This group earned pink slips, not raises

Only a governor operating in left field and a legislature operating in the financial twilight zone could subject Illinois residents to such governmental ineptitude as we witnessed this summer and then give themselves a raise.

Such is the chasm between those elected to represent the public and the public itself. When Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed the pay raises into law as the weekend ended, it certified that the state's elected officials, while struggling to satisfactorily complete even the basic tasks of governing, were nonetheless ready to take care of themselves.

Blagojevich's annual pay rises to $158,000 from $150,700. Lawmakers get a 10 percent kick to $63,143, plus add-ons they get for committee or leadership roles. While some might say that isn't exorbitant, many others would not be so generous with a governor rarely in Springfield and a legislature of such little accomplishment.

It took this group all summer and more than a million dollars to deliver a compromise budget that calls for more spending but no real solutions to any of the state's structural financial problems. The governor put his stamp on the process Tuesday by wielding his amendatory veto power to prudently block $500 million in pork spending only to imprudently divert that sum to expanded health care programs that have virtually no legislative backing.

Heaven forbid the state should get serious about staying within its means, honoring its previous obligations and putting the basics like infrastructure, transportation and school construction first. Some money was assigned in those areas, but this budget is predicated on simply altering revenue projections until legislators got the numbers they wanted. And the long budget delay may have buried much of the money in mountains of red tape.

Not only did the governor use an end run to pursue his health-care agenda, but he also caved on the pay raises. He initially berated the pay-raise bill, saying, "They raised their pay not once but twice over the past two months, but didn't invest a single penny to make sure our bridges are safe." And then he signed the pay raises.

The legislature rightly called out the governor over his funded-with-smoke-and-mirrors wish list, but it did nothing to hold the line on current expenditures or find new revenue. That's probably because the people back home were lukewarm to the governor's plans and new programs, and largely opposed to new taxes.

Not that they'll be too thrilled at the notion of paying this inept bunch more money, either, while they continue to struggle with medical and college costs rising all out of proportion to stagnant, frozen or only slowly rising wages.

The governor has seemed largely out of touch with anything beyond his own agenda for some time now. But this legislature, while it showed good bipartisan backbone in standing up to Blagojevich, also seemed to have no answers of its own. Changing revenue numbers until you like them is not quality governance. Nor is voting yourself a pay raise after failing to present any solutions to serious financial and infrastructure problems.

In the real world, they might well be out of a job, not getting raises.