A $270,000 “gift”
Tuesday, Dec 6, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller
Chuck Goudie’s latest column has some surprising numbers.
The governor’s expensive tastes must explain why Illinois’ tollway bosses are giving him such an expensive gift this year. It cost $271,000.
It’s actually 20 versions of the same gift totaling $271,000.
They let him unwrap the first present before Thanksgiving. Maybe you’ve seen it. It is hanging like a giant ornament at the new Irving Park Toll Plaza on I-294 near O’Hare International Airport.
“Open Road Tolling — Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor.â€
That’s what the big sign says over the first automated express lanes to open on the Illinois tollway. […]
In return for the governor’s most generous “urging,†the tollway bosses (whom he appointed) gave him 20 signs with his name on them.
“The average price of the signs made so far is about $13,550,†Damico said.
That means if you use I-Pass twice a day, seven days a week, it would take you about 46 years to pay for just one of Rod’s signs.
Read the whole thing. Pretty hilarious. My favorite line: “Even a new set of tortoise shell hairbrushes couldn’t compete with that kind of loot.”
Ouch.
- Joemama - Tuesday, Dec 6, 05 @ 1:17 pm:
Wasn’t there a law forbiding this kind of self-promoting propaganda for statewide office holders?
- Your Neighbor - Tuesday, Dec 6, 05 @ 1:26 pm:
Goudie clearly has it in for the governor. He is a bottom feeder who hasnt done a worthwhile bit of journalism in his life. He is a talentless hack.
- jimbo - Tuesday, Dec 6, 05 @ 1:45 pm:
Seeing that sign and name everyday reminds you of all the broken tollway promises and why we need new leadership
- Punley Deter Finn - Tuesday, Dec 6, 05 @ 1:57 pm:
Is it Open Road Tolling or Trolling Openly on the Road to Re-election?
- nobody - Tuesday, Dec 6, 05 @ 2:05 pm:
This is not illegal and a non-story. Sounds like someone fishing and strikes me as pathetic. Get me something newsworthy and maybe I will take you seriously.
Does this mean that Topinka should take her name off all the plastic piggy banks that she hands out to all the school children in the state? Does Jesse White have to take his name off of all the nifty handouts his office puts out? Do we go as far to ask him to remove his name from all drivers licenses?
Give me a break. Blagojevich made this happen. I think he deserves a little credit for a change.
- Bluefish - Tuesday, Dec 6, 05 @ 2:13 pm:
Someone should ask JBT if she plans to spend 270 large to put her name up their if she wins.
I have always considered Illinois an odd state in that stuff like tollway signs and the department of motor vehicles (oops, I mean the Jesse White Secretary of State offices) have a politian’s name on it. I cannot recall any other states that do this.
- Anon - Tuesday, Dec 6, 05 @ 3:10 pm:
Maybe IDOT made those tollway signs big enough for Rod to see from the air as he flys back and forth between Chicago and Springfield.
- right of right - Tuesday, Dec 6, 05 @ 3:10 pm:
I hate paying to drive on the road, but I understand that money is needed to come from somewhere to pay for maintenance. Therefore, I like that Blago made this open road tolling happen. I don’t like stopping at the booths and I hate the lines. This is a good thing.
As for his name being on it, I’m with the others: no elected officials should be allowed to put their names on anything. This Goudie should go after the rest of them.
- Beowulf - Tuesday, Dec 6, 05 @ 3:23 pm:
Did they leave enough room between the comma and before the word “Governor” to fit in the word “former” after the General election in November?
- Anon - Tuesday, Dec 6, 05 @ 4:33 pm:
The GOPs shopped that story everywhere before they got Goudie to fall for it. Should be a fun year
- Anonymous Traveler - Tuesday, Dec 6, 05 @ 4:34 pm:
I just got home from driving on the Tri-State and saw a few of those signs. Wow, his name is LARGE, and on some signs it is in a different color, yellow, from the other wording. One question. Why isn’t Rod’s name on the construction signs apologizing for the delays, mess, etc,?
Hey Your Neighbor! In your opinion, was Goudie a bottom feeder when he was exposing GRyan?
- your neighbor - Tuesday, Dec 6, 05 @ 4:54 pm:
Goudie has never exposed anything. He takes garbagethat nobody else sees as newsworthy and sensationalizes it. By the way, I hardly think that Goudie exposed GRyan.
- DefensorPacis - Tuesday, Dec 6, 05 @ 5:13 pm:
Bluefish: Having spent more of my life on I-95 than I care to admit, I can say with confidence that Illinois is not the only state that puts politicians’ names on things (South Carolina, for example, goes as far as naming individual interchanges, bridges, etc., after past and present politicians).
And if the open tollway speeds up the commute and gives commuters a few more minutes per day of time with their family, that seems like an investment that is well worth it (need I elaborate on this point?).
- poidog - Tuesday, Dec 6, 05 @ 5:55 pm:
HEY DEFENSORPACIS, WHERE THE H— IS I-95 IN IL?
- Fighting Ennui - Tuesday, Dec 6, 05 @ 7:45 pm:
So Milorad is Rod’s True Name… what does the R. stand for, besides rapscallion? Nobody in state government puts their name on state stuff bigger or more often than Milorad. And his picture has to be super-large on everything. If you go to the state’s main web sites, you could go into a come playing the Milorad version of “hi Bob” with the governor’s name. And so much of it is so empty of meaning. Like the sudden but tiotally irrelevant press release about Alito; what’s next, a hard-hitting release about how Milorad thinks the sun should shine longer in the sky each day, because the hard-working people of our state deserve it and it’s the right thing to do… and it’s the federal government’s fault if they don’t re-structure dayloght savings time to give it to us.
OK, I’m being juvenile, making fun of the kid with the funny name in school. Milorad, Milorad, Milorad…. Why not Milo? Milo’s a friendly sounding name, fits all the buildings and letterheads and press releases just fine? Now Goudie needs to do a series on what the R stands for. I’m going thru the thesaurus right now…
- cynically anonymous - Tuesday, Dec 6, 05 @ 10:16 pm:
The thing that’s annoying about this is that those of us who only use the tollroads occasionally were faced with the choice of paying double on those rare occasions - or forking over $50 for the IPass transponder. Since I didn’t like the idea of giving this governor any more money than absolutely necessary, I (and many others I know) forked over the $50 - and anyone who didn’t has been contributing twice as much to the toll authority…so since our money is paying for the open tolling, shouldn’t we all get credit? Don’t get me wrong - I’m all in favor of the concept and think it’s great that Rod pushed to get it done quickly rather than over the original ten years planned. I just think we’d all have more respect for the man if it didn’t seem that every move he makes is for good PR and self-aggrandizement.
- Anon - Tuesday, Dec 6, 05 @ 11:42 pm:
It cost $270,000. What is Illinois return on that $270,000? Its zero. Who the *&%$ cares who wrote it.
- Rod R Blagojevich - Thursday, Dec 8, 05 @ 12:21 pm:
I don’t obey the laws of the land so why should any of my underlings?
I know this is a violation of the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, 5 ILCS 430,but I am the Governor.
The same laws that apply to you don’t apply to me.
Thank you Chuck Goudie for “having nothing else to do but write about me. After all that’s what the reporters in this state do..write about me cause they aint got nothing else to do.
G-Rod
- The WORST INVESTIGATIVE REPOTER IN CHICAGO - Saturday, Jun 10, 06 @ 6:29 am:
Why do we continue to let Chuck Goudie hurt innocent people? He has a long pattern of lieing and missinforming us! Just look on google and search under Chuck Goudie.