A tale of two governors: meet Tommy Thompson, dismantler of the welfare state, and Jim Edgar, the riverboat king - Wisconsin and Illinois politics

National Review, May 16, 1994 by Daniel D. Polsby

These bumps up against the welfare ethos, however, have been overshadowed by the largest imaginable reform: the sunsetting of AFDC. As of January 1, 1999, Wisconsin will drop out of the AFDC program. If a satisfactory substitute program is not enacted by then, ultimate welfare reform shall have been achieved.

Aid to Families with Dependent Children is probably the most justly criticized welfare program in history. It pays women to have children out of wedlock, pays them extra if they compound the problem by having more children, and then cuts them off if they find work or get married. Everyone, Democrat or Republican, wants to reform AFDC; only Charles Murray has sketched what a thoroughgoing reform would look like. He argues that the best thing to do with AFDC is get rid of it and replace it with nothing. Let the indigent mothers enlist support from their own families, from their children's father, from the church or local charities--whatever. But recognize that the problem is hers before it is the community's. If she is not resourceful enough to solve her problem, then let her be relieved of it--by placing the children in an environment where they will be cared for properly.

Maybe this is an extravagant idea, as more than one irate critic has suggested. For his part, Thompson does not accept the Murray solution, but he has committed himself to some intermediate, as yet unspecified, reform. If the Assembly remains in Democratic hands, even an intermediate position may be difficult to achieve. On the other hand, if Republicans take over both houses of the legislature--a distinct possibility with Mr. Thompson at the head of the ticket--we'll find out just how much reform Wisconsin can take. And if he can sell that kind of reform in Wisconsin, Tommy Thompson should be President.

Enter Mr. Edgar

JIM EDGAR, on the other hand, should not be President, nor anything else. The contrast between Thompson and the Illinois governor could hardly be more stark. Jim Edgar spent two terms as Illinois secretary of state, whose main task is issuing drivers' licenses, before being anointed by retiring governor Jim Thompson as his successor.

Edgar's governing style is low-key to the point of invisibility. He is, in effect, a great resume and hairdo with no offputting habits such as thinking anything--George Bush without the charisma. The 15 or so pounds he appears to have lost after having his gall bladder extracted last June seems to have made him both more telegenic and more taciturn. What you see is what you get: a bookkeeper with bad digestion.

Edgar's main campaign promise four years ago was to oppose any further increases in the state income tax. To this engagement he has faithfully adhered, though he did accept as permanent a tax increase that was hilariously denominated as "temporary" when shepherded through the legislature by Jim Thompson. Edgar's term has been concerned chiefly with managerial issues of the sort that occupy all governors. The state's Department of Children and Family Services in particular has had periodic contretemps that have obliged Edgar to become conspicuously (and usually embarrassingly) involved, firing or suspending or defending a caseworker whose client killed or starved a child.