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Sen. Jacobs should check his shoe

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By Barb Ickes | Saturday, May 31, 2008 7:21 PM CDT | () comments

ILLINOIS Sen. Mike Jacobs has a gift for stepping in it.

He surely got it honestly — that tendency to call ’em as he sees ’em — but he just can’t pull it off like his pop, retired state Sen. Denny Jacobs.

During his many years in office, the senior Jacobs became widely regarded as a man of nearly painful (and often humorous) frankness. He rarely if ever paused before he spoke. He seemed to lack a filter between thought and speech. Words just tumbled out, and voters seemed to forgive him for a level of honesty they weren’t always prepared to hear.

With Mike Jacobs, not so much.

When he borrows a page from his father’s political playbook and shoots from the hip, he often hits his own foot. He comes off as arrogant and condescending, and the difference between father and son never has been as evident as it has during the past month.

Some Illinois lawmakers have been angling once again to give themselves a generous pay raise, and Mike Jacobs has been one of the most vocal in favor of his own windfall.

Last year’s raise of nearly 10 percent went so well that Jacobs and others are agreeable this year to almost 12 percent.

On May 8 he was quoted thus: “Frankly, if you don’t want politicians selling jobs and you don’t want politicians carrying plastic bags to the Governor’s Mansion full of cash, then you’ve got to pay them.”

That sounds like a threat.

Does he appear to be saying that, unless taxpayers ante up, lawmakers will get their money the old-fashioned way: through corruption?

On May 24 came this quote: “I live from paycheck to paycheck like a lot of people.”

Last year, Mike Jacobs’ legislative salary was $74,027, according to the Illinois Comptroller’s office. He also gets a legislative per diem of $129 for each day he’s in session.

Last year he collected the per diem for 201 days, he said, which amounted to about $26,000 in additional compensation.

“But that’s not taxable income,” he reminded. “I have to keep two households. You can’t stay in a hotel for $129.”

His wife, Beth, works at John Deere Pharmacy, according to court documents related to her March divorce filing (he categorized the relationship Friday as “a separation”). The senator correctly pointed out he is under no obligation to reveal his wife’s salary. But he is utterly unashamed of his desire to grow his pay.

On May 29, he said, “I’m tight for money like everyone else in this country.”

I ask you: Should a Quad-Citian who is paid $100,000 be “tight for money” and “living paycheck to pay check?”

And, if he is, should he be in charge of managing our money, too?

“We all live paycheck to paycheck, even if you’re making a million dollars,” he said Friday. “I get paid probably what the average teacher in the Quad-Cities makes.”

There is something too abrupt and defensive in the younger Jacobs’ approach. That old likability is missing.

Father and son offer clear and convincing evidence that there is a not-so-fine line between plainspoken political savvy and an abrasiveness that borders on bullying. Mike Jacobs has a way of making you feel like he’d wait for you outside the tavern if you argued inside.

Denny Jacobs would’ve bought you a beer.

It’s a shame this particular beer didn’t fall a little closer to the keg.

Barb Ickes can be contacted at (563) 383-2316 or bickes@qctimes.com.