National Attention for G-Rod and Illinois Dems

With his proposal for universal pre-k (something all states should be moving towards), Blagojevich is getting good press for a very progressive agenda over the last few years. Newman lists some of the most important issues that the Democratic Legislature and Governor have passed for those who agree with them, though I’d add Blagojevich’s Pharmacy rule as a critical progressive initiative as are Patti’s efforts to expand access and education surrounding contraceptives. Important environmental initiatives are his move to reduce mercury emissions and incentives for fuel efficiency.

Ezra Klein added to that in praise of the Pre-K plan as does Sam Rosenfeld who suggests the progressive agenda should trump concerns over corruption and references the complaints over the Blagojevich Administration

I’ll give this to the administration is that so far, the scandal hasn’t reached as high as scandals in Jim Edgar’s administration and it’s hard to make the case that it’s any worse than business as usual. It may well turn out that there are actual quid pro quos for donations, but as of right now, the best evidence is that there are the typical convenient arrangements between donors and donees in an all too comfortable arrangement.

All that said, there are several issues where I think Rosenfeld completely misses the mark on why so many Democrats and progressives are upset with the Blagojevich administration. First and foremost, he promised to run the state differently than it has been run in the past and he hasn’t. It’s a broken promise and that counts. Of course, on that issue there is no serious Republican who can argue they’ll be much better without being so repugnant on policy as to be not a consideration.

More importantly, the corruption does affect social justice. Tony Rezco, who the Governor refuses to throw under the bus so far, has been identified as the real proprietor of Crucial Inc which has received state and Chicago business as a minority contractor. Rezko does not qualify as a minority and appears to have put the company together to skirt those rules.

This is simply unacceptable for those that share values of equal opportunity.

Further, his refusal to even consider increases in the sales or income tax means that these gains may be temporary. Without a fiscal base to pay for these programs, it is not certain they can continue. The Early Child Care initiative will be expensive and the state budget is not in good shape. We still have K-12, Higher Ed, and transportation infrastructure to work on while adding two new programs. If correct about managed care, the All Kids initiative won’t be too burdensome, but there is no cheap way to do universal pre-k.

At the same time, he is continuing practices that look an awful like Pay to Play or Pay to Lay as Birkett recently called it in a great line, and that saps the budget of money as favored interests get money that should be utilized for those initiatives that are progressive. Tony Rezco and Panda Pavillion aren’t in need of help, poor kids with substandard education are–and he has no significant plan to reform the state funding formula which is killing poor rural school districts even with the extra funds that have gone into K-12 education.

Being progressive is more than simply spending money–its creating sustainable conditions for such programs so that while they will continue exist in the future, they won’t be well funded. There are structural problems in the Illinois budget that put several of these initiatives at risk over the long term.

I can’t say I didn’t expect it from Blagojevich because in 2002, I predicted pretty much what has happened. If the legacy of strong policy initiatives is to continue beyond Rod’s Administration whether that be in one year or 5 or perhaps more, the budget has to be put on solid footing. Balanced budgets are critical to social justice in the long term.

I will give the Blagojevich Administration that reality is tough right now given the federal government is spending like there is no tomorrow and decreasing money to state governments. That certainly exacerbates the problems, but it is not the only problem that exists with the Illinois budget.

Crossposted at Illinoize