36 Comments - Sporty41 - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 7:33 am: June 1 will matter . . . not until then. - kdruben - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 7:36 am: They used to finish session at the end of May… if it goes late into the Summer, people will start to notice. Most people never even know whether or not the legislature is in session unless they hear about their taxes being raised or legislators voting themselves a pay raise at 2:00 a.m. - 105th Blues - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 7:49 am: Nobody cares or pays attention to when the legislature adjourns. As a former “non caring” citizen, I can tell you that most people (at least I) am more concerned about grocery shopping, and who’s picking up the kid from daycare than whether the state legislature is adjourining on time and if that effects my opinion of the Governor. - Shelbyville - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 8:00 am: We really don’t care. No one knows when they are in session, if you live outside of Spfld. Most people think they should work year round and are surprised to learn how little they are really in session. Now, if it could affect our gas prices …… - The original Bill - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 8:00 am: As long as Rod deosn’t cave on the read my lips pledge he is good for Nov.Only people who live in Springfield care about when they adjourn. Rod deosn’t live there. Nweither do most voters. - Reddbyrd - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 8:01 am: The best answer is that since the previous three months of legislative session had no bearing or impact on his cmapaign why would the extra days? The better QOTD is can AccordianGal and Brickhead the Executioner use the situation to their advantage? The Answer? Highly unlikely that VandaliaFrank and TomCross&TheEmptySuits.com will want to share the nanosecond of time they might get in the spotlight Too bad for bad AccordianGal. But. as usual, it is another homerun for GRod. - Reddbyrd - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 8:21 am: Sorry I did not see this George Will column. Clearly he has developed a huge substance abuse problem. Bet Karl Rove will love to see the comments about him splashed around the nation George F. Will: A wrinkle in Rove’s Illinois dream By George F. Will Published 2:15 am PDT Thursday, April 6, 2006 CHICAGO - Illinois’ northernmost bit is north of Cape Cod and its southern tip is south of Richmond, Va. Scattered the length of the state, from the Wisconsin to the Kentucky border, are fragments of wreckage from the state party that produced the first Republican president - who was born in Kentucky and nominated by a Republican Party born in Wisconsin, at Ripon. In the last four presidential elections, Republican candidates have averaged just 40 percent of the Illinois vote. In 2004, the Republican Senate candidate, a raging resident of Maryland, won just 27 percent of the vote. Judy Topinka, 62, the effervescent three-term state treasurer and Republican gubernatorial nominee against Gov. Rod Blagojevich, thinks she can put Humpty Dumpty together again. Republicans everywhere should hope a new poll is accurate in showing her three percentage points ahead among registered voters. In California, Republican presidential candidates have not been competitive for three elections. Since 1994, when California Republicans backed an anti-immigrant measure offensive to the Latino population that now is more than one-third of the state’s population, Republicans have won an average of just 41 percent of the presidential vote. In New York, where Republican presidential candidates in the last four elections have averaged just 35 percent, the likely Republican Senate candidate against Hillary Clinton this year has zero political experience and less than zero credibility, having inflated her résumé. And if the state party chairman gets his way, the gubernatorial candidate will be a former Yonkers mayor, who as a married man had two children with his unmarried chief of staff, which he says was “ironically” fine because “I didn’t have to make an appointment with my chief of staff to go over everything.” (He has now married her.) From Illinois, California and New York, Democratic presidential nominees currently receive, without exertion, 107 electoral votes - 40 percent of the 270 needed to win the presidency. Can Topinka begin the process of making Republicans competitive for Illinois’ 21 votes? If former Gov. Jim Edgar had sought and won the Republican gubernatorial nomination, he might have been elected: Polls showed him trouncing Blagojevich. In the last 42 years, four Illinois governors - two from each party - have been indicted and the trial of one of them, the most recent Republican, George Ryan, on 22 counts of fraud and corruption, has provided an unwelcome - by Topinka - background libretto for what already was a daunting year for Republicans almost everywhere. Edgar, a moderate, was leery of a low-turnout primary dominated by social conservative voters. He endorsed Topinka, who is pro-choice (but favors parental notification and opposes public funding of abortions and late-term abortions). She was nominated with just 38 percent of the vote, but thinks Republican factions will be fused by the heat of their dislike of Blagojevich, who, she says merrily, might be the fifth governor indicted since 1964. He is, she says, the person referred to as “Public Official A” in one or more of five ongoing investigations by Illinois’ Inspector Javert - Patrick Fitzgerald, the Chicago-based federal prosecutor who also is the pursuer of Scooter Libby. Topinka merrily says “there is no loyalty in (Blagojevich’s) administration whatsoever.” His “own staff rats him out” and “some of his staff have been wired.” Topinka speaks about her opponent with a Chicago vigor: He is “slick” and “has little weasel eyes.” He also has big liberal spending plans for the state (e.g., universal preschool) and for the private sector (a $7.50 minimum wage, $2.35 above the federal minimum). Although Blagojevich, 49, in his clear-sighted youth voted twice for Ronald Reagan, he has become a standard-issue contemporary Democrat whose base is the public employees unions. His creative accounting includes counting as current revenues some savings he forecasts in future pensions. Topinka’s task is to tap into, or perhaps foment, voter anxiety about the suffocation of the state’s economy by the state’s government. She says Illinois ranks 45th among the states in job creation. Actually since February 2005 it is 38th, which is bad enough. She charges that 15 trucking companies — “They have assets on wheels” — have fled the state to escape new fees. Topinka says Karl Rove urged her to run, hoping to offset in Illinois a probable gubernatorial loss in New York. Would she like President Bush to campaign for her? An aide says, not exactly: “We just want him to raise money.” Topinka does not demur as the aide adds: “Late at night.” Pause. “In an undisclosed location.” Maybe Illinois Republicans have found their John McCain. Now they will find out whether such “straight talk” works. - Macbeth - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 8:25 am: The only people who are *remotely* concerned about overtime are the state employees, and I’m sure no state employee worth his or her salt will vote for Blagojevich, so it’s a moot point. And because most people despise state workers, the fact that state workers are worried is only proof that state workers are only worried about their paychecks. Which, as we all know, is all state workers worry about: their paychecks and their holidays. Because, you know, all state workers are part of the problem. The governor is fighting for the people — not the state workers — ergo, overtime is proof that “people” are getting what they need. So, no, it makes no matter whatsoever. Who cares? And who cares what state workers think? They’re mostly the problem with the state in the first place. (Hint: there’s some sarcasm here.) - Goodbye Napoleon - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 8:47 am: Overtime doesn’t matter. The budget doesn’t even matter. “What happens in Springfield doesn’t matter” - DOWNSTATE - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 8:48 am: Macbeth sorry you did not get the state job you always dreamed of but your short comings are not other state employees fault.Study real hard and take the test again.Reddbyrd are you so low on self esteem that any conversion all you can do is call people names and try to drag them down. - the original Bill - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 9:04 am: Downstate, I think McBeth was trying to be funny but he actually hit on the real truth of the matter. Ask Cassandra. Goodbye Napoleon is also correct. It doesn’t matter. This nonsense, usually doesn’t make the Chi papers at all. If it does the GA is relegated to page 55. Redbyrd, my friend, keep up the good work! - Reddbyrd - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 9:05 am: Downstate\ The names are just a way to bring some joy into your otherwise deary life And you must admit the names all fit! - cermak_rd - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 9:07 am: I just don’t see how it matters to me. Heck if the legislature wants to work through all year round that’s fine with me. Unless they do something while in session that directly affects me in Chicago, I could care less about anything that happens in Springfield. - DOWNSTATE - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 9:10 am: I will drop it after this but my like is not dreary because I was taught right from wrong as a child and name calling and disrespect is in he wrong column.Half of the names no one knows who or what you are talking about. - anon - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 9:10 am: It’s good to know that our legislature is working hard for us. This must be the blog for whining.. We don’t feel sorry for you. It’s clear eveyone has made up their minds here. Why waste your time beating dead horses… nobody is changing their opinions based on information presented here… - WTF - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 9:29 am: “Blagojevich’s base is the public employee unions”–according to George Will. George Will should have been at the AFSCME endoresement conference when Blagojevich was discussed by over 600 local AFSCME leaders when they voted unanimously not to endorse him. Ol’ George doesn’t know what he’s talking about. - Anonymous - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 9:41 am: The original Bill - Monday, Apr 3 @ 9:01 am: “My proposal: Raise income tax to 4%. (5% with a prop tax swap). Extend the sales tax to services. ” The original Bill - Wednesday, Apr 5 @ 8:06 am: “The no tax pledge is Rod’s strongest asset.” Original Bill has developed schizophrenia. Reddbyrd is the new standard bearer. Accordian Gal, bring it on! - Veritas - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 9:44 am: Inside baseball. The average voter has no idea when session is supposed to end, or what effect session running beyond that point has on their lives. Not an issue. - SenorAnon - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 10:30 am: Flip-flp…flip-flop. Downstate issued a little finger-wagging at Redbird, patting him/herself on the back for being “taught right from wrong as a child and name calling and disrespect is in he wrong column.” Apparently not. After Rich’s earlier post referring to George Will’s column, in which Topinka said Blagojevich “had little weasel eyes,” Finger-wagging flip-flopper Downstate had this to say in caps lock without punctuation: OUCH HIT HIM AGAIN JBT AND TO THINK THIS IS JUST THE START OF HER CAMPAIGN. Tsk tsk tsk. - DOWNSTATE - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 11:29 am: SENORANON why don’t you go back and read my reply instead of jumping from place to place.But I will say it here my reference was to him being investigated has OFFICAL A not her talking about his facial features.She should not have made that comment so you like your buddy is off base. - the Patriot - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 11:55 am: If the session is a day or two or even week over session no big deal. The problem is the looming question on whether the Speaker is going to decide to save is party and put Blago’s feet to the fire. He has to know the party is in trouble if Blago gets a free pass and gets indicted. That will leave a whole legislature full of democrats looking like idiots for giving the gov all he wants. If they press him for another month or two, regardless of the outcome, they can say we didn’t go along peacefully when it goes south. Is the gov actually in Springfield and staying or is he flying back and forth each night. That could get costly if the session drags out a significant period of time. - RB's an idiot - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 12:08 pm: Redbyrd, thanks for wasting time and space by posting a story Rich already has on the home page of cap fax blog…you’re a genius! - SenorAnon - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 12:25 pm: Downstate, Congrats on finding that caps lock key. - The Hankster - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 12:31 pm: It depends what is passed and who is made to look like the winners. How could anyone possible know or even pretend to know right now? Very odd question. - Veritas - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 12:49 pm: Rich, Any chance you can force people to tie an e-mail address to their nickname and then log-on accordingly? The teenagers in here are getting out of hand. - B Hicks - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 1:03 pm: Downstate: aren’t you the one that posted that ridiculous rumor about the Governor a couple of months ago? You have a lot of Nerve preaching to others. - lightning Rod - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 2:59 pm: The House will be in tomorrow and go home for the weekend. They’re back on Monday at 4. They’re scheduled in through Wednesday and were told to pencil in the 17th. Anyone know what the Senate schedule is? - ISU REP - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 4:08 pm: No one cares now until after the budget comes out and there’s more “fee increases” which of course isn’t raising taxes….The only way Rod get’s hurt is if they scrap his new programs we can’t afford, but being an election year I’m guessing that’s unlikely. I look forward to the creative book keeping that occurs, maybe Rod should call Ken Lay and get some advice… - Reddbyrd - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 4:12 pm: Yikes! People are a little testy today. Typing lessons, child hood lessons learned This has been a very informative — not. I tossed the AccordianGal column to make sure eveyone saw it. I think a lot of people really like the names so they will continue. I was taught people earn respect. Have a day - Ms. Manners - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 4:22 pm: The nicknames (all of them that are pejorative) are not cute or entertaining - simply just excessively partisan on a personal, rather nasty level. If they really are cute - they aren’t insulting. - the Other Anonymous - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 4:40 pm: I actually think the overtime session does matter, but not directly. I agree with the masses above that the average voter has not idea, nor does she care, about legislative overtime. But I have noticed that the longer the legislature stays in session, the lower the Governor’s poll numbers. A short delay doesn’t matter, but the Governor will become unraveled and start at least one press feeding frenzy if this starts dragging on. I would bet on it. - Zatoichi - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 8:02 pm: Tomorrow or two months, who cares? Get the job done and do it well. It is amazing that when you work with the state agencies they demand stuff on time with all requirments met, but they only have to get things done when the mood strikes. Same old, same old. - Papa Legba - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 8:39 pm: Overtime will matter only IF GRod’s splashy PR release AllEverything programs go poof and are not implemented due to no funding. When that type of news hits the papers people will notice. - notquitehip - Thursday, Apr 6, 06 @ 10:06 pm: The shortened spring session accomplished its intended purpose of hindering Bill Brady’s effective campaigning, the idea being to keep him closer to Springfield with more legislative days per week before the primary. Last fall the democrats pegged Brady as the most formidable of the Republican opponents of Blagojevich in the general election and wanted to neutralize him as much as possible. It worked very well, and a lot of Republicans played right into the democrats hands by thinking that because Brady couldn’t get to their county as much as they would have liked, he wasn’t interested in them. - AJ - Friday, Apr 7, 06 @ 5:47 am: A longer session will not hurt the Govenor unless there is an extended session and over time pay hits the media. State workers make the State work. - Minion - Friday, Apr 7, 06 @ 11:40 am: Blago has been so ineffective and just plain dumb that I don’t think a overtime session will hurt him anymore than he has already hurt himself with his childish behavior and dumb antics. May 31 is the key date for House and Senate Dems, however. Incumbants in both chambers could be hurt severely if it goes much past that. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.