63 Comments - "Old Timer Dem" - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 9:56 am: Realize that 47% is not a mandate and govern accordingly. Compromise whenever possible to avoid looking inept. - One of the 35 - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 9:57 am: First, learn how to operate as Governor. This means controlling the message at all times by insuring that all communication and public statements coming from all executive agencies is consistant with what you are trying to accomplish. Thus far he has been unable or unwilling to exercise that control. - Carl Nyberg - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 9:58 am: “Do the right thing.” And slap around members of the Ricketts family in public. They were Brady contributors. And no one likes billionaires who mooch off taxpayers… except for politicians who get their campaign contributions. - Irish - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:01 am: Do something positive to fix the budget deficit and to get the bills paid, NOW! If anyone was listening to the voters they should absolutely know that the citizens want the budget fixed and jobs created. The process has to start immediately. However, I am afraid the Dems will see the Gov’s. victory as reassurance that they can continue to kick the can down the road. I look for the veto session to become a orchestrated debate about everything but the fiscal issue. We will see grandstanding about civil unions, the AVs, and any other non-fiscal issue that the GA can come up with to fill the time of the session. Nothing has changed and Quinn is what we knew he was. A weak, ineffective, leader who cannot make a decision and is not smart enough to surround himself with people who could help him. - UISer - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:03 am: Mandate or not, we need a tax increase. - ILPundit - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:03 am: I would take a month and go largely dark for the press. I would get behind closed doors with my team and hammer out a plan for the legislative session. I would develop a strategy to get what I want, and then come out and execute the plan. In other words, all things that will clearly never happen. - DRB - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:09 am: As a conservative, I would go for the 1 percentage point tax increase provided that 1) The money does not go to the legislature to spend - the money is sent to an escrow account to pay overdue state bills 2) The state cannot start any new programs. - Cincinnatus - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:09 am: Since his election, has Quinn laid out a “100 day” agenda of initiatives he wants to accomplish? If he has, is he sticking to it? Is he building any consensus among his friends (and enemies) in the GA, or identified ONE item that he can build such a consensus? If this past election was about anything, it was about jobs/spending/economy/taxes. Quinn dilutes any “mandate” he thinks he received by making items like civil unions and primaries when instead every effort he makes should be centered around the voters’ concerns. We will be handed losses that will effect the remainder of his term. He will not build any political capital which he will need to implement tax increases and spending cuts (if he even bothers about the cuts). For a 30 year politician, he shows little aptitude for leadership which is a trait he will surely need. - Skeeter - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:09 am: I can’t help but think about a column by Rich Miller regarding Blago being a career back-bencher. Blago was the type of guy who used to come out with looney ideas that would get press coverage but then those ideas would fade away. When he became gov., he could not make the switch from back-bencher getting some air time, and a person actually leading. The exact same thing has happened to Quinn. He never really had to lead. Suggestion? Stop doing interviews. No public statements. Just get to work. - Montrose - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:11 am: Have his staff quickly pull together a pro-puppy bill? - Anonymous - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:14 am: Resign and let Sheila Simon have a turn. Statistically speaking, eventually we will come across a leader. - N'ville - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:17 am: The Governor should form a “transition-like team”. While that might sound like an unconventional move after winning “re-election”, it’s probably something that would have served him well had he done it when he first became Governor. While not actually “transitioning”, this team could help form working alliances and coalitions to start finding some potential solutions to the problems that this state faces. It would certainly show that he’s serious about reaching out to work with differing factions…if he is. - dupage dan - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:20 am: PQ clearly hears/believes precisely what he wants to. Now, all folk do that to one degree or another. But PQ is the poster child for the “tuned in deprived”. We had our chance to “suggest” things to the governor. Anyone who voted for him who now thinks he will heed a call to reasoned thinking is about to get a lesson in PQluelessness. To answer the ?, tho - Hey, Pat, please live in Springfield. Otherwise, why have a high speed rail stop there? - Belle - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:24 am: Let the Ricketts know the boarder is open and they can move to FL. Man-up to Michael Madigan. But, don’t leave yourself open like Blago did. 10:14 maybe correct and Shelia Simon might be the man for the job. - Phineas J. Whoopee - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:24 am: Trash can the civil union bill till the state is on it’s feet. Announce a billion more in cuts or fed appropriation before trying for a tax increase. If he wants me to, I’ll find the cuts. - cassandra - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:25 am: If the most urgent problems facing the state are financial issues, then he needs to work on those first. I have no problem with civil unions, but they can wait. I am opposed to an income tax hike which will primarily be felt by the the middle class (except middle class retirees living on pension and Social Security income, of course), but I accept the fact that we all knew that going into the voting booth and Quinn won. My guess is that a lot of those soon-to-be-taxed-more folks weren’t paying attention, but maybe they will next election.Might as well give it a try–and January is probably the best time. There is no good time, given the still-uncertain economy. Leaving aside the cuts he says he’s made, it might help if Quinn could work to change the perception that he has sold out to public employee unions and that most of the new money garnered from a tax increase will go to the state employees those unions represent. Pension contributions. Really cheap state retiree health care. No-layoff clauses. Big raises for most if not all unionized state employees coming up in January (really big). Contract negotiations coming up with opportunities for even more payback for all that union help in the recent election. After all that, will there be any thing left for education from the “education tax”? - Ghost of John Brown - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:25 am: Listen to what Rich Miller said about two weeks ago and get a hard nose SOB on your staff that will tell you the truth and tell you when you are being an idiot - then listen to them. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:28 am: 1) Go outside your comfort zone, and hire a competent executive staff and let them do their job. This is against all “Pat Quinn” is about, but it would send a signal of a new day. Start with a Chief of Staff that is against your type, but well respected under the Dome. 2) Make fiscal decisions, not by “mandate” but by a plan that can be seen as a map back to recovery. You can still be “Pat Quinn”, but realize the challenges are real and you need to focus on a plan that has an end game. 3) This “Fiscal End Game Plan” is going to need legislative approval, so work with the majority leaders of both chambers to help with the tough decisions. Let MJM and Cullerton bring along the Repubs under the threat of the new map. You can be “good cop”, cullerton and MJM can be the “bad cops”. The more the 3 of you agree and then have to go alone, the more leverage to the new map you can use for bi-partisan support. 4) Be a reader of history, albeit recent history, and look at what is working in other states and see how you can incorporate some tough decisions by using examples of those tough decisions have good results. A good idea doesn’t need to be something only the Quinn Administration can think of, sometimes the wheel doesn’t need to be re-invented. 5) Do not bail out the Cubs. As a Cubs fan this pains me that the Ricketts are horrible owners, but by denying the Ricketts, you are setting the tone. The Cubs, unlike the Sox, can’t go anywhere. You buy something for over 3/4 of a Billion Dollars, good luck with that! 6) Get some upstate and downstate leaders onboard to your plan, showing that Illinois, and not upstate or downstate, have all the negatives in your fiscal plan. Being a lone wolf right now ain’t going to help push anything, be it good or bad. 7) Take some time, and speak from knowledge, and not from … the cuff. Look prepared, sound prepared, be even-keel. From now on, as the “elected” Governor Quinn, there is some juice with that, not a mandate, but juice. Look the part, sound the part, be the governor. Rambling in you State of the State, or Budget Address makes no one confident on anything, let alone a mandate. Ok, that’s enough … good luck! Illinois needs help, and its up to you to bring us all togethter. - wordslinger - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:30 am: Well, if he doesn’t get things done, he’s weak. But he’s not alone. The GA has a constitutional obligation to advance the ball on the budget and unpaid bills. If they don’t, then they’re weak, too. The GA can pass anything they want, and Quinn likely will have to take whatever he gets. The ball is in their court. - BigTwich - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:32 am: DE GUICHE: Have you read Don Quixote? CYRANO: I have! And I take off my hat to that mad knight! - Montrose - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:32 am: I actually agree with Ghost of John Brown. I love Michelle Saddler, but Quinn needs someone that will challenge him more forcefully (and Quinn needs to listen to him or her). Having Rauschenberger on his staff is not the worst idea I have heard. - MOON - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:34 am: They say you cannot catch a fish if he does not open his mouth. In other words quit being so quick to express an opinion until you have thought it thru. Recognize the fact they you are only one branch of government. You need to discuss your plans/ideas with the legislative leaders before expressing an opinion. Remember, they are an equal branch of government and hold the balance in getting anything passed thats on your agenda. Above all recognize that the State is in dire financial straits and it will take time to work are way out of this mess. - Champaign Dweller - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:34 am: Clean house of all Blago appointees. - 47th Ward - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:34 am: Schedule a sit-down with Madigan and Cullerton asap. Lay out your agenda in private and find out which parts might have some support in either caucus, and which parts don’t. Start there, and advance those parts of your agenda that have some support. Next, either abandon the other parts of your agenda that lack legislative support, or go out and line up the votes you’ll need. Try to do that without alienating the leaders. Try to do all of that without bold public pronouncements that make you look foolish. Getting some parts of your agenda passed, whatever they might be, is where your focus should be, not on an all or nothing approach. Get a couple of wins under your belt and build on that. It ain’t rocket science. You need 60 votes in the House and 30 in the Senate. Negotiate with the leaders to advance those areas where your agenda overlaps with theirs. Again, it’s not complicated unless you continue to negotiate in the media. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:48 am: You ran as the “jobs governor.” Come up with a plan to create some jobs. But first make sure it can pass both chambers and actually creates jobs. You’ve made the same mistake as Obama. If you run on jobs as your first priority, then make it your first priority, for crying out loud. - Yes - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:50 am: Fire a whole lot of people immediately. - Vote Quimby! - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:52 am: Your GA party colleagues are a little nervous. Encourage them to jump aboard one of your causes that has widespread support–alternative energy, high-speed rail, whatever…they are not as certain as you about the “mandate” you say you earned. - Fan of Cap Fax - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:53 am: Go back and read the comments on Rich’s question of the day…What ? would you ask PQ? I think that was it. The comments were excellent, he really needs to take them to heart. Print those out and carry them in your pocket to remind yourself of who you are “suppose” to be. Print the comments prior to mine and memorize them as well. - "Old Timer Dem" - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:54 am: Good point Rich. Real Estate and Retail sales can not improve without increased employment. State tax revenue will remain dormant until Illinois residents go back to work. If jobs is not a priority for Quinn, then he can forget any thoughts of a 2nd term. - Ghost - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 11:02 am: Blaggo lead by press conference as well. My advice forthe Governor…. change! your nat railing against those in power anymore, you are in power. Start forging support and line up your ducks first; dont run to the press and hope people will fall in behind you after. Shift from your mode ofbeing the minority opposition, your strategy is fail. - Plutocrat03 - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 11:03 am: Isn’t it typical for a governmental entity to use the techniques of misdirection to mask its faults? Bills are unpaid, money is lost, graft, inefficiencies continue, the truly needy are neglected, but we are going to focus on civil unions? As succinctly put here, over the years……look here’s another kitty….. - BIG R. PH. - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 11:18 am: Give the taxpayers what they voted for…a tax increase. Drive this sucker into the ground and show everyone that once and for all tax and spend doesn’t work!! - Conservative Veteran - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 11:20 am: I hope that Gov. Quinn will persuade the house to pass SB 600 and that he’ll sign it, this month. More Republicans would approve of him, if he does this. - Phineas J. Whoopee - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 11:24 am: Um Rich, I believe Quinn’s slogun was “The Jobs Governor” but if you read the small print it said, “but only after we let men marry men” - Anonymous - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 11:32 am: Tax eaters are far more favorable to a tax increase than their more diet conscious fellow citizens. 53% of voters voted for someone else, implying they were voting against a tax increase. That would also appear to be a “mandate.” - Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 11:33 am: 1. Announce that you want to have a bipartisan cabinet. Tell folks you read on CapitolFax that alot of folks Rep. Jim Sacia, Sen. John Millner, former State Rep. Susie Bassi and former State Rep. Beth Coulson would be welcome additions. 2. Don’t give up on civil unions, no matter what Rich says. But remember this is still Greg Harris’ bill. A quote like this would be great: “Alot of lawmakers have said privately that they want to vote Yes, but their district doesn’t support it. I think we should make sure they get their wish when it comes to redistricting.” 3. Hire as many former Madigan, Phil Rock and Cullerton folks as you can into your legislative team. 4. Stop saying “mandate.” In fact, do the opposite. Call it the divisive election it was but then call on folks to put the election behind them and unite for the common good and Illinois’ future. 5. Stop saying “tax increase.” Start saying “Responsible budget.” 6. Start every staff and cabinet meeting by going around the table and having each person tell you something you’re doing wrong and you can do better. 7. I’ve said this fifty times before, but add a Suggestion Box to the State’s home page. Have an actual person responsible for reading, replying and recommending changes. 8. Spend the next 100 days visiting counties you lost. 9. Sit down with Madigan, Cullerton, Durbin, Alan Pirtle and Billy Halstead and come up with a plan you can all agree on to strengthen the Democratic Party. 10. Put closing corporate tax loopholes on the table if you want to pass a responsible budget. - GA Watcher - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 11:42 am: Create two bi-partisan committees of business and state and local government leaders. Both committeess should be charged with coming up with specific recommendations that could be presented to the General Assembly in the Spring 2011 Session. One committee would look at a comprehensive restructuring state government. The second would work on a comprehensive reform of the state’s tax structure. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 11:43 am: Phineas - 11. Make civil unions about jobs. “You know, I’m wishing everyone good luck with their marriages, and I hope that California’s economy is booming because everyone is going to come here and get married.” - Arnold Schwarzenegger, San Francisco, May, 2008 Same sex marriages would add $1 billion per year to wedding industry. - Congressional Budgeting Office, 2004 - Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 11:46 am: GA Watcher - It would be a mistake to divide the responsibility of passing a responsible budget into spending reform and tax reform. Republicans will support all of the former and none of the latter, as they’ve done in the past. YDD - zatoichi - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 11:52 am: Shut up in public and when you have to talk with the press stay on point. Get the GA leaders (R&D) together in a private meeting (no press, no announcement, brats at the Mansion?)and work out some common points. Focus on budget, bills, debt, financing. Madigan already had statements about the need to pay bills. That’s a starting point. As others have said let the Civil Union stuff slide for right now. Dump at least 50 Blago appointees every 30 days for 3 months. The others will start to get the message. Quietly visit the human service trades when they have association meetings and talk with providers about payments and alternatives. Get a basic 3-4 point agenda out to the press than can really be done and has been agreed to behind the scene by all the important players. - Ghost - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 11:56 am: === at a comprehensive restructuring state government..=== Blago did this. e paidmillions to consultants etc. We now have CMS, shared services centers and so forth. However the current GA undid a number of consolidations Blago performed. Each one increased slaries and costs to the State by breaking off small agencies and ading in duplicate positions. Dept of Ins, Gaming, Racing etc all increased their cocts by seperating off. I am now fan of Blago, but he already layed a lot of groundwork for restructuring, folks just need to go look at it. - Wally - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 12:00 pm: Quinn said civil unions would help the economy. That IS his jobs plan! It’s gonna be a loooooooong 4 years! - Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 12:15 pm: Wally - Don’t laugh. The Congressional Budgeting Office estimated that providing marriage equality nationwide would add $1 billion in spending to the national economy. The fewer states that do it, the more the individual benefit to that particular state. Here’s a great line: “Conservatives are always saying we need to run government more like a business. Well, over half of the Fortune 500 Companies provide equal benefits for same sex couples.” - Jaded - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 12:19 pm: Go away…and take Sheila with you. I’ll take my chances with Lisa. - Pot calling kettle - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 12:19 pm: Appoint a transition team to develop a real leadership structure. Now is the time to decide who to keep and who to get rid of. No one loses faces when the transition team shapes the new administration and recommends moving on with respect to appointees who do not meet the needs of the new administration. The team would be headed by Sheila Simon and Jim Edgar. Pick some strong advisers and listen to them. Insist on a tax increase and sign no bills until it passes. Push for the bill that already passed the Senate to pass the house in early January. Frame it as “unfinished business” that the outgoing legislature has an obligation to pass. Outline the drastic cuts that have already been made over the last two years. “The cuts have been made, the state is hurting, it’s time to pay for the services we expect to receive.” Highlight the maintenance backlogs, the danger of understaffed corrections facilities, and the importance of maintaining our educational system (K thru higher ed). Stay focused. - Cincinnatus - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 12:45 pm: Not quite, YDD, The $1B a year is a result of increased revenue described by CBO is a result of marriage and estate taxes. It is questionable whether or not there would be direct economic benefits to gay marriage over and above the money already being spent on commitment ceremonies by gay couple. There may be some small economic benefit as a result of Illinois being unique among states in its recognition of gay marriage, but that advantage would decrease as more states accept the trend. So you can argue that moral, ethical and constitutional issues, but please don’t add economic issues into the mix, it only muddies your case. - OneMan - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 1:05 pm: Have a person (ideally more than one) who can look you in the eye and say… “Pat what the heck are you thinking” Who will ask intelligent questions about what you are proposing and talk with that person regularly before you propose stuff. - Upsate - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 1:12 pm: Finally wake up and realize that Madigan and Cullerton will screw you at every turn. Use your executive power to back up your principled positions. Don’t bounce around from position to position hoping the legislative leaders will come around. They won’t. - dupage dan - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 1:23 pm: Pat, Do something substantive to shed that sobriquet you were tagged with on this blog (I can’t remember who did it - they should get an award!) -”Meandrethal”. Think about it. Discuss it with a trusted advisor. Take their advice. Write it down. Edit it to less than 200 words. Say it. Say nothing more. - Way Way Down Here - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 1:43 pm: Get some help and start working on the state of the state speech NOW. I still remember the one from last year and I don’t want to. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 1:52 pm: Cincinnatus - If Republicans want to argue that we should be enacting gay marriage instead of civil unions, I’ll take that fight. See my earlier advice to Governor Quinn regarding judo. Gotchya! YDD - Cincinnatus - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 2:00 pm: In your reply to Wally, you conflated the two. 柔術 - jake - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 2:10 pm: Get individual legislators on your “to-phone” list, talk to them AND listen to them, and then figure out where the support is to do as much as you can of what you want to do, and how to firm up that support. It’s not rocket science. It is just old-fashioned consensus building. If you make 10 calls a day, average 6 minutes each, that is one hour a day and you will get through the entire legislature in three weeks. At that point you will have at least a rough idea of every legislator’s priorities, positions, and potential pressure points, and you can work from that. Repeat the process every two months, so you can see what is changing. In addition to getting a lot of useful information, you will get good feelings from them for listening to them, which will soften attacks on you. - JustaJoe - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 2:15 pm: Some good points by Yellow Dog Democrat, but Ghost…wrong idea about the studies…the big bucks paid by Blago to consultants on restructuring studies was just a big waste…it was just a way to do business with contributors…and instead there has been big growth in redundant patronage-laden EEO-type offices, Deputy Directors in charge of delivering mail, CMS contracts to provide oversight to other CMS contracts and so forth, all while real professional staff declines. - JustaJoe - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 2:20 pm: Advice to the Guv: Resign yourself do being a one-term guv and then quit worrying about playing to the crown and GOVERN, like a grown-up. As suggested by others, get rid of Blago appointees, get a solid bi-partisan cabinet, encourage telling truth to power and stay focused on limited key goals. - Former Merit Comp Slave - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 3:47 pm: 1. Clean house of unnecessary Blago appointees, then make it a big news item. 2. No more raises for your immediate staff, then make it a big news item. 3. Solicit budget advice from Jim Edgar’s cabinet - they did a great job of trimming the fat back in their day. Act on that advice, then make it a big news item. 4. Cut the budget big time, then go after the tax increase. In that order I think there will be much more support. I’ve been in state government 25 years, mostly in budgeting. I swear I could find you ALOT of savings. The waste I’ve witnessed for over 2 decades is embarrassing and disgusting. 5. Address budget and jobs, then worry about civil unions, etc. That’s what the majority of taxpayers are concerned about. I voted for you and wish you the best (as did my Republican hubby) - Responsa - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 4:18 pm: Hire Dan Profft as an in-house advisor, truth teller and liason to a large constituency which as their governor, too, you appear not to understand very well. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 5:07 pm: @Cincinnatus - The Catholic Church is the one conflating the two. They argue that civil unions are “practically” gay marriage. See my earlier advice to Gov. Quinn regarding judo. YDD - Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 5:18 pm: @Responsa - Funny! But just in case you weren’t joking: Dan Proft received less than 60,000 votes in the GOP primary. That’s 6,000 votes FEWER than Don Lowery got. Don who, you ask? Don Lowery, who ran against Mark Kirk in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate. Don’t get me wrong: Dan’s run for office took guts, and I admire him for his craftiness and his ideological consistency. Fortunately, he doesn’t suffer from delusions. - Just The Way It Is One - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 6:42 pm: Freeze salaries of all employees of the Governor’s Office, and all Department Directors. Urge passage of bill to expand small business owner new hiree tax credits to $10,000 per new employee to create new jobs. Announce his backing for a new ” Rebuild Illinois WPA” program to update infrastructure, build new public buildings, parks, recreational facilities, etc. to create thousands of new jobs and/or move up construction start date meeting planned with Indiana to build the ILLIANA Expressway. Initiate the expansion of a “green project” like wind energy development in rural Illinois. For the Moms, Mr. Moms, and students, immediately authorize the creation of a “HOLIDAYS Back to School Tax Holiday,” modeled on the one last August for the two weeks during all Illinois schools’ 2-Week Vacation…AND publicly proclaim himself an avid Cubs supporter (although we all know he’s a Sox fan), but due to reality of more pressing problems, that the Bond Plan is DOA; announce that the Illinois Tax Amnesty program is being automatically renewed until the day after Valentine’s Day as a “treat” to Illinois taxpayers; announce a weekly radio call-in program soon to begin called “Lunch with the Governor” once a week on Wednesday for an hour (Noon to 1 p.m.) chat for direct questions from, but more so suggestions from citizens to him to improve Illinois, each week, to be held in a different part of Illinois…and at the progaram’s end, the Guv. could proclaim some fine citizen the “Land of Lincoln Award” for the week for some good deed done, with 10 free lottery tickets to boot…oh just to name a few; even initiating or suggesting a couple of these ideas real soon might help even a little…. - Capitol View - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 9:31 pm: this is a full term, not a Blago clean-up year and a half. Go out and recruit top talent from around the state and the country to lead your agencies and staff your Governor’s Office - find your own Brad Tusk. Recognize that the Veto Session includes early January, when the necessary votes for passage go back to a simple majority. November is for agenda setting and reaching out to Republicans, including Tom Cross. Bring legislative talent into your Administration, starting with Beth Coulson. Bring Bill Foster on board as head of Higher Ed or to run your Washington Office. Don’t focus on raising the income tax as much as modernizing the entire revenue system, including more sales tax on services, collecting income tax from retirees earning over $50,000 a year, and push for a State Constitutional Amendment to make the income tax graduated. Expand casino gaming machines to race tracks, but also permit Illinois casinos to handle bets on horse races and other sports. Insist on a state jobs program and plan from your Dept. of Commerce and Economic Development (or whatever they are calling it this week)in five weeks, and if they cannot deliver, clean house over there. - wordslinger - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 9:55 pm: –…but also permit Illinois casinos to handle bets on horse races and other sports.– Sports books would be a real problem for a state with so many professional and D-1 sports teams. Although the NFL publishes injury reports and every respectable paper posts the line, the pros and NCAA are church on sports gambling in states where they operate. That’s why Nevada, Delaware, Oregon and Montana are the only states that allow it. That’s why Las Vegas — current depression notwithstanding — is the largest city with no professional sports team. - State Mope - Tuesday, Nov 16, 10 @ 10:24 pm: PQ, buy some cheap sunglasses. those eyes are scaring the taxpayers. Ghost, i hope you are being facetious about the restructurings-if not you are nuts. those restructuring programs of Blago’s set state government back a lot of years and a lot of $. Ask anyone involved-even those in the restructurings and they will tell you they weren’t working and the inefficiencies cost millions. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.