The original Obama portrait, on which this is based, used red and blue effectively and symbolically, to show that Obama could UNITE the country with its red and blue states.
I disagree with the colors used in this drawing. I think the colors should be sick and putrid, bright, offensive red and green tones, which symbolize CONFLICT and DISCORD.
Oh, and if that’s Cullerton on the right, he should be taken out. He is not to blame for this mess: he passed the Meeks bill and I think that shows great leadership and vision.
Maybe it should read ” No We Won’t ” instead of No We Can’t”
Can we point to a reason why this is not moving forward or is it a combination of some not wanting to increase taxes until all the programs that blago started are dead, and others not wanting to increase the exemptions and the taxes for fear the tax would not be enough, and others still believeing they can cut their way out of this. I have heard different legislators making different statements as to why this can’t be done. Yet here we are in another OT session costing the taxpayers even more and the GA is no closer to fixing this problem than when Blago was still Gov. What gives here?
I think it would make a good “Green Stamp”. Whenever you buy a heavily tax generating item (lottery ticket, tobacco, booze, candy, et cetera) you would get a certain number of these “Can’t Stamps”. You could then paste them into a booklet, and send them in with your IL 1040 in lieu of the money you don’t have, or else qualify for bogus bucks at the nearest riverboat casino
- There you go again - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 2:18 pm:
It is very appropriate that Republicans be on this shirt. They have opted out of being leaders, of holding themselves responsible for taking part in the affairs of this state.
Voters should be ready to clean them out in 2010.
Anonymous - The point is there should be no connection. Whether you agree with them or not at least in the Obama Administration there are decisions being made and steps are being taken. There is genuine interest there in solving the problems. No such luck in Illinois.
And that is what frustrates me the most. Okay so there are many facets to solving the problem. THEN PLEASE do one of them, then another, then another, etc. At least do something.
And how about a blank spot, where the buyer can have his or her own face inserted and admit to some personal responsibility for the mess? It could even have a little baloon that says “I voted for ___ of these idiots!” or even “I campaigned for/gave money to ___ of these idiots!”
Cullerton and Cross should be swapped. Leave the Repubs in, but they are background players. Add Quinn in the back of everyone because he’s acquiesced to the General Assembly whenever there was a conflict.
front of t-shirt - Yes, we don’t
back of shirt- a list
— want ethics reform
— want to tax anyone or anything
— work together
— pass any budget
and the list goes on
I said if all the Illinois superstars (Obama, Rahm, Duckworth, Arnie Duncan, Valerie Jarrett, etc) were home here working on Illinois problems, ‘No, we can’t’ would be ‘Yes, we can’ and we as Illinois residents, would be better off.
- 3 beers to springfield - Tuesday, Jun 9, 09 @ 9:29 am:
Last time I saw President, then Senator, Obama in D.C. just before he announced his candidacy for president, I told him, “I miss you in Springfield.” I still do.
…if all the Illinois superstars (Obama, Rahm, Duckworth, Arnie Duncan, Valerie Jarrett, etc) were home here working on Illinois problems, ‘No, we can’t’ would be ‘Yes, we can’ and we as Illinois residents, would be better off.
The folks in the General Assembly are just as competent as the group above. It is insulting to claim otherwise. Name one of the Illinoians in Washington that led while they were in Springfield, and you’ll recognize that being elected on the federal level, doesn’t make a politician a better politician.
The situation we face in Illinois will be faced soon enough by the Illinoians in Washington, and I suspect they will do the same thing we have been seeing in Springfield. The sooner we recognize economic reality cannot be borrowed away with Chinese cash, the sooner we will start to address the reforms needed to make government more efficient and less wasteful, and set better more sustainable priorities for our tax dollars.
- Scooby - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 1:27 pm:
Who wants a T-shirt with what appears to be Christine Radogno, Tom Cross, Bill Quinlan and Aaron Chambers?
- Nick Naylor - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 1:30 pm:
Cullerton’s got a bit of a mullet going on there…
- Cal Skinner - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 1:32 pm:
Looks funny to me.
Has Wonkish worked up a place where folks can see what the 67% and 50% income tax proposals would cost people?
- siriusly - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 1:35 pm:
funny!
Where did they find the 1988 photo of the Speaker?
- bill washerton - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 1:38 pm:
Once again Cross has the best tie in the room.
- state employee - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 1:42 pm:
The original Obama portrait, on which this is based, used red and blue effectively and symbolically, to show that Obama could UNITE the country with its red and blue states.
I disagree with the colors used in this drawing. I think the colors should be sick and putrid, bright, offensive red and green tones, which symbolize CONFLICT and DISCORD.
- state employee - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 1:44 pm:
Oh, and if that’s Cullerton on the right, he should be taken out. He is not to blame for this mess: he passed the Meeks bill and I think that shows great leadership and vision.
- Segatari - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 1:45 pm:
Where is the website that generates these pictures?
- state employee - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 1:47 pm:
Go ahead and add Rep. Fritchey in his place.
- Dem observer - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 1:48 pm:
Just proves the old adage that one picture is worth a thousand words (or in this case 3).
- TTL, III - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 1:49 pm:
“Hopeless” would also work.
- Aaron Chambers - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 1:49 pm:
Scooby,
The guy on the far right looks way more like Dan Proft than like me. But, hey, thanks for thinking of me.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 1:49 pm:
I think Quinn should be in there as well.
- wordslinger - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 1:52 pm:
Quinn got a pass. Keep whistling and walking, guvnor.
- Belle - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 1:57 pm:
Oh good! My Rod dartboard is shredded!
- Vote Quimby! - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 1:58 pm:
Quinn should promote the heck out of this website….he should be front and center!
- hmmm - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 1:59 pm:
I like it better without Quinn. He would throw off the balance.
Very good work. I would wear this daily.
- Irish - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 1:59 pm:
Maybe it should read ” No We Won’t ” instead of No We Can’t”
Can we point to a reason why this is not moving forward or is it a combination of some not wanting to increase taxes until all the programs that blago started are dead, and others not wanting to increase the exemptions and the taxes for fear the tax would not be enough, and others still believeing they can cut their way out of this. I have heard different legislators making different statements as to why this can’t be done. Yet here we are in another OT session costing the taxpayers even more and the GA is no closer to fixing this problem than when Blago was still Gov. What gives here?
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 2:00 pm:
Good point, Irish.
- Anonymous - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 2:04 pm:
But Irish, if you use No, We Won’t, you lose the whole tie-in to the Obama image and slogan.
And state employee, Fritchey who is also one of Cullerton’s reps, supports the Meeks plan and has been a lead sponsor of HB750 from the get-go.
- fisher - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 2:06 pm:
Quinn should be in.
- anon 58 - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 2:10 pm:
hey, so since when is fritchey posting as anonymous. but love the design.
- hmmm - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 2:10 pm:
In like Quinn?
My perspective - its the GA saying no.
No.
- agree with walter - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 2:13 pm:
Why are Cross and Radogno in there anyway??! Aren’t the Dems able to do it without any assistance from the R’s???
- Das Man - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 2:15 pm:
I think it would make a good “Green Stamp”. Whenever you buy a heavily tax generating item (lottery ticket, tobacco, booze, candy, et cetera) you would get a certain number of these “Can’t Stamps”. You could then paste them into a booklet, and send them in with your IL 1040 in lieu of the money you don’t have, or else qualify for bogus bucks at the nearest riverboat casino
- There you go again - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 2:18 pm:
It is very appropriate that Republicans be on this shirt. They have opted out of being leaders, of holding themselves responsible for taking part in the affairs of this state.
Voters should be ready to clean them out in 2010.
- Irish - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 2:21 pm:
Anonymous - The point is there should be no connection. Whether you agree with them or not at least in the Obama Administration there are decisions being made and steps are being taken. There is genuine interest there in solving the problems. No such luck in Illinois.
And that is what frustrates me the most. Okay so there are many facets to solving the problem. THEN PLEASE do one of them, then another, then another, etc. At least do something.
- Scooby - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 2:22 pm:
Actually Aaron, the picture looks more like Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith, but you do bear a little resemblance.
- Levois - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 2:23 pm:
So we still have problems down there in Springpatch?
- Ghost - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 2:29 pm:
Definetly need Quinn
- A Citizen - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 2:32 pm:
Well, at least helmet head is gone. It doesn’t need Quinn but a real governor would be nice.
- Lulu - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 2:37 pm:
I agree - No we won’t is more like it.
- Diamond Dog - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 2:41 pm:
It would be ONE MILLION times funnier if it said “No We Won’t”
- Amy - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 2:47 pm:
this is perfect, and brilliant. the Illinois legislature is anti change.
- Anon - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 2:58 pm:
==I think Quinn should be in there as well. ==
And how about a blank spot, where the buyer can have his or her own face inserted and admit to some personal responsibility for the mess? It could even have a little baloon that says “I voted for ___ of these idiots!” or even “I campaigned for/gave money to ___ of these idiots!”
- You Go Boy - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 3:09 pm:
Not bad…it’s only missing one thing: all of them pointing at each other for blame, ergo, Quinn should be included.
- Jake from Elwood - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 3:21 pm:
I like it except you need a better likeness of Madigan.
- Getting too old for this - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 3:23 pm:
The line underneath the picture, like the Obama rendering, should be one word. I’d recommend INERTIA.
- Ghost - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 3:51 pm:
Nah if your going for one word, dig back to princess bride and use INCONCEIVABLE
- Ghost - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 4:01 pm:
actually it would be cool to add in an image of Rich at the top, outside the picture with his hands on the edge peering down watching.
- Steve - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 4:02 pm:
Why are the Republicans even in there? They aren’t that relevant. There should be a separate Republican T- shirt : No, we really can’t.
- hmmm - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 4:32 pm:
“ctually it would be cool to add in an image of Rich at the top, outside the picture with his hands on the edge peering down watching.”
You mean lifting it up and peering underneath.
- Toast Man - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 4:38 pm:
Shouldn’t it read “Business as usual”? It would reflect the lack of progress we have been enjoying this decade in Illinois.
- Captain Flume - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 5:13 pm:
If these are The Four Tops, then the caption should be “Same Old Song”.
- Statehouse intern - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 5:20 pm:
I like TTL III’s “Hopeless” suggestion. It ties in both Shepard Fairey’s poster and the ineptitude of the state legislature.
I would create a different shirt with Quinn and caption it with “Progress-less.”
- anon - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 6:05 pm:
It should say iIMPEACH…although, only one really deserves that.
- Art Critic - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 8:16 pm:
Cullerton and Cross should be swapped. Leave the Repubs in, but they are background players. Add Quinn in the back of everyone because he’s acquiesced to the General Assembly whenever there was a conflict.
- B. Gone - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 9:01 pm:
front of t-shirt - Yes, we don’t
back of shirt- a list
— want ethics reform
— want to tax anyone or anything
— work together
— pass any budget
and the list goes on
- One to the Dome - Monday, Jun 8, 09 @ 9:04 pm:
I SAY..WHY LET THE 4 TOPS HAVE ALL THE FUN??? WHY NOT PICK ANY 4 LEGISLATORS? LETS START WITH.,…
- Bernd - Tuesday, Jun 9, 09 @ 6:56 am:
Realy great! Funny T-Shirt!
- Raymond Moley - Tuesday, Jun 9, 09 @ 7:52 am:
No Can Do….
- Leroy - Tuesday, Jun 9, 09 @ 8:24 am:
See? If we didn’t get all righteous and send Barack Obama to Washington, he would still be here to turn ‘No, we can’t’ into ‘Yes, we can’.
Illinois screws itself by sending all its A players to Washington. Meanwhile, the rest of us are stuck here to suffer.
- Dead Head - Tuesday, Jun 9, 09 @ 8:55 am:
I think trying to say that the idiots depicted here have anything in common with the Obama administration is ludicrous.
- Leroy - Tuesday, Jun 9, 09 @ 9:21 am:
I never said that, Dead Head.
I said if all the Illinois superstars (Obama, Rahm, Duckworth, Arnie Duncan, Valerie Jarrett, etc) were home here working on Illinois problems, ‘No, we can’t’ would be ‘Yes, we can’ and we as Illinois residents, would be better off.
- 3 beers to springfield - Tuesday, Jun 9, 09 @ 9:29 am:
Last time I saw President, then Senator, Obama in D.C. just before he announced his candidacy for president, I told him, “I miss you in Springfield.” I still do.
- pmels - Tuesday, Jun 9, 09 @ 10:03 am:
Unlike Obama, the leaders of Illinois cannot print money and run deficits.
- 3 beers to springfield - Tuesday, Jun 9, 09 @ 10:10 am:
No deficits in S-field. That’s a good one!
- VanillaMan - Tuesday, Jun 9, 09 @ 10:38 am:
…if all the Illinois superstars (Obama, Rahm, Duckworth, Arnie Duncan, Valerie Jarrett, etc) were home here working on Illinois problems, ‘No, we can’t’ would be ‘Yes, we can’ and we as Illinois residents, would be better off.
The folks in the General Assembly are just as competent as the group above. It is insulting to claim otherwise. Name one of the Illinoians in Washington that led while they were in Springfield, and you’ll recognize that being elected on the federal level, doesn’t make a politician a better politician.
The situation we face in Illinois will be faced soon enough by the Illinoians in Washington, and I suspect they will do the same thing we have been seeing in Springfield. The sooner we recognize economic reality cannot be borrowed away with Chinese cash, the sooner we will start to address the reforms needed to make government more efficient and less wasteful, and set better more sustainable priorities for our tax dollars.