…..”

A delegation took the petitions to Gov. Rauner’s office.

Chinta Strausberg is a Journalist of more than 33-years, a former political reporter and a current PCC Network talk show host. You can e-mail Strausberg at: Chintabernie@aol.com.