For the most part at The Business Ledger we stay away from politics unless there is a direct connection to a local business issue. We figure the mainstream media can provide a lot more coverage and thought on politics than we can.

Most people don’t know whether I vote Republican or Democrat. I like it best that way. I feel both parties are equally adept at being stupid, so why would I want to label myself?

However, I just can’t help but comment on the reaction of Gov. Rod Blagojevich after the Illinois House of Representatives voted down his proposed gross receipts tax by a margin of 107 to zero.

It reminds me a little of former First Lady Hillary Clinton’s ill-fated attempt to launch a national health care system during her husband’s first term as president. More often then not the majority does get it right. They can see through the BS and that’s what occurred in Springfield a couple weeks ago.

I have to admit to being stunned and angered by Gov. Blagojevich’s comments made during a downtown Chicago rally and reported by the Chicago Tribune. In reaction to this defeat, he accused “legislators of being too cozy with business interests who eat fancy steaks and shuffle around in Gucci loafers.”

Is it any wonder that this governor has been labeled “anti-business?” He could not have made a more condescending and insensitive remark to our state’s business owners, leaders and “interests.” How does he think all the people who live in Illinois make a living if not working for a business? Maybe he thinks we all share in lottery winnings.

Illinois is comprised of 95 per cent small businesses. I don’t see too many local business people wearing Gucci loafers.

I count myself as a “business interest.” I’ve been writing and reporting about Illinois business since 1976 and I’ve owned a business since 1993.

I’ve also been wearing the same pair of loafers for so long that I can’t remember when I bought them. I just know the last three times I took them in for new heels and soles, the shoemaker just shook his head and muttered, “This has got to be the last time.”

And what’s wrong with eating steaks for anyone who isn’t a vegetarian? Is the governor suggesting that everyone who goes to Morton’s for a steak is some sort of Gucci-wearing business evil-doer?

We should never elect a candidate to a top position, governor or president, who has never had to make a payroll. Blagoevich interned for the governorship by defending DUI cases in traffic court. Then he married the daughter of a Chicago alderman and entered the family business, politics, through that route.

There is no question that the finances of the state of Illinois are a mess. That seems to happen to most highly populated and industrialized states every few years. It’s not Blagoevich’s fault. He inherited this mess, so I don’t blame him for trying to think of new ways to cure the patient.

Turning around the financial fortunes of state government is not easy. All the constituents want more services and we don’t like having to pay for it. But, there really aren’t too many easy solutions. Cut costs, find new revenue sources and raise prices (taxes). That’s about it. Those are the same options I have in my business.

The gross receipts tax was seen for what it is, a shell game. Eventually, all taxes flow down to individual residents. You can’t really tax a business because businesses are just entities that pass on higher costs to their customers.

I know they’ve tried to cut costs. For the past five years our company has published a magazine titled “Forward Illinois,” which is designed for juniors and seniors in high school to help them make a decision on what to do after graduation. It serves a valid purpose in educating our youth about occupational opportunities.

For most years there has been some advertising purchased by various state agencies that have a role in workforce development. Last year that financing disappeared. Talking with people in the Illinois Department of Education, you hear stories of departments that used to have 45 people and now have the same amount of work to be done by 10 people.

I know that Gov. Blagojevich has a hard job to do and there are no easy solutions. But the governor’s comments were insulting to everyone in our state who has a job. “Business interests” has a broad definition.

In fact, the first line of defense of “grass roots business interests” are executives of chambers of commerce, both large and small, from all areas of the state. Do you see many of them as “high-paid, Gucci-wearing and steak-eating?”

Actually, maybe the governor has touched on a new potential membership benefit that could be offered by the chambers—discounts on Gucci loafers and 10 percent-off coupons at Morton’s.”

Contact publisher Jim Elsener at jelsener@thebusinessledger.com or at 630-428-8788.