From the Chicago Sun-Times:

For years the conventional wisdom has been it didn’t make much difference which party held power in Springfield because Illinois Democrats and Republicans pretty much operated alike, in tandem and to their mutual benefit. So a lot of people, myself included, were surprised Republicans held firm and didn’t go along with Gov. Pat Quinn’s demand for a 50 percent increase in the state income tax.

I fully expected moderate Republicans at some point would cave in to pressure from the governor, state-funded interest groups, political calculations based on Illinois’ status as a blue state, and House Speaker Michael Madigan’s ploy to blame the GOP for any severe budget cuts hitting human service agencies.

But Republicans stood their ground. And, with big Democratic majorities in both houses, voters didn’t buy the snake oil that the GOP was responsible for fiscal chaos in Springfield.

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