Is Gov. Rod Blagojevich serious?

Auditor General William Holland issues a scathing audit of the Department of Central Management Services that cites waste, mismanagement and possibly worse, and what does Blagojevich say? Basically, that Holland does things the old way, and CMS does things the new way, and "of course, you're going to have some sort of tension about old ways of doing business and new ways of doing business."

Blagojevich has reorganized a number of state agencies since taking office. State law requires that reports on those reorganizations be filed with the General Assembly. Auditors found that CMS didn't file the reports.

CMS said the reports don't have to be filed until the reorganization is complete, and so far the reorganization isn't finished. You can see where this is going. Taken to its logical conclusion, this position means CMS could avoid ever filing the reports by simply saying the reorganization is continuing.

CMS decided the best way to deal with the negative audit was to attack Holland's integrity. In 12 years as auditor general, Holland and his staff have developed an airtight reputation for honesty and integrity. Few people think the Blagojevich administration has that same reputation, and that's being generous. The attack failed.

If Blagojevich is smart, he will find the genius responsible for that CMS strategy and reassign him or her to a ticket booth at the state fair before they cause his administration any more embarrassment - not that it appears this administration seems embarrassed by this.

Some lawmakers charged that CMS tried to intimidate Holland by looking at contracts awarded by his office and demanding copies of hundreds of auditor general documents.

Audit infighting erodes taxpayers' trust in state