Are we heading to overtime?

I don't have much new to tell you today. When the day started, it sounded like the House was going to vote on Gov. Pat Quinn's tax plan and the campaign finance limits approved in the Senate yesterday. There were rumors Speaker Mike Madigan was only calling the tax plan to a vote to kill it, or at best to find out how close they were to passage so they could find out how many Republicans the Democrats needed to bring on board. But after a private meeting with his caucus, Madigan abruptly adjourned the House around 5:30 and they won't be back in session until noon on Saturday. Word is, there aren't anywhere near enough votes among House Dems for the governor's tax plan, not even if it's a temporary income tax hike. Too many don't want to vote to raise taxes, others don't want to vote for the cuts they'd have to make even with a tax hike. Republicans aren't about to offer any help on a tax hike. I think there are a few that might vote under other circumstances, but they seem genuinely fed up with being left out of budget negotiations every year until the last minute. We'll see if Quinn and Madigan can figure out a compromise, but it's really hard to tell what will happen. They could pull the same trick as last year and pass a budget that's short on revenue and tell Quinn to fix it. They could pass just enough revenue and spending to get them through the next six to nine months until lawmakers have a better feel for how big of a challenge they're facing in the 2010 election. Or they could go into overtime until they can make a deal with Republicans. I really hope that doesn't happen, but it's looking more and more likely.