Governor: Healthcare lawsuit 'Scrooge-like'

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is defending his decision to expand healthcare coverage in the state. He is ignoring complaints from lawmakers and a lawsuit challenging his expansion plans.

The governor's decision to redirect $500 million from projects that Illinois lawmakers appropriated for their own districts, to health care programs Blagojevich preferred, caused an uproar in Springfield and exacerbated the ongoing budget battle. But the governor is not only defending the diversion, which was rejected by a second legislative group recently and challenged in a lawsuit, he is calling the business leader who filed a lawsuit a Scrooge.

The governor is expanding access to free breast and cervical cancer screenings for women to three additional health clinics, including one in Oak Park, even though a lawsuit supported by a lot of Illinois lawmakers is challenging Blagojevich's decision to spend money on new health programs without the approval of the state legislature.

"The governor cannot just ignore the legislature and start spending money that has not been appropriated," said State Senator John Cullerton, (D) Chicago.

"Fortunately the constitution gives the governor the executive branch a certain amount of authority and discretion to be able to act without the legislature," said Governor Rod Blagojevich.

"That's exactly the question the courts are going to have to answer. We don't happen to agree," said Ron Gidwitz, Illinois Job Coalition. </p

The governor is calling business leader Gidwitz, whose family owned a cosmetics company, a Scrooge for filing a lawsuit in the Christmas season to deprive women of health care when he has never had to worry about medical coverage.

"It's mind boggling that the heir of a shampoo fortune would go out of his way to take health care away through the courts. And, yeah, it is Scrooge-like in many ways," said Blagojevich.

"When you don't have the facts on your side you resort to name calling. That's what the governor is doing. It is not about health care. This is about the governor overstepping his authority," said Gidwitz.

The women at Thursday's event, including Bethany Arteaga, who is pregnant, don't care about politics or lawsuits. They are simply thanking the governor for providing access to health care they couldn't afford on their own.

"Since day one, I've been trying to find an answer for how I'm going to deliver the baby. So this was a blessing," said Bethany Arteaga, health care recipient.

The governor is also accusing House Speaker Michael Madigan -- not by name but by implication -- of supporting the lawsuit, which, according to Blagojevich, is outrageous for a Democrat who is allegedly committed to expanding health care. A spokesman for Madigan says the speaker had nothing to do with the lawsuit and is taking no position on its merits.

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