* As if the federal subpoena wasn’t bad enough, the governor dug his hole even deeper yesterday during an interview with the Associated Press.

The Democratic governor said work on a new state budget is stuck in “a waiting game” until Speaker Michael Madigan, a fellow Democrat, spells out what he and his members could support.

“Speaker Madigan’s been talking for days, running around putting together a counterproposal to what we’ve had on the table since March 7. I’m eager to see what his budget proposal is,” Blagojevich said in an interview with The Associated Press.

“I would only suggest to him that he get moving,” Blagojevich added. “The clock is ticking.”

Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said the speaker is working with other legislative leaders to craft a budget and will continue doing so. He said Blagojevich appears to be trying to take attention off his own plan by making Madigan the bad guy.

* This link has more quotes from the AP interview, where he takes yet another shot at legislators…

“It’s natural that a lot of the men and women who work down here in Springfield are going to feel a lot of pressure from all these different lobbyists who are hired by the big corporate interests. They see them every day here. … It’s hard for members of the Legislature to think about the big-picture issues when every single day they’re getting bombarded by these lobbyists.”

* The Tribune claims it rejected a sitdown with the governor because of onerous ground rules…

On Tuesday, Blagojevich offered a rare opportunity for news media interviews. The administration refused an interview request from a Tribune reporter who rejected the condition that the questions remain solely about the governor’s budget proposal.

* Meanwhile, it just gets worse for the guv. A radio ad by the state coppers which mentions Blagojevich’s name appears to be in blatant violation of a state law that the governor himself pushed through the General Assembly…

“Thanks to Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the Illinois State Police Internet crime unit, e-criminals will no longer be able to victimize Illinois citizens,” the ad’s narrator says.

Under the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, approved by lawmakers in 2003, broadcast ads and public service announcements on behalf of any state-administered program cannot contain the name, image or voice of a statewide elected official or state legislator.

The ad was sponsored and paid for by the state police, an agency spokesman said.

* The Glengariff Group has a new poll on the governor’s job approval rating. It’s not great news…

Six months after a big re-election victory, Gov. Blagojevich is barely hanging on to a majority of voters at 50.6% who say they approve of the job he is doing. 42.1% of voters disapprove of his performance — and it is the ferocity of that disapproval that is surprising with more people ’strongly disapproving’ of his performance than those that ’strongly approve’.

22.8% Strongly Approve
27.8% Somewhat Approve1
14.8% Somewhat Disapprove
27.3% Strongly Disapprove […]

Blagojevich’s 50% approval is being driven by an 81% job approval among African American voters — higher than he ever polled among that constituency during the month of October 2006. And the City of Chicago gives him a 75% job approval rating — again, driven by African American voters.

Crosstabs can be found at this link.

* And this brief note near the bottom of a story on gas prices illustrates how tough it will be to pass any revenue enhancer this spring…

Lawmakers appear more focused on higher power bills rather than gas prices. But attempts to raise taxes on Illinoisans could be dampened because they’re already feeling the hurt of higher energy prices.

“Until people can fill their cars to get to work and heat their homes, they’re not concerned about healthcare or anything else,” Mautino said.

* More tax and spend updates from Paul…

* Bethany Carson: Something’s brewing

* Carol Marin: Gov must deal on healthcare, school funding