The Black Knight of Illinois

May 18, 2007

"Today, I think, was basically an up. ... I feel good about it." That was Gov. Rod Blagojevich, reacting last week to the thumping he received from the Illinois House. By a vote of 107-0, the representatives rejected Blagojevich's notion of a $7.6 billion gross receipts tax. Not that it was a total shutout: Seven members voted "present."

Blagojevich's upbeat reaction reminded us of the Black Knight, a character in the farcical film classic "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." When the Black Knight inexplicably forbids King Arthur and his serf Patsy to cross a tiny bridge ("None shall pass!"), Arthur wields his sword to sever the Knight's left arm:

Arthur: "Now stand aside, worthy adversary."

Knight: "

'Tis but a scratch."

Arthur: "A scratch? Your arm's off!"

Knight: "No, it isn't."

Arthur, referencing the severed arm: "Well, what's that, then?"

Knight, casually: "I've had worse."

We first took Blagojevich's words as a momentary denial of a devastating rejection. We know the feeling, Governor. This page proposed a smaller gross receipts tax to raise some $3.5 billion, most of it for Illinois' greatest need: higher student achievement in public schools.

Not that we were fanatical about a gross receipts tax: The Feb. 9 editorial that proposed it evaluated five other funding options. The editorial also stressed that the tax scheme that would most help Illinois schoolchildren is "whichever one lawmakers summon the courage to enact -- in conjunction with education reform -- in 2007."

It appears, though, that the governor's denial isn't momentary. As the legislative session wanes, he has yet to offer a new proposal to replace his beloved gross receipts tax. His evident intransigence conjures up the dialogue after Arthur severs the Black Knight's other arm:

Arthur: "You are indeed brave, Sir Knight, but the fight is mine."

Knight: "Oh, had enough, eh?"

Arthur: "Look ... you've got no arms left. ..."

Knight: "Just a flesh wound."

The governor has no one but himself to blame for repeatedly declaring -- with I-shall-not-retreat conviction -- that he'll veto any legislation to raise sales or income taxes. That's his choice.

But his strategy of demagoguing the Illinois employers his massive tax plan targets hasn't just flopped. It's become an object of ridicule.

An editorial headlined "Illinois Tax Implosion" in Monday's Wall Street Journal cited disapproval of Blagojevich's plan by Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, House Speaker Michael Madigan, Rev. Jesse Jackson -- and quoted Mayor Richard M. Daley's analysis of the governor's defrocked strategy:

"To describe every major CEO in Illinois as fat cats is a mistake. They don't have to be here. They can go to Wisconsin. They can go to Indiana. They can go to India. They can go to China. So if you want to beat up businesses, go beat 'em up, and when they leave, just wave to 'em and they're going to wave back to you."

You'd think Blagojevich would have moved on to Plan B, to show he's a leader less devoted to his own ideas than to meeting this state's challenges -- especially education. But you'd be wrong. His spokeswoman said Wednesday that the governor would listen to any ideas -- other than income or sales tax increases -- to raise revenue. He's even willing to entertain "suggestions to improve upon his tax fairness plan."

He's willing to tweak a plan that the Illinois House crushed 107-0? Why bother?

No doubt what he'd really like is for Madigan to advance some other tax scheme -- and own it.

But Blagojevich, by his obsession with a plan the House spurned and the Senate would spurn if given the chance, is squandering his hopes for a sizable tax increase this year. Why so?

Downstate residents are furious about sky-high electric bills (and wait till air-conditioning season hits the Chicago area). Gasoline prices are ascendant. And citizens statewide resent the governor's too-ambitious plans to tax and spend. Given that costly backdrop, how many legislators will want to head home for the summer after voting to help Blagojevich raise taxes or fees?

Sooner or later -- and given the cost of an extended session, there's certainly no excuse for later -- Illinois will have a budget. We predict that, on that day, Blagojevich will proudly claim ... victory. Consider the dialogue after Arthur chops the Black Knight's right leg:

Knight, hopping: "Come here!"

Arthur: "What are you going to do, bleed on me?"

Knight: "I'm invincible!"

Blagojevich, too, appears to be down to one limb. Why he doesn't seize the moment -- proposing compromises, prioritizing what Illinois needs to accomplish this year -- is beyond us.

Instead he bluffs ("Today, I think, was basically an up. ... I feel good about it.") and waits for the inevitable. Much as the Black Knight bluffs and waits till Arthur lops off his final leg:

Knight: "Oh? All right, we'll call it a draw."

Arthur, dismissively: "Come, Patsy."

Knight: "Oh. Oh, I see. Running away, eh? ... Come back here and take what's coming to you! I'll bite your legs off!"