Yesterday's edition of WTTW's Chicago Tonight feature a 15-minute roundtable discussion on the state budget crisis led by Elizabeth Brackett and featuring State Sens. Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago) and Randy Hultgren (R-Wheaton) and State Reps. Jack Franks (D-Woodstock) and Michael Tryon (R-Crystal Lake).  As the segment lengthened and she failed to get a straight answer about how the state's financial situation could be resolved, Brackett's exasperation grew. "How does the state exist financially?" she finally exclaimed. "This is such a crisis.  We've been talking about this on Chicago Tonight for as long as you guys have been talking about it.  And I don't see any progress."  Watch:

As the pain of the budget crisis continues to spread, it is truly maddening to observe -- let alone report on -- the lack of leadership in Springfield.