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Health care and the failed session

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Illinois

* It’s pretty much the consensus that the governor’s outsized health insurance proposals (and the tax increase to go with it) have led directly to the spring session’s demise. This is from my syndicated column…

The simple truth is that very few legislators in the General Assembly have ever campaigned on providing universal health insurance, which is usually considered a federal issue. Many, including Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, go so far as to say that universal insurance ought to be a solely federal issue. […]

While the vast majority haven’t campaigned on universal health insurance, most legislators have been campaigning for school funding reform and infrastructure development for the past 20 years or more.

As a result, the public and the politicians are far more familiar and comfortable with those concepts, and they were super-ripe for passage this year.

Instead, what the governor did was essentially attempt to conjure a gigantic, expensive issue from scratch, gin up a groundswell of support statewide and ram it through the legislature in three and a half months, along with billions of dollars for education funding reform and infrastructure development.

So far, he has failed on all counts. That sort of thing just doesn’t happen here, or in any other democracy for that matter.

* The Tribune editorial…

How could you squander this unique opportunity to craft the lavish political legacy you crave?

First, you unfurl something you didn’t mention during your campaign — your plan for the biggest tax increase in your state’s history. But you don’t do the hard groundwork of building constituencies in advance. You just toss this out in your budget address — itself a peculiar, populist rant that tries to pit your state’s people against one another. […]

When labor, business and government groups suggest that what your state really needs is a transportation program, you issue an ultimatum. You’re determined to fund health insurance coverage and education. You declare, “That’s the priority, and unless we do that, as far as I’m concerned nothing else is on the table.” […]

When the legislative session ends with a whimper, and your party has nothing to show for all the expenses legislators have rung up in the state capital while doing zip, you might want to lie low. There’ll be plenty of opportunities in an overtime session to demand that your agenda prevail. Plenty of time to posture as the victim.

At this point, of course, you have nothing. Nothing except speaking points for the day your state government finally adopts a budget.

On that day, you’ll think you’re the hero.

* The Daily Herald editorial…

Presumably, Blagojevich was emboldened this time by his easy re-election in November. But he promptly misplayed his victory by calling for an enormous tax increase that he failed to mention during his campaign. Never was there a mandate for a $7.6 billion tax increase that could damage the state’s businesses. Nor did his declaring health care the state’s top priority necessarily make it so for most state residents. Many Democratic lawmakers realized as much, which is why the regular session closed with virtually no support for the gross receipts tax and only scattered support for expanding health care. The governor compounded his problems by avoiding Springfield, failing until late in the game to sit down with legislators, and implying that those skeptical of his agenda were on the wrong side of a basic moral equation.

Add to this basic disagreements between Jones and Madigan, Jones’ unseemly ComEd links, and downstate legislators’ refusal to budge on any other issue unless their constituents receive electric rate relief. The result is a classic case of how to waste what once appeared to be limitless political capital.

* Eric Krol has a George W. Bush comparison. I specifically warned the governor about the danger of this during the bus tour, but he brushed it aside…

Blagojevich won re-election last November, but he was unable to score a majority of the vote in what was nominally a three-way race. The governor found himself in a position similar to President Bush, who, after narrowly winning a second term, still tried to boast that he earned “political capital” and intended to “spend it.” […]

“I think the governor has to give back his flight suit and roll up his ‘mission accomplished’ banner,” said state Rep. Jack Franks, a Woodstock Democrat, making an allusion to Bush’s famous visit to that aircraft carrier declaring the Iraq war won.

* The Post-Dispatch editorial board, which backed the governor’s massive health insurance proposal, now piles on…

It was a bold plan and this page supported it. But neither Mr. Madigan nor most House members would stand behind it. The business lobby despised it, of course, and it crashed and burned with a 107 to 0 vote against it.

At that point, Mr. Blagojevich would have been wise to seek middle ground in order to rescue at least part of his health insurance plan. A consensus has been slowly building in Springfield for a plan that would raise income taxes, while cutting unpopular property taxes. By twiddling with the tax numbers and adding some business taxes, Mr. Blagojevich might have rescued part of what he wanted on health care as well as schools.

Instead, he dug in his heels and stood firm on his campaign pledge not to raise personal income taxes no matter what. He’s been hinting that he’ll keep lawmakers in session until they bend to his will.

* And Kristen McQueary has some harsh words for Senate President Jones, comparing him to former Republican Senate President Pate Philip and echoing some complaints I’ve heard a lot at the Statehouse lately…

Education funding reform. Philip blocked the most significant piece of legislation to date on school-funding reform. While the Democratically controlled House passed Gov. Jim Edgar’s 1997 swap plan, Philip sat on the proposal like a fat goose. […]

At the time, Jones wrote a letter to the Daily Southtown calling Edgar’s plan “the best way to accomplish those goals because the income tax offers a steady stream of revenue, the plan has a continuing appropriation that allows education spending to keep up with inflation, a dedicated growth fund for property-tax relief, and it’s fair because those who can afford to make the most sacrifice for children would make the largest sacrifice.”

Jones criticized Republicans for following their leaders in the House and Senate “like sheep.”

Then two months ago, Jones followed Philip’s playbook. He declared Sen. James Meeks’ tax-swap bill dead and advocated for Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s gross-receipts tax instead.

When it flopped, he turned to gambling, just as Philip introduced stiffer taxes on riverboats as an alternative to Edgar’s plan.

With Jones in charge, the Senate is no closer to narrowing the gap between rich and poor school districts than it was under Philip.

The whole thing is a mess.

* More budget and end-of-session stories, compiled by Paul…

* Statehouse Insider: Politics rears its ugly head

* Rifts among Dems put lawmakers into overtime

* Q& A about the deadlock at the Illinois capitol

* Schoenburg: Do the math, number begin to add up for Republicans

* Sen. Lauzen: Where do we go from here on the state budget

* Chambers: Late, great Zeke could be casino ace in the hole

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jun 4, 07 @ 9:23 am

Comments

ILLINOIFICATION!

Comment by Future Headline Monday, Jun 4, 07 @ 9:43 am
The other interesting point about the overtime session is that it underscores why Madigan would not want a veto-proof Dem majority in the House.

On the surface, it would seem that the GOP gets a voice in the budget because it needs votes in the House. (Bernie Shcoenberg’s point.) But I think Senate Repubs actually have a stronger budget base.

Because Madigan has to put a budget together with Cross, most of those discussions will involve those two leaders and will result in a structured roll call. (I.e., Madigan doesn’t need every single vote in the caucus.) Plus, don’t forget the budget the House already passed.

On the Senate side, though, things are a bit different. Watson and his caucus have been pretty much ignored all session, so he has no incentive to cooperate with Jones and every incentive to obstruct. Jones needs every single Dem vote — and he has not treated his caucus well. This means that every single senator has Jones over a barrel, and demand pretty much anything.

Overall, I’d rather be in Madigan’s shoes right now.

Comment by the Other Anonymous Monday, Jun 4, 07 @ 9:44 am
A lot of unhappiness around the state right now!!!

Comment by Levois Monday, Jun 4, 07 @ 10:26 am
Blago looks bad, the Dem leadership looks bad, but I still don’t understand all the editorial hand-wringing. The odds just went up that we can escape a tax increase and more of the poisonous, insider-feeding casinos for yet another year. That’s good news, not bad.

Comment by Southern Man Monday, Jun 4, 07 @ 10:52 am
I’ve never seen such widespread consensus among the editorial pages.

Rod Blagojevich is a Uniter!!

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Monday, Jun 4, 07 @ 11:01 am
Education is our biggest legacy and resource for our future. Illinois needs substantial reforme both in the manner we fund education, but also in the structure of our schools.

We should be looking at: Getting rid of tenure - doing a good job is all the guarantee anyone should have; Switching to a three semester model; using class periods that are not limited to an hour, and staggering classes on different days; ending the large amount of education expenses and employees who are not teachers, to many chiefs in the system and not enough indiains; raise teacher salaries substantialy - make it so profitable to teach that we draw the best and the brightest; review and implement alterntives to learning and courses to the current model.

Comment by Ghost Monday, Jun 4, 07 @ 11:11 am
Since I believe in universal health care coverage, I supported the govenor’s vision.
I even attended the Thompsond center rally in Chicago the day after the 107 - 0 vote. I concurred with the St. Louis Post Dispatch’s reasoning when they supported the Governor’s health care proposal.

There is blame enough to go distribute to all three top Democratic leaders. I concur with Rich Miller’s analysis, as well as the Tribune editorial. Krol’s Bush-Blago analogy is also valid.

I think the governor’s primary problem is that he has never made the transition from campaigning to governing. He seems to be reapeating the same mistakes he made during his first term - in the immortal words of Yogi Berra , “it’s deja vu all over again.” He and his advisors don’t seem to have learned anything from the mistakes they made in the first term.

I agree that Madigan really wasn’t acting in good faith for the good of all the State’s citizens. Madigan seems intent on destroying Blago politically rather than waiting for Fitzgerald’s investigations to do so.

Emil Jones simply looked like an obstructionist on the electricity rate issue and generally incompetent on everything else.

Madigan came out looking competent when compating him to the other two, but the “no/low growth” budget is not adequate to fund the needs of the State. I do think Madiagn could have passed a substantial and much needed income tax increase if the Governer had not threatened to veto it.

Compromise, good faith bargaining, and common sense appeared to be missing form the whole process. I’m disappointed as much as ouraged. As far as I’m concerned, nothing really was accomplished during this legislative session. We will end up with a budget similar to the one passed by Madigan with a lot of extra pork required to secure 60% of the votes. All three of the top Democratic leaders should be ashamed.
One can only hope that some responsible electricity rate relief proposal and the 1/4 % sales tax increase in the Chiago metropolitan area to fund mass transit will pass.

Comment by Captain America Monday, Jun 4, 07 @ 11:11 am
The Tribune’s “Failure of Governing” editorial was dead on, and extremely harsh. McQueery’s comparing Pate to Emil probably stings him a bit. Next week’s editorial page victim should be Sen. Meeks - the man who could have run to make education funding the issue for the year, instead took a pledge from the Governor. Now look where you are Sen. Meeks - the Governor has single-handedly destroyed the momentum for a tax inrcrease that took more than 10 years to build. There isn’t going to be universal health care in 2007 and there isn’t going to be school funding and property tax relief either. Sen. Meeks should be the next scape goat.

Comment by Napoleon has left the building Monday, Jun 4, 07 @ 11:36 am
Rod Blagojevich had everything in his hip pocket. What he wants is what he should have gotten.
There wasn’t anyone he couldn’t have worked with if he really wanted to attain his goals.

He blew it because of a number of personal issues that overcame being governor. These issues are personal, so he and he alone, deals with them. Over the past six months, he hadn’t.

The problem was Rod Blagojevich. After five years of him as governor, he still has to work to overcome a number of perceptions that he is all talk and no work. All bully and no friend.

For a guy who supposedly likes to campaign, he doesn’t even try to reach a middle ground with others he needs to work with. It is as though he sees other politicians as challengers, not partners. He speaks to citizens with glee and seems to see us as a part of an ignorant mass who just needs his enlightenment.

When all the warpaint is washed off his face, Mr. Blagojevich sees us in an elitist manner. Even his policy proposals aren’t just liberal throw-backs to the Industrial Age; he sincerely believes that government, through his benevolent leadership, is needed to bring us the good life.

I think he is sincere. He sincerely believes in a socialist nanny state for all. He believes in centralization. After his inauguration, he centralized a number of government functions as though he was running an Bulgarian People’s Government in 1954. Mr. Blagojevich seems to have not learned much since 1989.

But whatever his shortcomings as a backwater latter-day Otto Kerner, Mr. Blagojevich had the political power to make it happen. His bloated, oversized, 60 billion dollar government take over couldn’t even do what Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose did - fly 100 feet before being warehoused forever. Mr. Blagojevich’s Spruce Goose couldn’t even find enough engines to get taxied into place on the world’s longest runway.

Considering everything this governor got, and the results he delivered - he is a utter failure.

Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Jun 4, 07 @ 11:49 am
We will be in the Gov. office at 12:30 to lie some more see ya Anyone need the $75 million we stole from WIU?

Comment by Manw/The Plan Monday, Jun 4, 07 @ 11:52 am
Hope Rich and Paul do not miss my new plan. I will be renaming all of State government “IL Covered” Therefore we will be spending more than $53 billion to insure those who need most. Wyma & Monk’s clients Tee hee

Comment by Man w/The Plan Monday, Jun 4, 07 @ 12:30 pm
Who can be surprised? G-Rod has exhibited these qualities from the start. It was sad to watch even worthy Democrats get in step with the guy. What did DeToqueville say about deserving what you get in a democracy?

When will we see bumpstickers saying, “Don’t blame me… I voted for Paul Vallas”?

Comment by Ambulance chaser Monday, Jun 4, 07 @ 1:09 pm
My 4 wishes:
#1 - The Dem senators would figure out THEY have the power over Jones.
#2 - A prize for MMadigan because he has orchestrated the House masterfully.
#3 - a life for Blago. He has a house and senate majority to work with and has shown his total ineptness as a leader. I refuse to call him governor any longer.
#4 - a memory for the voters in 2010.

Comment by Little Egypt Monday, Jun 4, 07 @ 1:15 pm
“All in all, it was a pretty good day.”

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Monday, Jun 4, 07 @ 6:36 pm