56 Comments - Wensicia - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 4:11 pm: It’s so on, and it’s gonna get uglier as time goes on. - MrJM - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 4:13 pm: I’ve gotten to the point where I no longer enjoy these zingers. It’s like watching a medical drama where the brilliant doctors trade one-liners as the patients slowly die. – MrJM - wordslinger - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 4:13 pm: Somebody had pretty sweet vacation plans. - 47th Ward - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 4:15 pm: I like Steve and he does a good job for the Speaker. Did the Sun-Times ask him if Madigan has spoken recently with the Governor about pension reform and what specifics were discussed? What are the next steps the Speaker plans to take to address this issue? To me, the responses to those questions are more interesting than cracking wise about the Governor’s less-than-helpful Special Session request and Blago comparisons. Don’t get me wrong, the Quinn jokes are comedy gold if that’s what you’re into. It just doesn’t advance the ball much. - Deck Chairs on the Titanic - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 4:16 pm: Any voter who signs a petition for any incumbent ought to have their head examined. This situation is simply disgraceful. - Out Here In The Middle - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 4:18 pm: “It’s like watching a medical drama where the brilliant doctors trade one-liners as the patients slowly die.” Great analogy, MrJM! Part of the problem is that everyone involved is more concerned about their one-liner showing up on the evening news than they are about working toward a solution. - Stones - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 4:22 pm: Sounds like flat-out thermonuclear war. - Small Town Liberal - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 4:23 pm: Meh, I doubt the Governor loses any sleep over the comments. If Madigan is unwilling to work toward a compromise, he’s as much to blame as anyone else. - Spliff - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 4:30 pm: The special session means they all get paid. Bring in the senate republicans to announce how much a one day special session will cost the state in addition to how much a day the pensions cost. And for once this session the senate republicans will be correct! - minion - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 4:35 pm: 47th Ward, come on, Steve wouldn’t have answered those questions straight up nor should he. We’ve already heard their line. The House passed what Himself thinks is the best bill and he’s not going to call Cullerton’s bill because he is all powerful. Who cares if a vast majority of the chamber will vote for it. That would be Democracy. It’s all about Himself. He will wait until Cullerton caves in because nothing else is more important than ultimate power. - RNUG - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 4:40 pm: Better make sure the A/C is working properly in the Capitol … they’re going to need it! - Amalia - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 4:47 pm: raise your hand if you are sick of this nonsense from the House. - wordslinger - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 4:53 pm: It seems to me that MJM wanted to stick it to the unions for some past slights, real or perceived, and was honked that Cullerton negotiated with them. He thought he could roll Cullerton, the former Robin to his Batman, with a take-or-leave-it proposition. He was wrong. The way out would be some face-saving alteration to the Cullerton bill. Nothing major, but maybe a stick-in-the-eye to Henry Bayer. There’s no reason not to have a House vote on the Cullerton bill. It will get everybody out of town. SB1 did not come down from Mt. Sinai. It’s not like there will never be pension legislation again. - Just Me - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 5:04 pm: I seem to remember after either the State of the State or the budget address, when Quinn threatened a special session, Madigan saying that may be an appropriate response if in fact there is no action. Wish I could find that footage. - Ipone lens cap - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 5:11 pm: The game is getting old. Steve isn’t funny. The act is tiring and childish. Will be nice when adults run the place. - railrat - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 5:12 pm: can Illinois “borrow” former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels for a just a short time !! puleeze this state is agonizing,a reality TV show would get cancelled with this format !!! sheesh - Just The Way It Is One - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 5:18 pm: The point is, and Brown knows it but is trying to ignore and slam the real objective–IS to hammer out a Compromise which both the House, Senate, and the Governor can live with, IN ADVANCE of the Special Session in fact, so that there WOULD be “agreement” before his all-important person is “dragged” the whole 3 1/2 hours or so back down, so that what everybody knows SHOULD have already been accomplished, a decent Pension Reform Law, GETS accomplished! The real problem and massive obstacle, here, of course, is Brown’s Boss, who would need to shrink his over-sized Ego down to maybe even close to remotely normal-size, now that the Senate firmly rejected HIS proposal as written, get over that defeat, actually ACT IN GOOD FAITH IN HARMONY WITH Cullerton and Quinn TO work-out a plausible Compromise, and proceed with it on the 19th. There are nearly 2 weeks for THAT part of it to materialize, which, again, will only HAPpen if the Speaker resolves to act in that manner–for whatever reason(s)–and one would like to believe that at least significantly in part, because the good People of Illinois have a fiscal CRISIS on their hands due to the heretofore-entrenched pension problem, which the Speaker and the Others know they CAN SOLVE, and thoroughly, if they work together and communicate honestly with each other–for the sake of their Beloved Home State–or if compromise instead renders an approach/middle-ground Bill proposal which attacks the problem in at least LARGE part, even if not altoGETHer as Pat Quinn and MJM would preFER to do…! - walkinfool - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 5:18 pm: Does anyone know where MJM is? I heard last weekend he was out of state. Is he in Turkey, or someplace like that? That might explain some things. - Formerly Known As... - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 5:23 pm: @MrJM - slow clap, sir. Very, very well said. Is this now a game to see who can drop the harshest insults in the media? Perhaps tomorrow we’ll see 5-10 stories in the SunTimes, Trib., etc. with Quinn’s spokespeople lashing back at the Speaker with deragatory comments and insulting comparisons? Because so far, the Speaker’s people are the only ones hurling really childish insults in the media. And this is supposed to somehow make the Speaker look like the mature one in the room? Not so much. - Formerly Known As... - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 5:31 pm: Cullerton looks more and more like a statesman each day. He doesn’t get sucked into the name-calling. He gives the “other side” an opportunity by calling their pension bill. He shows up at meetings others blow off even when he knows there is only the slightest hope for progress. Even when he knows Quinn is clowning around and the only positive thing out of the meeting is simply to send a message to the public - I’m here, I’m willing to work, and I’ll tolerate these chuckleheads as long as it takes. Cullerton looks even better today than he did yesterday. - wordslinger - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 5:35 pm: –can Illinois “borrow” former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels for a just a short time !!– Yeah, Mitch ran a real tight ship. Like “misplacing” $320 million in corporate tax collections for three years and claiming thousands of “new jobs created” in cornfields and abandoned factories. But if that sort of thing, and sticking it to Planned Parenthood and creating a Right-to-Work state are your sort of thing, you could probably just roll down to West LaFayette and stick the little fella right in your pocket. It would give MJM someone to look down on, for real. http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/mitch-daniels-vs-mitt-romney-6611750 http://www.wthr.com/story/12066021/reality-check-indiana-job-numbers-dont-add-up - Wensicia - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 5:52 pm: Wait ’til the Tribune editorial board piles on. They really don’t get they’re not helping with their adversarial commentary. - railrat - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 6:08 pm: slinger@5:35 and Indiana’s vs. Illinos bond rating as of today is ? - Goudie for Gov! - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 6:32 pm: ABC7 Chuck Goudie tracked him down! - railrat - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 6:38 pm: slinger@5:35 I invite you to join me! maybe as we stroll you could read Keeping The Republic ? then we could discuss that CCW would be a non issue that Indiana’s bond rating is better than the Federal govt. that Indiana has a legit capital bill for roads and bridges its more sensitive to the needs of the business community,it may have the best school choice /voucher program in the country and maybe the lowest property tax rate in the country also, as far as right to work if not mistaken a large labor union in Chicago made him “Statesman of the Year” and pumped tens of thousands of dollars into his campaigns along with “volunteers” I hear Mr. Daniels even stayed at one of the labor unions officers home while in northern Ind. kind of makes one wonder what went south??? - Dan Bureaucrat - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 6:52 pm: This isn’t funny and it isn’t helping. People are waiting for payments, making layoffs and SUFFERING while we wait for pension reform. Madigan and Brown’s smug comments are not welcome at this point. It’s time to pitch in. - Old and In The Way - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 7:05 pm: Railcat Get a clue. What is the size of Indiana’s economy? Population? Net population loss or gain? Median income? Income tax rate? Poverty level? Never mind the things that are difficult to compare such as complexity and diversity of economy. Don’t get me wrong I don’t dislike Indiana but the two states are very different and governing them is also very different. Maybe you should compare Indiana to Iowa? - RNUG Fan - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 7:35 pm: Old Percapita tax rev is very close in IL IN and IA . IL has higher ed spending but I don’t know if that is state and local….Tax rev perc is similar too and MN is way high We are closer to Texas ……its just they took the pension holidays and there are a few tight years Heck this year isn’t even tight! - MrJM - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 7:43 pm: “Percapita tax rev is very close in IL IN and IA.”[citation needed] – MrJM - Formerly Known As... - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 7:53 pm: Published October 15 2012. Numbers from 1977 - 2012. http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=513 Appears IL is below WI & MN; near IA, KS & NE; and above IN, MI, OH & MO. See what we just did there? We just talked the issue out and learned something new. Too bad the Speaker and our leaders can’t do the same, since the Speaker doesn’t use cell phones or email. Communication is a great thing. - Formerly Known As... - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 7:56 pm: Those per capita numbers only go through 2010, not 2012. El typo es terrible. - Truth teller - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 7:57 pm: It seems fairly obvious that “The Political Master” is trying to figure out what his next move is due to the unanticipated Senate Dem shoot-down of his pension proposal. Does he have another trick up his sleeve? Or is he simply going to run out the clock and wait for a truly “emergency” situation where he can stick it to Henry Bayer but good a couple years down the road. As an AFSCME member, I sure hope not! - wordslinger - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 8:05 pm: –slinger@5:35 and Indiana’s vs. Illinos bond rating as of today is ?– Indiana’s GO debt rating is AAA, but that’s meaningless in that Indiana is Constitutionally prohibited from issuing GO debt. Any bonds floated by the state or its authorities are revenue bonds, with each issue rated separately based on the pledged revenue source. That can work fine, as long as you jack up the specific tax or user fee high enough to provide sufficient coverage for the debt. They also engage in some swap agreements as a hedge on some projects that is a little too razzle-dazzle for my blood when it comes to public finance. That’s led to a lot of trouble for some issuers, with the Big Kahuna right now being Jefferson County, AL. Here come the Hawks! - NW IL Democrat - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 9:09 pm: Let’s shelve the back-and-forth inside-baseball talk and bring the Illinois General Assembly back to get the job done. The Senate Dem plan caters too much to special interest groups and organized labor and everyone knows it. Let’s put a plan that integrates the best of both plans, but leans toward madigan’s, and let’s pass it ASAP. How a about June 10? - wishbone - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 9:17 pm: Nothing will be done to solve the problem, and eventually across the board cuts will be imposed. It has to happen. - RNUG Fan - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 9:18 pm: Ref was World Book Year Book 2013 - Southerner - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 9:21 pm: Does anyone else see into Brown’s recent inflammatory comments that it is unofficially “game on” between Lisa v. Pat? I know he doesn’t speak for daughter Madigan… Just sayin’ - RNUG Fan - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 9:22 pm: Be nice if the other side had some facts they just have unsupported statements The people demand this! We never get a poll or any evidence that the leg ever get ant calls form anyone beside the CEO of CAT and the CCC We get shifting figures from Nekritz when she is faced with some actual actuarial data about 2404 - Mirror, Mirror - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 9:52 pm: Wasn’t Rod Blagojevich also known for mocking other elected leaders? The comparison to drunken sailors springs to mind. - RNUG - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 9:58 pm: The one person who has sat down with IDOR and developed REAL NUMBERS on pension, state budgets, spending, current and possible future tax revenue is Ralph Martire. If Quinn had any brains, he would force an opening joint House / Senate session where he will make opening remarks and immediately yeild to Martire as the first speaker and let him present the real issues. But that’s way too logical and fact based to ever happen … - RNUG Fan - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 10:23 pm: Yes he would but I don’t think this is about facts - Formerly Known As... - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 10:54 pm: === Oh, man. === I cannot wait to see tomorrow’s post on Chuck Goudie’s piece that just ran. That was classic. “He left his wife in the garage.” Best ever. - Hawkeytown - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 11:00 pm: Mr. Brown’s comments might be entertaining, but they also underscore the basic standoffish nature of Madigan’s camp and his unwillingness to work cooperatively toward the goal of fixing our state. - wordslinger - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 11:01 pm: Channel 7 just joined the circus: –Quinn on camera talking about leaving messages for Madigan. –Lisa Madigan on camera denying the standoff has anything to do with the governor’s race. –Bill Daley dumping on Quinn for lack of leadership. –Then, the grand finale: I-Team Assemble! Chuck Goudie emerges from his tanning booth and chases Madigan all over the southwest side and hangs out at the ward office vainly trying to get a comment. You can almost smell the Sex Panther by Odeon. 60% of the time it works all the time. But not today. Who knew pension legislation could be filled such drama and action! Hawks up 3-1 and back to Madison Street! - Illinois Citizen - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 11:03 pm: Today I got an e-mail from Cullerton’s office with a list of his members’ fundraisers coming up this summer. Really…Democratic Senators…you think you deserve campaign contributions after your performance this session? Pack it up and let people who can lead do the job. If it weren’t so sad, it would be a joke. Once the pension issue is solved, start hitting me up for money again. - Illinois Citizen - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 11:11 pm: The Goudie report is something else. Watch it here: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/iteam&id=9130032 Springfield establishment…this is what you look like outside of Springfield. - Formerly Known As... - Thursday, Jun 6, 13 @ 11:37 pm: When is the last time Madigan did an on-camera interview? Or a press conference? He is only the Speaker of the House in the 5th largest state. It would be nice to hear from the man directly. - wordslinger - Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 12:02 am: –When is the last time Madigan did an on-camera interview? Or a press conference?– Rich posted a pretty long and good one earlier in the session by I, believe, the local PBS station. My experience back in the day is that he’ll take specific substantive questions if you can catch him, but does not accommodate gotcha or showboat reporters, especially the faces on TV. Like Paulie, he doesn’t move fast, but he doesn’t have to move for anyone. But point well taken, Lindsay Graham he ain’t. After today’s Sneed plant and Channel 7 interview, I’m starting to think Bill Daley might actually pull the trigger. What else could he be doing? He’s not “freezing” anyone. No one on the Dem side is out there but Lisa. If he does, the money folks will have to dig deeper. Rauner has hit Emanuel’s rolodex pretty hard already. Lot of Big Names on his quarterly already. They’d be the natural low-hanging fruit on the Daley money tree. - RNUG - Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 12:11 am: Think Calvin and Hobbs have the right perspective on it: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151459840613671&set=a.256517698670.143053.197143008670&type=1&theater - CircularFiringSquad - Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 6:03 am: Who said great journalism is dead? WLS staffers report Goudie hid in a closet for 90 minutes before the station needed the camera to hit some sports bars to cover the Hawks - huneb - Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 6:53 am: I keep wandering when the people of this state will get tired of our legislature leader(s) in having the power to decide what can come to the floor to be voted and what can’t. We the people of Illinois elect our officials for they can be our voice. So maybe our leaders should have only a 4 year post, yet, I’m not sure if that will help. But it really concerns me when a leader has more power than the court system of our state. Doesn’t it concern you? - Weary - Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 7:23 am: Yesterday a blogger made a comment in CapFax; his name is MEANDRETHAL. What a great word. What a great word to describe all those self-serving members of the GA, including their staff, who seem the beleive that everything is “my way or the highway”. MEANDRETHALS…thank you to yesterday’s blogger. - Belle - Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 8:03 am: Term limits—over 40 years is clearly way too long. It’s not just about power—it’s also governing and doing your job. - Arthur Andersen - Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 8:30 am: word, I thought Chuck looked a little ah, overcooked last night. The I-Team must not have done a splash on the danger of tanning. Too bad they missed the “May sweeps.” - wordslinger - Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 8:34 am: It’s pretty silly for Madigan to get caught up in the Chuck Goudie/Mike Wallace sting play. If Goudie approaches you, you stop, say you’re talking to all the party’s involved. Goudie obviously wouldn’t have an actual follow-up question on pensions and it would be over. It was stupid to look like you’re ducking the great Chuck Goudie. - No Sense - Friday, Jun 7, 13 @ 9:53 am: The State is so broke no money but let’s call another special session line there pocket’s with more money and keep screwing with the State Worker. They always have been for them no matter who they are Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.