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* 2:09 pm - I wonder how much these “video messages” are gonna cost. From a Blagojevich press release…
– Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today urged lawmakers to approve a long-term CTA, Metra and Pace funding plan this week when they return to Springfield for regular session in order to avoid drastic layoffs, service cuts and fare increases planned for January 20.
The Governor also called on transit riders to voice their concerns about a possible doomsday scenario to legislators in Springfield. Transit riders can stop outside the Clark and Lake ‘el’ station on the ground floor of the James R. Thompson Center today and tomorrow to fill out cards to lawmakers or record brief video messages expressing their concerns. Riders can also send their messages to lawmakers via the state website at www.illinois.gov.
If you go to the state site, you’ll see this message…
Join the Governor’s fight to protect mass transit service. Send a message to your legislators today about how a transit doomsday could impact you and why a solution needs to be passed now.
* 3:07 pm -Listen to the governor’s remarks below…
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 2:14 pm
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Wow, he really is reaching if he thinks he can get ahead on this issue and generate sympathetic press. I hope everybody’s message will be-sign the bill when the legislature passes it.
Comment by Garp Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 2:21 pm
Just when you thought the Gov’s communications handlers couldn’t get any better…they blow you away with another great idea!
Comment by Billy Bob Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 2:24 pm
Perhaps they can also use this opportunity to send a message to the guv! He is The Problem, not the lowly legislators. That could be “effective”. This forum does allow guv to stay home and not be available to the press or process servers.
Comment by A Citizen Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 2:25 pm
“sign the bill when the legislature passes it.”
Uh… wouldn’t that require the legislature actually passing something?
Comment by GoBearsss Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 2:30 pm
Hamos’ bill passed the House with enough votes for regular session (vs overtime). What would happen if it passed again, say between Jan 9 and Jan 21? Would the Jones let the Senate vote on it? Would the Blagojevich sign it? Her bill could conceivably be separate from a capital bill, since it only affects northeastern Illinois. Why not?
Comment by Sir Reel Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 2:37 pm
It seems that the legislators just don’t care that much.
Comment by Bill Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 2:41 pm
I would think the House should be able to pass the Hamos bill now that a super majority is no longer required. That should force the Senate to pass the bill and then it would be sent to the Gov. Right?
Comment by Garp Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 2:41 pm
I guess if Leadership doesn’t work….
Wouldn’t it be a great idea for the legislature and Governor and Mayor of Chicago to work this out? We’re already paying them to take care of stuff like this. A leader would have resolved it already…. reminds me of Jimmy Carter making a mess of the economy and then blaming us for spending too much, for not growing the economy enough and for the national malaise…. but I forgot, it is so much easier to blame others than it is to fix what we’re responsible for.
Comment by North of I-80 Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 2:42 pm
I wonder why I can’t use the front page of the state web site to send a message to the Governor?
Maybe people will use this to send messages of support to their representatives.
Comment by Pot calling kettle Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 2:47 pm
Or they’ll send messages like I did - telling ‘Public Official A’ to fix it himself. After all, he’s the Chosen One.
Comment by The 'Broken Heart' of Rogers Park Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 2:52 pm
That is just downright funny.
You expect a front page like that on a grassroots advocacy group’s site or even maybe one of the unions, but not the Governor. Maybe if he ever bothered to talk to any of the legislators or show up he could tell them about his “plan” himself instead of asking others to do it!
You think I’m crazy enough use my real email address on the Governor’s website? Ha!
He’s so hapless that he is asking people to go to his website to contact their legislators to “join the governor’s fight to save mass transit” yet he hasn’t proposed a single thing that would actually save mass transit. All he’s done is complain and blame.
Comment by Napoleon has left the building Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 3:02 pm
What a maroon.
Comment by Joe Schmoe Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 3:08 pm
I’m sure behind the scenes, he and the budgeteers are looking for another short-term solution.
If there is no agreement, some money will appear in order to prevent a shutdown on January 20. It’s only January 6, after all. That’s practically a lifetime to pols and government bureaucrats, who tend to live in the absolute current minute.
Comment by Cassandra Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 3:08 pm
Same ole, same ole guv…”click”…Same ole, same ole guv…”click”…Same ole, same ole guv…”click”! Stuck in a rut. Needs new … oh never mind.
Comment by A Citizen Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 3:09 pm
If he would only govern as well as he plays games. Talk about misappropriating energy.
Comment by True Comparison Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 3:15 pm
The Gov talks about a card at the top of his site and then directs those who wish to send a electronic message to go to the bottom of the page. Unless I missed something, it is Monday through, I didn’t see the E-Card on his web page.
Oh well, it’s the thought that counts!
Comment by South of I-80 Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 3:16 pm
South of I-80 -
It is right there below the top message.
See that thing with a form and submit button?
Comment by GoBearsss Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 3:18 pm
GoBearsss, like I said, it’s Monday!
Thanks
Comment by South of I-80 Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 3:21 pm
Bill is correct.
It seems that everyone is giving up on getting anything done. The impasse has been going on too long and it appears to be suffocating everything into paralysis.
Our government has a mechanism that empowers one person to jump start it in times like these.
Unfortunately, the one person empowered governmentally to do that is Rod Blagojevich, and he has abused the jump starter to a point where there is no longer any “jump”.
Last week he called a presser to address our mass transit meltdown, but reporters weren’t interested in listening to him - they wanted to put him on record instead regarding his political meltdown.
So, it seems that since no one is listening to the guy in our governor’s office, the guy in the governor’s office has been forced to turn to the comfort of strangers to salvage his political future.
Pathetic. At what point do we start crossing the street to avoid him as he jogs through our neighborhood, (instead of working)?
Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 3:23 pm
He really is a man of the people, isn’t he?!? Please hurry, Patrick Fitzgerald!
Comment by GA Watcher Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 3:23 pm
Hey I bet it would be interesting to file an FOIA request to see all of the suggestions/messages they get.
Comment by OneManBlog Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 3:24 pm
Instead of coming up with a compromise plan that could actually have a chance of ending this funding crisis, they have come up with a plan to further alienate legislatures by tring to embarrass them. What a waste of time and money.
Comment by Garp Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 3:27 pm
Picture a room in the basement of the “Capitol Building” in Chicago, where a bunch of 20-somethings are hunched over computers sorting the messages and forwarding the ones they like.
I would guess they use the delete key more than the send.
Comment by Pot calling kettle Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 3:31 pm
the e-card is listed below the card at the top….it says card below…not at the bottom
Comment by budget watcher Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 3:33 pm
Join the Governor’s fight to protect mass transit service. Join the governor’s fight to empower legislators and voters alike with his sound tactics and expedient measures. Join the governor’s fight to never raid funds from other sources and programs, and to always tell the truth. Doublethink: Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor.
Comment by Sacks Romana Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 3:46 pm
“Pot calling Kettle”… no, the basement just has cars and the heating system in it. The messages will all go to Rebecca’s desk on 16 now that Cardenas is out. It won’t matter what you send, every message is going to be 100 pro-Rod, just by coincidence, you understand.
Comment by Impeach Ray Lytle Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 3:47 pm
Love that FOIA idea, OneManBlog! Anybody game?
Comment by It's Broken Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 3:47 pm
So the downstate legislators should just give up their only leverage to get state $$ spent on downstate projects?
i.e. “If we bail out the CTA now, how can I be assured I’ll get money later to fix a bridge in my district that needs to be repaired?”
Transit seems to be the weapon of the righteous that is now used in lieu of “health care” nowadays (since we can’t use “health care” anymore, because its champion now seems to be Gov. Hobgoblin).
Comment by Leroy Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 3:51 pm
At least this form of remote press release means the Gov wont be asked questions about his invovlement in corruption.
If people would stop looking as his corrupt waste of tax dollars we could get donw to the buisness of finding money to pay for things. And the gov ain’t afraid to waste tax dollars doing it.
BTW this is a poor attempt to steal madigans hearings on budget cuts idea.
Comment by Ghost Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 3:56 pm
I think that last part “Join the Governor’s fight….” should instead be “Let the governor pretend he is joining your fight” Just a suggestion.
Comment by JakeCP Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 4:09 pm
Really though, why should the legislators get their panties in a wad because Elvis can take care of this by himself just like he has two other times. He managed to come up with money from the end of the rainbow to bail out Chicago mass transit so let him do it again. I say call his bluff. You just can’t believe that the RTA is in a meltdown situation until it really happens. And it’s all Blago’s own fault. If he had let it happen the first time, we wouldn’t be discussing this. The GA and Blago would have actually had to work together for a very very quick solution. As it stands right now, Bill (oh gawd do I had to admit this) you’re half correct. The legislators don’t care and neither does Elvis.
BTW Rich, any report on the winner of “Governor for a Day”?
Comment by Little Egypt Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 4:13 pm
It sounds like he’s still campaigning for office rather than trying to actually govern. You won the election (God that’s still painful to admit)Rod! Get it? Got it? Goose yourself. If he was truly, truly interested in having this resolved today, he would called the legislature into special session, with a specific bill to debate and vote - up or down, and then, if it loses, then you bash the legislature.
It’s as if he thinks he’s on a congressional recess, going back to Chicago, have a few press conferences, issue a few news releases, and then he can get back on a plane and bash people from afar instead of governing.
No Governor ever gets 100% approval for style, but certainly most of them have done far better on substance. He could certainly never be indicted for substance abuse…
Comment by DC Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 4:15 pm
What kept screaming out to me while I listened to the clip was ’send me a bill so I can improve it’. No matter he said so I can sign or improve, I was hearing ‘improve, improve’. We know how Rod takes his time to review and ‘improve’ bills. And was the constant ‘improve’ the bill because he already has his own ideas. Why isn’t he telling us what he would want improved from either the Hamos or the Cross plans, if he’s already disagreed with one and seems to approve the other, he’s already reviewed them.
I kept waiting for the kick we usually get at Madigan, but I guess Jones and the Senate spared us that line with last week’s special session display of no show.
I think the video/message bit is a little more than for media play. The GA know how important the transit is, they know how it will effect citizens, the problem isn’t that it has to be done, it’s is that it has to be agreed on with funding.
Comment by Princeville Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 4:17 pm
Sweet.
Me, tomorrow: “Mr. Governor, as a citizen of Chicago who makes frequent use of the CTA, I would appreciate it if you would cease blocking SB 572.”
Comment by jerry 101 Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 4:25 pm
Just call it an emergency, have JCAR refuse his changes. Sidestep the GA and JCAR and spend all the money he wants to. He hasn’t needed anyones approval so far. Why start now?
Comment by Southern Right Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 4:27 pm
Public Official A doesn’t need the legislature, JCAR, or the citizens to do what he wants. He’s already proven that. Find the money POA and keep the Metra going, plain and simple. Oh, and will you please stop whining and just do your job, as you perceive it to be, for the next three years so this State can hope for a better tomorrow after POA.
Comment by Just My Opinion Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 4:37 pm
So what happens if the legislature sends him a bill? How long will he take to ‘carefully’ review it before an amendatory veto just to prove that he actually did something?
Comment by Sick Of It! Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 5:15 pm
Does Bill really live in Illinois…or is he just one of the lackeys that works for Blago. Hey Blago, get Hoffman to introduce a bill that fixes the problem. Ahhhh government run by by idiots.
Comment by downhereforyears Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 6:36 pm
I don’t know, he sounds awful cheerful and full of himself on Clout Street with his “stay tuned, stay tuned”. A man with a trick of his sleeve?
Comment by Princeville Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 6:37 pm
Stay tuned. And subscribe.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 6:40 pm
By the way word has it that if the house passes the Hamos bill, Lackey Jones will not call it because the Gov has found enough funding to stall off doomsday for another 30 days. This should make Daley really happy. No wonder he spent the day with Bush today…
Comment by downhereforyears Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 6:41 pm
After reading Dan Hynes’ latest report that the state has $1.7 billion (with a “b”) in unpaid bills (nearly $400 million more than this time last year), I can sense the legislature is not going to be in a mood to write a blank check for public transit. That figure could easily swell to $2 billion by the time the state budget is ready to be voted upon by the G.A.
This is no accident. I think the Governor’s top applicant for the press secretary position should have to write a sample news release on what the Governor plans to do to address the budget crisis, not just a crisis for people riding the “L” and CTA buses.
The real question is whether the Governor will even acknowledge the Comptroller’s Report or whether he will have Rebecca Rausch try to spin it as some kind of republican activist document to deflect the need for socialized healthcare. I wonder if a $1.7 billion budget deficit is tangential??
Comment by DC Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 8:24 pm
What kind of a “leader” says, “I have a solution, but I’m not going to share it with anyone.” If you have a plan for staving off this disaster for the people of northern Illinois then show some of that testicular verility and take ownership of that plan. Most of us give up these types of games somewhere in grade school. It’s time to finally man-up governor and be the kind of leader the people of Illinois so desparately need.
Comment by S. Illinois Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 9:25 pm
It’s a secret because he doesn’t want Madigan to steal it. Like he did with Rod’s plan to stop the war in Cambodia or something… Oh wait, I’m getting Rod mixed up with Nixon. How could THAT happen?
Comment by Impeach Ray Lytle Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 9:36 pm
So much idle chatter, so few solutions. Is CTA just asking for operating funds or do they also want some boondoggle capital funding to reward to some special interest? We don’t need new CTA lines to solve traffic congestion because fast internet telecommuting would be a much cheaper, safer, cleaner, and healthier solution than more CTA lines or more highway lanes. More importantly, telecommuting would also help us kick our addiction to imported oil that’s draining our economy, making our dollar weak, and overstretching our national security. Invest more in the future (fiber optic and teleconferencing in every home, video conferencing in every public library and city hall) than the obsolete past (trains, roads, and oil).
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jan 7, 08 @ 11:30 pm
Hope Capt Fax does FOI the emails, but tell the SpinSisters to block anything from WT Rush and Reddbyrd and tell JayMagoo to call Granberg and order him to send in 1,000 responses if he expects to get ever get that job…..same for Ronan.
Comment by DumberThanYouThink Tuesday, Jan 8, 08 @ 9:33 am