Other lawmakers have gotten very good at throwing their hands into the air, saying “What can we do?” Would it be too much to suggest they do their job?

By now they should have marched across the aisle, joined hands with members of the other party, corralled their leaders and Rauner into a room and not let them out (seriously) until they reach a balanced budget deal they’re all prepared to unconditionally support.

Some of our area’s legislators have gladly ascended to more important roles in the Springfield power structure. With that comes responsibility and accountability, not just a bigger paycheck and a seat closer to the head of the table. Man up.

Just to refresh the woeful screen of unfortunate facts: The backlog of unpaid bills is now $12.1 billion — more than $1 billion higher than in January. In those intervening 15 weeks, the overdue tab has risen $88 for every Illinois citizen and now stands at $945. The state’s bond rating is approaching junk status. Borrowing money costs more. Critical social services are flat-out disappearing. Educational institutions are limping. Businesses and local governments lack certainty. We’re like farmers eating their seed corn.

Who else is to blame? You and me (100 percent) for letting this go on for so long.