Last
week was way over the top, even for an over the top guy like Gov. Rod
Blagojevich.
Blagojevich
sent out a blustery press release last week that threatened to shut down the
government if he doesn't get exactly what he wants in the state budget. He also
told reporters last week that he had no problem with keeping the overtime
legislative session going for another year if that's what it took to get the
budget done to his liking.
It's
assumed that these actions were designed to frighten legislators into taking
some action and warn their leaders that their plans for a relatively
slimmed-down budget plan were unacceptable.
But
the governor's antics were mostly met with howls of derision at the Statehouse.
Nobody takes the man seriously any more. Legislators finally realized that they
could do whatever they wanted without him as long as they stuck together. And
he has flip-flopped so many times this summer on so many issues that he simply
has no credibility left.
*
He promised to call special sessions seven days a week until the budget was
completed, and then dropped the subject after just one weekend in Springfield
and then showed up for a Cubs game the following Sunday.
*
He threatened to call legislators into special sessions until the cows came
home if they passed an income or sales tax hike and then overrode his veto, but
is now expected to abandon that pledge if a modest sales tax increase is
approved for mass transit.
*
He flatly rejected one-month budgets as a right-wing Republican conspiracy,
then embraced them as a useful tool for getting what he wants.
*
He completely ruled out any tax hikes on "people," then fully
supported a massive increase in the cigarette tax, which is obviously paid by
"people."
*
He chastised the General Assembly's leaders for using state employees as
political "pawns" in the budget negotiations game and then threatened
to shut down the government and lay off most of those very same state workers
if he didn't get everything that he wanted in the state budget.
Is
it any wonder that the Illinois AFL-CIO now feels comfortable challenging the
Democratic governor's pledge to veto any income tax increases? The State
Federation of Labor has been a staunch Blagojevich supporter for years, but its
leaders demanded last week that the General Assembly ignore the flailing,
wild-eyed, veto-threatening man behind the curtain and approve a bill to
increase the income tax by a quarter point a year for four years in order to
fund public schools.
More
importantly, though, the AFL-CIO got behind a proposal to cut Blagojevich out
of the distribution of those new education dollars by putting all the cash into
a "lock-box" completely controlled by a three-fifths majority of both
legislative chambers. This was done because nobody trusts the governor to
distribute the funds equitably.
For
the AFL-CIO to essentially admit that the man they've supported since before
the 2002 primary is now completely untrustworthy and should be ignored, bowled
over and cut out of the loop shows just how far Blagojevich has sunk. Almost
every ally he's had is bolting for the exit doors.
The
unions are also bankrolling a new advertising campaign on black radio stations
in Chicago that starts out, "I voted for him, but the man is wrong."
The ad is about the governor's adamant refusal to support an income tax
increase for schools. The spot is running in heavy rotation beginning this
morning. The fact that organized labor chose to slam Blagojevich in his most
loyal voting base shows just how far away labor has drifted from this man.
Even
the Daley clan is getting into the act. Bill Daley, the brother of Chicago's
mayor, wrote an op-ed for the Chicago Tribune last week comparing the governor
to the unbendable, unpopular President George W. Bush. Daley urged Blagojevich
to drop his expensive universal health insurance idea (which he's demanding in
return for keeping the government open), stop the sniping, "demonstrate
thoughtful leadership" and start compromising on other issues in order to
"earn a second chance."
I
don't know how Blagojevich thinks he can govern effectively for the rest of his
second term if he stays on this crazy course. It's like he's taken every goofy
trait of his from his first term and magnified it tenfold. Maybe when he
finally winds up truly alone he'll begin to take notice.
-30-
Rich
Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and
thecapitolfaxblog.com.