Over at the Capitol Fax.
The first is the most damning for the Blagorgeous. Despite his caterwauling, the budget doesn’t add up.
BUDGET HAS BIG HOLE (excerpt) The budget endorsed by Blagojevich and Jones appears to be fatally flawed. A House Democratic analysis claims, with credibility, that even with all the new taxes and a 2.25 percent across-the-board cut, it’s still more than $700 million in the red. Sen. Steve Rauschenberger suggested last night that the governor is spending like the drunken legislative sailors he infamously blasted last spring.
It’s like giving Rauschenberger fodder for good lines. If anything he’s been reserved so far, probably letting the Dems get themselves in to a fine fix. The Blagorgeous obliged so I expect Rauschenberger, now with leverage, will start having fun again.
BUDGET WRANGLING (excerpt) The four legislative leaders met for a short while yesterday, and agreed that the governor’s budget director should provide a list of what cuts he would make if the General Assembly goes ahead with a planned 2.25 percent across-the-board reduction. All but one leader, Senate President Emil Jones, are unwilling to trust the director with such a limitless power. The Senate approved a bill that would give the director carte blanche to skim money from just about everything except the school fund, but including a fund for local governments.
Interesting that the closet Lege ally doesn’t really trust Filan, Rod’s budget director.
The budget wrangling this year is fascinating stuff — Illinois infighting at its best!
But all of this (and by “this” I mean the Governor’s problems) seems oddly remiscent of the first term of another Governor in a different state.
In Richard Ben Cramer’s book about the 1988 Presidential election (What It Takes) — still an excellent read — there’s a fantastic description of Michael Dukakis’s first term as Governor of Massachusetts.
Dukakis’s philosophy in his first term is easy enough to describe. Attack the special interests. Don’t increase taxes. Don’t listen to long-time advisers, or those steeped in the politics of the Massachusetts Statehouse. Criticism of the new Governor’s policies is just grumbling by insiders, and proves the policies are correct.
It’s not a perfect fit, but it looks like Blagojevich is making many of the same mistakes that Dukakis made. (To the extent that there are differences, I’m not at all certain they’re to Blagojevich’s advantage.) He’s hired a lot of people with no Springfield experience. He’s attacked and alienated the special interests (i.e., the people with expertise). He’s stubbornly sticking to a “no tax increase” pledge (even though he, in fact, has been supporting tax increases in drips and drabs).
Dukakis lost in the primary after his first term. Sure, he made a comeback, got elected Governor four years later, and became the Democratic nominee for President. But his first term was a disaster. And it looks an awful lot like the first term of another Governor with a long last name and presidential aspirations.
Governor Rod Blagojevich’s Biggest Challenge In The 2006 IL Gubernatorial Race May Not Be Judy Baar Topinka – It May Be He’s Running For Another Office
Illinois Republican Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka is exploring a run for governor in 2006 and has some good internal poll numbers to back her gubernatorial bid against incumbent Rod Blagojevich (thanks for sharing the poll, Rich). Topinka’s numbers look …