When the term "hostage" is used, it is very often in connection with acts of terrorism or kidnapping. This is not something that most of us are ever likely to experience.

But for those living on the economic edge in Illinois this is exactly what is happening as the state endures a budget crisis that could extend through the general election in November 2010.

I am talking about the children, the elderly, the disabled, the mentally ill, the poor and near-poor who rely on services that government can and should provide. These are the people who wait, less visible as time passes, while our political and civic leaders duck straight talk about whether we will need an increase from the current 3% to 5% in the income tax in Illinois.

Especially when people are suffering, what we need are honest debate and good information. Instead, what we are getting, for the most part, is either silence or information so incomplete as to verge on outright dishonesty.

That’s why the Responsible Budget Coalition is so important. This group of 150 providers and advocates, with courageous legislators including Senate President John Cullerton, is telling the truth about our budget crisis and pleading to be heard. PCG is a member, and we call for your support now.

Most political leaders and the mainstream media don’t acknowledge that people around the state are suffering. Illinois is in a state of denial about those in our midst who desperately need help. The absence of public attention to those being destroyed by cuts in social services over the past six months in Illinois is nothing short of shameful.

Far too many of those who do address the budget crisis leave the impression that we can simply cut our way out of the problem. One area frequently mentioned is pension reform, including movement to a two-tiered system by reducing benefits for new state employees, raising the age of eligibility for benefits, and requiring employee contributions for medical coverage. Also at the top of the list is managed care for Medicaid recipients to achieve greater efficiencies and cost reduction.

Current estimates of the deficit we are facing next year climb as high as $12 billion on a general revenue base of about $26 billion. The groups that support pension reform and other cuts — solutions that may have merit — generally do not provide estimates of what these steps would actually save. What is not said is that neither of these changes, taken together, would come close to achieving the kinds of savings needed to close the budget deficit without a major revenue increase.

In short, we are witnessing a political stand-off. Decision-makers are failing to acknowledge the suffering their inaction is causing, and misleading us about solutions that would not accomplish what they claim. In the meantime, the hostages in our midst are suffering. Their number continues to grow.