59 Comments - Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 7:52 am: For once, Blagojevich is right, but he’s the last person who should blast “a bunch of lip service from a bunch of politicians.” “Reform and Renewal.” - Bill - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 8:05 am: The Governor has continually worked to ease the financial strain on working people and seniors, while maintaining his pledge not to raise their sales taxes or income taxes. He has championed pre-school for all, health insurance for those who can least afford it, free public transportation for seniors,and has tried to close corporate loopholes that make the fat cats rich. He has sponsored raising the minimum wage, increased funding for k-12 education to historic levels, and has fought the naysayers and do nothings and the surrogates for big business in the General Assembly when they advocate policies that are harmful to the middle and working class families of Illinois. Blagojevich is right on these issues and has been right many times in the past. He will continue to fight for people regardless of the risks to himself politically. - I Spy.... - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 8:07 am: One of the Governor’s 13%! - anon - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 8:31 am: Bill is right. This governor has done more for the people of this state than any governor in our history. Politicians love to say that they fought for this or led the fight for that. Rod actually has fought about everybody for what he thinks is right, which is usually something that will dramatically improve people’s lives. History will judge him to be one of the best we’ve ever had. - Ghost - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 8:32 am: The odd thing about the Gov’s comments, Obama’s Poll numbers suggest “Middle america”, whatever that means, is divided on Oabama. Those with an education and are younger support Obama, those who are uneducated, older and Catholic trend away from Obama. So what is Middle America? That said it i clear Obama is offering a choice to people who do not want politics as usual, are seeking change, and want a leader who can be inclusive and divisive. Which strikes me as ironic that such a message would be delivered by mr. Divissive himself. I am not sure this was done to support Obama, so much as to gather support for the Gov by trying to attach himself to somone who is well liked in the State. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 8:37 am: Anon & Bill - As long as the Gov has ardent supporters like you who refuse to recognize that the widespread corruption that he was elected to end has overshadowed anything he has or can hope to accomplish, he’s doomed. Doomed I say. Unlike Chicago, accusations of corruption — especially those that lead to convictions — actually do matter to the rest of the state. - Douglas M. - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 8:43 am: Complaining about wages being stagnant and then cutting the budgets for all state agencies by 3% makes no sense while the “COs” of the state bask in their 10+% raise. Talk about being “out of touch”. - problem - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 8:51 am: I find it ironic that all these elitist tv hosts and pundits in New York and Washington, DC have the gall to pretend they “know what its like” in middle america. This is the best quote from anyone to defend Obama in this current news attack. The Obama people need to copy and paste it and send it out to all their surrogates so that they can get it coming out of other peoples’ mouths. - Bill - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 8:53 am: YDD Well, if there is a conviction then maybe your point will have some validity. Until then, accusations are just that. I prefer to believe that they are unfounded and that the state is no more corrupt now than it has been in the past. The rest of the state is no more cleaner or ethical than Chicago. If you believe it is you are either uninformed or naive. I don’t think that you are either so I guess that you are just being your disingenuous self. It is difficult to change centuries of ingrained cultural corruption over the course of a few short years. That is why I look forward to a third Blagojevich term so he can finish the job. - grand old partisan - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 8:57 am: “So the frustration, the anger, the bitterness that Sen. Obama is talking about, that middle America is feeling, is precisely why he’s done so well in this election” = Isn’t the core of Obama’s non-identity based support educated, upper class “wine-track” liberals? What do they have to be bitter about? Like most of his surrogates, what the Governor ignores (or, perhaps doesn’t even understand) is that the most offensive part of Obama’s comments wasn’t “bitter,” it was the implication that there is something wrong with choosing to vote based on (i.e. “clinging to”) social and cultural issues instead of economics. For many Americans, there are more important things than money, or their own economic self-interest at stake at election time. - Anon - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 9:12 am: YDD, I agree with anon — history will judge this guv as one of the best in the state’s history. As for corruption, i dont believe that anything has gone beyond accusations at this point. Until somebody is proven to have done something wrong, nobody has done anything wrong. As long as you insist on declaring somebody guilty until proven innocent, I have one questions for you: “Why do you hate America?” - so-called "Austin Mayor" - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 9:15 am: “So the frustration, the anger, the bitterness that Sen. Obama is talking about, that middle America is feeling, is precisely why Illinois Democrats cling to to their junior senator instead of the state’s Democratic governor.” – SCAM so-called “Austin Mayor” http://austinmayor.blogspot.com - Ghost - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 9:20 am: guilty until proven incoent is a criminal standard that only need be met by those seeking ti imprsion. Under a voter standard of more likely then not the gov is clearly corrupt. - Beowulf - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 9:21 am: I was wondering when the subject of outrageous corporate CEO pay was going to be brought up and used by one of the Presidential aspirants? Barack Obama seems to be a little “quicker on the trigger” than the other two (even Annie Oakley). The issue of huge corporate CEO compensations in spite of poor performance (actually, disastrous performance in many cases) is one of those issues that have the nation’s voters blood boiling and their blood pressures shooting off the charts as their own financial situations drop down several notches during our nation’s dismal economic climate. It is a “no lose” political issue. It is tantamount to saying “How many of you are for putting pedophiles in prison? Can we get a show of hands?” Barack’s poorly stated comments about the frustration of the people will not be a fatal error. It simply shows that he is capable of making personal screw-ups like the rest of us. Everyone knows that his opponents and the media are waiting to pounce on any of the three candidates whenever they can twist or take a poorly thought out statement and take it out of context. Two steps forward, one step back but the bottom line is that he is still moving forward on his political road trip. - Cassandra - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 9:25 am: Actually, I agree with many of Blago’s priorities, especially universal health care and his refusal to jump on the liberal raise-taxes-on-the-middle class-again bandwagon. I was in favor of the GRT too–easy to collect, much harder to cheat. Pay to play is a problem, and so is the ongoing disintegration of agencies like DHS and DCFS. Illinois’ social services are so not cutting edge, or even minimally functional. It’s not money. It’s talent. There isn’t any. The governor’s disinterest in (or inability to learn) the craft of governing is the biggest problem though, especially since there is no evidence that he has improved his skills along the way. Apparently, Illinois voters overall have given him the impression that he doesn’t have to. - Sahims2 - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 9:31 am: Government’s job is not to take care of people on a cradle to grave basis a la Blago’s and the Democrat platform. Let’s see how wonderful you think this gov is when the next administration comes in and triples taxes to balance the budget to pay for all of these socialist programs. Right now, the state can’t pay its bills, not because of lacking revenue coming in, but of the substantial increases in outflow. Doctors are refusing to get behind these programs because they know it will be months before they are paid. If you think he has done these things for the “people” - get a grip - he’s pandering to the national party platform in hopes of landing a higher position in Washington if the Dems get back into the White House - (please don’t steal the furniture when you leave, this time…). Increasing fees for services is increasing taxes -it’s just not called taxes, but that is exactly what they are. So, yes, he has increased taxes. It’s people like you who want government to take care of them for everything that is causing the downfall of our country. - Napoleon has left the building - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 9:34 am: YDD is right, he’s doomed he’ll never make it. The more Blago campaigns for Obama the closer I am to sending Hillary a check. Someone needs to tell him that nobody is asking for his help and he should stay away from our candidate! - The Doc - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 9:37 am: The governor’s speech hits the proverbial nail on the head. Bill’s (aka Abby Ottenhoff) and Anon’s (aka Rebecca Rausch) desperate and transparent fluff pieces simply serve to undermine the governor’s speech, should be discounted as nothing more than pandering to the populist notions, and are emptier than the Loop Lab School. The sound bytes will only get you into more trouble, Blago… - GoBearsss - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 9:38 am: Rich, One needs to go no further than Springfield to see if anyone in Middle America is “bitter.” - Anonymous - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 9:39 am: Yes Bill, the gov certainly will “continue to fight for people”… but, can he win? And at what cost? - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 9:39 am: GoBearsss, good point. lol. Everybody but me. - GoBearsss - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 9:51 am: You’re just lucky that their bitterness makes them cling to Capitol Fax, not guns or religion. - Mr. Wizard - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 9:56 am: “Politics is the art of the possible.” Otto Von Bismarck, remark, Aug. 11, 1867 By that definition, Blago is a dismal failure, regardless of the nature of his initiatives. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 9:57 am: GoBearsss, whatever works. - VanillaMan - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 10:06 am: Obama appeals to voters who feel smarter than the rest of us. So it isn’t a surprise when Obama makes statements that reflect a belief that he is smarter than the rest of us too. How else can one explain why he has so much political support for so little reason? He speaks smarter, the looks smarter, he acts smarter than any of the other presidential canidates in 2008. He is an eloquent facade. Like a Toyota Prius, Obama is a hybrid and an image against traditional politics. Just as a Prius draws owners who wish to make a political statement, Obama supporters are drawn to this fashionable man popular with fashionable hip voters on college campuses, and in California and Boston. Neither Obama nor the Prius can really tow a load, do heavy lifting or have any record of reliability. But in both cases, it is all about image, not measurable facts. It is all about what they say, not what they do. So he is in trouble because of what he said. When the Senator revealed his thoughts about those who do not support him, he described them as poor helpless bigoted boobs who ‘cling’ to ignorant icons. It really shouldn’t surprise any voter that the people drawn to Obamas and Priuses snicker at those of us who ‘cling’ to GM and Ford, Clinton and McCain. These cars and people are not fashionable. Over the past week, the Senator and his supporters have been parsing his hideous statement in an attempt to enlighten us Obama-described boobs. They focus on the ‘bitter’ feelings he put into our mouths and then tells us he understands that bitterness. They focus on how religion is something that is a good thing to ‘cling’ to. But polls are showing that many voters recognize a condescending prig when insulted by one enough times. No matter how he and his staff parses his mask-dropping small town analysis, Obama and his supporters have forgotten that everyone deserves respect as a voter within a democracy. Blagojevich is like a political fly within a buzzing halo of political flies, hanging over Obama’s rhetorical pile of offal, looking for something to salvage within it. - GoBearsss - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 10:14 am: VanillaMan - I agree. Except that Obama is a big monster truck and McCain is one of the old Fords that get trampled. - Plutocrat03 - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 10:15 am: Lip service from the State is far superior than that coming from Washington. The state continues to collect more revenue than it ever has, but the greed of the system continues to outstrip the State’s ability to pay for what the legislators want. When Voters take the attitude of what services have you added lately to their decisions on who to vote for, what do you expect from the legislators? Pander, pander, pander. I agree with Sahims2 in that the Gov used his offices to pander to the National Democratic position in the hopes of achieving a high position in the Federal sphere. Unfortunately, it is like musical chairs. When revenue does not meet expectations, someone loses their seat. Will this happen to BO, when folks realize he is not an agent of change, but just a fresh face on the tired old Democratic platform? - GoBearsss - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 10:16 am: And when I said I agree, I meant that I don’t. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 10:16 am: GoBearsss is on fire today. - The Rookie - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 10:18 am: Where is Middle America? Mexico??? … I’m so confused. - VanillaMan - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 10:19 am: Right Go Bearsss - As an Obama supporter you know everything. The rest of us wouldn’t understand. And that’s why he’s toast. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 10:28 am: ===And that’s why he’s toast.=== Which is what you said before Iowa, after New Hampshire, before Super Duper Tuesday, etc., etc., etc. - nonewtaxes - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 10:28 am: I’m so sick about this under performing CEOs. Actors still get their $10 million when their film bombs at the office. Athletes still get their multi millions when their team is in last place. I also can’t stand when people say we should tax oil companies because of their profits. 1. They have pretty slim margins they make money on volume. 2. Most people have stock in oil companies in their 401k or IRA accounts. Therefore taxing the oil companies profits is taxing everybody who owns stock in those companies. - Bill S. Preston, Esq. - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 10:36 am: I’m wondering why anyone would want their president to be anything but an elite? Maybe not a snob, but definitely an elite. I may be getting tripped up in the language: elitist does not equal elite, but elistist does equal snob? Sen. Obama is a Harvard-educated intellectual - he may have elitist tendencies, but I don’t think he’s a snob. And he’s definitely not toast for making a simple observation that is probably more true than it is untrue. - Kevin Fanning - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 10:37 am: ===1. They have pretty slim margins they make money on volume. === Slim Margins? What about the record breaking profits last year? And to compare CEOs to actors and baseball players is a joke. Actors aren’t responsible for running companies and cutting thousands of employees’ salaries because of under performance, while simultaneously giving themselves a hefty raise. - Cassandra - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 10:39 am: We should hope Obama gives him a federal job. It’ll get him out of Springfield and Illinois and presumably Lisa or Alexi won’t keep all his thousands of hacks, although, alas, they likely have their own. - Bill - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 10:46 am: You go, Kevin! - nonewtaxes - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 10:46 am: Kevin Fanning: I just told you they make money on volume. Record Profits, Record Profits is that all you can say. When people buy billions and billions of your produce you are going to have a profit. They work on pretty slim margins. - nonewtaxes - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 10:47 am: sorry i meant product not produce. - wordslinger - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 10:49 am: I think the governor has it mixed up when he says “the frustration, the anger, the bitterness that Sen. Obama is talking about, that middle America is feeling, is precisely why he’s done so well in this election.” As I recall, when Obama made his “bitter” remark, he was responding to a question as to why he WASN’T doing as well among white, small-town voters without college degrees (not “uneducated,” Ghost). He said they’d heard it all before, had seen no results, so they were skeptical of the politics of “change.” As well they should be. I’d advise Obama and his supporters to resist the urge to explain blue-collar Americans to the wine-and-brie set as if they were a cultural anthropology project. There is nothing deadlier in American politics than the elitist tag. The politics of resentment only works in the short-term as well. Americans elect optimists. By the way, I spent a week last summer driving all over rural Pennsylvania. I think what they’re clinging to is their beautiful country and salt-of-the-earth way of life. One sunny Sunday morning, I was rolling through the hills west of Gettysburg on my way to Camden Yards, digging to Flatts and Scruggs on the local radio. Down in a valley, you could see a little white church where the congregation, all in their Sunday best, was just letting out. Spielberg couldn’t have dreamt up such a breathtaking scene. - nonewtaxes - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 11:11 am: “Exxon Mobil’s gross margin of 9.8 cents of profit for every dollar of revenue pales in comparison to Citigroup Inc.’s 15.7 cents in 2004. By percentage of total revenue, banking is consistently the most profitable industry in America, followed closely by the drug industry. Altria Group, the maker of Marlboro and other cigarettes, made 22 cents for every dollar of revenue in 2004, and pharmaceutical company Merck made 25.3 cents for every dollar of revenue in 2004.” Taken from a story at the Washington Post. Put the blame where the blame is due, on the bureaucrats in Washington causing all the inflation. Obama would increase spending by almost $1 trillion in his first term. He’ll finance all of these “free” services by raising your taxes. - wordslinger - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 11:13 am: Blago can’t really believe he’d be in line for a job in an Obama administration. No one’s that delusional. He might have a federal appointment in the future, but it will be a reporting date, not a cabinet position. - Kevin Fanning - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 11:21 am: nonewtaxes: If you want to talk about spending than the current administration is the one you should be examining. Not only did it rubber stamp a Congressional spending on par with a “drunken sailor” as John McCain likes to say, but it also is responsible for what is now projected to be a $3 trillion dollar war. In terms of Citigroup, Malboro, et al. It’s an interesting argument, but unfortunately you’re comparing apples to oranges. People don’t have to buy cigarettes or go to Citigroup to do their investing/ banking, but they have to fill their cars up with gas. I don’t see the correlation. - Bakersfield - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 11:47 am: I find it funny that Blago complains about $4 gallons of gas and then this week proposes a 50,000% fee increase on companies that produce oil and gas in Illinois. I’m sure that won’t be passed on at the pump or on your gas bill at all. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 11:49 am: WHEN there are convictions? JUST accusations?? I take it you guys don’t count guilty pleas. YDD - Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 11:56 am: Look, Obama’s right, and the low approval ratings for both Congress and Bush reflect it. Is bitter the best word, maybe not. Here’s some others: 1. Angry 2. Cynical 3. Frustrated 4. Disillusioned 5. Distrustful 6. Pessimistic 7. Discouraged 8. Resigned 9. Skeptical 10. Melancholy - Greg - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 12:13 pm: Kevin, You don’t see the correlation between industries’ profit margins? Welcome to finance. Quick background: XOM, et al are long a ton of oil. They don’t hedge, and thus are highly exposed to the price of crude. As someone pointed out, their margins are typical, if not a bit low. People are “forced” to consume housing as well. Ought we cap the sellers’ price, as the seller is massively long one good, whose price swings determine the seller’s margin? - Bill - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 12:48 pm: From the same guy who who wants to cut 18 million fron the extension service and soil and water conservation. Surely those people will have some difficulty making the payments on anything. Way to go Rod, a real class act.. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 12:50 pm: FYI, the above commenter is not the “real” Bill. - Bill (real) - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 1:47 pm: Rich, Thank you for that clarification. - VanillaMan - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 1:50 pm: “get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.” So why are we allowing Obama and his supporters to pretend that the issue is the word, ‘bitter’? It isn’t. The problem is the rest of the statement, isn’t it? Few are appalled that Obama described Clinton and McCain supporter as bitter, (he is just wrong about that), but he then moves on to stereotype people who don’t support him in unbelievably insulting ways. Barack Obama was caught saying something he believes. What he said is insulting for any candidate, for any public office, to say. Americans do not like to be told that they are too stupid to understand what their problems are. We do not like to be looked down upon. Barack Obama’s disgrace is even allowing himself to even think, let alone say, such a thing. FDR and Truman believed in voter’s common sense, and FDR was a true elitist. But unlike Obama, FDR ensured to all that regardless of his elite upbringing, he believed that all Americans were noble and should be respected. Marxism tells us that the Masses are ignorant. They don’t understand why they are ignorant. They are easily led. Their reasons for making certain choices is unimportant. As an American, I never believed Marx even when it was shoved down my throat in college. I recognized it as un-American. Why couldn’t Obama? - grand old partisan - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 2:15 pm: YDD – VanillaMan is right: the problem with Obama’s comment wasn’t the choice of the word “bitter.” What has got people so offended is his contention that prioritizing social issues, religion and opposition to illegal immigration over economic issues is, like racism (of which he, in essence, is broadly and baselessly accusing small town residents) merely an expression of frustration. (He also lumps in free-trade, which is actually more economic than social, but which is also wildly hypocritical on his part, given the amount of time he spends on the trail stirring up anti-free trade sentiment) None of his ‘apologies’ or ‘clarifications’ indicate that he even understand that is what has offended people. Now, either he knows that is why, but doesn’t want to acknowledge it for some reason; or he doesn’t understand this, and is thus, as they say, “out of touch.” - wordslinger - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 2:16 pm: Vman, One quibble. FDR was bedrock East Coast Elite but he was not an elitist. The New Dealers he brought into government (Frankfurter, Hopkins, Ickes, Wallace, Fortas, Douglas, LBJ) were people members of his class would not have allowed to board their poodles. FDR was considered a traitor to his class by the “malefactors of great wealth” and he “welcomed their hatred.” - Team Sleep - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 2:18 pm: Lip service is in the ear of the beholder. What Blago passes off as reform, renewal and promise often is washed away by his grating management style and inability to work well with others. Blago can come up with a zillion new programs and ideas but you have to be able to compromise and accept defeat in order to actually make a difference. He can talk about high prices and skyrocketing commodities all he wants. Blago has been very unfriendly to businesses and I don’t really think he’s been great to laborers, either. Missing out on federal matching funds and not paying medicaid bills for months are clear signs that he and his staff just don’t “get it”. - Team Sleep - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 2:25 pm: I do find CEO pay to be ridiculous and offensive. The argument that we Americans don’t pay their salaries is going out-of-style. Executive and board payouts are excessive and consumers (and the federal government, at times) help foot the bill for that excess. Obama is right to question this trend, as is John McCain when he talks about the greed of Wall Street and corporations. This is a great, current populist message for Obama to run with. - VanillaMan - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 2:45 pm: That is right - FDR was elite, but not an elitist. I don’t recall Kennedy ever suggesting anything remotely similar to what Obama has said, either. If you don’t believe in the common man and woman, don’t run for public office. There is another posting today about this group that is trying to get an advisory amendment on the ballot. Then there are responses to it from people who disapprove of this amendment and questioning this group’s right to have access to the ballot. But what they are really suggesting in their opposition is that any group that does not think as they do, should not have ballot access. They are more comfortable with the idea of thwarting democracy than defending their views on the issue. If you cannot communicate clearly to the common voter why you should be elected, they are not to blame - you are. Democracy is good. I don’t always agree with the majority, but I understand that either my side didn’t do a good enough job to win an election, or we were just plain wrong. I respect it. - Kevin Fanning - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 3:24 pm: Amen to that - Cancion - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 4:58 pm: Perhaps a big part of the problem with the government vs politics concepts being discussed here is that there are so many Americans that do not look at the news in any form except by that spoken by comedians. They use their computers for shopping and games only, are maxed out on their credit cards, never have read a book except for cliff notes in school, are happy if they can afford their preferred preference of leisure time, and their food and drinks of choice? Are they happier than we are, satisfied with their life, puzzled by their inability to pay their bills…? I watch and wonder at the difference between myself and the lessons I was taught in life and the amazing difference in the outlook of the younger generations. What gives me most thought is that perhaps many of us have always taken life too seriously. Sorry that seemed to have somewhat strayed from the subject. - Arthur Andersen - Tuesday, Apr 15, 08 @ 6:21 pm: For once, AA agrees with Cassandra, off topic or not. Too many Americans think a “crisis” is when the internet is down or DirectTV isn’t working, think “The Depression” is something that is treated with Prozac, and could tell you the names of Britney Spears’ kids before they could tell you their Congressman. They think “Debt Service” is some kind of bill paying agency. They have taken an unparalled time of increased wealth and prosperity in our Nation’s history and ate, slept, and drank their way right through most of it. To them, Government is mostly an inconvenience. They don’t use it much and don’t expect much from it. Politics takes place off their radar screen and is the work of people who are all crooked. These folks aren’t bitter, just clueless. They don’t turn to God or Guns; they turn to Larry the Cable Guy and MTV. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.