Opinion: Death wish crosses line of acceptable political hyperbole
Political discourse in the era of Donald Trump has plunged to new lows. And when you think you've seen the bottom, someone in government manages to take it lower.
But there's a difference between hyperbole and wishing death on a political opponent and his loved one - and it's a line that should never be crossed.
During public debate Tuesday on the Illinois House floor, with cameras rolling to record it for posterity, that line, sadly, was crossed.
"To the representative from Lombard, I would like to make him a broth of legionella and pump it into the water system of his loved one so that they can be infected, they can be mistreated, they can sit and suffer by getting aspirin instead of getting properly treated and ultimately die."
Broth of legionella? Loved one? Ultimately die?
State Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, an Oswego Democrat, directed those despicable comments toward Rep. Peter Breen, a Lombard Republican.
Had Breen just committed a crime so egregious, or made comments so heinous, that he deserved to have his and his loved one's lives threatened so callously?
Of course not.
Breen was merely defending Gov. Bruce Rauner's amendatory veto of Senate Bill 2481, legislation that sought to increase the monetary cap on claims the state can be forced to pay out to those wronged by Illinois government.
The current cap on claims against state government in the Illinois Court of Claims is $100,000. Senate Bill 2481, filed in the wake of dozens of cases of legionnaires disease at the Quincy Veterans Home, leading to 12 deaths, sought to lift that cap to $2 million. Rauner's amendatory veto moved the cap to $300,000.
During debate on an override attempt, Breen, an attorney, questioned how much a $2 million cap would cost taxpayers.
"We will now spend more money that could have been spent on education, that could have been spent on actually building the roads, instead of paying off trial lawyers," Breen said. "Instead, we're going to send the money to them instead of using it for good purposes."
What is a reasonable amount of money at which to cap claims against Illinois state government? I don't know that I can answer that finitely.
Perhaps $100,000 is too low. Perhaps even $300,000 is too low. But Breen's questioning of what a $2 million cap will mean long-term for taxpayers isn't just reasonable, it's absolutely necessary. It's the kind of scrutiny that all lawmakers should be giving to any legislation that will cost taxpayers more money, especially in near-bankrupt Illinois.
What happened with the spread of legionnaires disease at the Quincy Veterans Home is tragic. How the Rauner administration responded to the outbreak has been criticized and is under investigation - as it should be.
But sympathy for the victims and victims' families shouldn't lead to unvetted legislation whose long-term impact on taxpayers is unknown.
Questioning that impact certainly shouldn't result in a death wish to a colleague from across the aisle.
After the backlash, Kifowit made a half-hearted attempt to "clarify" her comments by saying they were hypothetical and taken out of context. After the backlash, Kifowit made a half-hearted attempt to "clarify" her comments by saying they were hypothetical and taken out of context. She initially didn't apologize, though she did so Wednesday.
Regardless, her words are her words. Read them again if you have any doubt about what she said. Watch her speak and listen to them on tape.
I've seen and heard some nasty stuff from under the Dome in Springfield. This is a new low.
House Speaker Michael Madigan should condemn Kifowit's comments and sanction her to send a message to other lawmakers that there's no place for this kind of toxic discourse in state government.
Dan McCaleb, dmccaleb@ilnews.org, is editor of Illinois News Network and the digital hub ILNews.org.