Progress Illinois

Following the lead of Sun-Times columnist Carol Marin, the Tribune editorial board directed their anger over the Cook County sales tax veto override failure at House Speaker Michael Madigan today, blaming the Chicago Democrat for bottling up a bill in Springfield that would have lowered the county's override threshold from a four-fifths majority to three-fifths. They also praise Sen. Dan Kotowski and Rep. Julie Hamos for their vow to revive the bill during the October veto session:

Why would Madigan entomb a common-sense measure to lower the threshold for a veto override?

Because Madigan wants to protect the thousands of Democratic patronage jobs in county government. Many of those payrollers donate money and campaign time to Madigan's party. Overriding Stroger's veto and lowering the sales tax would begin to force some economies -- such as eliminating a few do-little patronage jobs -- on Stroger's government.

So let's bestow on Madigan the honor he richly deserves: co-ownership of Stroger's galling tax hike. They're the taxmen.

As Rich Miller notes, Madigan is not colluding with Board President Todd Stroger. The Speaker has long opposed dropping the threshold, a point the Tribune and lawmakers omit. But there is no reason the will of the people and the elected officials they represent should be thwarted by laws that don't apply to any other level of government. And it's good to see the Tribune rally behind this reasonable legislative fix.