Stop thinking, gov. Put people to work

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Updated: October 3, 2011 1:04PM

‘I think you want a governor who’s thoughtful and thinks of everything before deciding an important matter.”

That’s Gov. Pat Quinn, speaking to reporters Thursday afternoon in Chicago.

Yes, that’s the same governor who seems to be best known for his policy flip-flops and his disjointed, ad-hoc style than any sort of coherent, sound governance.

Remember Quinn’s pledge not to raise the income tax by more than a single percentage point? He said he would veto anything above that. But then he signed a 2 percentage point tax increase into law months later.

Quinn’s business policy seems to be to hand out tax dollars to every big corporate executive who walks into his office and threatens to move to another state.

His budget proposal this year was so full of pie-in-the-sky dreaming that the General Assembly — which has not exactly been a bastion of fiscal conservatism — was forced to drag him back down to Earth by making big cuts.

But there are those who strongly believe he really does spend a lot of time thinking things through.

Several weeks ago, I had a long conversation with someone who knows Quinn far better than I do.

We talked not long after Quinn vetoed part of the new state budget.

Among other things, the governor eliminated salaries for regional school superintendents, even though they are elected officials and have several duties under Illinois law.

“ ‘Bad Pat’ does things he doesn’t want to do, like cutting education, cutting human services and cutting the regional superintendents,” she said. “Then ‘Good Pat’ swoops in and saves the day! He thinks this makes him look like a heroic problem solver.”

I tried to pass off her comments as a joke. I had never heard anything like that before, and I figured that the budget veto was just pure incompetence. But she said she was serious.

“He keeps setting up crisis situations so he can jump in with the diving catch. He doesn’t understand that people remember the crises a lot longer than they remember the catch — especially when the diving catch requires spending money we don’t have.”

“He keeps trying to play 3-D chess when the situation only requires checkers,” she concluded.

Again, this person has known Gov. Quinn a whole lot longer and better than I have.

And if she’s right, then we’re in bigger trouble than I ever thought.

I mean, Illinois has enough problems without creating new ones for sport.

Now that the federal government’s bond rating has been lowered and the markets have gone all nutso, Illinois can ill afford more drama.

What we need is clear-headed thinking and a firm resolve not only to get the state’s still shaky budget in order but also to somehow improve our job climate. Yes, that’s a tall order. Even the federal government hasn’t been able to figure that one out.

When Quinn patted himself on the back for being “thoughtful” and “thinking of everything,” he was referring to the weeks he has spent considering what to do about the gaming expansion bill.

No matter what else you may think of it, gaming expansion will undoubtedly bring in more revenue to the state and create jobs.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel really wants a new casino for Chicago for those very same reasons.

Quinn doesn’t mind giving Chicago a casino, but he doesn’t want Downstate communities such as Danville and Rockford to have their own, which makes little sense.

Instead of trying to look like a dramatic superhero, he ought to just fix the regulatory shortcomings in the bill and start putting some people to work.