34 Comments - Wumpus - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 10:30 am: In NY, they have names like Elliott, In IL, they have names like Rod. In NY, they “stick it” to prostitutes, in IL, they “stick it” to the taxpayers. - Levois - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 10:35 am: They can actually elect Republicans in NYC while Republicans can’t seem to do anything in Chicago. - A Citizen - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 10:36 am: It would seem the “I’m entitled, I’m above the law, they’ll never catch me mentality” is common to both states. It would also seem that’s eventually proven not to be the case! - Ghost - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 10:41 am: In Il the Gov provides State contracts to special friends in exchange for campaign cash. In NY the Gov provides campaign cash for contract services with special friends. - Anonymous45 - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 10:44 am: NY politics are way nastier NY politicians egos are bigger (hard to beleive) NY residents have a lower threshold for poltical BS…they have a clear “toss the bum out” mentality NY politics is more bipartisan NY poltical campaigns cost more money I lived there and that’s how it appeared to me… - Pat collins - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 10:49 am: Levois - OUCH!!! - wordslinger - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 10:52 am: New York has upstate, Illinois has downstate New York’s biggest city has a liberal Republican mayor. Illinois’ biggest city has a conservative Democrat mayor New York has a governor who is ashamed. Illinois has a governor with no shame. New York has a senator who wants to be the first female president. Illinois has a senator who wants to be the first black president. New York’s senator wants to answer the phone at 3 a.m. Illinois’ senator doesn’t want to answer any more Rezko questions. Illinois’ governor claims to have testicular virility. New York’s governor has demonstrated it. - vince glothor - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 11:06 am: Wordslinger….well done. - blagoman - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 11:18 am: The New York Governor did the right thing and resigned. The Illinois Governor………………. - Frustrated Republican - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 11:24 am: Illinois has “Public Official A.” New York has “Client 9.” New York’s governor fell after an impressive “corruption fighter” reputation propelled him to office. Illinois’ governor got re-elected after being even more corrupt than the previous governor that now sits in jail. New York’s governor understood when to resign in the interest of his state. Illinois’ governor doesn’t understand much of anything. - Anon - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 11:26 am: In Illinois the Governor would find some way to blame his personal problems on the Speaker of the House. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 11:34 am: The NY governor spends $5,000 a pop of his OWN money on hookers; everyone is outraged and demands his resignation. Our governor, meanwhile, makes the state spend $5,000 a pop of TAXPAYER money on state airplane flights so he doesn’t have to spend a minute longer than necessary in the capital… and hardly anyone bats an eye. - Springfield Alum - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 12:28 pm: Frustrated: Don’t forget, Illinois also has Client 10. Wonder who that may be? - Macbeth - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 12:33 pm: I suspect there is an enormous amount of hubris among even the most spirited crusaders. For whatever reason, they assume that they’re never guilty. And I know Spitzer was a genuine crusader — and Rod (for the most part) is a wanna-be. Still: I suspect Rod and Eliot would very much agree on the insistence that everything is “squeaky clean.” What’s interesting — and I hope this comment won’t get me removed or banned — is how many politicians (and church figures) tend to demonize the issues that they themselves are guilty of. It’s as though they’re trying to atone for their own personal failings. And no one is there to stop them. Staffers and wives and husbands all buy into the invincible image, I suspect. Again — I know Blagojevich is accused of no wrong-doing. But the stuff coming out of the Rezko trial — for any state employee of the past five years — is a clearly the “See, I told you so!” stuff that we’ve been hoping would eventually be made public. And now — it is. Sort of. The whispering and vote change at the board meeting in today’s papers — a classic state of Illinois moment. And any state employee who has attended these over-inflated and self-important meetings can attest to the fact that there’s more where that came from. This is personal opinion. But I’ve come to understand that you can generally pinpoint a politician’s deepest, darkest secrets by listening to what they obsess over. Rod’s comment is that he’s “squeaky clean.” Okay, well. Maybe some folks believe it. THe voters certainly voted for him. So they believe it. But ask any state employee — anyone who’s been on the front-line in an Illinois state agency — and you’ll know that those words have a special resonance. - irishpirate - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 12:39 pm: Any self respecting Illinois politician would have put the hooker on the state payroll or given her a job as a consultant before paying her 4-6000 dollars per hour. - second oldest - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 12:49 pm: You know, Rod never misses an opportunity to make public statements and press releases about any national topic, anywhere, that’s in the public’s eye at the moment, no matter how removed Rod is from the issue. Yet, a curious silence echoes from his minions as far as commenting on the standards a sitting governor is supposed to adhere to, in light of current events. Not even the fallback “we pray for his family in this tough time” comment. Not a peep. They love the fact that Spitzer takes attention away from problems closer to home. I wonder if any reporter has asked Rod for a quote or statement about Spitzer’s mistake. One is probably not forthcoming, since many believe its going to be turned around and flung into Rod’s face at an appropriate later time. - VanillaMan - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 12:51 pm: New York has had a world class city for over 300 years, which Illinois’ Chicago reigned as a national city for 100. Today, both states have had their largest cities challenged by new cities in a new global era. Only New York City has had the cultural infrastructure to hang in there and has had a larger foundation from which to draw from economically. New York’s economic hub is double the size of Illinois’, so this is only natural. Over the past ten years, New Yorkers have become the owners of Illinois’ real estate and have taken over Chicago’s banking. When we recognize the importance of controlling one’s capital future, one recognizes that New York is Chicago’s boss. New York is the center of a megalopolis that stretches from Richmond Virginia to Portsmouth New Hampshire - about 150,000,000 compared to Chicago’s 20,000,000. That’s big! As a result, there are more players in New York politics and a longer political history from which to draw. There is simply more to New York than there is to Illinois, and size and diversity matters. So, politically New York has always been more important than Illinois. This is reflected in Congress and in the White House. Another important difference was the near-death experience New York City had during the 1970s-1990s. Crime was no longer punished, and the city stopped functioning under nanny state mentality. With Giuliani, New Yorkers witnessed the benefit of law enforcement and the benefits that come along with fiscal conservatism. While the city didn’t become Salt Lake City culturally, it recognized the importance of a politically balanced approach to governance. Success begets success and there has been an incredible turn-around for the state because of this. Bloomberg is another champion for this approach and New Yorkers are now more cognisant than Chicagoans in understanding how to revive a struggling economy. Upper New York has had more to lose than Central and Southern Illinois, and these regions have fallen farther economically since the 1980 than Illinois has fallen. However, it appears that there are other natural geological benefits to Upper New York such as tourism, winery, and higher education from with to draw, compared to Central and Southern Illinois. Buffalo’s economy has always been more diverse than St. Louis’ and while each city has suffered, Buffalo has a stronger base from which to revive than St. Louis. This is already being seen. These fundamental differences impact the political differences between New York and Illinois. Discussing recent partisan squabbles overlooks these fundamental differences which favor New York and it’s continued progress over Illinois. - GOP'er - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 1:04 pm: Well here on the Republican side, most of the hookers aren’t going to be women. Hey, I’m just saying what most are thinking. - Sir Reel - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 1:36 pm: New York politicians came up with the heart motto, I Love New York. Illinois politicians would never propose such a motto, because they don’t love the state. - anon - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 1:45 pm: Where on earth have you seen that St. Louis needs economic recovery. The burbs are still expanding, thank god towards the IL side, and the city has seen a massive revitalization. Sure it’s still not Chitown, but sheesh, give some credit where it’s due. - Truthful James - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 1:55 pm: The Brookfield zookeeper was arrested the other day. He had taken delivery of some wonderful dolphin like fish from China which were alleged to live forever. He was told that their diet was restricted to sea gulls. As he was delivering two buckets of them to the special enclosure the Illinois mascot, a rather tame lion escaped from his cage and lay in the sun on the pathway. He calmly stepped over Leo who did not budge. He was immediately arrested and booked. The charge: Transporting gulls over State lions for immortal porpoises. - RBD - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 2:32 pm: New Yorkers of all stripes were shocked when they found out about Client #9. No one in IL is shocked by anything Public Official A does. If anything, we are hoping he is Client #10. - Six Degrees of Separation - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 2:34 pm: TJ, If Rich doesn’t bust out laughing, he might ban you for life. In NY they elect crimefighters to public office. In IL, they elect criminals so they can be kept on public display. - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 2:35 pm: I may have scared people off with my warning. lol NY: New governor is legally blind. IL: Current governor claims he was blind to corruption that was right in front of his face. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 2:37 pm: Change that to “IL: Current governor is legally blind in a completely different sense.” - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 2:39 pm: touche. - Levois - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 2:50 pm: I read at Wikipedia that gridlock is a problem in the NY legislature. They compared the volumes of legislation introduced to that of the IL general assembly. One year they introduced 17,000 pieces of legislation but a very small number ever passes. I wonder why this gridlock in NY, and I would question if it happens in IL. If there’s gridlock in IL it’s for different reasons than in NY. NY has a divided legislature like IL did up until 2002 so at least Spitzer had a Republican foil unlike Blagojevich. - Anon - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 5:40 pm: As bad as New York is (and that’s pretty bad) it’s not nearly as thoroughly corrupt as Illinois. - Disgusted - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 6:02 pm: NY Gov. admits his piccadillos and loses job. IL Gov. hides his piccadillos and gets re-elected. - some former legislative intern - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 6:31 pm: Vanilla Man said, “politically New York has always been more important than Illinois. This is reflected in Congress and in the White House.” Wrong. “Uncle Joe” Cannon, the first strong Speaker of the US House, was from Illinois. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000121 Dennis Hastert was Speaker for 8 years and passed two major transportation bills. Also from Illinois. Has there ever been a U.S. House Speaker from New York? New York City Mayors are nothing compared with ours. They have a two term, 8 year limit. Daley has built Chicago up to a world class city; a city that was not world class beforehand. When Guiliani fixed New York, it had been a world class city forever. Chicago had a longer way to go. New York politicians can’t hold a candle to Illinois politicians. Illinois is much more important to national politics than New York. - Esteban - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 7:42 pm: I truly believe that Illinois politics is more corrupt than that of New York. Maybe our citizens are more apathetic-I don’t think that Blago would have survived this long as governor of New York. - A Citizen - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 8:21 pm: Illinois has the best politicians money can buy. NY’s politicians have so much money already they could buy the Illinois legislature with cash left over to buy the guv - if there are any shares left. Guv may well be oversold as it is. - AA - Wednesday, Mar 12, 08 @ 9:16 pm: In New York, a respected veteran official, a person of color known for his integrity, stood quietly ready to assume the duties of Governor of the State of New York. By all accounts, this good man seems more than equal to the challenges ahead. Should the same calamity befall the State of Illinois, our citizens are not as well-prepared. Pat Quinn’s Cutback Amendment. Need I say more? - Aaron Slick - Thursday, Mar 13, 08 @ 8:00 am: Time (and the Feds) will only tell if New York’s state political leaders (client # 9) get rated higher than “perhaps” those in Illinois (the mysterious Illinois client # 10). If this turns out to be the case, I guess that Illinois (like the Avis Rental Car Agency) will simply have to try harder. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.