44 Comments - Rich Miller - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 12:24 pm: I’ve deleted two comments so far which did not answer the specific question about approval or disapproval level. Do that first, please, before discussing why you approve or don’t approve of the governor’s job performance. Thanks. Strongly approve Somewhat approve Somewhat disapprove Strongly disapprove Not sure - VanillaMan - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 12:27 pm: somewhat approve Based on the fact that he is not Rod Blagojevich, and he has a clean record favoring the concerns of Illinoians. He still has a honeymoon, even after his budget proposal, since no one else is willing to really deal with the fiscal mess we are in. The Office is Quinn’s to lose. He will lose it if he caters to the pro-tax, no-cuts, politicians who wrecked Illinois through sheer criminal neglect since 2000 and refuse to reform, lead, and watch deadlocked government. - Louis G. Atsaves - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 12:29 pm: Somewhat disapprove. He is still mostly in “gadfly” mode, calling press conferences for the most part doing the symbolic thing, and still doing the Sunday morning press conference thing. I’ll give him credit for putting out a budget that calls for tax increases even if I disagree with the methods of taxation he is espousing. But the day to day governing of this state seems to have him a bit baffled, I always figured (wrongly it appears) that he is a policy wonk that would pick up on it right away. Cleaning house? Ethics bills? Reform? More fiscal accountability? Coming clean on his past support of the impeached one? So far a lot of smoke and mirrors but little of substance. - NIEVA - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 12:35 pm: What Pat Quinn does not seem to understand is this, until the state puts it’s spending in check and lives within it’s means this state will continue to wallow in high unemployment,continuing loss of jobs to surrounding states. While education is important we must try and control the cost! I will give him some time to do what needs to be done but as of now I somewhat disapprove. - Skeeter - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 12:36 pm: Somewhat disapprove. He wants to give himself a raise while raising our taxes. On the other hand, he’s not Blago. - Sacks Romana - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 12:36 pm: Somewhat Approve I support the tax increase, but I completely agree with Rich’s article from a few weeks ago. There’s been solid tax increase proposals around for several years now, and he came out with his own with the huge increase in personal exemption which isn’t an entirely horrible idea but has no political support. I also support many of the ideas he has for reform (such as the June primary), but they’re also ridiculously self-serving. So I generally like what he’s trying to do for the state, but he’s really lacking political savvy and effectiveness. I don’t think he has a good grasp on what his immediate goals should be if his tenure is only the remainder of this term versus long term reforms and programs that he should be able to accomplish if he gets re-elected. - Six Degrees of Separation - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 12:39 pm: I have mixed emo’s on this one. I strongly approve his apparent honest and ethical nature (which people I trust vouch for) but have real concerns for his aptitude to do the job he fell into, or to put the right people in place to do the things he can’t. So I would say “somewhat approve” with the thought this could go way south real fast. - lincolnlover - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 12:41 pm: strongly approve So far, he has made good on all of his promises (can’t call them campaign promises). He has built a working relationship with the GA and has proposed a budget that attempts to recognize that there is not much to cut. Most importantly, he has conducted himself with dignity, which is something the Governor’s office hasn’t seen in many a moon. Good job, gov! - Middle of the road - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 12:45 pm: Somewhat approve. He is doing the best he can with a bad situation and better than the legislators that got us all there. - Angry Chicagoan - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 12:47 pm: Somewhat approve. His tax proposal is the best on the table, and I think there’s a case for rejecting anything that doesn’t increase the personal exemption. Why the legislature is so down on the personal exemption thing mystifies me, but if Illinois Democrats want to go on doing the bidding of tycoons on the North Shore, they’ll have to do it without my vote. He also represents a return of adult behavior to Springfield, which will be immensely helpful in the weeks and hopefully year ahead. I’m concerned that he’s not getting the traction he ought to be getting as a new governor. There’s some political naivete there, perhaps. - make it so - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 12:49 pm: somewhat approve - Blago left hugh issues with just about everyone and everything - now Pat gets to be the fireman/garbage collector. While I don’t want my taxes to go up, I don’t see any other way to continue to provide services and balance the books. - Objective Dem - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 1:04 pm: Somewhat disapprove My biggest concern relates to personnel decisions. Quinn appears more interested in choosing people with good personal stories rather than real knowledge and experience. One example is his selection of Monken to head the state police. A second example is his appointments to his ethics commission. Quinn has also been slow in getting rid of hacks and problematic Blago appointments (not the good appointees). Their replacement is important as a symbol of reform to Illinois residents, for the morale of state employees, and from a pragmatic need to have good leaders and administrators. I don’t get a sense of urgency from him on any issue, including the economy. - Justice - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 1:06 pm: Strongly disapprove. He has had more than ample time to clean house of the Blago hacks and has done very little. He has the same people in charge of the budget who authored the last ineffective budget. He is using the same games to balance the budget by borrowing against the pension funds through delaying payments. I simply feel he is in way over his head. - dupage dan - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 1:20 pm: I have to say I somewhat approve. I would like to be more approving but have to go along with what Rich has been saying about cleaning house of the RodB rejects - “GET ON WITH IT”. I believe he is being more straightforward with the budget/tax issue than previous govs but that may not be saying much. We need a forceful personality - not abrasive but clear in plan and intent. I worry about his proposals to even the playing field re campaign finance. He looks to self-serving even if he is trying to be. Overall - honest but not electable. - Joe - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 1:27 pm: Strongly Approve! Mostly, maybe entirely, because he’s not Blago. Eventually, I’ll start paying more attention to what he’s doing specifically but right now I’m still feeling very good that we’re rid of our shameful excuse of a public servant. - Crystal Clear - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 1:30 pm: Somewhat Disapprove, would have strongly disaproved, because he shows the old Pat Quinn quite often, but he is ABB (anybody but Blago). - He Makes Ryan Look Like a Saint - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 1:30 pm: Somewhat approve Lets face it after Blago, the only way to go is up. I think he is working on mending fences, and this legislative session doesn’t seem to be a war. I am concerned that he still has some high level staffers from the Blago Admin that needs to be removed. For than I would rate him below average for is efforts to clean up State Government. - jerry 101 - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 1:39 pm: Approve - he needs to be a bit more willing to compromise some positions, like seniors ride free, where an income test should be applied. The income tax hike is needed, but he could also be bolder in outlining how he’s going to fix state government over the longrun to reduce costs and help hold overall taxes down in the future. Pushing to reform local government could go a long way to saving money, by forcing consolidation of government units. Could also be applied on the state level, but local government has the most low-lying fruit that could be subjected to consolidation. Never heard any politician in this state actually propose eliminating excess units of government through consolidation like that. Why have a separate park district, fire protection district, library district, etc when these functions can be put under one umbrella of an existing city/village government? In some cases, these things cover more than one town, but there are plenty of cases where the district covers territory that’s pretty much the same as the borders of a given town. Such consolidation could allow administrative costs to be slashed without harming actual service quality. Identifying and eliminating underperforming programs within various state agencies (and a proposal about how to do it) would also be good to see. Straight up funding cuts just inflict pain across the board. Focusing those cuts on poorly performing programs minimizes the pain and maximizes the savings. Not always easy with an organization as huge as the State of Illinois, but something could be done. - Phineas J. Whoopee - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 1:41 pm: Somewhat disapprove, I have very high hopes for him but he must realize that he can’t govern the way he Lt. governed. Sometimes I think some of his supporters are from the island of misfit toys-which might be fine for the Lt-but won’t cut it for the boss. Bring in competent, honest and normal people who aren’t afraid to fire the Blagidiots and enact the needed reforms and get on with corrupt free government. He should sit down with Rich Miller and others who know the problems of the state and the folks who can fix them and go to town and I’m not trying to patronize-it would just be smart. - Concerned Observer - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 1:42 pm: Somewhat approve. Maybe my expectations were too high, but like many, I’m getting a little impatient, here. At least we’re not introducing a new program a day just for a press pop. We’ll learn more once they make the ‘tough’ decisions. So it’s an INC — somewhat approve. - Rich Miller - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 1:43 pm: jerry 101, since you put so much effort into your post I didn’t delete it. But, please choose strongly or somewhat. Thanks. - Vote Quimby! - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 1:44 pm: Somewhat disapprove. I had higher hopes for progress in a Quinn administration…after all, the only reason he ran for LG was to be ready and warmed in the bullpen when Blago’s clock ran out. That time came, and when the spotlight was on him we find out he didn’t really have a plan. Proposing the income tax hike played right into Blago’s hand, and now we have to listen to him say “I told you so! It was a left-wing conspiracy!” to anyone that will listen. Quinn or his people should know who the Blago hack appointments were and cutting them would help on the expense side of things immediately. Instead, we get blue-ribbon panels, egg hunts and other photo-op crap that don’t pay the bills. But there is at least improvement on the horizon, but Quinn is still just a placeholder governor. - Cassandra - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 1:45 pm: Somewhat disapprove. True, he’s not Blago but he didn’t do much to dislodge Blago either. He got the job of governor without doing a whole lot of work for it too. It seems pretty clear by now that he wasn’t staying up late in his former job planning for his gubernatorial transition, even as it became increasingly evident that there would be one. I approve of his efforts in the ethics department but we’ll see what he can actually muscle through our ethics-allergic legislature. He is not a very good public speaker and his explanations for his budget plan are, well, clunky, when he is on the podium. He seems uninterested in the travails of Illinois’ middle class (or why not a higher deduction amount), has made few personnel changes in the upper levels of the state bureaucracy (the Blago-appointed, double exempt population) and has signaled an interest in negotiating with corporate interests around his proposed corporate tax increase. There is also the matter of budget “cuts,” he and Stermer are claiming…they are beyond vague. What are they cutting exactly. Where. How. When. How much. If things don’t pretty soon, I’ll move to strongly disapprove. - Mr. Know-it-All - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 1:57 pm: Somewhat approve. The best thing he’s done - the importance of which cannot be understated - is to reopen the lines of communication between the Governor’s office, the other constitutional officers, and the legislature. Lost in the hubbub over Blago’s alleged corruption is his total refusal to cooperate and coordinate with the state’s other leaders. Quinn has thrown his door open and invited discourse and teamwork among his colleagues, and that bodes well for actual and real governance. It’ll be a lot easier to navigate disagreements if the parties are willing to sit together. That said, as a few before me here have noted, his proposals range from “smoke-and-mirrors” to not very good. He hasn’t actually done anything substantive yet. But I’m hopeful that his approach will yield positive (even if not ideal) results. - Mr. Know-it-All - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 1:59 pm: Er, “the importance of which cannot be overstated”. Communication is important. That’s what I meant. - Excessively rabid - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 2:04 pm: Somewhat approve, on the basis of attitude and personal conduct. Can’t approve strongly because he seems to not understand he’s an unelected caretaker governor with no mandate, except to clean up the mess. If he does that, and is elected in 2010, THEN he can talk about policy changes. For now, he needs to fumigate faster, get the state back in operation, and make some progress on the budget. - Jake L. - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 2:05 pm: I strongly approve in that he seems to be a person who makes decisions on what’s best for the state as opposed to himself, and I think that Lisa Madigan may be in for a huge surprise if she takes him on. I really think Quinn can win on his own for the reasons I listed. - fed up - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 2:05 pm: not sure. I am against raising taxes and still believe we need to make cuts if after the cuts (real cuts) are made and some efforts to increase revenues without raising taxes there is still a real need then I would be more open to tax raises. I do like some of the symbolic moves Quinn made and has been doing for a while he really supports and cares about Ill. soldiers. However he spent 6 years walking lock step with Rod never opening his mouth and just cashed his paychecks while this state was being run into the ground. He may be part of the problem not part of the solution - Lefty Lefty - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 2:07 pm: Somewhat approve. I think there should be more housecleaning, but he is leading the state in his own way and in a much more acceptable manner than his predecessor. As stated previously, the record is incomplete at present. The next 6 weeks are going to tell us quite a bit about how our state will work the next 18 months. The June version of this poll will be interesting. - Louis Howe - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 2:11 pm: Somewhat Approve—-I was leaning to Somewhat Disapprove, but I’ve known Quinn for almost 20 years and continue to hope that he’ll pick of the pace of change. I generally support his budget direction but he needs to establish performance reviews of state expenditures, and in my opinion, demand that ASFCME open up the contract before he agrees to any significant tax increases. In short, Quinn needs to start paying attention to managing the 56,000 state employee enterprises. Agency directors need to be committed to working for Illinois taxpayers, not establishing some fiefdom for themselves and their senior staff. There is still a lot of slack in many of his agencies. - Princess - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 2:46 pm: First, Louis, we just signed that contract seven months ago. Demand? (your use of word) Okay, the question. I have to go with somewhat approve. He might move up a notch towards a higher rating within time. I like I don’t have to wonder if he’s lying everytime he opens his mouth. I’m pleased with the choice of director for DNR. But I’m really disappointed for the ‘battles’ to continue–last year was so long and stressful, I was hoping for a year of easier going. I’m not against the tax increase and am annoyed by the thought that tax payers think they should slide by in sharing the ‘pain’ and lay it on the state workers. How the proposals in this budget will affect state workers has to be scary for some of them , it is likely to knock health insurance right out from under some of them. I’m okay with some of the reforms Quinn is pushing for in different areas for more open government and am not totally against some of the pension reforms such as a higher retirement age, and I like the communication flowing giving me hope of a budget settled on time by deadline this year. - Mighty M. Mouse - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 2:56 pm: I strongly approve. He is a person of integrity who genuinely cares about people other than himself. He has shown that he is a person with a vision of what our state should be about, he has demonstrated a firm hand on the tiller of state and I see that Quinn is gradually winnowing out the Blago holdovers who should be replaced while he is retaining the “keepers” who simply had the bad luck of being appointed by Blago. Guilt by association - off with their heads! It is particularly amusing to see some of the people on this blog rag mercilessly about one particular Blago holdover while not acknowledging that he now has a different job, nor realizing that he was Quinn’s guy long, long before he was appointed by Blago. Of course mostly the bloggers hereabouts just rag about an unknown quantity of unnamed Blago holdovers. I must agree that it’s much easier when you don’t name names. It’s fun, and it’s so easy to do. - Firebelle - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 4:04 pm: I somewhat approve. I agree with most of the statements made above regarding Quinn’s deeds & actions to date, however, he needs to “git-r-done”! Blago ran our state and the government of the state into the ground. As a retired state employee, I watch every action that is proposed or implemented. I don’t want taxes raised, but so be it. My former Agency has been operating bare-bones with staff for several years. The stress is terrible. It took me over 2 months just to decompress after I retired. He needs to get rid of the Blago appointees. They never listened to anybody anyhow in my old agency and were always trying to reinvent the wheel. - Baines 4 Prez - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 4:06 pm: Somewhat approve. Like others have said, he’s trying to make the best of a bad situation, and isn’t Blago, which makes him an improvement of leaps & bounds. He also has actually had the courage to talk about the tax issue, and was willing to put forth a plan of his own. I’d call that an attempt at leadership…or a flicker of it at least. Lot better than being led around in the darkness as we have for so many years. He’s got to show some action before I’d strongly approve, but unfortunately that is probably going to end up being a function of the Madigans’ ambitions. - Rich Miller - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 4:12 pm: Anyone else noticing that the responses here are pretty much mirroring the poll results? Almost like a focus group… - Lefty Lefty - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 4:29 pm: Maybe we’re your “lapdogs”…. - Reading on Walden - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 4:42 pm: I strongly approve of Governor Quinn. His courage in raising the state income tax, in whatever form that ends up, is the only solution to the problem and all his potential opponents know it. Quinn likely will not win in 2010 and that is a shame. - Bobs yer - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 4:52 pm: Somewhat dissaprove, but maybe that’s because I’m an R. If I liked all those social programs he’s defending (like free rides seniors, and his fave veteran’s programs), I’d somewhat approve. Can’t ’strongly dissaprove’ because he seems like a genuinely nice guy. But, unfortunately, he’s shown that he’s not ready for prime time, regardless of your politics. - Avarus - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 7:57 pm: Somewhat disapprove - I don’t like taxes, but at least he’s not blago - VanillaMan - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 8:03 pm: Yeah, I noticed that these results mirror the poll. That’s why I responded to it the way I did yesterday. He is in a no-win situation. We’re giving him a chance. The Blago holdovers will probably get the boot eventually. Quinn has a lot on his plate. I am not pro-tax, but I’m not stupid either. I want Quinn to lead by example before jacking with our taxes. That is why I am not expecting to be a big fan later. Yet - I am not willing to give him less than a somewhat approve. I am still glad that nutjob governor the Democrats nearly killed us with is gone. - southern illinoisan - Friday, Apr 17, 09 @ 8:51 pm: Somewhat disapprove. GPQ is taking entirely to long to “fumigate” state government. He doesn’t seem to have a plan or he isn’t communicating it very well. I have said several times that there are more than a few Blago appointees that are still on the payroll and their dismissal should be a no brainer. Why can’t GPQ pull the trigger? - PalosParkBob - Saturday, Apr 18, 09 @ 12:13 am: Strongly disapprove, of course. How can any reasonable person propose such a massive, job killing set of tax increases during the worst Illinois economy in what, three decades, while keeping the old “sacred cows” amongst his campaign contributors in tact? It also seems that the “outrage” over Blago usurping GA powers as a reason for removing him from office was pretty much a sham. How many of these impeachable Blago executive orders has Quinn overturned? I believe it was none as of last week. Has he rolled back Medicaid eligibility from 400% of poverty level to the 200% we can afford and is fair? NOPE. Has he cancelled executive order 13 which extended even the repair work done on schools to require the 30-70% increase in cost due to prevailing wage? NOPE The fact is, the faces have changed, but the ill conceived featherbedding and waste hasn’t. How could anyone approve of that? - wordslinger - Saturday, Apr 18, 09 @ 11:44 am: Strongly approve. He’s a different breed of cat, no question. He got the top job in very challenging times and with no real base of support of his own. His proposal on the budget is honest, transparent, and open to debate. Let it begin. That’s the way it’s supposed to work. - Arthur Andersen - Sunday, Apr 19, 09 @ 10:35 am: strongly disapprove. 1. Inadequately prepared to govern on Day 1. Moving up wasn’t a surprise; he had more time to get ready than many elected Governors. 2. Bewildering appointments to staff and cabinet positions. 3. John Filan’s budget. 4. John Filan. 5. Pandering, platitudinous piffle instead of decisive, strong leadership. a) “yesterday’s tomatoes” et al. b) “fumigating” one person instead of a full Orkin sweep of the Executive branch. 6) Media relations quickly heading toward Blago/ Nixon credibility levels. What’s next? “Sneed hears the always-thinking Gov. Pat Quinn recovered 342 teabags tossed on the state Capitol lawn during last week’s tax protest and plans to use them to make his daily tea at the office or the Mansion. Said Quinn to a Sneed source: “in my experience, a little wear and tear on the ol’ teabag doesn’t affect the taste at all.” “Sneed hears thrifty Gov. Pat Quinn is burning the furniture at the Executive Mansion instead of natural gas to keep operating expenses down.” Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.