Words can be pretty easy to throw around—too easy sometimes—and politicians are often masters at tarring their opponents by tossing a negative label at them and seeing if it will stick.

That seems to be exactly what Gov. Rod Blagojevich is doing by saying the budget passed by Illinois legislators is full of “pork projects” that he intends to veto in order to fund his healthcare plan.

When the governor first proposed his healthcare plan, it was a grandiose scheme that would have come with a new $7.6-billion tax. State lawmakers, business leaders and others rejected that immediately—it didn’t even get a single vote when it came up for a vote in the Illinois House.

Now the governor’s current healthcare plan can supposedly be funded by just $500 million, and he said last week he intends to do just that by vetoing $200 million worth of House member initiative grants—“pork,” Blagojevich says—and vetoing another $300 million somewhere else in the budget.

It’s more than a bit questionable as to whether the governor can actually redirect $500 million in the budget passed by the Legislature; after all, approving a budget, i.e., stating how the state’s money is to be spent, is one of the main reasons we have a representative legislature.

Second, the odds are that if the governor had actually tried to negotiate with legislators on a $500-million healthcare plan, he probably would have gotten it passed. Most legislators in Springfield are inclined to agree that providing healthcare for the currently uninsured is a priority issue. We think there are better ways to do it than by throwing huge chunks of money at private insurance companies, but that’s a different argument.

The plain truth is that the governor, with Senate President Emil Jones’ help, is vetoing the House’s member initiatives because he and Jones don’t like House Speaker Mike Madigan, a fellow Democrat, and are upset that so many House members refused to go along with Blagojevich’s budget, tax and healthcare plans.

So what are these “pork projects” that Blagojevich is threatening to cut out of the budget?

Well, Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) earmarked $50,000 for Vital Bridges, which provides food for people with HIV/AIDS. Harris also set aside $70,000 for Chicago House for housing and job training for people with HIV/AIDS and $100,000 for Howard Brown Health Center, the Midwest’s largest GLBT health agency, to use for HIV prevention and education.

All “pork,” says the governor.

Among Rep. Sara Feigenholtz’s (D-Chicago) member initiatives are another $50,000 grant for Vital Bridges and $154,500 for Bonaventure House, which houses people with HIV/AIDS.

Nope—that’s just wasteful “pork” in the governor’s eyes.

Rep. Harry Osterman (D-Chicago) put most of his grants into local schools in his Edgewater district after talking with school officials struggling to get adequate supplies under a tight Chicago Public Schools budget.

Schools, schmools—that’s just more “pork,” according to the governor.

Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chicago) also put money into schools—Lane Tech, Lincoln Park High and Lakeview High are three of the 17 schools that were slated to receive $25,000 to $30,000 each. Fritchey also earmarked grants for libraries, including the Sulzer Library and the Merlo Library.

“Pork, pork, pork,” cries Blagojevich.

And those member initiatives, as we said, are just $200 million of the $500 million Blagojevich says he’ll veto and then use to fund his plans. Nobody knows yet what programs the governor plans to cut to come up with another $300 million.

Funny—Blagojevich can call member initiatives “pork” all day long, but we thought this is the way representative democracy is supposed to work. Legislators come together and negotiate, then appropriate money for things like schools, libraries, healthcare agencies and so forth.

Maybe the governor doesn’t like that form of government. We just hope he’s ready to explain his position to the folks at Howard Brown, Chicago House, Vital Bridges and Bonaventure House, not to mention to kids and teachers at scores of under-funded schools all over the city.

“Pork” indeed.