Time to hug it out? Bad blood worsens in Springfield
SPRINGFIELD -- Political gridlock at the state Capitol has become so bad, one legislative leader suggested Thursday it might be time to bring in a relationship expert.
Holding aloft Chicago relationship counselor Dr. Kate Wach's book "Relationships for Dummies," House Republican leader Tom Cross said she should be summoned to help break the logjam.
Legislative leaders, and specifically the ruling Democratic powers, remain at odds on nearly every major issue. The result is that billions worth of construction, gambling expansion, mass transit spending, education funding and property tax relief for Cook County all hang in limbo.
"She has a very good chapter on good communication. And one of the things she talks about is finding compromises that work for you and your partners," Cross, an Oswego Republican, joked on the House floor. "I thought maybe she could come to a leaders' meeting."
But while Cross attempted to make light of the lingering tension, the political climate worsened Thursday with the disclosure that Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration had recently fired the wife of House Speaker Michael Madigan's top aide. Madigan and Blagojevich, both Chicago Democrats, have become intense political and increasingly personal rivals.
The administration claims the firing is the result of the federal government requiring someone with a doctorate degree be involved with Social Security Administration disability assessments and other assessments, and provided documents to back up that assertion.
"The SSA said they would no longer support or fund having the master's-level psychologist sign off on those," said Tom Green, spokesman for Blagojevich's Department of Human Services. "That's the way it is."
But a spokesman for Madigan was having none of it.
"They're absolute liars," said Madigan spokesman Steve Brown.
Bronwyn Rains, wife of Madigan's chief of staff Tim Mapes, has a master's degree in psychology. She'd been doing work for the state for more than 20 years, predating her marriage. State records show she would have been paid slightly more than $102,000 this year. Her husband said the Blagojevich administration renewed her contract earlier this year.
A spokeswoman for the governor said the issue is not personal despite such heated rhetoric.
"I think that people are starting to filter out comments that we've come to expect from Mr. Brown. But this issue is not between Governor Blagojevich and Speaker Madigan. It's between Human Services and the Social Security Administration," said Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch. "The federal government was very clear … that they would no longer fund a person in that position that did not possess a specific set of qualifications."