Is Rich Miller’s. While Blagorgeous bashing is fun and highly relevant, the reality is that despite the Illinois Republican House reforms, the control of the Lege is more and more controlled by the Four Tops.
Legislative leaders already have way too much power. They appoint committee chairmen, minority spokesmen and even committee members. Committee staff report directly to the party leaders, not the committee heads. Politically vulnerable members rely almost solely on their leaders for campaign cash, staff and even precinct workers. The House speaker and the Senate president have absolute control over which bills live or die. The leaders have even been known to tell members how many bills they will be allowed to move in a given year.
As Rich points out, the irony is the The Blagorgeous promised a more open system, yet his brinkmanship has brought about less input.
Party discipline can be a good thing, but within the context of being able to give input into how legislation is being shaped.