?????

What is he talking about here? There was no Madigan-back primary challenge to Blagojevich in the last election, and while he was unenthusiastic, Madigan did support Blagojevich in the general.

And here’s where Hanania’s argument falls apart: Blagojevich did not campaign on a health care plan financed by a gross receipt tax. If he were explicit about this plan, and then won the election, Hanania might have a point about defying the will of the voters. (He’s still be wrong about deferring to the executive, but whatever.) Instead, Blagojevich was pretty adamant about running on a platform that he would not increase general taxes, and never mentioned a word about Illinois Covered and the GRT.

The voters aren’t psychic, so it’s tough to see how they were backing the GRT and Illinois Covered.