Rich Miller: Fog of fear and loathing engulfs Springfield

One of the hottest rumors making the rounds among Statehouse types last week was that the governor and/or the Illinois Republican Party will be sending "trackers" to Springfield for the upcoming special legislative session.

The rumor was that the trackers would follow Democrats around to try and get them to say silly things or record them doing stuff that might not look good to the folks back home. And some Democrats were privately demanding that their party respond in kind.

So, I went to the very upper echelons of Team Rauner and asked whether the rumors were true. I was told in no uncertain terms they are not.

Nasty rumors thrive in the pea-soup fog of fear and loathing that pervades every Statehouse molecule these days. Nobody trusts anybody.

Heck, the far-right Illinois Policy Institute is even running Facebook ads whacking Gov. Bruce Rauner and legislative Republicans for their "$5 billion tax hike." Rauner used to be a large contributor and often sought advice from the group's leader.

The governor's party last week proposed what appears on the surface to be a fairly reasonable budget plan (pending further review) with some much-needed tax increases. But they couched the unveiling in such overtly partisan and demanding terms.

"We're calling a special session so lawmakers can pass the Republican's compromise balanced budget plan w/ reforms," Rauner tweeted just before he officially called the special session. Rauner has obvious comprehension problems with the concept of "compromise." A plan drafted by one party and then presented as an all or nothing demand doesn't quite fit the traditional definition of the word. Then again, the Democratic majority has also done this on countless occasions.

But at least Rauner is finally starting to own something. Although, if the governor had just laid his tax hike cards on the table 2½ ears ago we might not be in this mess today.

There's so little trust right now, some Democrats (and some Republicans, who've also been burned by this guy) still want the governor to say out loud that he will sign a personal income tax rate of 4.95 percent and new service taxes in his proposal.

It's pretty much impossible to pass a tax hike without votes from Chicago Democrats, who don't have to worry about general election challenges. Yet, the Republican proposal included what seemed to be an obvious poison pill: Vote to raise taxes while simultaneously shortchanging funding for Chicago's public schools.

Last Friday, Rauner began airing TV ads attacking Speaker Madigan and his "puppets" for letting the state "crumble" and for wanting to raise taxes "by billions." It's not at all inaccurate to warn Illinoisans that the House Dems may "let Illinois collapse," because they haven't yet done anything concrete to keep the government from collapsing.

But Democrats are left wondering if Rauner is trying to intimidate them into voting with him or setting them up to take the blame for a plan that wasn't ever going anywhere. We'll find out soon.