Dem legislators swing to the right and back again left

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Updated: July 3, 2011 1:18PM

Remember that Soca Boys song, “Follow the Leader,” which went: “Jump for the left, jump for the right”?

That’s probably the best way to sum up what Democratic state legislators have been doing for the past six months. They’ve been following their leaders first in one direction and then the other.

In December, the General Assembly approved a bill legalizing civil unions. Days later, legislators abolished the death penalty, then they increased the income tax rate.

It was perhaps the most intensely liberal few legislative weeks in more than 40 years, back to when Illinois created the income tax and vastly expanded the role of state government.

It was also probably among the most unpopular few legislative weeks in Illinois. Too much change too quickly can make people very nervous and angry.

While most Illinoisans don’t oppose civil unions, polls show a majority does believe that the death penalty should be used — at least in some instances.

And tax increases are almost never a politically safe vote unless they’re done in such a bipartisan way that nobody takes the heat. The Republicans refused to put any votes on the bill, so the Democrats were forced to “own” it all by themselves.

The public reaction was not pretty. Which brings me back to that Soca Boys song, which stole a line from Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three: “The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire.”

But instead of letting the [expletive deleted] burn, the Democrats reached for the fire hose, figuring they’d better “go back to the right.”

The rightward move is more prominent in the House, which is run by Michael Madigan, who literally lives for his House majority. There are plenty of Democrats in the Senate who also want to get with the rightward program, but their leader, Senate President John Cullerton, is more liberal than Madi­gan. Cullerton is far from stupid. He knows how bad things are but appears to be shunning too much of a course correction.

After the liberal lurch, Madigan teamed up at least temporarily with the House Republicans to push for an austere state budget and significant public employee pension reform. Their budget spent a billion dollars less than the Senate proposed, which also was far less than the governor proposed.

The House’s pension bill emerged Thursday. If it becomes law, state workers, teachers and Chicago and Cook County employees will pay more every paycheck to stay in the current system; some will pay lots more. The workers have an option to move to a far less generous — and cheaper for them — “defined benefit” system or enroll in a 401(k)-style plan. Cullerton thinks the bill is unconstitutional, but he won’t stop it from coming to the floor.

Madigan even allowed a bill to the floor which would have legalized concealed carry in Illinois. The bill came up just a few votes short.

Cullerton has pushed hard all year for workers compensation reform. Business has complained for years about the often morally corrupt, too-expensive system. Madigan has gone one step farther and threatened to abolish the entire system if he didn’t see any real progress in reform negotiations.

The Senate also managed to pass a historic education reform bill, which mainly focuses on reining in the teachers’ unions, particularly the Chicago Teachers Union. Madigan had initially pushed for a much harsher bill, but he backed away when Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D-Maywood) negotiated a deal that won national praise and almost unanimous support in both chambers.

I think I need a neck brace after this political version of whiplash.

We’ll find out if the voters buy it next year.