When last we left Gov. Rod "Tex" Blagojevich, he was holding a news conference once again offering the conspiracy theory that his impeachment trial is going forward to get him out of the way so those varmints legislative Democrats, in cahoots with their Republican colleagues, want to engage in taxation skullduggery.
To wit: The General Assembly wants Tex out of the picture so legislators can inflict taxing damage on Illinois residents. Blagojevich believes he is in a simular situation as his impeachment trial is set to begin next week as that of a cowboy accused of stealing a horse. One cowboy suggests the accused thief be hanged, with the other suggesting he get a trial first and then hang. Is that the Blago version of the "Ox-Bow Incident?"
While Tex has all the makings of a drug store cowboy, he may not be far afield from the tax hike roundup. The new president of the Illinois Senate, Chicago Democrat John Cullerton, hasn't closed the door on a possible tax hike sometime this year to help cure the state's financial woes.
Too, there are rumblings among rank-and-file lawmakers about other ways to raise revenues, including doubling the state's cigarette tax and increasing the state's gasoline tax. Lawmakers say Illinois faces a major decrease in revenue and a massive backlog of unpaid bills. They don't believe they can cut and chop their way into the black.
Even Republicans may be resigned to a tax hike, but not an increase in the income tax. Perhaps something smaller --- like jacking the cigarette tax, again. While The Hound could care less about taxing smoking materials, just how many times can you go to the well with a shrinking number of smokers?
There's only one thing Hopalong Hound can say in Tex Blagojevich's defense: "Taxes? We don't need no stinking taxes"
So now it's Fightin' Tex Blago asking that musical question: Who put that dang turtle on the fencepost?
THE HOUND SEZ: Irene, perhaps you confuse Tex Blago with Tex Bush. Both, it would seem, are all hat and no cattle.
Gee, where was Blago when spending was out of control, the pension system needed reforming, and Chicago kept demanding money for the spendthrift CTA?
That's right...he was advocating spending even MORE, including tearing down and replacing a perfectly good building at NIU because of the mental anguish suffered by those students during the shooting there.
Blago never met an expenditure he couldn't justify. Maybe...just maybe if he put as much effort and TV time into actually attempting to solve Illinois' finances, he might not be where he is today.
THE HOUND SAYS: And those legislative Democrats, who now want this hide, were with him all the way.
But what do you expect from a typical Chicago politician?
The Dems in Springfield now have themselves a bigger 'sugar daddy' in Washington DC. Who needs 'Blago', when they have the 'O'? (I don’t mean Oprah.)
THE HOUND SAYS: They can only wish.