There
are those people who were desperately clinging to the fantasy that Illinois
government would undergo a significant change come the 2018 election cycle
because Bruce Rauner would choose voluntarily to not seek another term as
governor.
 |
| RAUNER: Four more years??!? |
Some
wanted to believe the corporate executive who wishes he could just downsize
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, out of a job the way he
might if Illinois government were his own private company never had any
intention of serving beyond one four-year term in office.
WHILE
OTHERS WERE eager to believe that all the frustration of partisan politicking against
Madigan had Rauner so fed up he would decide that another four-year term wasn’t
worth the hassle or expense.
Particularly
since he’s allegedly not accepting the salary that state government otherwise
provides for a governor to preside as the state’s chief executive officer of
sorts.
But
politicking does manage to get into one’s bloodstream. It does take to one’s ego
to be the official who in theory gets to bark orders at people within the state
government structure and have those orders obeyed.
At
least until someone of the opposition political party (or sometimes even of
your own) tells you to “stick it” up a certain orifice that otherwise causes
much physical pain.
SO
THE FACT that Rauner told the Chicago Tribune recently he plans to run for a
second term as governor come the next statewide election cycle? It’s not at all
surprising, and not just because Rauner is claiming he has said that before.
Even
though no one has been able to specifically find any time he made such a
statement, which is what led to all the wishful thinking about all the ongoing
partisan political nonsense that has our state on perpetual hold being just a
temporary situation.
As
though Democrats could ultimately prevail as the political victor just by being
stubborn enough to hold out long enough. As though 2019 would be the year
everything would return to normal.
Or
whatever “normal” could be defined as being. Because our state’s government
operations have always had a touch of the bizarre. By no stretch of the
imagination will we ever adopt the “goo goo” mentality that exists in a place
like Madison, Wis.
NOR
SHOULD WE ever be expected to take on such an attitude.
Which
may be the ultimate reason we ought to figure out a way of resolving the state’s
financial situation – and not some sort of stop-gap budget that merely
maintains the status quo for a short time out of some hope that a long-term
solution will be forthcoming.
It
won’t be. Anybody who says it will be is spewing nothing more than lies!!!
Just
think of all the stop-gap measures the federal government has taken on. All it
has done is helped justify the perpetual partisan nonsense of Republican
officials figuring they can hold out against the Obama presidency – the denial
of which is their ultimate goal.
IN
A SENSE, what is happening at the Illinois state level is a similar denial –
although it is a sense that both sides are so equally full of themselves they
can’t appreciate that the public sees an equal blame. Truly a “pox on both
houses,” to rip off from the Bard himself.
Yes,
some can argue that Democrats are in denial that state government is no longer
entirely dominated by their political party. But it is also equally accurate
that we have a governor who doesn’t realize his position is not the same as a
CEO.
He
doesn’t get to order around Legislators – particularly when the opposite
political party has that “veto proof” majority of support. This isn’t the time
to be having partisan fantasies about ramming rhrough anti-union measures.
And
if it turns out that Rauner is going to be around for awhile longer, we’re
going to have to adjust our own expectations. Either get serious compromise –
or accept the new status quo of being a government that does nothing, and causes
us all some public perception embarrassment in the process.
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