Some of you just can’t stop yourselves from venting about Gov. Rod Blagojevich, particularly with this new budget/tax proposal of his. So, I thought that rather than chastise you for your often over-the-top remarks in other posts, I’d let you go for it here.

Standard restrictions for comments will apply (see the item in red type in the comments section), but other than that have at it.

Not that you need it, but to get you in the mood here’s a very funny mash-up of a couple of the governor’s campaign ads from last fall…

And here’s a button that the business groups were distributing at the Statehouse this week…

       

32 Comments - Papa Legba - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 8:58 am: Just wondering who is writing Blago’s talking points? It seems that since Lon & Bradley left the building, Rod has said something incredibly stupid every time he shows up in public. He appears more daffy and each comment he utters is more daft than the previous one. How will he top “God says we have a right to health insurance”? By saying God actually spoke to him? - Honest Abe - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 9:04 am: On the subject of raising spending cash for the State of Illinois without raising taxes, will the last casino license authorized by the General Assembly ever be reassigned? How about auctioning the license off to the highest bidder to raise more money, provided that the Gaming Board approves the winner? Is there any business entity that Lisa Madigan would approve for the casino license? Why isn’t Blagojevich pushing for a resolution to this? If Rosemont does not qualify, how about somewhere else? Illinois has lost millions upon millions while the license is inactive. I would prefer to see this last casino to open before a tax increase. - He Makes Ryan look like a saint - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 9:22 am: Now that Fitzgerald is back from Washington, how long will it take before he turns the heat up on Mr. Tax and Spend? PAPA—Bill is writing his talking points!!! Yes Bill, I know we lost….. - fedup dem - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 9:26 am: That button from the Illinois Jobs Coalition assumes facts not in evidence! - S. Illinois - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 9:30 am: Thanks for the chuckle “Fedup.” That made my morning! - GOPer - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 9:45 am: Blago’s just doing his job as a liberal Democrat. An ever expanding role for government in society, that’s what Democrats do. The real question is are the Republicans in Springpatch up to the task of refuting Blago’s arguments. So far Watson and Cross are failing miserably. They don’t seem to be FOR anything. Where’s their plan? It’s clear they don’t have one. And worse, Cross is likely onboard with Blago more than he’s opposed. Some snarky blue buttons aren’t going to get the job done. With no GOP leadership in this state, Blago is going to keep controlling and winning the debate. - VanillaMan - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 10:36 am: I think all the screaming is from Illinoians who had hoped - just hoped - that Blagojevich wasn’t what the critics claimed he was. But Blagojevich keeps proving his critics right. This guy who sold himself as a reforming Reagan Democrat is a complete fraud. We weren’t wrong by voting him into office, but we were utter fools to re-elect him after he started showing us what a unethical politician he is. Now this. I stopped screaming back in November. Now I am just trying to figure out how to stop the bleeding with the resources at hand, and what we need to do to fix the state after he is gone. - So-Called "Austin Mayor" - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 10:57 am: As a long time critic of Gov. Blagojevich, I must admit that his proposal to insure everyone in Illinois has changes my opinion of him for the better. I now intend to fully support the governor to the degree possible, i.e. by visiting him in federal prison. – SCAM - VanillaMan - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 10:57 am: “You will be lobbied, you will be pressured, your arm will be twisted, the defenders of the status quo will invent all sorts of excuses to convince us to back down, to give up, to raise taxes on the middle class instead,” Blagojevich is trying to convince us that GRTs are NOT the status quo. Baloney! GRTs were the status quo for decades, but died out over the past 20 years because they were unfair, poorly implemented and a stealth tax against everyone. Blagojevich’s policies are so obsolete he thinks they are new. It is obvious that someone hasn’t learned much since he graduated from college decades ago. Go back to school Rod, read something, and then tell us to go back to GRTs. When you get your facts straight, you will know what most everyone knows about this failed tax idea. - Shallow Pharnyx - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 11:55 am: At least whoever put together the guv’s campaign on You Tube adheres to “truth in government”. - Just a Citizen - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 1:29 pm: Just once I would like to see the Governor propose and together with the legislature implement policies to use the money the State already gets from the taxpayers in a judicious and fiscally sound manner. Throwing money at anything is not the cure-all for everything that is wrong with education, pensions, health care, and whatever program that it is touted for. - Rich Miller - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 1:57 pm: I thought for sure that this post would attract a ton of comments. lol - Buck Naked - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 1:58 pm: Its getting to the point that this blog isnt even worth reading anymore. I used to find some insightful posts from both sides. Now I just see a bunch of people who will shoot down anything that comes out of the governors mouth. To the person who said that the governor is becoming a typical tax and spend liberal, its time to pull your head out of your a**. In his first term, he promised not to raise income and sales taxes and he didnt (although just about everybody in the world was pushing him to). He cut the workforce and streamlined government. If you criticize the governor as a tax and spend liberal, is that worse than being a undertax and overspend republican like your standard bearer, GW Bush? Get used to Blagojevich — he will be around for another term after this one ends. And enough of the PAt Fitzgerald crap — that’s going nowhere as well. Why dont you focus your energy on something constructive. - Rich Miller - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 2:07 pm: Buck, this post was specifically designed to allow the anti-guvs to vent. Take a deep breath and relax. - Pete Giangreco - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 2:12 pm: Buck struck a nerve, aye Miller? - Brian McDaniel - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 2:13 pm: The Governor touts his GRT program as an innovative idea, but I don’t know if he could have selected a poorer tax system to achieve his goals. Gross Receipt Taxes are Depression-era tax policies whose problems are well documented in the economic literature. They rank among the most economically distructive tax measures available to legislators, and fell from favor by the 1950’s as more tax-neutral ideas emerged. In the most simple terms, a company pays a tax on everything it produces, and during every step of the production process. This practice is known as a ”Tax Pyramid,” and creates a punatively high effective tax rate on complex products. Because these taxes are on Gross Receipts rather than Net Receipts, a company pays the tax regardless of whether or not the business is profitable. From a consumer’s point of view, the Governor is ignoring basic econimics. As most college Freshman learn in their Economics classes, a tax to the equillibrium quantity increases unit prices, thus reducing market demand. With lower demand, suppliers lower production; creating a new, lower equilibrium quantity. The overall result is higher consumer prices and fewer products in the market. With fewer products selling in the market, taxable revenue to the treasury decreases proportionally. This situation is not the Governor’s long-term goal. A more tax-neutral solution would be an increase in the state sales tax, or the imposition of a Value-Add Tax. However, such actions would break campaign pledges. Perhaps the Governor would be better off by looking at ways to trim his budget rather than grow it only to scramble for a way to pay for it. - Rich Miller - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 2:16 pm: LOL. No, Pete. You apparently don’t understand, either. The idea was to corral them all in one place today. - Anon - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 2:18 pm: Buck…you’re right he will be around for another term…the same that George Ryan is looking at. - Rosh - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 2:22 pm: I think the initial shock and outrage has been replaced by a sense of confidence that this budget proposal is a non-starter particularly the gross receipts tax. There is little use in continuing to denounce this Governor whom most lucid people realize is something of a clown. - steve schnorf - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 3:02 pm: I’m neither a defender of nor an apologist for the Governor. Neither do I believe that any rational person can deny that we have an almost critical pension underfunding problem. I believe the great majority of informed citizens realize that we have serious problems with the current reliance on property taxes for such a large share of local school funding, both because of property tax pressures and school funding inequities. Given those things, I must admit that, after careful analysis, I thinkthe Governor’s proposal Wednesday is the best on the table to address those problems. I would like someone to prove me wrong by directing me to a better one. - Limerick - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 4:07 pm: Only a curmudgeon could hate The compassion of Blago to date. But the price of his dreams Is beyond all our means. Best to stop him before it’s too late. - Brian McDaniel - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 4:07 pm: Steve, Why is the solution to underfunded government automatically a tax increase? People don’t get a raise from their boss because they spend more than they have. Why should government do the same? As for specific ideas, let me suggest just two: First, you can begin to address school funding when you address consolidation of school districts. For example, my community has an elementary school district for one school, and a middle school district for one school. Each district feeds a High School District that has its own K-8 schools. My neighbors and I pay taxes to three different school districts. Think of how much more financially efficient it would be to consolidate these three governments? Fewer adminstrators, fewer teachers, fewer pensions. A tax savings for the tax payer. Next, the pension program would benefit from privitazation. Many states have independent agencies to administer their pensions. Not only are these pensions solvent, they provide better benefits than state employees receive here…including health care. Government employees can give more than three percent to IMRF, too. Give them tax credits to offset the contribution, if you want. I truely don’t believe that a failed Depression-era tax policy is the best solution. The GRT will harm our flagging state economy even more by raising prices and hurting the job market. - Siyotanka - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 4:10 pm: Rich? The pension situation seems to be an issue of significancy. How about a dedicated column to discuss all ideas…or venting?? - Huh? - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 4:13 pm: For those of you who don’t think the GRT won’t get shove through the GA, just remember All Kids. Many people said it wouldn’t happen, it did to the determent of the state. Somehow public official a is going to cram this through and the state will be even worse off. Please don’t get me wrong - I am all for education and health insurance. However I am not convinced that the funding of programs that are so poorly thought out and poorly designed is the right thing to do. Again, this idea came out of no where. If these are soo important to elvis, why hasn’t he been flying around the state to hold public hearings. Why hasn’t he been in Springfield talking the idea to the GA. Why is the first time anybody hears about this program is in the mistake of the union speech. - Regressive Roddy - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 4:21 pm: Take a look at this website - it has an interesting page about gross receipt taxes (a.k.a. turnover taxes): http://www.answers.com/topic/turnover-tax It seems that this progressive thinking / new-idea tax was actually conceived by the Soviets in the 1930s and was their primary taxing systems for decades. Now I am sold! Super Rod - I think you have a winner here! After all we all know how incredibly well the Soviet economy did…it was a model for the world! Seriously…another good assessment of this ‘new’ idea can be found here: http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/2180.html Pay particular attention to the last paragraph: “The old turnover taxes–typically adopted as desperation measures in fiscal crisis–were replaced with taxes that created fewer economic problems.” ‘Desperation measures in fiscal crisis’ - sounds like the textbook definition of the Blago administration. - Disgusted - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 7:32 pm: I have lived in Springfield for 23 years. For those 23 years, I have heard governors promise to fix the funding of schools, fix healthcare and find a way that citizens can have decent pensions when they retire. It’s 2007 and we’re still talking about the same tired system. Throwing money at schools and healthcare does not solve the problem, ever, from what I can see, because we don’t look at the causes of the problems in education and healthcare, we’re only concerned with a ready stopgap. Why is healthcare so expensive - because the doctors and hospital hold people hostage to high costs without a reason. You can take your own tissues to the hospital for $1.50 and they charge you $5.00 a box on your bill. There’s the place to start, unnecessary costs and then move on to diagnostics, etc. Schools need to make parents more interactive with the school. Don’t send or mail report cards home. Stay open on a Saturday and make parents come in to get the report card and review it. If teaching is a calling, then it may mean more time beyond 3:30 to get the point across that parents and teachers have to work hard together to get our mostly spoiled and lazy children to work to improve themselves. Charge a rental fee on books and make parents pay for books that students destroy. Return the right to discipline to teachers who have a classroom full of incorrigibles. And so on. The costs can be cut but you have to work at it. I cringe at the amount of money that schools and healthcare commands, overblown by an excess of administration all the way around. - steve schnorf - Friday, Mar 9, 07 @ 8:49 pm: Brian, I said proposals on the table. Who are the groups endorsing this plan? the legislators sponsoring it? Where can I get a written analysis of it, so we can be sure that the numbers add up and work to solve the problems. That’s the point I’m trying to make. Everyone has ideas or thoughts, but at this time only the Governor has said here is a specific plan that I am asking the GA to pass, and I will sign it. If I understand Rich correctly, Emil says 750 is on hold. That leaves exactly NO other plans; no House Dem proposal, no House or Senate R proposal, no IMA proposal, no Chamber proposal, no IRMA proposal,nothing. All we hear from these quarters is objections to what the Governor has proposed, but no alternatives. I interpret this to mean that the Governor’s proposal is the best that’s out there. - Fdesales - Saturday, Mar 10, 07 @ 10:46 am: The video is very funny. Somebody has some misused talent! The tax foundation website has some interesting analysis. What worries me, as a key employee at a small business, is the effect this tax is going to have on small businesses. To the extent we can’t pass it on to customers (which would hurt us in competition with our neighbors across the Wabash) it is going to hit us in the wallet, and we really can’t afford it. - NoGiftsPlease - Saturday, Mar 10, 07 @ 6:16 pm: It sounds like they’re jumping to the “big guns.” Why aren’t they just considering sales tax on services? They can’t take the heat from the lawyers and consultants? - anon - Saturday, Mar 10, 07 @ 6:48 pm: Well, Mr. Schnorf, we could always repeal the “financial organization” loophole in the income tax that you helped widen about 10 years ago. That might help a little. - Honest Abe - Sunday, Mar 11, 07 @ 9:49 pm: Rod Blagojevich addressed the Illinois Education Association Representative Assembly on Saturday. The same group had declined to endorse him for reelection in 2006 (it had supported him in 2002). During his address, Blagojevich decided to paraphrase Theodore Roosevelt’s 1912 quotation (We stand at Armageddon and we battle for the Lord). I have to confess that given Rod’s track record for double talk and duplicity, I am a bit taken aback by his religious asides and quotation grabs from other politicians. What’s next? Rod quoting from the Gettysburg Address to justify a tax increase? - steve schnorf - Monday, Mar 12, 07 @ 8:26 am: Anon, thanks for the couragous response. Yes we could. Who is proposing it? Do you have any idea how many dollars it would generate? Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.