Either tomorrow or Wednesday will likely be the last voting day of the 2005-2006 Pennsylvania legislative session. That means it will likely be the last session day for Rep. Michael R. Veon, 49, of Beaver County, and that will be a great shame. Democratic Minority Whip Mike Veon--an elected Democratic leader for the last dozen years and a major force in Democratic caucus politics before before that--is certainly one of the great state legislators in Pennsylvania history.
We live in an age of vast inequalities of wealth, and access to wealth. Simultaneously we live in age of great surface egalitarianism, in which more people are addressed and thought of by their first name or nickname than ever before.
Mike Veon worked mightily to address disparities in economic opportunity. But he lost because some people were led to feel that his great work ethic and record of achievement were signs of deep arrogance, proving that the champion of average people was not an average person.
For all 22 years, his legislative job was his only job. And it was much more an all-consuming mission than a paycheck.
He co-founded and secured millions of dollars in funding for the Beaver County Initiative for Growth (B.I.G), so his local paper constantly ridiculed him as "Mr. Big."
A major force for successfully enacting my bill to raise Pennsylvania's minimum wage by 39%, he was relentlessly assailed for his public advocacy of raising Pennsylvania legislative salaries on television and right-wing radio talk shows by media figures who earned much more than he did.
A relentless forger of alliances and programs for the purposes of enacting progressive agendas benefitting low-income and middle class citizens, he was ferociously assailed by Republican-oriented media as a Harrisburg insider who had lost touch with his constituents.
He was defeated at the peak of his legislative career. In this legislative session alone, besides the minimum wage increase, he was a major factor in increasing property tax rebates for senior citizens, increasing the number of senior citizens eligible for subsidized prescriptions, exempting school districts from proposed spending caps for many valid reasons, and helping negotiate budgets increasing social services spending.
But this understates his role. He was active in large numbers of major bills and local interests simultaneously. He was a key figure in Pennsylvania's attempt to develop an honest and revenue generating casino industry, and a key figure in developing that industry to serve his legislative district.
Whenever he was confronted with a political obstacle, he would begin by saying "We have to make the case that...." He constantly assumed that other political actors could be swayed by a reasoned appeal to examine previously unexamined facts, and he found great success in both the legislature and in Ed Rendell's gubernatorial office. He simultaneously became one of the legislators most trusted by Rendell, and one of the most trusted men in the legislature.
A champion of worker's rights, he drove himself to work ever harder in a job that had no overtime pay. He talked incessentantly to fellow legislators, staff members, lobbyists, union leaders, constituents. His discussions were always purposeful, never pedantic, and always focused on the future. A zealous consumer of news and polls, he was a walking encyclopedia on the politics of many legislative districts, as well as upcoming bills and recently enacted laws.
A regular and skilled basketball player despite being under six feet tall, he was a great legislative playmaker, seeking to find new political and legislative majorities wherever he could. His style of producing legislative majorities in difficult circumstances was reminiscent of Justice William Brennan's long tenure on the U.S. Supreme Court.
When asked by David Frost to explain his downfall, Richard Nixon said of Watergate, "I gave them a sword." The sword Veon gave his enemies was pride in his genuine accomplishments, and a belief that true accountability to the public required him to answer even the most hostile questions in even the most hostile forums. By the end of his re-election campaign, he was less outspoken, but a last minute infusion of Republican funds sealed his fate.
A more modest personal style would have kept him in office, but it is tough to do great things benefitting millions of people and try to keep them secret. It is tough to know the truth about false allegations and turn down time to tell the truth--even knowing that one's words will be distorted in the retelling.
All Americans should have equal rights, but all Americans do not have equal comptence, equal work ethics, or equal passion for justice. Mike Veon was one of the great political and governmental leaders of his era because he transcended conventional limits of what was possible and what effort could be expended to achieve difficult tasks.
I strongly suspect his constituents will appreciate him more when he is gone. They voted to dump Rick Santorum, and their right wing Congresswoman Melissa Hart on the same day they dumped Veon, lumping him together with those who vigorously opposed everything he stood for. They were all "insiders," but inside, when no one was looking, Mike Veon was a tenacious and pragmatic champion for the interests of average men and women.
Veon's mastery of the governmental and political processes has a high market value, and his income will likely skyrocket as a result of his defeat. But I doubt that, no matter how much money he earns, he will ever fail to undererstand the difference between market values and human values.
Thanks Mike for winning election to the Pennsylvania legislature and giving the job everything you had for 22 extremely productive years under very difficult circumstances. Thank you for the help you gave me to use governmental power to improve the lives of Pennsylvanians. Thank you for being a good friend, a strong ally, and a man constantly setting new standards of performance in office.