Look at how low we've gone

That the State of Illinois is contemplating the Doomsday Budget is a true statement to how morally bankrupt our nation has become. This crisis is by no means confined to our state.

However, right now we are on the verge of shutting down basically the entire social service and health care safety net in our state. If this budget issue is not fixed we basically stand to lose most of our community mental health services, including residential programs. Overnight we will create masses of homeless and untreated mentally ill adults and children. Abused women and children will lose services as almost all of the domestic violence programs close down. The list goes on and on.

Normal citizens who should have access to health care will lose much of that access as the health care system which survives struggles to find ways to treat the abandoned clients within the remaining system. I can imagine that we will begin to have real scenes reminiscent of the times of the Great Depression.

In terms of the moral bankruptcy I am sickened to look at the money that we have spent in the last eight years paying for a war we went into based on at best stupidity and at worse criminal deception.

And we continue to bail out the banks, the insurance companies, the automakers ensuring the bonuses for their executives.

To the pro-life people out there, are embryos and fetuses gifts from God to protect but once they are born they are not your concern? The United States should be ashamed that with all our wealth our health care system ranks 37th in the world in terms of infant mortality. The lie that we have the best health care system is at best a lie but more likely evidence of a delusional thought process perpetrated by some of our leaders and the health insurance and pharmaceutical industry.

Len Lempa

Elgin