Blagojevich acts as 'imperial governor

Governor Blagojevich's flagrant use of taxpayer-owned aircraft for non-business purposes evokes all kinds of thoughts.

First, how tone deaf can someone be to the mood of voters who increasingly have reasons to be repulsed by the behavior of elected officials?

Our governor clearly must think he has more in common with imperial rulers of the past than with everyday citizens who are just trying to make it through life on meager earnings and/or paltry retirement checks.

Second, our governor doesn't seem to realize that his job, the one he asked us to give him, is located in the seat of government in Springfield.

Because his job is located in Springfield, the taxpayers provide him with the free use of an elaborate mansion there (which he ungratefully declines to use).

A Chicago office is provided as a matter of convenience for the governor when he needs to be in that great city for business reasons.

The governor thinks that things are really the other way around. To wit, his real office is in Chicago and the office in the seat of government isn't really his office at all.

I suggest this view is arrogant, a slap in the face of taxpayers and an insult to the people of Springfield with whom the governor nor his family do not want to live.

Third, my recollection of tax law is that commuting expenses between home and place of work are not tax deductible.

So, if the governor is commuting from his home in Chicago to his work in Springfield, the cost of the commute is his to bear and he may not claim these expenses as a tax deduction.

The expense of using state aircraft for this purpose is the governor's to bear. Similarly, the governor's use of state vehicles to ferry his family to the Hannah Montana concert is also a taxable employee benefit if he does not reimburse the state for the cost.

I am in favor of providing reasonable benefits to make public service jobs accommodating and attractive. However, neither I nor other taxpayers want to be used or taken advantage of. Our would-be populist Imperial Governor is doing just that.

At a time when we are told the only sensible path toward a better future lies in having governments at all levels take more money out of the pockets of ordinary citizens, it is pretty jarring to see the governor thoughtlessly blowing all kinds of taxpayer dollars flying or driving around with his entourage on a whim for non-business reasons.

How about an arm of government stepping up and putting an end to this nonsense? Or, recall elections anyone?

Charles F. Falk

Schaumburg