Did You Feel That, Rod?

6:43 pm, 5/13/07

Did You Feel That, Rod?
Rod Blagojevich: Shot out of the sky.

Gov. Blagojevich suffered a resounding and stunning defeat Thursday when the Illinois House overwhelmingly rejected his proposed $7.6 billion business tax.

Guess how many voted against it? Just guess.

Before the ink had dried on the 107-0 vote, House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) signaled possible interest in launching a different tax-increase proposal.

Blagojevich crisscrossed the state and appeared in TV ads to promote his gross receipts tax, which was the linchpin of the record $60.1 billion budget he proposed for next year.

Bizarrely, Blagojevich attempted to save face at the last minute by first siding with opponents of his own idea, then attempting to change their argument:

Yet, before the House vote-which technically was on a non-binding resolution from Madigan to gauge support for the plan-the governor issued a perplexing statement urging lawmakers to side against his tax.

A no-vote on Madigan's resolution, Blagojevich reasoned, would "send a clear message that this issue is too important for a rush to judgment on a non-binding resolution."

The Chicago Sun-Times should suspend the editor who allowed the word "reasoned" to be used in that sentence. Words like "claimed", "imagined" or, say, "fantasized" would all be far more objective and neutral in this case.

The governor insisted it is "premature" to end discussions over the tax, since the administration had not responded fully to questions lawmakers posed Wednesday.

But members of both parties saw the statement as an attempt to paper over a humiliating political defeat.

Blagojevich's entire administration has been an attempt to paper over humiliating failures. This is merely a new tactic in his long-running battle with reality. (Via SondraK)