So the Illinois legislature flops into overtime after five do-little months and Gov. Rod Blagojevich is … well, staying out of the public eye. He’s had a couple of unproductive meetings with legislative leaders. But he’s not talking publicly about the Springfield mess he helped create.
Good move. If he weren’t lying low, Blagojevich probably would be doing more of what he’s done this year: pushing a huge taxing-and-spending scheme that’s now so dead it’s in rigor mortis — and blaming state legislators for not rallying around it (and, of course, him).
That behavior has managed the near-impossible: House Speaker Michael Madigan appears to hold Blagojevich in even lower regard than he did before this session.
The smart exit strategy for Blagojevich now is to cut his already substantial losses, admit that his plan to raise state operating revenues by 30 percent stupendously overreached — and hope that Illinois citizens eventually forget this unfortunate session.
But the word from the governor’s meetings with legislative leaders this week is that he’s as convinced of his righteousness as he is determined not to surrender. If that’s the case, better he keep quiet and do no more harm. Why so?
If silence leads to reverie, Blagojevich will start to realize what his handlers may be too timid to tell him: The longer this Springfield farce runs, the more he owns it. Millions of Illinoisans can’t name a single legislative leader. But many of them do know who their governor is: His name is Blagojevich, and he’s the guy who’s supposed to make state government function.
So he wears the collar if June is as fruitless a month as the five before it. As local politicians, interest groups and other beneficiaries of state spending agitate ever louder about the perils of starting a fiscal year July 1 without a budget, any pressure they create will mostly squeeze Blagojevich. He gets to spend his days counting his wounds and wondering whether his ally, Senate President Emil Jones, will abandon him and cut a veto-proof budget deal with Madigan. Then the governor’s irrelevance would be complete.
He has spent months vilifying Illinois employers whose taxes pay half of his salary and muscling political, business and civic leaders who wouldn’t endorse his ambitious tax-and-spend plans.
But give credit where credit is due: He’s been silent lately, and as long as he stays silent, the governor isn’t making new enemies. Given his record this year, that’s a victory.
