Blago? Topinka? They're the same.

Cookies to Dennis Byrne, who says what needs to be said better than I can. Doing something so drastic and framing it as "If you don't support this, you hate the children" is positively crap. It kind of goes along with what I've been saying for the last few weeks - using it's for the children coupled with 'helping schools' is the best thing anybody in Illinois politics can do. On the other hand, using that to promote an otherwise bad idea like the GRT is fairly immoral. Steve Jobs told us the facts: Money does not fix the schools. Reforming the schools fixes the schools.

Contrary to popular belief amongst some of our commenters, I'm really not dismissing any of this stuff off the bat. In fact, I'd generally be ok with pumping money of into the schools if I thought it would be used for the better output, instead of being just a 'throw money at the problem' solution - I'm not even sure that Blago recognizes that there is a problem. I might even entertain the idea of a statewide health care program if it were wired in such a way that fostered some niche business growth, which is something that I don't consider beyond the realm of possibility.

And the GRT? I've tried to open my mind up on this one. I've tried to see if there was something I can like about it. I've tried half-heartedly to contextualize it in some way where it doesn't make Illinois a completely anti-entrepreneurial state but I find myself distinctly coming up short. As a matter of fact, I can't think of a single good thing about it. It's a sneak tax. The middle class is going to end up paying for it in cash and jobs.

Democrats have expressed dismay at the Hot Rod's plans. Republicans have been out with the criticism.. Suffice to say, there are some businesses right now who were wishing they had thrown Republicans an extra couple of bucks back in '06, and definitely some voters who were wishing that they didn't toss in a status quo vote. In the comments on the above link:

Had the Republican Party gotten their act together before the last election, we would not be having this discussion.

And isn't that just the 800lbs gorilla in the room.....

Call me a 'tool of the combine', but are any of the strident righty's sitting around kicking themselves in the ass for not lending a heavier hand to Judy Baar Topinka. As I recall, their main grudge with her was that there was "no difference between her and Blago". I think you'd have tough time trying to make that argument today, unless of course you want to argue that Topinka would take office, drop a business killing budget, and set the state's finances to self-destruct anywhere near the negligent level that Blagojevich is doing right now.

What I find particularly fascinating about it, is that there's a certain symmetry between that dialog we had as a state party back in '06 and that the same or substantially the same dialog we're going to have/or already having going into '08, as Tom Roeser, Bill Baar, and myself all provide clarion examples of when tallied against the dismay of the more ideologically pure.

The real kick in the teeth: we have to resolve this issue of being a 'true conservative' vs. being a combine politician or a RINO. And if we don't, Blago's budget is just going to be the tip of the fiscal horror iceberg. As Cap Fax commenters have correctly noted, the Dems have two or more strong candidates in the stable, and we have none. We need management conservatives now.