CapitolFax.com: Blagojevich can’t stop being a backbencher
Lori
· 2 years ago
Excellent column!! Also thank you for the history on our governor's past employment record, I have often wondered how he got where he is.
So Ill
· 2 years ago
Right on, Rich. Great article.
Speechless
· 2 years ago
Wow, Rich! You absolutely nailed him! That was the best and most accurate article about who and what our governor is that I have ever read.
jackson
· 2 years ago
Rich,
I think you have some good insights in your column, but I think you have an essential piece of your argument wrong. You said that the Governor didn't have legislation for his proposals for months after he announced them.
"It took him months to put his gross receipts tax -- a gigantic hit on business -- into actual legislative language. The same went for his sweeping health insurance plan: dozens of splashy news conferences about a proposal that never really existed."
I thought that sounded wrong, so I looked it up on ILGA. This is what I found:
Gross Receipts Tax/Education plan: Announced March 8 / Legislation on March 30. http://ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp? DocNum=1&GAID=9&GA=95&Do cTypeID=SB&LegID=26955&SessionID=51
Excellent article Rich. Thanks for everything you've done this session.
Blagogate
· 2 years ago
Q - Why did Nixon have an unhealthy penchant for secrecy? A - Because he was doing so much illegal stuff.
Not an accidental comparison, eh Rich?
Larry McKeon
· 2 years ago
The govs legislation for these mega programs never contained any significant substantive content.
All of the detail was left to the rulemaking process which means the legislature was expected to approve and fund massive programs and let the governor add the details later.
This has further increased the level of distrust amoung lawmakers who are not inclined to give any governor a blank check without legislative review and oversight.
The govs mega programs have always been more about media hype lacking in any substantive content.
Rich Miller
· 2 years ago
Thanks for bailing me out, Larry. I'm so hungover and exhausted this morning that I forgot that was the point I was trying to make. lol
Yellow Dog Democrat
· 2 years ago
jackson -
Senate Amendment 1 was a joke, and might has well have been a shell bill. Senate Amendment 2 was drafted to fix all of the problems with SA 1, filed on MAY 8th, and both amendments came out of Rules together on May 8th and voted on together in committee on May 9th.
From March 8th to May 8th sounds like "months" to me.
Sorry, once again, Miller is correct.
Thank you Mel
· 2 years ago
We can all thank Richard F. "Dick" Mell for Rod Blagojevich.
Jaded
· 2 years ago
Nice article Rich, but don't hold your breath on the growing up thing.
As far as the hangover, good for you, but remember hair of the dog is the only good cure for a hangover.
Yellow Dog Democrat
· 2 years ago
Larry McKeon raises another excellent point.
To this day, we still really don't have an "Illinois Covered" plan. That bill has seen SIX substantial amendments filed (7, if you count the last one which renamed it the "Margaret Smith Illinois Covered Act." They could file six more amendments and they still wouldn't be done.
Missing Springfield
· 2 years ago
NICE.
Ghost
· 2 years ago
"A governor's job is to, well, govern. The word is an inherently moderate term. It requires consensus-building skills, the ability to get things done in a way that at least tries to address the needs of everyone, and it demands a whole lot of hard, serious work."
Good point. The governor has made comments before about how he is doing what the people want him to do, and has their support. I think it never occurs to him that he is not actually serivng them if he is unable to build concensious and support for his programs.
Larry McKeon
· 2 years ago
On the growing up thing...
One major character flaw of the guv is that he is not teachable. He does not learn from his mistakes.
At this point, to expect anything different from this gov is totally insanity. He is not capable of doing anything differently.
Not only did he barely pass constitutional law in law school he surely flunked state and local government as an undergraduate. I have taught state and local government at three universities.
Mr Guv. There are three branches of state government. You represent one of them. You will never accomplish much of any significance until your remedial education embraces this fact.
But again, the guv is not teachable. Instead we get continued demonstrations of mediocrity. I told the guv this personally during the first six months of his first term. He did not understand it then; he is not capable of understanding it now or in the future.
No sane observer should expect anything else.
Captain America
· 2 years ago
As I have commented before, the Governor has demonstrated a tragic inability to make the transition from campaigning to governing. Governing requires more than a pretty face, a nice haircut,sound bites,photo opportunities and media events. I see little evidence that he is capable of political/intellectual growth since he seems unable to learn from his mistakes.Every move he makse seems to compound his inadequacy. Given his brilliance as campaigning and his total ineptitude in governing, one could fairly characterize him as an idiot savant,as well as a backbencher.
jaundiced eye
· 2 years ago
Good column and good coverage today, despite your hangover. Keep up the thinking, writing and drinking!! I nominate another classic back bencher: Jesse, Jr.
jackson
· 2 years ago
I call BS.
You are complaining because the bills have been amended?
First you complain that he doesn't compromise. Then you complain because he amended the bills too much.
Get over yourself.
The legislation was there. It sucked, but it was there.
Rich Miller
· 2 years ago
I've been a bit distracted by other things, but, Jackson, did anyone really claim that he amended the bills too many times?
jackson
· 2 years ago
"To this day, we still really don’t have an “Illinois Covered†plan. That bill has seen SIX substantial amendments filed (7, if you count the last one which renamed it the “Margaret Smith Illinois Covered Act.†They could file six more amendments and they still wouldn’t be done. "
amy
· 2 years ago
granted this governor thing is just nuts. but does anyone think a budget bill that does not help the CTA is a good thing? GRod has done a great job of slipping right into Madigan's trap by doing poorly. but even if GRod was doing well, Madigan would still be going at him. Because Madigan is into the public good? Wouldn't the public good include helping the CTA and solving the property tax exemption issue long ago? isn't anyone concerned that the Speaker is running unchecked in a whole different way?
Yellow Dog Democrat
· 2 years ago
As for the article itself Rich, spot-on. I think you've revealed that kernel of optimism that hides in the soul of most political reporters, pundits and junkies. Rod didn't grow as a state lawmaker, didn't grow as a Congressman, what made anyone believe that he would grow as a Governor?
Nothing, but we did hope.
I have two other problems with the Governor. The first is that he really is as dumb as he says he is. In order to govern, you either have to be smart enough to have the answers (Vallas), smart enough to surround yourself with people who do have the answers and listen to them (Edgar), or smart enough to let other people govern and just make sure the process runs smoothly (Ryan). Blagojevich has none of those skills.
The other problem is that Blagojevich confirms people's worst suspicions about politicians, turning public faith in the process into tatters and discouraging everyone who is part of the process from working toward any semblance of common good.
If the legislature passes a budget shortly as expected, I hope the Gov takes my advice and signs it, vowing to fight another day.
Then I hope for his sake and ours that he takes a month off from the high-profile politicking to do some serious reflecting.
He needs to stop thinking about running for President some day and think about what kind of Governor he wants to be, what kind of person he wants to be, and how he wants to be remembered as both. 2008 is his last chance to reinvent himself, because by this time next year, he'll be back in campaign mode. I think Blagojevich's chances of being re-elected are slim right now, but even if he can't change that fate, he can at least alter how he'll be remembered.
Now, the Governor didn't do much reflecting when he was blasted for treating Senator Vince DeMuzio's funeral like a campaign stop, showing up 45 minutes late.
And he didn't do much reflecting when he treated his own father-in-law as a campaign prop, tearing his family apart.
But we can hope, right?
Rich Miller
· 2 years ago
Jackson makes a good point, which ought to be addressed by the person who wrote that comment.
I would add, though, that the governor's version of the word "compromise" is not the version most everyone else knows. Tweaking a bill that is dead in the water is not compromising. Finding a way to actually achieve a similar end to your original goal is compromising. They're too arrogantly wrapped up in their formulas to see any other routes.
VanillaMan
· 2 years ago
I read your column with a real sinking feeling. I know I have been bloviating over these same issues over the years, based on what I know about governinng, but reading an article confirming it, just makes me sick.
We just don't need this. Illinois has been in a hole for years. We needed a successful governor, regardless of political party, and we got stuck with Blagojevich. He has spent another $14 Billion more than we have so far, and we were already Billions in the red when Ryan left.
Blagojevich is just not for real. He isn't a real governor, a real leader, or a real follower either. He is just a political Professor Henry Hill promising 76 trombones while tooting on a kazoo.
If he wasn't a fraud, he'd be a bad governor.
Sarge
· 2 years ago
Very insightful column. The online magazine for the Harvard Business School recently hosted a forum where they asked how much of leadership was control, how much was delegation, and how much was theatrics. I don't think that a discussion on business leadership necessarily translates well onto discussions about political leadership, but one of the commenters made an interesting point. He said the problem with relying on theatrics is that eventually your people learn to look behind the curtain. Maybe it took five years, but it seems like a lot of folks have seen an awful lot behind the Blagojevich curtain this year. And nobody has been intrigued.
If Rod thought the summer of 2007 has been long, it will be nothing compared to the next 3 1/2 years of trying to generate interest in his continual song and dance.
Jackson
· 2 years ago
Unfortunately, Rich, I don't think the healthcare bill has struggled because it is a bad bill.
It is because it's the Governor's bill.
There is no amount of compromise he can do to get rid of that stigma. And that's too bad. Because it could have done a lot of good for millions of people.
Yellow Dog Democrat
· 2 years ago
Jackson -
You can call BS, but don't confuse amendments with compromise or legislative language with a plan. Compromise involves concessions to your opponents. The amendments filed by Blagojevich were changes requested by his supporters to fix flaws in the bill so that they could vote for it. They STILL don't have a final plan....if they did, we would have voted on it by now.
Compromise would have been offering a scaled-back version of his proposal as Democrats in both the Senate and the House requested, as well as a funding mechanism that didn't involve a 3% payroll tax.
AHA! you say -- the Governor has proposed scaling back his proposal, by changing the effective date. But lawmakers understand that still creates the same mandate for the state, its just a political convenience that changes how many votes are needed and postpones the costs for 10 months.
BUT! You say, the Governor has proposed a new funding mechanism, casino gambling. ACTUALLY, the Governor's said all along that he'll only support gambling expansion if lawmakers force him to, and his website still calls for a 3% payroll tax.
I was at the hearing on the GRT, and I can tell you that even after SA-2 was filed, the Governor's office had more "I dunno's" than answers.
Lou Holtz / Anon
· 2 years ago
Rich- I think your description of the Governor as a "classic backbencher" is apt.
My only addition would be that what you describe as his "backbencher" mentality likely has deeper roots than his time in the U.S. House and the Illinois House. He often talks about relishing a fight, and his campaigns have referenced his experience as a boxer. I think he has an instinctual impulse to fight, and in the absence of a fight, to generate conflict. It seems to be a behavioral pattern learned early in life. In the final analysis, the impulse to continual conflict is really about ego--his self-image is that of a heroic man fighting an absolutely evil enemy. When reality does not accord with his preconceived fantasy of himself as a "warrior" for the good, he invents enemies and boogeymen. He can only understand events and relationships in terms of diametrically opposed conflict. I think that reveals deep insecurity and a relatively unsophisticated mind.
--just my $.02.
Overtimer
· 2 years ago
That was an excellent summary of the Governor's leadership style, or total lack thereof. I think your "backbencher" analysis is worthy of a t-shirt. I'd buy it!
Captain America
· 2 years ago
Amy.
The primary reason we don't have a mass t4rasnit funding bill is the Governopr's obstrcutionism.
Humphrey Bogart
· 2 years ago
I am seriously thinking about suing Rod Blagojevich for identity theft for stealing my character's i.d. in the Caine Mutiny. Captain Queeg was one of my favorite character portrayals and he is ruining it with his poor rendition. I can picture Rod asking John Harris (in the Stephen Maryk role) to find out who stole the strawberries while twirling his marbles in his hands. "I know it was Madigan! I want you to get to this bottom of this"!
anon
· 2 years ago
Yellow Dog -
For sake of accuracy here.
The plan was scaled back - from $3 billion a year to $1 billion a year.
So, you forgot one of the "Ahas!" in your post.
I would say scaling it back from $3 billion a year to $1 billion a year is a pretty big compromise.
Captain America
· 2 years ago
Amy, The priamry reason we don't have a mass transit funding bill is Governor's Blagojevich's obstinate obtructionism. Julie Hamos worked mightily to create bipartican support for a 1/4% sales tax and a modest proeprty transfer tax increase. It was a political no-brainer.
The Governor repeatedly and adamantly promised to veto this funding solution, primrily because of blatant political stupidity. Ergo we have no mass transit funding bill yet- but we'll probably get there sooner or later despite the Governor. Blame Governor Strangelove, not Mike Madigan or Emil Jones for this omission.
Rich Miller
· 2 years ago
Anon, it's only a "big" compromise if it helped make the bill an actual l-a-w.
amy
· 2 years ago
actually, maybe we can blame Julie on this one. a sales tax increase and a transfer tax, both taxes on consumers and we're supposed to like that? Julie's heart is certainly in the right place, and in her super liberal mind,with her rich constituency, this does not hurt. but in the bungalow belt, it does, hence the no go from the gov, in my opinion. Madman, oops, Madigan, knows that, in fact, I don't think his constituents would like those kinds of taxes. so, once again, mr. mike get his way. and the riders wait and wait.
Squideshi
· 2 years ago
Kudos to Rich Miller for taking Blagojevich to task.
Ghost
· 2 years ago
Jackson, the problem with the healthcare reform is the Gov setup a great idea to fail. He did not rally concensious and support before making his press announcements. he did not have proposed language ready to go before touting the plan. I still think the 3% payroll tax is a fantastic idea, but the govs approach is still the problem.
He takes a grandiose idea, runs to the press with it for publicity, then trys to figure out how to do it later. Just imagine if he came up with the structure before the big announcment; had submitted his idea with actual language and garnered support for it before he went to press; and then came forward with lnaguage and support in hand.
His whole methodology is almost childlike in its simplicty. Announce a big idea, with little detail, to the public that he thinks the public will want. Then try to get the public to put pressure on the GA to make the idea a reality. A true leader would have a detailed plan to work from and get support from the GA instead of governance by press release.
Garp
· 2 years ago
Man Mr. Miller that is a good column.
When Blago first was elected Governor I was very happy and had high hopes. I had known him for years and was eager to see him use his high energy and gregarious manner to implement programs to help people. I didn’t realize that this “back bencher†mentality you so ably describe would cause him to immediately alienate the individuals needed to succeed. Instead of learning from his early mistakes, he keeps getting progressively more obstinate and ineffective.
His failure to even speak to his Lt. Governor speaks volumes, at least to me, about how his mind works. He believes he is better and smarter than his fellow elected officials. This lack of humility and need to claim all credit makes it impossible for him to govern effectively. He wants to out-politic the leaders, out reform the reformers, embarrass the republicans, discredit his mentors and punish legislatures’ whom don’t go his way. He is trying to be all bad things to all people and it is working.
That is a shame because a well thought out and constructive healthcare and transportation program would be a huge benefit to our state. It would attract businesses. I have to believe that his leadership is stunting progress and repelling potential growth
Nickname
· 2 years ago
"actually, maybe we can blame Julie on this one. a sales tax increase and a transfer tax, both taxes on consumers and we’re supposed to like that?"
Those taxes bring in SUSTAINABLE revenue.
Team Sleep
· 2 years ago
Great article and summation, Rich. Bankbenchers in Congress are a dime a dozen, and the leadership's relationship with their rank-and-file is not much different in D.C. than it is here in Illinois. Rod did very little during his time in D.C. and he wanted people to ignore that fact when the 2002 primary and general were at hand. To me, a politician should actually do something or have a good track record to prove to voters that he or she should move up in the government food chain. Rod did not have that, and it is evident in his style of "governing" and "negotiations".
YDD's 10:52 post hits the nail right on the head. I don't see the governor as a capable leader. He does not strike me as too terribly bright; he does not get along well with others; and he is selfish. He does truly fit the cynic's view of a politician.
Captain America
· 2 years ago
Anon.
If the Governor had had the good political sense to make this compromise before May 31, the scaled back health plan might have passed. Overtime, which requires supermajorities and hence Republican support,doomed the Illinois covered proposal. Thereafter, the Governor compounded his problem by attacking Democratic leaders and rank-and-fle legislators repeatedly,and alienating all but his small group of die-hard legislstive supporters. His irrational political behavior and rhetoric during the entire overtime session, negated any remote chance that Illinois covered might have had in overtime. In terms of political capital, my guess is that the Governor's political net worth is negative.
steve schnorf
· 2 years ago
My house has a whole lot of glass in it, and for that and many other reasons (not the least of which is, unlike some of you, I have a decent understanding of just how hard a Governor's job is) I am reluctant to throw stones. Given that:
I don't think the Governor's health care proposal suffered because it was his, I think it was harmed by the fact that it was very expensive and the proposed means of paying for it were seen as adding to the already proposed business tax increases called for by the GRT.
I alternate between two positions on the Governor's proposals. By nature I am moderate, and therefore inclined toward gradualness and incrementalism, and that's how Governors Edgar and Ryan approached expanding health care coverage (successfully I might add, but on a far smaller scale). That piece of me saw the Governor's big proposals this year as trying to bite off too much at one time.
But another piece of me was very impressed by the very scope and boldness of what he proposed this year; expanding to virtually universal health care coverage, solving the pension underfunding problem, and dealing with education funding reform. It was, IMHO, a masterwork of comprehnsiveness, something far grander than even a Thompson ever proposed. It said here are 3 great current problems in Illinois, and here is a proposed solution. And I don't see as much unwillingness to compromise as some of you do (witness property tax relief).
The proof, I guess, is in the pudding, and we haven't (so far) ended up with any. At this point I'm still wondering whether the same proposals, funded by a two point increase in the income tax rather than GRT, could have been accomplished. I suppose we'll never know.
I reiterate my statements that I like most of this Governor's agenda. Expanded early childhood education, expanded health care coverage, addressing the pension problem, education funding reform, are I believe, good things. But they have to be paid for and I guess I think that's where this administration has been caught up. Pledging to not increase the income or sales tax may be good politics (Edgar did it during his first gubernatorial campaign), but it probably isn't good government from a moderate point of view. A conservative can make that pledge, because he/she will propose no grand program initiatives. I think the administration has governed on the spending side as if it was willing to substantially increase base revenues, but hasn't been able to find a way to do so within the limits of the pledge.
Don't lose site of the fact that the current legislative budget, which is being denounced left and right as inadequate, raises GRF spending by close to 8%, a huge (unprecedented?) increase by historical standards . Without getting into whether such increases are good or bad, I can flatly guarantee you that they can't be sustained within the state's current tax structure.
Skeeter
· 2 years ago
Blago may be a backbencher, and a complete inept leader, and many other things, but I disagree with the idea that his backbencher mentality has caused the current problem.
At risk of giving Blago more credit than he deserves, I genuinely feel that this is a battle for the soul of the Democratic Party, which you also see playing out on a national level (the analogy being Edwards v. Clinton).
Blago, like Edwards, is an old line "liberal" in the worst FoxNews version of the word. Those two have never seen a problem that cannot be solved by throwing money. Edwards said that his picture would never be on the cover of Fortune Magazine (as opposed to Sen. Clinton), and Blago seems to view matters the same way. Business is bad. Government is good. That is the worldview of Blago and Edwards.
Madigan and Clinton, on the other hand, realize that programs have a price and the taxpayer must pay that price. Madigan wants to help those who cannot help themselves and he would like to have better transportation, better schools, etc., but he is not going to bankrupt the state or drive business out of the state to accomplish that goal.
Ultimately, this is a fight that matters for Illinois. The winner will determine what the Democratic Party stands for. When Blago called the Speaker a Republican, he was serious, since Blago believes that limited government and a business friendly environment are only for Republicans.
Sure Blago is a backbencher and a horrible leader. Those are serious character flaws and are useful for explaining to some extent how Blago was elected. But I don't think it summarizes what this battle is all about.
Shallow Pharnyx
· 2 years ago
Lou Hartz/Anon Great pschoanalysis of Blago!!
Rich Miller
· 2 years ago
Skeeter, you may have a point, but I think you're overthinking this. It's not a battle for the soul of the national party writ small here. It's a battle for ownership.
The back-bencher mentality is just part of the problem, but it's a big part, and it's why he's losing the ownership fight as well.
Captain America
· 2 years ago
Amy. The bungalow dwellers need mass transit more than Julie's so-called superrich constituency. Julie's liberalism had nothing to do with the failure to pass a mass transit funding bill, it was the Governor's obstructionism that was the impediment. My understanding is that the transfer tax was more problematic that the sales tax, except in the Governor's mind. Madigan/Hamos would have passed a mass transit funding bill,if it had not been for Governor Strangelove.
By the way, Julie Hamos has been a very strong Blagojevich supporter from the beginning of his quest for the Governorship. So it's probably not inaccurate to cite this as another instance of infamous political ingratitude on the Governor's part.
Chicago Cynic
· 2 years ago
Skeeter, I think you're giving Rod waaaaaaaayyyyy too much credit on this one. He has always been willing to cut deals to promote business if that suits his interest. I still think this is more of his "reach exceeeds his grasp." He wants to go down as a bold, history making leader because he can see that about himself in the history books. But his maturity, intellectual and personality flaws are so deep as to prevent that from happening.
BTW - I know this is off-topic (though there are similarities with Rod), but I thought it was funny that Edwards made a big deal about not appearing on the cover of Fortune at the same time he appeared on the covers of Esquire and MensVogue. What moron campaign guy told him it would be ok for Mr. $400 pretty-boy haircut to appear on a men's fashion mag. Kind of like spending $600 on makeup for a budget address...
nino brown
· 2 years ago
way to go rich. some of your best work. rich miller is becoming a brand name.
Milorad
· 2 years ago
Skeeter, that was a well thought out analysis but I don't buy it. I think Blagojevich's personality is at issue here. I think he just can't help being combative. If Madigan were the one wanting massive social programs Blago would take the opposite tact. After all Blago admitted to having voted for Reagan.
Captain America
· 2 years ago
Skeeter, I don't see how you can characterize a self-desccribed Reagan Democcrat as a liberal. His obstinate conservatrive fiscal policy - no income or sales tax increases- dooms his liberal policy agenda. In effect, Balog is trying to have his cake and eat it too, since his fiscal policy contradicts and precludes achievement of his policy agenda.
I think this legislative session has been a naked struggle for power and control, rather than a struggle for the soul of the Democratic Party. Blagojevich lost the struggle due to blatant politcal and governmental ineptitude.
Madigan, who I consider a pragmatic fiscal and social conservative, would have supported a combination of sales/business/personalincome tax increases to fund programs and eliminate the State's structural deficit. The Governor would not support any sales and income tax increases, and his untransigent unwillingness to compromise fiscally and in terms of policy intiatives,like his health care proposal,has prevented him from achieving his policy agenda.
I'm looking forward to a generational change of leadership in the Democratic Party and Illinois government in 2011. The first step will be for the Semate Democratic caucus to induce Senate President Jones to step down, involutarily if necessasry. Madigan will retire after in 4 - 5 years or so. Blagojevich will either be indicted and resign or be defeated in the next Democratic primary. And the rest of us will keep muddling through as best we can.
Skeeter
· 2 years ago
Captain America,
He says he voted for Reagan. I once voted for Jesse Jackson, Sr. in a primary. Big deal. Unless we were voting somebody off the island, I wouldn't vote for Jesse Sr. for anything and Blago sure wouldn't vote for Reagan.
With regard to the taxes: Blago believes that the income and sales tax are taxes on the individual/consumer, while his GRT is a tax on buiness. Simplistic maybe, but I never said Blago was smart. I said he was a liberal.
City Voter
· 2 years ago
While I agree with your column wholeheartedly, the average person who sees the splashy press coverage will continue to vote for this guy, viola, the cycle continues. The "pick & demonize defined enemy" modus operandi really works for him and all the "little guys" eat it up. No intelligence required. Sorry to be a cynic, lived in Chicago too long.
Rich Miller
· 2 years ago
Skeeter, the governor told me a couple of weeks ago that he considers Reagan a "great president." I had fun tweaking Jay Hoffman and him about that statement.
Skeeter
· 2 years ago
Massive budget deficits, an administration rocked by scandal -- this does sound like Reagan.
I'm just glad that Blago identifies Reagan as a "former United States President." He may be smarter than I thought.
In all seriousness, his administration has been as unfriendly to business as any administration I remember and it appears to be a matter of policy.
Objective Dem
· 2 years ago
I agree that this is a very good article particularly because you provide a level of analysis that is largely missing from the mainstream media (with the exception for your syndicated column). You should teach political reporting. The need is there.
As predicted, the majority of commenters use this column to talk about how bad Rod is. I'm not going to disagree, I'm just bored with the obvious.
My interest lays in the issue of media coverage of backbenchers. The media will treat backbenchers and loons with more seriousness and attention than they deserve and more than people with real substance. For instance, my impression is Jesse Jackson Jr. is a classic example of a backbencher, but the local media is building him up to be the next mayor.
Rich, I don't want to put you on the spot, but can you identify any back benchers besides Rod, that are moving up the ranks due to style over substance.
Team Sleep
· 2 years ago
The only difference between Rod B. and George B. is their names. Seriously. Both "hate" taxes; both have staffs that tell them only what they want to hear; both have increased spending when there is no extra funds; and both have pet projects/plans they want implemented. And when they don't get what they want, they whine about it and try to throw the opposition under the bus.
I agree with Skeeter. I think there is somewhat of an underlying battle between the populist liberal and "Southern Democrat" mentalities. One side wants to spend and create new bureaucracies and the other side wants to help people but find ways to do so other than merely throwing money at the problem and taxing everyone under the sun to do so. But Rod takes it one step further when he clamors for attention and refuses to cooperate. Eventually, something has to give, but he apparently doesn't see that.
one of the 35
· 2 years ago
As long as we are "praising" the governor, permit me to add that he is also a very mean person who does not care one whit if he victimizes state employees to make a point. He has caused great pain and upheaval to many individual's lives just to garner headlines.
Napoleon has left the building
· 2 years ago
Milorod - "voted for Reagan, not once, but twice!" proudly he shouted.
Jackson - you make a good point that the programs fail because of the messenger not the message. If you heard anyone from the budget office talk about the GRT - it sort of made sense. When the governor himself pitched it - it made you want to puke. This guy can't sell blankets to eskimos because he has absolutely zero credibility. His word is worth nothing - that's why the whole deal with Watson earlier this week was puzzling.
Great column Rich.
dc
· 2 years ago
Steve Schnorf's comments earlier were spot-on. We have significant issues facing the state and, to solve those issues we need pragmatic leaders. Although it was over 11 years ago, I vividly recall being on the House floor listening to Governor Edgar's Budget Address when he used the phrase "... not bigger government, better government." That was a time when the state budget was approximately $36 billion and people were irate that the budget was growing out of control. Eleven years and nearly $20 billion later, people are still screaming that there's not enough money.
Glenn Poshard's analogy in 1998 about the family sitting around the table, balancing its revenue and its bills, is still as accurate today. The state doesn't have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. The Blagojevich people would be well served to take the valuable advice from Steve Schnorf and others who have done it before (and did it well) rather than pointing their fingers of blame at perpetually moving targets.
hensly
· 2 years ago
Great column and concept. I like the "backbencher" t-shirt idea as well. I'm still waiting for someone to put the Governor in "TIME OUT"!
Carl Nyberg
· 2 years ago
Some activist tried to sign me onto the napalm opposition project b/c I was a member of Veterans for Peace.
I declined. I didn't have to do any research to figure out that a bunch of stuff as flammable or toxic as napalm is shipped by rail every day. Napalm has more cache because of its association with the Vietnam Nam War.
I did notice Blagojevich ran with the issue and got himself in the papers.
But Rich's column is too kind to the media people who are too unsophisticated to separate real issues from grandstanding on something almost entirely irrelevant.
All Comments
I think you have some good insights in your column, but I think you have an essential piece of your argument wrong. You said that the Governor didn't have legislation for his proposals for months after he announced them.
"It took him months to put his gross receipts tax -- a gigantic hit on business -- into actual legislative language. The same went for his sweeping health insurance plan: dozens of splashy news conferences about a proposal that never really existed."
I thought that sounded wrong, so I looked it up on ILGA. This is what I found:
Gross Receipts Tax/Education plan:
Announced March 8 / Legislation on March 30.
http://ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?
DocNum=1&GAID=9&GA=95&Do
cTypeID=SB&LegID=26955&SessionID=51
Healthcare plan:
Announced March 8 / Legislation on March 30.
http://ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?Doc
Num=5&GAID
=9&GA=95&DocTypeID=SB&LegID=27215
&SessionID=51
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5 Education Funding Reform Act of 2007.
Senate Amendment 1 to Senate Bill 1 was filed on March 30.
It is the full thing. Look:
http://ilga.gov/legislation/95/SB/09500SB0001sa...
A - Because he was doing so much illegal stuff.
Not an accidental comparison, eh Rich?
All of the detail was left to the rulemaking process which means the legislature was expected to approve and fund massive programs and let the governor add the details later.
This has further increased the level of distrust amoung lawmakers who are not inclined to give any governor a blank check without legislative review and oversight.
The govs mega programs have always been more about media hype lacking in any substantive content.
Senate Amendment 1 was a joke, and might has well have been a shell bill. Senate Amendment 2 was drafted to fix all of the problems with SA 1, filed on MAY 8th, and both amendments came out of Rules together on May 8th and voted on together in committee on May 9th.
From March 8th to May 8th sounds like "months" to me.
Sorry, once again, Miller is correct.
As far as the hangover, good for you, but remember hair of the dog is the only good cure for a hangover.
To this day, we still really don't have an "Illinois Covered" plan. That bill has seen SIX substantial amendments filed (7, if you count the last one which renamed it the "Margaret Smith Illinois Covered Act." They could file six more amendments and they still wouldn't be done.
Good point. The governor has made comments before about how he is doing what the people want him to do, and has their support. I think it never occurs to him that he is not actually serivng them if he is unable to build concensious and support for his programs.
One major character flaw of the guv is that he is not teachable. He does not learn from his mistakes.
At this point, to expect anything different from this gov is totally insanity. He is not capable of doing anything differently.
Not only did he barely pass constitutional law in law school he surely flunked state and local government as an undergraduate. I have taught state and local government at three universities.
Mr Guv. There are three branches of state government. You represent one of them. You will never accomplish much of any significance until your remedial education embraces this fact.
But again, the guv is not teachable. Instead we get continued demonstrations of mediocrity. I told the guv this personally during the first six months of his first term. He did not understand it then; he is not capable of understanding it now or in the future.
No sane observer should expect anything else.
You are complaining because the bills have been amended?
First you complain that he doesn't compromise. Then you complain because he amended the bills too much.
Get over yourself.
The legislation was there. It sucked, but it was there.
does anyone think a budget bill that does not
help the CTA is a good thing? GRod has done
a great job of slipping right into Madigan's
trap by doing poorly. but even if GRod was
doing well, Madigan would still be going at
him. Because Madigan is into the public good?
Wouldn't the public good include helping
the CTA and solving the property tax exemption
issue long ago? isn't anyone concerned that
the Speaker is running unchecked in a whole
different way?
Nothing, but we did hope.
I have two other problems with the Governor. The first is that he really is as dumb as he says he is. In order to govern, you either have to be smart enough to have the answers (Vallas), smart enough to surround yourself with people who do have the answers and listen to them (Edgar), or smart enough to let other people govern and just make sure the process runs smoothly (Ryan). Blagojevich has none of those skills.
The other problem is that Blagojevich confirms people's worst suspicions about politicians, turning public faith in the process into tatters and discouraging everyone who is part of the process from working toward any semblance of common good.
If the legislature passes a budget shortly as expected, I hope the Gov takes my advice and signs it, vowing to fight another day.
Then I hope for his sake and ours that he takes a month off from the high-profile politicking to do some serious reflecting.
He needs to stop thinking about running for President some day and think about what kind of Governor he wants to be, what kind of person he wants to be, and how he wants to be remembered as both. 2008 is his last chance to reinvent himself, because by this time next year, he'll be back in campaign mode. I think Blagojevich's chances of being re-elected are slim right now, but even if he can't change that fate, he can at least alter how he'll be remembered.
Now, the Governor didn't do much reflecting when he was blasted for treating Senator Vince DeMuzio's funeral like a campaign stop, showing up 45 minutes late.
And he didn't do much reflecting when he treated his own father-in-law as a campaign prop, tearing his family apart.
But we can hope, right?
I would add, though, that the governor's version of the word "compromise" is not the version most everyone else knows. Tweaking a bill that is dead in the water is not compromising. Finding a way to actually achieve a similar end to your original goal is compromising. They're too arrogantly wrapped up in their formulas to see any other routes.
We just don't need this. Illinois has been in a hole for years. We needed a successful governor, regardless of political party, and we got stuck with Blagojevich. He has spent another $14 Billion more than we have so far, and we were already Billions in the red when Ryan left.
Blagojevich is just not for real. He isn't a real governor, a real leader, or a real follower either. He is just a political Professor Henry Hill promising 76 trombones while tooting on a kazoo.
If he wasn't a fraud, he'd be a bad governor.
If Rod thought the summer of 2007 has been long, it will be nothing compared to the next 3 1/2 years of trying to generate interest in his continual song and dance.
It is because it's the Governor's bill.
There is no amount of compromise he can do to get rid of that stigma. And that's too bad. Because it could have done a lot of good for millions of people.
You can call BS, but don't confuse amendments with compromise or legislative language with a plan. Compromise involves concessions to your opponents. The amendments filed by Blagojevich were changes requested by his supporters to fix flaws in the bill so that they could vote for it. They STILL don't have a final plan....if they did, we would have voted on it by now.
Compromise would have been offering a scaled-back version of his proposal as Democrats in both the Senate and the House requested, as well as a funding mechanism that didn't involve a 3% payroll tax.
AHA! you say -- the Governor has proposed scaling back his proposal, by changing the effective date. But lawmakers understand that still creates the same mandate for the state, its just a political convenience that changes how many votes are needed and postpones the costs for 10 months.
BUT! You say, the Governor has proposed a new funding mechanism, casino gambling. ACTUALLY, the Governor's said all along that he'll only support gambling expansion if lawmakers force him to, and his website still calls for a 3% payroll tax.
I was at the hearing on the GRT, and I can tell you that even after SA-2 was filed, the Governor's office had more "I dunno's" than answers.
I think your description of the Governor as a "classic backbencher" is apt.
My only addition would be that what you describe as his "backbencher" mentality likely has deeper roots than his time in the U.S. House and the Illinois House. He often talks about relishing a fight, and his campaigns have referenced his experience as a boxer. I think he has an instinctual impulse to fight, and in the absence of a fight, to generate conflict. It seems to be a behavioral pattern learned early in life. In the final analysis, the impulse to continual conflict is really about ego--his self-image is that of a heroic man fighting an absolutely evil enemy. When reality does not accord with his preconceived fantasy of himself as a "warrior" for the good, he invents enemies and boogeymen. He can only understand events and relationships in terms of diametrically opposed conflict. I think that reveals deep insecurity and a relatively unsophisticated mind.
--just my $.02.
The primary reason we don't have a mass t4rasnit funding bill is the Governopr's obstrcutionism.
For sake of accuracy here.
The plan was scaled back - from $3 billion a year to $1 billion a year.
So, you forgot one of the "Ahas!" in your post.
I would say scaling it back from $3 billion a year to $1 billion a year is a pretty big compromise.
The priamry reason we don't have a mass transit funding bill is Governor's Blagojevich's obstinate obtructionism. Julie Hamos worked mightily to create bipartican support for a 1/4% sales tax and a modest proeprty transfer tax increase. It was a political no-brainer.
The Governor repeatedly and adamantly promised to veto this funding solution, primrily because of blatant political stupidity. Ergo we have no mass transit funding bill yet- but we'll probably get there sooner or later despite the Governor. Blame Governor Strangelove, not Mike Madigan or Emil Jones for this omission.
a sales tax increase and a transfer tax, both
taxes on consumers and we're supposed to like
that? Julie's heart is certainly in the right
place, and in her super liberal mind,with her
rich constituency, this does not hurt. but
in the bungalow belt, it does, hence the no
go from the gov, in my opinion. Madman, oops,
Madigan, knows that, in fact, I don't think his
constituents would like those kinds of taxes.
so, once again, mr. mike get his way. and
the riders wait and wait.
He takes a grandiose idea, runs to the press with it for publicity, then trys to figure out how to do it later. Just imagine if he came up with the structure before the big announcment; had submitted his idea with actual language and garnered support for it before he went to press; and then came forward with lnaguage and support in hand.
His whole methodology is almost childlike in its simplicty. Announce a big idea, with little detail, to the public that he thinks the public will want. Then try to get the public to put pressure on the GA to make the idea a reality. A true leader would have a detailed plan to work from and get support from the GA instead of governance by press release.
When Blago first was elected Governor I was very happy and had high hopes. I had known him for years and was eager to see him use his high energy and gregarious manner to implement programs to help people. I didn’t realize that this “back bencher†mentality you so ably describe would cause him to immediately alienate the individuals needed to succeed. Instead of learning from his early mistakes, he keeps getting progressively more obstinate and ineffective.
His failure to even speak to his Lt. Governor speaks volumes, at least to me, about how his mind works. He believes he is better and smarter than his fellow elected officials. This lack of humility and need to claim all credit makes it impossible for him to govern effectively. He wants to out-politic the leaders, out reform the reformers, embarrass the republicans, discredit his mentors and punish legislatures’ whom don’t go his way. He is trying to be all bad things to all people and it is working.
That is a shame because a well thought out and constructive healthcare and transportation program would be a huge benefit to our state. It would attract businesses. I have to believe that his leadership is stunting progress and repelling potential growth
a sales tax increase and a transfer tax, both
taxes on consumers and we’re supposed to like
that?"
Those taxes bring in SUSTAINABLE revenue.
YDD's 10:52 post hits the nail right on the head. I don't see the governor as a capable leader. He does not strike me as too terribly bright; he does not get along well with others; and he is selfish. He does truly fit the cynic's view of a politician.
If the Governor had had the good political sense to make this compromise before May 31, the scaled back health plan might have passed. Overtime, which requires supermajorities and hence Republican support,doomed the Illinois covered proposal. Thereafter, the Governor compounded his problem by attacking Democratic leaders and rank-and-fle legislators repeatedly,and alienating all but his small group of die-hard legislstive supporters. His irrational political behavior and rhetoric during the entire overtime session, negated any remote chance that Illinois covered might have had in overtime. In terms of political capital, my guess is that the Governor's political net worth is negative.
I don't think the Governor's health care proposal suffered because it was his, I think it was harmed by the fact that it was very expensive and the proposed means of paying for it were seen as adding to the already proposed business tax increases called for by the GRT.
I alternate between two positions on the Governor's proposals. By nature I am moderate, and therefore inclined toward gradualness and incrementalism, and that's how Governors Edgar and Ryan approached expanding health care coverage (successfully I might add, but on a far smaller scale). That piece of me saw the Governor's big proposals this year as trying to bite off too much at one time.
But another piece of me was very impressed by the very scope and boldness of what he proposed this year; expanding to virtually universal health care coverage, solving the pension underfunding problem, and dealing with education funding reform. It was, IMHO, a masterwork of comprehnsiveness, something far grander than even a Thompson ever proposed. It said here are 3 great current problems in Illinois, and here is a proposed solution. And I don't see as much unwillingness to compromise as some of you do (witness property tax relief).
The proof, I guess, is in the pudding, and we haven't (so far) ended up with any. At this point I'm still wondering whether the same proposals, funded by a two point increase in the income tax rather than GRT, could have been accomplished. I suppose we'll never know.
I reiterate my statements that I like most of this Governor's agenda. Expanded early childhood education, expanded health care coverage, addressing the pension problem, education funding reform, are I believe, good things. But they have to be paid for and I guess I think that's where this administration has been caught up. Pledging to not increase the income or sales tax may be good politics (Edgar did it during his first gubernatorial campaign), but it probably isn't good government from a moderate point of view. A conservative can make that pledge, because he/she will propose no grand program initiatives. I think the administration has governed on the spending side as if it was willing to substantially increase base revenues, but hasn't been able to find a way to do so within the limits of the pledge.
Don't lose site of the fact that the current legislative budget, which is being denounced left and right as inadequate, raises GRF spending by close to 8%, a huge (unprecedented?) increase by historical standards . Without getting into whether such increases are good or bad, I can flatly guarantee you that they can't be sustained within the state's current tax structure.
At risk of giving Blago more credit than he deserves, I genuinely feel that this is a battle for the soul of the Democratic Party, which you also see playing out on a national level (the analogy being Edwards v. Clinton).
Blago, like Edwards, is an old line "liberal" in the worst FoxNews version of the word. Those two have never seen a problem that cannot be solved by throwing money. Edwards said that his picture would never be on the cover of Fortune Magazine (as opposed to Sen. Clinton), and Blago seems to view matters the same way. Business is bad. Government is good. That is the worldview of Blago and Edwards.
Madigan and Clinton, on the other hand, realize that programs have a price and the taxpayer must pay that price. Madigan wants to help those who cannot help themselves and he would like to have better transportation, better schools, etc., but he is not going to bankrupt the state or drive business out of the state to accomplish that goal.
Ultimately, this is a fight that matters for Illinois. The winner will determine what the Democratic Party stands for. When Blago called the Speaker a Republican, he was serious, since Blago believes that limited government and a business friendly environment are only for Republicans.
Sure Blago is a backbencher and a horrible leader. Those are serious character flaws and are useful for explaining to some extent how Blago was elected. But I don't think it summarizes what this battle is all about.
Great pschoanalysis of Blago!!
The back-bencher mentality is just part of the problem, but it's a big part, and it's why he's losing the ownership fight as well.
The bungalow dwellers need mass transit more than Julie's so-called superrich constituency. Julie's liberalism had nothing to do with the failure to pass a mass transit funding bill, it was the Governor's obstructionism that was the impediment. My understanding is that the transfer tax was more problematic that the sales tax, except in the Governor's mind. Madigan/Hamos would have passed a mass transit funding bill,if it had not been for Governor Strangelove.
By the way, Julie Hamos has been a very strong Blagojevich supporter from the beginning of his quest for the Governorship. So it's probably not inaccurate to cite this as another instance of infamous political ingratitude on the Governor's part.
BTW - I know this is off-topic (though there are similarities with Rod), but I thought it was funny that Edwards made a big deal about not appearing on the cover of Fortune at the same time he appeared on the covers of Esquire and MensVogue. What moron campaign guy told him it would be ok for Mr. $400 pretty-boy haircut to appear on a men's fashion mag. Kind of like spending $600 on makeup for a budget address...
I don't see how you can characterize a self-desccribed Reagan Democcrat as a liberal. His obstinate conservatrive fiscal policy - no income or sales tax increases- dooms his liberal policy agenda. In effect, Balog is trying to have his cake and eat it too, since his fiscal policy contradicts and precludes achievement of his policy agenda.
I think this legislative session has been a naked struggle for power and control, rather than a struggle for the soul of the Democratic Party. Blagojevich lost the struggle due to blatant politcal and governmental ineptitude.
Madigan, who I consider a pragmatic fiscal and social conservative, would have supported a combination of sales/business/personalincome tax increases to fund programs and eliminate the State's structural deficit. The Governor would not support any sales and income tax increases, and his untransigent unwillingness to compromise fiscally and in terms of policy intiatives,like his health care proposal,has prevented him from achieving his policy agenda.
I'm looking forward to a generational change of leadership in the Democratic Party and Illinois government in 2011. The first step will be for the Semate Democratic caucus to induce Senate President Jones to step down, involutarily if necessasry. Madigan will retire after in 4 - 5 years or so. Blagojevich will either be indicted and resign or be defeated in the next Democratic primary. And the rest of us will keep muddling through as best we can.
He says he voted for Reagan. I once voted for Jesse Jackson, Sr. in a primary. Big deal. Unless we were voting somebody off the island, I wouldn't vote for Jesse Sr. for anything and Blago sure wouldn't vote for Reagan.
With regard to the taxes: Blago believes that the income and sales tax are taxes on the individual/consumer, while his GRT is a tax on buiness. Simplistic maybe, but I never said Blago was smart. I said he was a liberal.
I'm just glad that Blago identifies Reagan as a "former United States President." He may be smarter than I thought.
In all seriousness, his administration has been as unfriendly to business as any administration I remember and it appears to be a matter of policy.
As predicted, the majority of commenters use this column to talk about how bad Rod is. I'm not going to disagree, I'm just bored with the obvious.
My interest lays in the issue of media coverage of backbenchers. The media will treat backbenchers and loons with more seriousness and attention than they deserve and more than people with real substance. For instance, my impression is Jesse Jackson Jr. is a classic example of a backbencher, but the local media is building him up to be the next mayor.
Rich, I don't want to put you on the spot, but can you identify any back benchers besides Rod, that are moving up the ranks due to style over substance.
I agree with Skeeter. I think there is somewhat of an underlying battle between the populist liberal and "Southern Democrat" mentalities. One side wants to spend and create new bureaucracies and the other side wants to help people but find ways to do so other than merely throwing money at the problem and taxing everyone under the sun to do so. But Rod takes it one step further when he clamors for attention and refuses to cooperate. Eventually, something has to give, but he apparently doesn't see that.
Jackson - you make a good point that the programs fail because of the messenger not the message. If you heard anyone from the budget office talk about the GRT - it sort of made sense. When the governor himself pitched it - it made you want to puke. This guy can't sell blankets to eskimos because he has absolutely zero credibility. His word is worth nothing - that's why the whole deal with Watson earlier this week was puzzling.
Great column Rich.
Glenn Poshard's analogy in 1998 about the family sitting around the table, balancing its revenue and its bills, is still as accurate today. The state doesn't have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. The Blagojevich people would be well served to take the valuable advice from Steve Schnorf and others who have done it before (and did it well) rather than pointing their fingers of blame at perpetually moving targets.
I declined. I didn't have to do any research to figure out that a bunch of stuff as flammable or toxic as napalm is shipped by rail every day. Napalm has more cache because of its association with the Vietnam Nam War.
I did notice Blagojevich ran with the issue and got himself in the papers.
But Rich's column is too kind to the media people who are too unsophisticated to separate real issues from grandstanding on something almost entirely irrelevant.