If there's one thing that can be gleaned from the ongoing budget stalemate, it's that revenue isn't the only resource Illinois government is short on these days. Leadership is tough to come by as well.

At midnight, the clock runs out on the current fiscal year. What next year's budget will look like remains an unknown. Meanwhile, state officials continue to perpetuate confusion and fear among many of the state's most vulnerable citizens -- the elderly, disabled, foster children -- who still have no idea if the crucial services that they rely on will vanish tomorrow.

"We will not forget," Action Now's Denise Dixon said of the lack of leadership during a protest outside Chicago's Thompson Center this afternoon. "Today is the day. Today is the deadline.  We need to see something come out of Springfield that works for us." Watch her speech:

It wasn't just those lawmakers who voted against an income tax increase in May that were the target of the crowd''s angst today. Statewide officers such as Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Comptroller Dan Hynes  were also singled out for failing to spend any political capital stumping for an income tax increase, even though it's the only sustainable solution to Illinois' financial crisis. 

"We need leadership now," Chicago Coalition for the Homeless' Ed Shurna told us at the rally. "We don't want elected officials who only look to us when they're running for office and there's no controversy. If they want our votes they need to prove that they'll take control in a crisis."