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* GOP state Sen. Matt Murphy on Gov. Pat Quinn…
“If you look at his record on almost six years, it’s almost as if he’s running for Rod Blagojevich’s fourth term right now,” Murphy said. “You’ve got the NRI scandal. Look, there’s no other way to put it – he took $54.5 million of taxpayer money to help buy his re-election. Nothing Rod Blagojevich is impeached or imprisoned for cost taxpayers that much money.”
Discuss.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 10:25 am
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Previous Post: The never-ending MJM fascination
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IDOT is still full of political hacks.
The Feds are still investigating the Governor
Blagojevich cronies still infest every level of government.
Sounds spot-on to me.
Comment by so... Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 10:29 am
STRETCH!!!!!!!!
Comment by facts are stubborn things Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 10:30 am
More than a fair shot. He could have gone further. The suspected hiring irregularities under Rod Blagojevich never led to any charges despite the feds looking very hard at it. Quinn is neck deep in hiring problems at IDOT.
Comment by Bogart Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 10:31 am
Not that with PQ there isn’t lots and lots to complain about! But a direct comparison to Blogo goes to far for me. I guess this may come down to defining our terms?
Comment by facts are stubborn things Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 10:32 am
Maybe so, but the self-described ‘Hot Rod’ is so much easier to dislike. Almost every aspect of his persona incites bad thoughts about him. Quinn is a dufuss, but not squeaky clean either. Harder to viscerally dislike
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 10:35 am
I would agree with this if in 2002 and 2006, you needed to select a Lt. Gov. When Blago was handing out petitions for the 2002 Democratic Primary these were two separate campaigns. In 2006 PQ ran unopposed while Blago faced a primary, even though he never was in trouble of losing. There is really nothing else that needs to be said. This is a big stretch. Similar to saying Jim Ryan was related to George Ryan, when Jim Ryan was running for the gubernatorial nomination in 2002 against Blago.
Comment by Almost the Weekend Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 10:35 am
Great line of attack. More please!
Comment by Tasty Grouper Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 10:36 am
–Similar to saying Jim Ryan was related to George Ryan, when Jim Ryan was running for the gubernatorial nomination in 2002 against Blago.–
And yet, that’s exactly what Blago did, and it was pretty effective. Turnabout is fair play, is it not?
Comment by Tasty Grouper Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 10:38 am
Right now, Rauner has been doing much more to buy this election - including the black vote. If he is making financial promises in return for support, that should be a line-item on his campaign finance reports.
Comment by anon Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 10:43 am
Absolutely fair.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 10:47 am
Ashamed that Sen. Murphy is in public office when he spouts such nonsense. Money might have been wasted, and not fully accounted for, and not substantially recovered quickly enough, but the line “he took $54.5 million of taxpayer money to help buy his re-election.” is an outright lie, and I am certain Murphy knows it. When he puts on his party spokesperson jacket, Murphy seems to feel no responsibility to be even minimally honest. In person he usually sings an honest tune.
So’s comment above, that Quinn had the chance to remove all Blago cronies, and didn’t, is much more spot on. It drove Madigan up the wall when Quinn refused to follow through on “fumigation” early in his administration.
Comment by walker Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 10:48 am
Their hair.
Comment by Skeptic Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 10:50 am
Dear Senator Murphy:
That is because what Governor Quinn did is neither impeachable nor criminal.
It is also a heck of a lot cheaper than the 51% of all new revenue for education that George Ryan pledged, or the multi-billion Illinois FIRST program, both intended to “buy” re-election, and both perfectly legal.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 10:57 am
#truth
Comment by Black Ivy Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 11:10 am
so…
=IDOT is still full of political hacks.=
The 1980s called - they want their complaint about the Illinois Republican Party back.
Comment by Anyone Remember Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 11:12 am
It will never happen … but Quinn could easily stop this line of attack by purging his administration of all the left over Blago hacks.
As a plus, it would restore his public image of being a honest reformer … something he desperately needs at this point.
And who cares if the fired employees sue to get their jobs reinstated? That won’t get resolved in the courts until after the election.
I think I need to take the rest of the day off … I’m starting to think like a pol!
Comment by RNUG Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 11:18 am
==so…
=IDOT is still full of political hacks.=
The 1980s called - they want their complaint about the Illinois Republican Party back.==
#1 - The 1980s were pre-Rutan
#2 - Even if your premise weren’t flawed, so what? I thought Pat Quinn was the great reformer who did things “the right way.”
Comment by so... Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 11:19 am
Hate to disagree with Senator Murphy, but I see more parallels between Rauner and Blago.
Comment by Norseman Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 11:21 am
-Norseman- I agree.
Comment by RNUG Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 11:40 am
No argument here.
Comment by Lunchbox Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 11:40 am
A threesome! Almost enough to play best ball where 75% of your output doesn’t count. lol. Having fun with at least 2 of you.
Comment by A guy... Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 12:03 pm
so…
As our gracious host has pointed out eloquently and repeatedly, “Blago’s hacks” almost universally have sponsors in the General Assembly (and other places) who survived Blago. The few Quinn has removed caused all sorts of problems.
=#1 - The 1980s were pre-Rutan=
Yes, but they weren’t pre-Veterans’ Preference. This IL Supreme Court decision
http://www.state.il.us/court/Opinions/SupremeCourt/1997/April/Opinions/HTML/80712.txt
was about a law that was in effect in the 1980s, and which the Illinois Republican Party routinely disregarded. While there was no Rutan, to engage in patronage Illinois law was violated and the rights of military veterans were trampled upon. Had the law been complied with, patronage would have been severely curtailed, if not impossible.
Comment by Anyone Remember Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 12:27 pm
Are there ANY policy positions they would like to put forward? A boy called wolf…
Comment by nothin's easy... Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 12:35 pm
- Anyone Remember - Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 12:27 pm:
Yes, Rutan wasn’t in place yet but there was still a distinction. I’m not defending patronage, but not all jobs were / are Civil Service code positions and the statute / ruling for Veterans preference only applies to coded positions.
Comment by RNUG Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 12:42 pm
RNUG -
As a result of Jim Edgar’s implementation of Rutan, we ended up with 3,000 Rutan exempt positions (for a workforce of 60,000, or 1 in 3 employees). Prior to that, there were much fewer exempt employees and a legion of 4 year “Term Appointments” who could not be renewed for any legal reason. And those were Personnel Code positions. Which would seem to fly in the face of Veteran’s Preference.
Comment by Anyone Remember Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 12:48 pm
That should be 1 in 20.
Comment by Anyone Remember Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 12:49 pm
At one time I held a 4 yr TA.
Comment by RNUG Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 12:55 pm
It is about time someone on the GOP side said something like this. Quinn set himself up for it and has had a full term to fumigate the stench his old running mate left behind.
No one would have faulted Quinn on his party’s side if he use Blagojevich as a bad example in government in order to dump Blago cronies and expunge lackeys and miscreants. Quinn didn’t do anything.
He has earned this line of attack and anyone should have seen it coming two years ago.
Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 12:58 pm
I have to go along with “so”. PQ’s ability to call himself the great reformer who does the right things falls a bit flat for me. I have had issues with the I.D.O.L. that go back to the Blago days and are still unresolved. A very recent Appellate Court ruling showed my concerns to be justified. Letters to both the Governors office and the Director of I.D.O.L. asking for corrective action have gone unanswered. I have serious reservations about Governor Quinn and those in his administration.
Comment by Bemused Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 1:27 pm
VanillaMan
The GOP (at least here in Sangamon County) won’t do that, as they STILL believe in patronage, and will do whatever they can right up to and just short of indictment.
Comment by Anyone Remember Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 3:19 pm
I see the IL unemployment rate dropped(supposedly) to 6.8%. That comes as no surprise and it will continue to drop each month until the election(even if it really goes up) Think October 2012!
Comment by Wally Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 3:41 pm
So every GOPer was linked to Ryan for a while. Why not? turnabout is fair play and accurate in many instances.
Comment by Wumpus Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 4:07 pm
I think it is absurd when the dems blame Bush, who was president 5 1/2 years ago. How absurd is it to reference George Ryan, a guy who was guv 11 1/2 years ago????
Comment by Wally Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 4:14 pm
Poor SMurphy. Blago impeachment got him on CNN and he’s been searching for that spotlight ever since. #one-hit wonder
Comment by Michelle Flaherty Thursday, Aug 14, 14 @ 8:33 pm