Councilman Frank DiCicco worked up the nerve yesterday to suggest the governor was throwing one of his well-known tantrums.

"Get over it, governor, because I'm not giving up," DiCicco declared in Council.

Rendell's outburst, first reported in yesterday's Metro, demonstrated the frustration of casino developers and their supporters, who have been stymied for a year by Council tactics.

DiCicco noted that many of the investors in the local casino projects have been generous campaign contributors for Rendell.

"So I think the governor is way off base on this one," DiCicco said. "If he wants to pander to the folks who have been contributing to him, and these are very wealthy people, that's his business. I'm not giving in and I hope my colleagues will continue to support me."

Rendell continued the war of words yesterday, responding that the state casino law prohibits investors from making political contributions.

"So he's totally wrong and he's totally gutless," Rendell said of DiCicco's claim.

Rendell was partially correct: The law does ban political contributions but many former contributors now own stakes in casino projects across the state.

Rendell stepped up the rhetoric yesterday, accusing Council of turning its back on city wage tax cuts that would be funded by taxes on casinos.

"Council should suck it up and move," Rendell said. "One of the things I have learned in my 30 years in politics is you can't have everyone love you all the time. If there aren't some people mad at you, you aren't doing your job."

DiCicco counters that pushing through legislation for casino construction would be irresponsible while there are questions about the impacts of the projects on surrounding neighborhoods in Fishtown and South Philadelphia. Both casino projects are in his district.

"I'd rather be called gutless than irresponsible," he said.

But to Rendell, a year of haggling in Council's public hearings and protests is enough.

"They've had it for a year," Rendell said. "That's plenty of time to work hard and ask tough questions." *

Staff writer William Bender contributed to this report.