41 Comments - Anonymous - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 3:25 pm: Christine and Lance seem to be sharing and using the same, tired, old talking points. But then again, it’s tough navigating all of the U-turns while your boss (BVR) is running around in Cowboy hats, motorcycle vests, and eating sweetcorn instead of governin’. - How Ironic - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 3:25 pm: “At a Springfield press conference, the governor said the budget would have been done by now if he were working solely with Senate President John Cullerton and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.” Should read: “At a Springfield press conference, the governor said the budget would have been done by now if he were working solely with Senate President John Cullerton and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.” He added that it also would be much easier to get to Springfield from Chicago if he had a winged Unicorn, and magic beans that would eliminate any political resistance to his harebrained U-Turn Agenda ™. He then concluded the press conference by shouting “Fire Madigan” as he ran back into his echo chamber to be soothed by accolades from his key staff. - walker - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 3:28 pm: Does the AP always tell their readers how to pronounce a long-established Legislative leader’s name? - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 3:28 pm: walker, that’s for radio readers. - MurMan - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 3:30 pm: GOP PR strategy to direct blame toward Dems at this point seems to be throwing as much crap against a wall as possible and seeing what sticks. Are they panicking? Or do they have so little respect for mainstream media outlets in IL that they feel safe that no one will call them on it? Maybe a little column A, little column B? - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 3:30 pm: Stop. Seriously. Stop. Just stop this. K? Stop. It’s Wednesday. Take tomorrow, media silence, and figure out what the… is going on with this rag-tag messaging that is reactive… to your own statements that run opposite to what is being said even just hours ago. Stop. Just stop. Regroup. Come out Friday on a Media Dump day with a reconfigured timeline that makes sense to the players and actions, have everyone singing out of the same hymnal, and on Monday, strategize an “honest” political campaign media message to work congruently with the campaign style governing operations. If you all are reacting to your own inconsistent messaging, how good is that messaging to begin with? Ugh! Seriously, stop, regroup tomorrow, media silence, roll out the skeleton on Friday, flesh it out fresh on Monday, and get off this horrible train of obvious inconsistencies. Please. - Anon - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 3:30 pm: I thought it was for Rauner. - walker - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 3:33 pm: Radogno is just using the talking points from the last time she was updated by the Governor. Not a different story, just stale. - Politix - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 3:33 pm: The Rauner admin does not seem up to the task of drafting a balanced budget. - Liberty - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 3:35 pm: Rauner: politics as usual, shakin up nothin - out of touch - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 3:38 pm: IL GOP is using the DC obstructionist playbook. Do nothing, and blame others. - Nick Danger - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 3:39 pm: Maybe if the Dems offered up some movement (as per RM’s suggestions yesterday)on the “reforms” issues, the Administration would find a meeting with them beneficial. Just saying. - Skeptic - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 3:39 pm: “Stop. Just stop. Regroup” “Christine, you be the rock.” “No, I don’t want to be the rock, I want to be the bottlecap.” “But Lance is the bottlecap already.” “I still want to be the bottlecap.” “Ok…fine you be the bottlecap. Lance, you’re the acorn.” “How come she gets to be the bottlecap?” “Just be the acorn, OK? Now here’s the play. Christine, you go down to the Senate floor, stop by the podium and turn right. I’ll fake it to you. Lance, you go to the House floor, circle around the back, duck under the Speaker’s chair and wait. I’ll hit you there.” “What about me?” “CK, you go long.” - The Captain - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 3:44 pm: For the last however many years the Republican M.O. was to vote no and blame the Democrats, which was in some way understandable. Now that they’ve won the Governor’s office they M.O. is to veto everything and blame the Democrats. I don’t think the playbook has been updated in some time. - The Colossus of Roads - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 3:45 pm: Her definition of easy and mine are light years apart. I believe the Dems engaged on some of the reform issues and said no. Doesn’t get any easier than that. - reasonable - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 3:48 pm: So the Gov thought nobody would notice that his own budget wasn’t balanced,unfortunately the cat is out of the bag, so Gov balance the budget and if you want to include your usual anti union rhetoric go ahead. But put your priorities down for all to see. So is this how he ran those nursing homes? - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 3:50 pm: - Skeptic - There’s an Easter egg there, even in the best of times… - Moby - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 3:50 pm: All partisanship aside, the Dems officially drafted a budget and sent it to the Governor. He almost completely rejected it. Wouldn’t logic, and sensibility, state that the ball is now in the Governor’s court. I mean, he hasn’t even OFFICIALLY submitted a budget, has he? - Norseman - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 3:54 pm: === For the last however many years the Republican M.O. was to vote no and blame the Democrats, which was in some way understandable. Now that they’ve won the Governor’s office they M.O. is to veto everything and blame the Democrats. I don’t think the playbook has been updated in some time. === That way they don’t have to pay superstar salaries. - tominchicago - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 4:03 pm: So they can resolve the budget stalemate by not working on the budget? Someone else here has already said this but it is becoming truer by the day. Rauner doesn’t get political carrots and sticks. In his mind Democrats should undercut their main supporters and benefit Republican supporters by gutting unions and capping civil damages and in exchange Rauner will allow them to raise taxes so that Raunerbots can use that tax increase vote against them in 2016. Who would do that? - Skeptic - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 4:06 pm: OW: Well, even the best designed plays can go awry when you have Jay Cutler (literally or metaphorically) at quarterback. - JS Mill - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 4:08 pm: =and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel= What the what? Rahm? Very interesting. - Wensicia - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 4:12 pm: Why doesn’t Christine and her Republican associates come up with their own version of a budget? They’ve gotten away with doing nothing but criticizing the Democrats for too long. - GA Watcher - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 4:13 pm: Speaking of superstars, that four-month, $120,000 consultant fee we paid Donna Arduin was a great investment, wasn’t it?!? Sheesh. - Old BOBer - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 4:21 pm: It would help if the Budget Director was in the country. He is on vacation in Europe. - Wordslinger - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 4:24 pm: Lot of confusion at the line of scrimmage and in the backfield. Something got lost in the huddle. The QB might want to call a timeout and make sure everyone’s running the same play. - Wensicia - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 4:28 pm: The QB is on the sidelines; he’s not in the game. - Norseman - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 4:28 pm: === Why doesn’t Christine and her Republican associates come up with their own version of a budget? === For the same reason that is keeping us in paralysis. All sides are looking for political cover to accomplish their goals. If GOP creates a balanced budget, they wear the jacket of being heartless people and still couldn’t pass it. - Daniel Plainview - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 4:28 pm: Who’s in charge of legislative issue? Oh right, the brilliant Mr. Goldberg. I guess his genius doesn’t extend to managerial skills? - Huh? - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 4:28 pm: “The QB might want to call a timeout and make sure everyone’s running the same play.” Everybody is playing the same play - blame the other guy. - anon - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 4:35 pm: Radogno and crew are starting to look desperate. - Juvenal - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 4:38 pm: They are zigzagging like Trump. This is what it looks like when your communications is run by folks who can only think 140 characters at a time. - Norseman - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 4:43 pm: === It would help if the Budget Director was in the country. He is on vacation in Europe. === Wrong. Read the comments. This is not about the budget. I want one of the few experts on Illinois government in the governor’s office to be rested up when the logjam is busted sometime in October - nod to RNUG. Better yet, send the frat boys to Europe and we might get a little closer to a resolution. - TROOPER - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 4:44 pm: ===The QB might want to call a timeout and make sure everyone’s running the same play.==== The QB is running plays from the wrong playbook. Can’t trade him for 3.5 more losing seasons - MurMan - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 4:49 pm: GOP is so deep in campaign mode that their PR spin does not have a coherent long term strategy. The end game is to make the Dems take the blame for shutdown fiasco. The way they seem going about that is by saying whatever they have to to win the 24 hour news cycle (u-turns be damned) and through paid media (TV & mailers). Avoiding blame and responsibility coupled with massive amounts of paid media is how BVR became Governor. I doubt if it will get the turn around agenda passed or solve this budget crisis. Time will tell - Triple fat - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 4:53 pm: Democrats haven’t moved an inch? Didn’t Christine see Goldberg’s letter to Representative Bradley? I quote ‘ No matter how many times you repeat a false claim, the claim does not become any less false.’ You… Oh forget it Goldberg is as guilty as she is. - ArchPundit - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 5:00 pm: Not having the amount of time to devote to this as I used to–how many times have the four tops and the Governor actually sat down and discussed the budget? - Now What? - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 6:08 pm: Apparently, Christine forgot how to count as well. 37, Christine, 37.. - Wordslinger - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 6:37 pm: I’m curious as to what independent power Gov. Rauner believes Emanuel has in the General Assembly. - Triple fat - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 8:27 pm: He probably was thinking of Emanuel’s pull with the Teacher’s Union… I hear he is very influential with them, - Michelle Flaherty - Wednesday, Jul 22, 15 @ 11:11 pm: I think Rauner’s paying too much. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.