Comments on: Quinn dodges protest, reaffirms his commitment to shut down facilities by August 31

by: VanillaMan

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 11:44:18 +0000

Spending a buck on the able bodied instead of the disabled, or willfully cutting back on the funds to assist the truley needy to spend on utter crap that wastes taxes is what I am talking about.

Demanding accountability, demanding a setting of priorities, focusing on what a government should do, has been my mantra. Knowingly twisting it to make a claim that I am only seeing a result of my pleads for a saner, sustainable government is sick.

No one wants to hurt the truly needy. Holding them hostage and demanding a blank check so they can get what they need is worse and the kind of government we are cursed with today. Sorry you are too politically blind to get that.

by: bartelby

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 06:42:04 +0000

if one more commenter says that Tamms protects guards I am gonna scream! The reason we have professors and researchers is to find out the answer to questions about what works and what doesn’t. And the research is in — Tamms and other superman prisons do not reduce aggregate prison violence. What helps is counseling, programming, and prudent measures to segregate the few really dangerous prisoners from the rest. And for that, a superman is not necessary.

by: Jimbo

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 04:10:22 +0000

Quinn’s method of visit was cowardly,but what can you expect from a guy who is “lightly” supported in southern Illinois.It’s surprising that he showed up at all.

by: wordslinger

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 03:32:31 +0000

VMan, that’s quite an epiphany. I’m afraid you’re too late.

Here comes the pain. Did you believe it wasn’t going to hurt?

After years of crying for cuts, cuts and cuts, plus lectures on wasteful government spending, do-nothing government jobs and the superiority of the private to the public sector, you’ve blossomed into a champion of spending more money for public employees to provide services in state facilities.

Anything else, you say, is immoral, unethical and ignorant.

Not all advocates for those with developmental disabilities would agree with you on the closures, but you can rest assured that the incessant Tea Party drum of cuts, cuts and more cuts is finally being answered in every state in the union with predictable results.

Careful what you wish for, you might get it.

And let us know where we can save by cutting public funds for citizens to get their nails done and pay cell phone bills. I’m all for those thoughtful solutions.

by: Rusty618

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 02:43:32 +0000

Has Quinn ever been to Murray Center? If he had, I’m sure he would realize that these folks cannot live in group homes. They need more care than what that would provide.
Prison guards from Tamms and IYC in Murphysboro are now in the process of bumping guards with less seniority from other prisons. How many of these guys will end up on unemployment?
Quinn needs to stop letting the Commerce Club of Chicago tell him what to do.

by: VanillaMan

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 02:21:52 +0000

I know of a man my age who has lived at Lincoln, and now Jacksonville since the age of five. Governor Quinn’s plan fails him as well as the dozens of other Illinoisans similar to him. He has the mental age of a two year old and must have everything done for him. Independant living is simply not possible. When he had to be moved from Lincoln to Jacksonville in 2003, it took him years to understand what happened, and went through a heartbreaking adjustment.

He is not alone. Quinn’s plan regarding the closing of our state facilities fails reality. The idea of moving these poor folks around like luggage is inhumane. The idea of putting them out in group homes is flat out stupid and impossible.

We have some citizens with real needs, not imaginary ones ginned up by lawyers. Our social programs were originally designed to accommodate severely dependant citizens, not folks complaining about not finding enough money to get their nails done or pay their cell phone bills.

Quinn is making the severely dependant sacrifice for the sake of those who are only dependant, but vote. Once again, we are seeing a questionable level of ethics and morality from Mr. Quinn. He needs to be taken directly to these state homes and made to spend the day there. He is damn ignorant.

by: Patrick G.

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 02:00:43 +0000

Is it just me, or do you all think the southern Illinois legislators and AFSCME are complaining so much that they are starting to reverse any sympathy they once had. At this point, they seem whiny.

by: Rita Winkeler

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 22:26:44 +0000

I too was at Waltonville yesterday with a group of parents/guardians/loved ones of Murray Center residents. Quinn made a comment that he wanted the residents to live an independent life……he really doesn’t get it. If my son could live independently he would….the residents who live with my son need constant care…diapering, being fed, clothed, tube fed, some cannot even swallow…..I can see why he doesn’t GET it, he’s never had the courage to come see these residents face to face….what a coward!!!!! If he thinks his idea is so wonderful then he should have the courage to look at us face to face and explain his reason why……it is politics only….Murray Center is one of the best fiscally run centers in the state, and best for over all care…..it’s because we are in southern IL….I guess our loved ones don’t count. Like a 9 year old boy with us said, “Gov. Quinn must care more about corn than he does kids!”

by: Devin Miller

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 22:18:01 +0000

Re Patriot: I am as broke as the next guy but it isn’t Chicago’s fault — if anything they support our regional welfare state. We certainly don’t kick in more than we receive. I have done work in Bowling Green, Kentucky for over 12 years (I have to travel sometimes in order to make a living as I don’t get a government pay check every week). BG is as far away from the population of Kentucky as we are in Illinois, yet their economy is relatively diverse and doesn’t rely mainly on government money to exist. They didn’t sit around and whine for decades about Frankfort and Lousiville, they brought outside manufacturing and tech firms to their communities. They also don’t rely on one savior (i.e. coal) to bring them sort of economic redemption and there are few places where mining has been a net positive for a community over the long term. Our problems aren’t simple black and white issues that if only ‘they’ would leave us alone things would improve instantly. We need to look towards developing a diverse knowledge based economy via SIU (which we have started to do) instead of wishing for a past that will never return.

by: Rich Miller

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 22:05:13 +0000

Also, with the price of natural gas falling, Kentucky is losing coal jobs fast: http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2012/jun/22/mine-layoffs-latest-sign-coal-industrys-decline/

And even when production was staying somewhat flat or dropping a bit in KY, employment was actually dropping hard and fast because of mechanization: http://www.maced.org/coal/mining-employ.htm

In other words, your grass is always greener argument is just pie in the sky, to mix metaphors.

by: Rich Miller

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 21:57:50 +0000

===Southern IL could have a thriving economy with the Coal industry if our state was not controlled by Chicago. You can drive accross the Ohio river and see a thriving Coal Industry. ===

IL coal is notorious for its high sulfur content. But more than that, they do a lot of mountaintop removal mining in Kentucky that I doubt we’d ever want to do or even could do here.

by: wordslinger

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 21:55:55 +0000

–It is a part of the Liberal Democrat agenda from Chicago that deems it a torture chamber.–

You couldn’t find one in 100,000 people across the state who have ever heard of Tamms.