79 Comments - Anon - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 10:59 am: I always laugh at the “get rid of Chicago” stuff. Isn’t it true that Chicago provides more tax dollars and uses less per capita then downstate? So getting rid of us would put them deep in the red? - John Bambenek - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:02 am: If we push Chicago right out into the water, would they be eligible for a riverboat license if the gaming bill doesn’t pass? - Northsider - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:02 am: Dear Rep. Forby, We don’t need you more than you don’t need us. Sincerely, Northeastern Illinois - SO IL M - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:07 am: Forby was doing what he does best. Running his mouth to please the crowd. Forby supported Quinn in 2010, and he will again in 2014. Quinn knows this. Quinn also knows that Forby will have a tuff time in November, and he needs to sound like he is making a strong stand. Words have no meaning, actions do. What Lt. Clark was saying is that the closure of Tamms is due to a political agenda, and not the budget as the Gov. claims. He also laid out points to support his assertion. - Todd - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:07 am: Sounds like the war of northrern agression - collar observer - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:12 am: This is a perfect example of why people are running from civic society. I hope the folks in Forby’s district begin looking for a grownup to vote for in the future. - Brendan - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:12 am: Ironically, if not for the crimes committed and taxes paid by Chicagoland residents, Tamms and other downstate prisons probably would not even exist. - I lol'd - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:16 am: ^^ Truest statement of the day. - Deep South - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:19 am: As a long time resident of the “Deep South,” I cringe every time I hear someone pull out the “get rid of Chicago” argument. Its just so stupid, and it makes our cousins to the north just laugh out loud at us. Then to have Forby take it on, well, it is almost too much to bear. But Forby IS doing what he has to do to get re-elected. So I get it. - Cheryl44 - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:20 am: Fine. We can take our taxes and leave. - Shore - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:20 am: elections and recessions have consequences. voting for the next one starts in 70 days. you have a chance then to make your voice heard. Until then, tough. - fan of cap fax - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:21 am: My heart goes out to Southern Illinois. Many people will lose jobs, stores will close, people will move away. It’s just sad all the way around. - Pot calling kettle - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:23 am: ==If Quinn is using politics to target those facilities for closure, then it’s some of the most backwards politics I’ve ever seen. If politics is the reason, then why is he closing facilities in the only Downstate counties he won?== Because he’s Pat Quinn, HE’S THE GOVERNOR, and that’s how he rolls. LOL Frankly, the cuts are pretty well spread, and, since downstate has more facilities (Chicagoans don’t seem to like prisons and facilities for the mentally and physically disadvantaged), downstate feels the brunt of the cuts. If Chicago pols are to blame for anything, it’s shipping the people they don’t want on downstate. However, downstaters rarely complained about the imposition as long as it came with money and increased their census numbers. - wordslinger - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:25 am: I grew up on a farm downstate, in a small town, and consider myself the luckiest man in the world for it. Great folks made it work, from all persuasions. The constant, for most, was hard work and giving back to the community. Believe it or not, there are many of us Downstate farm folk who made lives for ourselves, thanks in no small part to the great public education we received from Illinois taxpayers. Thank you, always. Some way, some how, we did it without the benefit of working in a prison. And we think Chicago is the greatest city in the world. But there were useless haters, too. So I know a no-good, do-nothing, mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging, tax-eating, hillbilly s-for-brains when I see one. Sen. Forby, go peddle your papers, you hick. You have no game. You’re an embarrassment to every hard-working farm boy from south of I-80. - Downstate Illinois - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:27 am: We’ll keep Chicago as the Cubs are always a great way to boost the Cardinals’ relative standings. We would just like to get rid of your “left-wing wackos” as Rep. Mike Bost put it at yesterday’s news conference. Note: Soccer Mom, he was referring to you and all the other criminal cuddling types who believe a time out will replace a super max and make our state a safer place. The reps are mad because the governor’s staff lied to them during budget negotiations. They found the money in the budget and traded votes to keep it there. It’s not heated rhetoric that’s the problem in Springfield it’s the complete breakdown of any trust between the Blagojevich/Quinn administrations and the rest of the world. Quinn’s got the Democrats madder at him then the Republicans. - JoeVerdeal - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:29 am: Anon, you may laugh at the “get rid of Chicago stuff”….and under current conditions, you have a solid basis for your thoughts. Those in Southern Illinois who favor the division of Illinois are not looking so much at what conditions exist today as much as they are the conditions that could exist if Southern Illinois was able to assume a more culturally appropriate government with laws to match. If Southern Illinois was able to function as a Right-To-Work state…..for instance. Would it be more attractive to employers? Probably. There are many other areas (Workmens’ Compensation, tax structure issues, social & religious differences, unionism, etc.) where Cook County and adjacent districts have become so very different from Chicago and the collar counties. The greatest burden that Chicago places upon us, however, is the undeniable reputation that Cook County has as a cradle of corruption and scandal. For that reason alone, Chicago should stand away from the rest of the State. There is no doubt that Southern Illinois is currently in a weak condition and that it has its own shortcomings. At the same time, it would be very likely to function with much greater success if it were free to establish its own ways to provide for proper governance of its own society and economy. If Chicago were free of the influence of the downstate counties, it would also be more free and more able to make itself what it has been unable to be, otherwise. That would be fun to watch….!! - JoeVerdeal - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:34 am: —-”If Southern Illinois was able to function as a Right-To-Work state…..for instance. Would it be more attractive to employers? Probably. There are many other areas (Workmens’ Compensation, tax structure issues, social & religious differences, unionism, etc.) where Cook County and adjacent districts have become so very different from Chicago and the collar counties.”—- Different from Southern Illinois, that is….. :-) Proof-reading!! - Rich Miller - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:36 am: ===undeniable reputation that Cook County has as a cradle of corruption and scandal=== Yeah, because nobody ever heard of any southern Illinois scandal. C’mon, man. Enough with the finger-pointing from both sides. We are stuck with each other. And that should be a good thing. - vole - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:37 am: Legalize pot and the Dollar General parking lot in Benton will be full of Volvos. - 47th Ward - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:43 am: ===That would be fun to watch….!!=== What would be fun to watch is how Southern Illinois would pay for its roads without us giving you our gasoline tax money. Good luck with that. - are you serious? - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:45 am: So I guess no matter how many times we explain the division of money in the state to folks downstate they will never change their mind. Really sad. Let’t start with Forby, Phelps and the rest and their complete denial that the prisons they live off, use their census counts for, and apply for federal grants and state funds based on numbers that include their prison populations are possible because of people who commit crimes in the most populated part of the state. When those people are released, they don’t stay downstate, they go back to the communities they came from even though no resources follow them back there. Ironic, huh? So they suck up state tax dollars largerely generated by where the people are, yell about cuts, and then go ballistic when the cuts affect them. Some of the poorest kids in public schools are downstate, but no screaming about education funding….just save our prisons. Amazing. News flash: we are the state of Illinois. All of us. We sink or swim together. - Brendan - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:48 am: @JoeVerdeal: if “Southern Illinois was able to assume a more culturally appropriate government with laws to match” … then we’d have a return to Jim Crow. - Anonymous - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:53 am: “If Quinn is using politics to target those facilities for closure, then it’s some of the most backwards politics I’ve ever seen.” But we are talking about Quinn here, right? - wordslinger - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:55 am: –We would just like to get rid of your “left-wing wackos” as Rep. Mike Bost put it at yesterday’s news conference. Note: Soccer Mom, he was referring to you and all the other criminal cuddling types who believe a time out will replace a super max and make our state a safer place.– Is that your goal, cousin, to make the state a safer place? Or do you just want a state paycheck and not have to hustle in the private sector like most of us do? Yes, by all means, Mike Bost said it best, as he always does. “I feel like I’m trying to be released from Egypt. Let my people go.” That’s the best. There’s no “criminal cuddling” up north, not by Soccermom or anyone else. (By the way, Soccermom is out there making a living in the private sector; how about you)? Maybe some of you Big Brains down south should try to figure out a way to support yourselves that doesn’t involve a state paycheck. You know, produce something that someone else will pay for. Lots of us up north do it everyday. It’s a way of life. You get used to it. If you can’t figure out a way to make a living without a state paycheck or prison, let’s just call it a day and put you on welfare. You’re not paying for anything, anyway. - train111 - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:57 am: So if Forby wants to break away from Chicago, does that mean we will see him deny campaign money and assistance from John Cullerton and the evil Chicago based Democratic Senate Victory Fund? What was it–something around $2 mil between both candidates to keep his posterior in office last time round. Wont be any cheaper this go round either. He will need the $$$ from the same people he’s running out of town on a rail now. train111 - reformer - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 12:05 pm: I don’t recall any Chicago-area pol ever making a similar comment about kicking southern Illinois out of the state. Can anyone else? If not, could it be because there’s a stronger regional bias downstate than there is in Chicago? - Bill - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 12:08 pm: Train Gary probably has Cullerton’s guy writing those speeches. It is all show business. Forby just doesn’t realize yet that he’s the butt of the joke. HEE HAW! - wordslinger - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 12:10 pm: –The greatest burden that Chicago places upon us, however, is the undeniable reputation that Cook County has as a cradle of corruption and scandal. For that reason alone, Chicago should stand away from the rest of the State.– Really? How does that work? Are sheiks and kings holding back their investments in Little Egypt because of Chicago? What exactly are you talking about? Without Chicago, I’m sure you life-long victims would all be millionaires due to your big brains and work ethic. As far as corruption goes, talk amongst yourselves in the Paul Powell, Ken Gray, Bill Cellini Hall of Heroes. You guys are an embarrassment to this old farm boy. Your victim-complex is hard to even look at. If Kentucky will take you, no one will stand in your way. Until then, we’ll keep sending the checks. I’m sure you’ll cash them. - Louis Howe - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 12:12 pm: It’s a sad commentary on downstate leadership that prisons are now “rice bowls” for many communities. Downstate would be Iowa without Chicago, perhaps not a bad trade off, but it’s never going to happen. On balance, we downstaters benefit financially from Chicago, but I understand Sen. Forby’s frustrations on being treated like poor relations by Quinn and the Chicago boys. Quinn continues to operate Stateville which is a big money loser, and staffed with the most inefficient workforce of all IDOC’s facilities. It’s a no brainer to close, but Quinn’s Chicago political ties won’t stand for it. - Bigtwich - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 12:13 pm: if “Southern Illinois was able to assume a more culturally appropriate government — Kent Keller, Kenny Gray, Glenn Poshard, Paul Simon. I could live with that but then we would also get John Stelle, Clyde Choate and “ugly contractor”. Sigh. - A Rootin' and A Tootin' - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 12:14 pm: Hayseed. - Anonymous - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 12:34 pm: Serves them right, they voted for him. They asked for it and they got it and it sure ain’t no toyota - wordslinger - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 12:44 pm: –”Southern Illinois was able to assume a more culturally appropriate government with laws to match” ..– What a fascinating phrase. I don’t know what it means, but it’s very intriguing. Please expound on your “culturally appropriate government with laws to match.” Apparently, you have some “improvements” you’d like to make on the United States in 2012. Don’t hide your light under a bushel, cousin. Lay it on us. - reformer - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 1:04 pm: Let me help my brethren with some suggestions about what kind of government a new state of Forbyville would have: * Downstate is the only part of IL that gets back from the state more spending than it sends in taxes. Consequently, a new state would need a new revenue source since it couldn’t rely upon subsidies from suburban taxpayers anymore. Forbyville would certainly have these policies: * Concealed carry and not FOID card * Death penalty with expedited appeals * No civil unions * No abortion clinics * No medical marijuana * Low hunting license fees - too obvious - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 1:06 pm: Disgraceful. Between Forby and Bost, everyone is sick of these whiny hicks. They can’t lead so instead they appeal to the lowest common demoninator and worst instincts of their constituents. Forby, Bost, et al., you’re all an embarrassment to yourselves and to all the good people downstate. Resign if you don’t want to do your jobs. Let’s get someone who can. - Give Me A Break - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 1:08 pm: And you can bet, all the Good Ole Boys and Girls down there will be in line in November to vote for the GOP and their “smaller govt”. Reminds of Rep. Poe, Mr. Sangamon County GOP member on the radio screaming about waste and abuse and needing smaller govt. and the next day raising heck about the state not funding the HS Rodeo. Why is it so hard for these people to understand that smaller govt. means less govt which means less state workers. - ZC - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 1:20 pm: May get to see this show taken on the national road, if the GOP takes over everything in 2012 and then actually starts proposing serious budget cuts. Could be a lot of angry Tea Party seniors out there soon. - LilLebowski - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 1:23 pm: Forby’s comments are ignorant and reprehensible, but Phelp’s belly laugh in the background is more upsetting. The Phelps family has a long history with Pat Quinn (Brendan actually worked for State Treasuer Quinn) and now they whack him for the sake of political expendiency. Going to war with the Governor from your party is not a great idea, no matter how unpopular he is in your district. He has stuff that your going to want. With the exception of a very few people, you will always need him more than he needs you. Also, to the Cap Fax edition this morning… I was at the Public Safety committee hearing (and most appropriation hearings) and no one from the administration ever said that they would keep the facilities opened. Or anything close to it. - ironman - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 1:38 pm: Forby is the butt of the joke and Chicago is a joke, Quinn is a joke. …That makes the state is a joke.. way to go Democrats..screw with peoples lives… - Give Me A Break - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 1:42 pm: Ironman: Did it take you long to come up with that? - Shore - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 1:47 pm: “We are stuck with each other.” I don’t think most people in chicago wake up every morning thinking about how carbondale is screwing them. - hisgirlfriday - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 1:51 pm: @reformer: No Chicago-area pol talks about kicking Southern Illinois out of the state because they typically have no reason to remember Southern Illinois as a part of the state to begin with. - not applicable - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 1:53 pm: - Give Me A Break - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 1:42 pm: Ironman: Did it take you long to come up with that? —BLAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHA - lincoln's beard - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 1:56 pm: “Skin me, Brer Forby, said Brer Chicago, he said, “Snatch out my eyeballs, tear out my hairs by the roots, and cut off my legs,” he said, “but please, Brer Forby, don’t fling me in that brier-patch,” he said. - SO IL M - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 1:58 pm: One thing that makes this site great is that even a Southern Illinois Conservative and a Chicag Liberal can find something they agree on. Forby is an emberassment. I have just one thing to say to all the Libs bashing poor old Gary—-He is one of yours. The get rid of Chicago point is a sure way to lower any arguement, and open yourself up for ridicule. Stick to the facts and stay away from personal attacks, even if those attacks make people laugh, is a much better way to win arguements - not applicable - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 1:58 pm: Like I’ve said before. It would be an honor to detach from the rest of the state. An honor! - soccermom - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 1:59 pm: Hey, Word — thanks for the kind shout-out. And let me say that, having been the victim of a violent crime and having lost a beloved friend to murder, I am no friend of criminals. I just don’t think Tamms is the way to go. - SO IL M - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 1:59 pm: mis-typing embarrasment is another way to open yourself up for ridicule. - hisgirlfriday - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 2:03 pm: @Shore: Southern Illinoisans really wake up each day thinking how Chicago is screwing them? Maybe that’s why Southern Illinois is the region that does the worst in this state. Their leaders spend all their time pointing fingers and demagoguing social issues and whining about how things used to be rather than coming up with actual plans to compete economically. Because it’s certainly not Chicago’s fault that the second half of the 19th century and the entire 20th century happened and Southern Illinois didn’t bother to keep up with that. - mark walker - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 2:09 pm: Relax, people, relax. Many local politicians shoot their mouths off to appeal to the worst emotions their audiences every day. We hear similar stupid and divisive language on other subjects all around Northeast Illinois. It has nothing to do with reason, or being from downstate or Chicagoland. It’s just bad theater. - soccermom - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 2:14 pm: And let me say once again - I was born in Rockford, went to school in Champaign and have lived in Chicago and Oak Park. I’m an Illinois girl through. I love this state — all of it. I don’t understand why we keep having this pointless conversation. We’re all in this together, whether we like it or not. So let’s learn to like it. - soccermom - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 2:15 pm: Oops — grew up in Rockford (my mother made an unfortunate wrong turn previous to my birth, but the problem was soon corrected.) - He Makes Ryan Look Like a Saint - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 2:37 pm: Senator Forby needs to be careful, we could pawn them off to Kentucky in a heartbeat! (Just Kidding) - Yellow Dog Democrat - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 2:39 pm: 1. At $25.3 million a year for 275 jobs, Tamms just might be one of the most expensive job creation programs in the State. 2. DCCA issued a report in 1999 that laid out a plan to create 1600 jobs in Southern Illinois and actually GENERATE $30 million a year in economic growth. It should be re-examined. 3. My advice to Forby: no need to bash Chicago. Just remind everyone you’re a die hard Cardinals fan. Wear your Cards cap everywhere — EVERYWHERE — and begin every speech by talking baseball. 4. Focus on YOUR jobs plan. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 2:45 pm: BTW, I’m betting that the votes in favor of the cigarette tax hike had much more to do with pressure from the doctors and the hospitals than they did any hopes of staying facility closures. The cigarette tax was ALWAYS linked to Medicaid, and never to Dept. of Corrections. If lawmakers want to propose a revenue stream to keep corrections facilities open, I recommend alcohol taxes. Throw in some drug treatment money there and you can probably get more than enough votes. Speaking of which, the facility closures could REALLY mess up the pension vote. - Southern Peggy R - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 3:05 pm: i don’t care about maintaining state jobs in general. the point is to serve the public needs throughout the state efficiently, and not every need can be met. that said, how many state jobs are being eliminated in SPFLD or Chi? there’s a good deal of rural poverty in So-il. haven’t studied causes myself. the Chi-’downstate’ cultural gap & distrust are pretty great it appears. too bad. - Irishpirate - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 3:12 pm: Without the Chicago area much of downstate Illinois would resemble Kentucky. Only parts of Western Illinois might resemble our Iowa neighbors. Iowa is largely a decent place to live. Kentucky is motorized wheelchairs, meth, and the Tea Party. As for the phrase “culturally appropriate government” legalizing sibling marriage may make some downstaters happy as long as the siblings aren’t the same gender. Remember in Little Egypt you can marry your sibling, as long as ya ain’t gay. - are you serious? - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 3:19 pm: “May get to see this show taken on the national road, if the GOP takes over everything in 2012 and then actually starts proposing serious budget cuts. Could be a lot of angry Tea Party seniors out there soon.” Nope…if Republicans win, they’ll vote for a graduated income tax, they’ll raise fees and restructure the debt exactly like President Reagan, President Bush, and Govs. Thompson, Edgar and Ryan. You don’t vote for a “tea party”, you vote for a Republican. And Republicans will fix this mess if they get in charge because they won’t have a choice and they know it. And then the Tribune will call them responsible because the Democrats messed it up so bad that they had no choice. - Rusty - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 3:35 pm: How many of you folks that are posting here have ever been to southern Illinois (and it’s not spelled with a capital “s” unless it is it’s own state!)…I don’t mean “downstate” like Bloomington or Champaign, but south of Effingham. You see the farms that grow the food you eat. You see factories that build parts for the cars you drive. You see parks that provide recreation. I believe a “Southern Illinois” could survive. Let the corrupt Chicago politicians run Northern Illinois and steal everybody’s money. I bet “Southern Illinois” could even get a baseball team that could win a World Series! - Brendan - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 3:41 pm: I’d say this is a healthy example of ‘civil service’ in Little Egypt. Clip Part 1 http://www.metacafe.com/watch/an-3Lda47m7nhbJmm/casino_1995_request_and_threat/ Clip Part 2 http://www.metacafe.com/watch/an-3Lda4YJ7nhbmm2/casino_1995_request_and_threat_part_2/ - reformer - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 3:57 pm: Mark W It’s true that pols from all over make stupid statements. Have you ever heard a Chicago-area pol express the hostility to southern IL that Forby and company express for Chicago? I haven’t. - chuddery - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 4:41 pm: @Rusty I’ll bet a Southern Illinois could survive. You’d be just like all of those other rock-ribbed bastions of conservatism in the West and South that survive through the receipt of massive federal subsidies. - thunder - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 4:46 pm: I agree, Chicago should be out of IL. Let the rest of the state run on its own without Chicago. True, less tax dollars but also comes with it, much less control by population such as Chicago. I don’t care how many ppl don’t like it, thats my opinion. And yes, I have heard of the politican from Chicago that said and I quote “Why are we spending so much tax dollars on roads that go no where in Southern Illinois”. Thats a insult as we pay taxes just like every other Illinoisan does. I think Chicago has to many politicans up there. I think they need to cut some of them out. Then of course cut all the luxuries that the media posts about how much they spend on coffee, for example!!! Yet, the gov closes to prisons that are newer than most prisons in the state. Whats up with that? Doesn’t look like there is much intelligences being used there. - Rich Miller - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 5:26 pm: ===Then of course cut all the luxuries that the media posts about how much they spend on coffee, for example!!! === Nine bucks a month per legislator, when the coffee is consumed by hundreds of others is a luxury? Sheesh, man, how much does coffee cost where you’re from? - wordslinger - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 6:18 pm: Thunder, after reading your post, I’m filled with shame that the Illinois public education system failed you so badly. Stay strong. - wordslinger - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 7:55 pm: –I love this state — all of it. I don’t understand why we keep having this pointless conversation. We’re all in this together, whether we like it or not. So let’s learn to like it. – I’m with you, and I usually ignore the junk like Forby is spouting, but I have a tipping point and once that happens it’s katie-bar-the-door. I won’t take that stuff from anyone. To borrow from Otter: “They can’t treat our pledges like that. Only we can treat our pledges like that.” It’s the same deal when Mini-Mitch, Gordo Christie and Walker Cheesehead Ranger diss Illinois. It seem to me that a lot of folk up north here were raising hell and writing checks when our cousins in Missouri wanted to flood Cairo to save a couple of rich dudes’ bean fields. And thanks to Rich, a lot of checks were written when the Wabash flooded in eastern Illinois a couple of years back. For the record, I was born at St. Anthony’s in Rockford, lived for a little bit on Parmalee Street there, grew up on a farm in DeKalb, went to NIU and Sangamon State and lived in Rock Island and Springfield before settling in Oak Park and working in Chicago and the suburbs. As far as Southern Illinois goes, I love it. The Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Go there after a big rain and the waterfalls cascade and the wildflowers bloom. But you can stick that anti-Chicago stuff. I live, work, and raise a family here. Don’t go there if you want my attention and help. - reformedformerlibertarian - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 8:49 pm: Certainly there is an economic argument for splitting Chicagoland from the rest of Illinois, not just Chicago or Cook County, from the rest of the state. From The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley: When an area’s workforce has unusually high productivity, it increases incomes for those who export their labor to other areas, which spreads around the local economy, increasing the income of many & causing the area to have a higher cost of living. This is the economic reality Chicagoland lives under with its high worker productivity. From things I’ve read elsewhere: East Germany after reunification suddenly found itself with much higher wages than its producitivity could justify. The result is jobs left, people left, and today there are half as many jobs in the former East Germany as there was at the time of reunification. Upstate New York has suffered similarly from regulations resulting from sharing a state with NYC without the high NYC productivity to justify it. While Upstate New Yorkers certainly have more room to complain, Downstate Illinois also deals with much lower worker productivity than Chicagoland, but the same regulatory environment in many ways. If the state split, downstate could set itself a regulatory environment more in line with what it can justify. - wishbone - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 10:09 pm: “Downstate would be Iowa without Chicago..” Actually Iowa is full of smart people. In many ways it is more like Chicago than downstate. - Heathcare Reform Stuffed Your Pocket - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 10:25 pm: Thanks, for all your support Gov. Quinn for all we gave you. We appreciate the return invest ment. Please, let us know in the future we can count on you to do the samethings. In future so we know where to pledge our support. Thanksagain - reformer - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 10:39 pm: thunder == Thats a insult as we pay taxes just like every other Illinoisan does.== Suburban motorists pay lots of gas taxes while idling in rush hour traffic. Then we also pay tolls. When downstate gets any tollways, then you can complain. - Just Me - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:21 pm: reformer — downstate doesn’t have a transit system that takes 2 million cars off the road every day. Just sayin’ - Just Me - Thursday, Jun 21, 12 @ 11:23 pm: Southern Illinois (or downstate Illinois for some) has always hated Chicagoans; Chicagoans have always hated southern Illinois (or downstate Illinois for some). That feeling goes all the way back to the Civil War. I don’t see it changing anytime soon. - Little Egypt - Friday, Jun 22, 12 @ 12:44 am: I’ve just logged on and have not read all of the comments so what I’m going to say may have already been said. Gary Forby, you speak with an uneducated forked tongue. Before you disconnect from Chicago, perhaps you should tally up the campaign money you took from Madigan, which helped you buy the last election. Without that money, your campaign ads would have shown you in your true form and you wouldn’t have stood a chance of winning. - Louis Howe - Friday, Jun 22, 12 @ 3:39 am: Actually, Wishbone….Walk through a downstate Illinois prison and you get a clear idea that 80% of our prison population is from Chicago. Chicago creates the mess and downstate gets to the privilege of holding the can. The City of Chicago is less than 30% of the state population, but the Chicago Boys run the state and it’s a mess that many of us are tired of cleaning up. - SO IL M - Friday, Jun 22, 12 @ 7:19 am: As I sip my coffee and look back on all these posts, I see this arguement in a different light. Oh dont get me wrong I still think Forby is an embarassment to Southern Illinois, and his comments were really stupid. But, look what those comments did, they distracted everyone from the real issues. so in one sense they did what they were intended to do. Any seasoned Politician from either party knows how to perfect the art of getting people to keep their eye on the right hand, and ignore the what the left hand is up to. Forby accomplished this. Anytime someone brings up the idiotic idea of seperating this State it shows they are out of ideas to support their stance. I remember a year ago when we were devastated by flooding and the help and support we got from the Northern part of the State was overwheliming, needed and greatly appreciated. A few monthes ago when Harrisburg was devastated by a tornado, our neighbors to the north were in line to help before the dust even settled. And this site was instrumental in both of those efforts. We may not agree on a lot of issues, but guess what; we dont have to. As long as Politicians can divide us like this, we wont stand together on the issues where we can find common ground, and fix the problems we have. And as long as people use the divide the state point, they will not be able to convince anyone to change their mind on issues we argue about. We are one State, we will always be one State, pick a better arguement. - Roger Sanders - Friday, Jun 22, 12 @ 8:35 am: One Term Quinn is dumb as a post, that’s why he is so politically stupid. I grew up in southern Illinois, not far from Benton. Illinois has served me well as an educator and citizen whose family helped settle this state. I’m ashamed of our political leaders, including OTQ (One Term Quinn). I say give the h— Sen. Forby. - wordslinger - Friday, Jun 22, 12 @ 8:45 am: –One Term Quinn is dumb as a post, that’s why he is so politically stupid. I grew up in southern Illinois, not far from Benton. Illinois has served me well as an educator and citizen whose family helped settle this state.– An educator, eh? What did you teach — English composition? - Endangered Moderate Species - Friday, Jun 22, 12 @ 10:24 am: Talk of dividing the state is pointless as an actual action. Both sides of the argument have folks who do not have a good understanding of their cousins to the north and to the south. The discussion serves to divide us and this is where pols like Forby are allowed to make hay. - Little Egypt - Friday, Jun 22, 12 @ 11:44 am: Forby accomplished nothing except to show his ignorance to a larger audience. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.