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* Pat Quinn, speaking to Illinois Issues way back in 1980…
“If you’ve got a bill you want passed, I wouldn’t advise hiring me as your lobbyist”
* That quote went through my mind while reading the coverage of Gov. Pat Quinn’s comments on the gay marriage bill. Tribune…
The governor also said he was “very disappointed” by the decision to not call gay marriage legislation for a vote, saying it was important to know where lawmakers stand on such an important civil rights issue.
“A vote should have been taken. That’s what democracy is all about,” Quinn said. “I am going to work as hard as I can to get a vote as soon as I can and get that passed into law. It’s long overdue in our state.”
Um, governor, democracy is not just about taking votes. Democracy also isn’t about killing a bill by forcing a roll call on legislation that doesn’t have nearly the votes needed for passage.
* Let’s go to the tape for more, shall we?…
* When told that Rep. Greg Harris, the bill’s sponsor was worried that if the bill was put on the big board it would lose and that would make it more difficult to pass down the road, Quinn said this…
“To me, democracy is all about taking votes on very important issues that matter to the people. There is no question that this issue is very important to the people of Illinois and it should be voted on. For the House not to do that was a very big disappointment. And I think it is important for the House to realize that it’s time for democracy to flourish in Illinois and that means voting on marriage equality.”
* Asked if that meant he’d push a vote even if the bill was going to die, Quinn said…
“I think the only way you find out how people feel about a bill is to have a roll call vote.”
What a bunch of malarkey.
This is a blatant Quinn pander to the activist wing, pure and simple.
There are plenty of ways to test an issue without taking a formal roll call and even Quinn knows that. Quinn said a couple weeks ago he believed the votes were there to pass the bill. Quinn gave his list to the House Democrats. As subscribers already know, none of those three House members favored the bill, and maybe one of them might’ve been flipped. Maybe.
Quinn admitted long ago that he doesn’t know how to pass a bill. He was right then and he’s right now. His comments yesterday shamefully undermined the bill’s House sponsor and the governor ought to know better. Or maybe not. Maybe he truly is that clueless.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 11:06 am
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Clueless comments from a rabble rousing rock slinger who would rather get a quote and headline than actually PASS something.
Comment by Langhorne Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 11:13 am
Quinn is part of a large group of Democratic Big Hitters who didn’t get the job done here.
Throwing Harris under the bus is weak.
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 11:14 am
I wonder if he feels the same way about the Madigan not calling SB 2404?
Comment by G'Kar Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 11:14 am
The entire thing seems a bit odd.
Per ABC: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local/illinois&id=9124179
Until Friday night, Illinois was poised to become the 13th state to legalize gay marriage. Many of Saturday’s speakers were in the house gallery last night, among them Lee and David Neubecker, who were to marry as soon as the bill was signed into law.
“We never would have taken the kids there, they said they had the votes,” Lee Neubecker said. “The votes suddenly disappeared. Something was short circuited.”
Comment by Formerly Known As... Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 11:19 am
FKA, it’s not odd at all. If you were a subscriber you’d know.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 11:20 am
Oh, I think that was a ringer. If the guy didn’t mention the Mississippi River in his comments about democracy I’m almost positive it was not Quinn speaking.
Comment by Responsa Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 11:23 am
Quinn always has a scapegoat for every failure. In 1994 after he lost the race for Secretary of State he fired many of his staff at the Treasurer’s office who (in his mind) lost his race for him.
He is so often clueless that its a miracle when he occasionally stumbles across a win.
Comment by Cassiopeia Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 11:23 am
There are surely some lobbyists available who can show the Gov how to get a bill passed. This excuse is right up there with not having a phone.
Comment by zatoichi Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 11:24 am
I think this is much more about Madigan than Harris.
With 71 members, could the Speaker really not put 60 votes on this bill? I realize he doesn’t like pressuring members to vote against their district, but what’s he afraid of?
Losing the super majority? As I understand it he doesn’t even really like having one.
He’s certainly not going to lose his position as Speaker, so what is it?
This wasn’t called for a vote because it couldn’t be allowed to die. Harris probably wouldn’t want to anger Madigan, but would Madigan really be willing to let his chamber fail to pass it?
Comment by Small Town Liberal Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 11:27 am
Quinn is like the bull in a china shop. He barges through, causing critical damage, then turns around and blames the proprietor.
Comment by Wensicia Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 11:32 am
another example of how clueless and useless this governor is…2014 can’t get here soon enough to get rid of this guy!
Comment by Susiejones Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 11:33 am
Time is on the side of the pro-marriage people on this one. A lot of the anger, I think, is coming from the fact that the momentum is increasing for marriage equality, other states are passing legislation. Impatience is growing, the finish line is in sight, and the race got extended another six months.
The activist wing and advocacy groups are partially responsible for this, as they often cheerleaded that this vote was going to happen during the latest. Whether or not that line came from Harris himself (which I very much doubt), squared and forthright information was not being relayed to supporters by IL Equality orgs.
Comment by Served Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 11:36 am
And in order to please the related gun control activist wing of his party, what will he do with concealed carry? Not trying to mix threads, but its clear to me that he has LOTS of motivation to create the chaos that his activist wing wants.
Comment by In the know Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 11:39 am
I’m kind of hopin’ mad over this. Greg Harris is focused on getting the bill passed and signed into law. Too many others are focused on getting their name in the paper.
You’re absolutely right, Rich. Where is Quinn’s record of success in getting bills passed?!?!
Comment by Just Me Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 11:45 am
==”Quinn pander to the activist wing”==
is the generous interpretation. Just plain dumb was my reaction.
Comment by walkinfool Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 11:46 am
Thanks, Rich. Looks like I may have to pony up soon
Comment by Formerly Known As... Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 11:51 am
=== Quinn admitted long ago that he doesn’t know how to pass a bill ===
There’s an old “Schoolhouse Rocks” video on youtube called “I’m Just a Bill”. Can’t get the post link here (I am not savvy).
Hey, Pat, check it out - you might learn something.
Comment by dupage dan Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 12:29 pm
Pathetic, but not surprising.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 12:32 pm
I think Pat is upset he isn’t going to sit in front of some same sex couples and their children and pontificate about freedom, Lincoln and so forth as he signed the bill.
He wasn’t going to get pension reform and even if he did, that was going to upset people who like him.
SSM was going to make those folks who like him happy, it was going to help him raise money ’see what I did’ now… Not so much.
Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 12:32 pm
=== “I think the only way you find out how people feel about a bill is to have a roll call vote.” ===
Or, the party leaders could have talked to everyone earlier and known what votes were going what way.
Comment by titan Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 12:39 pm
Quinn’s view is that taking meaningless public votes and making resolutions as a “statement” is more important than actually *passing* laws. Quinn is all about the promotion of something up front, not the hard work of closing the deal.
Don’t give the man any coffee: coffee is for closers.
Comment by Newsclown Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 1:13 pm
Small Town - the roll call was going the wrong way. You can’t put votes on a bill like that from the top against the momentum. In fact, it works the other way. Leadership is the closer, not the starting pitcher.
Comment by Cutler Fan Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 1:53 pm
once a gadfly, always a gadfly…
Comment by Living in Machiaville Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 1:57 pm
Call me cynical, but I don’t think the Speaker wanted to call the Marriage Equality bill for a vote this year. It’s too good of a campaign issue to use up this far in advance of election day.
Comment by SAP Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 2:40 pm
Quinn is clueless. He is parroting those supporters of the bill who felt it more important to have an emotional moment than to, at some point, pass the bill. Harris did the smart thing. And I agree with SAP; the bill didn’t pass this session because Madigan didn’t want it to.
Comment by Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 2:51 pm
He wasn’t going to get pension reform and even if he did, that was going to upset people who like him.
One -We don’t like him RNUG gave and est that the pension interest population was 10 percent plus of the voting base and its looking at every single gov candidate and seeing no diff
As to the Illinois house its a blu dog conservadem body that benefits from hiding behind a D to a voting public that just never pays attention to the candidates especially in NE Illinois …..The Senate is better but those D supermajority numbers are illusory These bodies do not reflect the electorate. If you want progressives or “real democrats” you have to have primaries and let them face some losses in Novermber
Comment by RNUG Fan Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 3:00 pm
I have felt for a long time that Quinn truly is that clueless!
Had Madigan shown some backbone, the bill would have passed. Instead he hid. A pretty sorry performance on his part and it will bite him.
Comment by Sunshine Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 4:39 pm
You’d think that Quinn and Garcia and Baim didn’t want marriage equality. Because they seem to be doing everything in their power to ensure this bill is defeated.
Comment by Joan P. Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 5:33 pm
I said weeks ago that I didn’t believe the time was ripe for this bill and major socially and religiously significant change in Illinois life, and that timing is everything in Politics, and I was shelLACKED by at least a few of a whole bunch of such zealous “activists” you refer to who couldn’t fathom how it might not pass who were commenting left and right then when they naively thought passage was somehow a gimme–where are they now? Crying over their spilled beer, to borrow a line. It’s not over yet, and a vote up or down would’ve done little harm, and if someone was not sure, they could’ve just voted “present” for land’s sake, and tell constituents they were still formulating their position. Either way, what’s the big deal–it’s day, with better timing, WILL come and it’ll either pass, or it won’t (which it obviously would NOT have the other day–despite all of the hype from many of the over-zealous pro-ssm “activists” out there, who get awfully quiet, when the Fat Lady has finished singin’, at least for now…!
Comment by Just The Way It Is One Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 5:41 pm
Well it’s an example of what makes Quinn a poor governor. He thinks you can achieve change through grandstanding. Perhaps not in many jurisdictions. Absolutely not here in Illinois, where gratuitously calling people out is a cardinal sin.
Comment by Angry Chicagoan Wednesday, Jun 5, 13 @ 9:43 pm
What if, let’s say in November, the black churches are mollified and the AG jumps in and brings in the deciding votes? Pretty juicy scenario, eh? How ya like them democracies PQ?
Comment by Robo Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 9:01 am
@RNUG Fan-I think you have that backwards. The idea of a “real democrat” is illusory, not the composition of the Senate.
Comment by Anon Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 9:09 am