97 Comments - Formerly Known As... - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 12:54 pm: No. They ought to launch an all-out attack on whomever is responsible for Illinois’ current state of affairs. That means a number of people, #including Mike Madigan. It would be an injustice to Illinois if they simply stop at him. - Sunshine - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 12:55 pm: If Madigan would have spent more time fighting for the people rather than fighting for the benefit of his own power, we would all be much further ahead. Power of his type is useless if it isn’t used to move our great state forward. Time for him to go and start lobbying for a statue for himself. - Demoralized - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 12:55 pm: No. Dumb idea. You can whine and complain all you want about Madigan but as long as he is Speaker you have to work with him. And, really, Kass? Thug? Grow up. - 47th Ward - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 12:58 pm: Yes. I think the ILGOP should do everything John Kass suggests. Kass is the most astute political observer and analyst this state has ever known. The GOP is lucky that he offers his thoughts and advice for free. It’s got to be worth millions. John Kass. Pure gold. - Chavez-respecting Obamist - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 12:59 pm: Nobody really cares what John Kass says. - Mason born - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 12:59 pm: No. Dumb idea the people who know madigan already have an opinion of him those that don’t know him aren’t following state politics which makes it a waste of cash. Want to affect Madigan use that cash to make inroads on his majority. By the way did Kass not realize he was talking to one of those big-money guys funding Dems?? - veritas - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:01 pm: I voted no simply because it is a futile exercise. Either Mike or his designee (in the unlikely event of term limits in our life time) will be the Rep. from his small fortress. Since he is guaranteed that status for life - the unions will continue to fund his activities. He funds Dem. State Reps. and only asks for 2 votes in return: 1 for Speaker & 1 for a “rainy day”. You may as well try to catch the wind. The way to attack Madigan is to get control of the House, thus replacing him as speaker. Bruce Rauner could have helped in that regard. A million dollars to GOP House candidates would have gone a long way, but Bruce is cut from the same bolt of cloth as Mike - it’s all about him. - Ray del Camino - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:01 pm: Of course Kass wants to see a fight. He’s a political commentator. That doesn’t necessarily mean he knows what he’s talking about. - Stones - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:02 pm: He’s not going anywhere. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. - Steve Reick - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:03 pm: The place to start an all-out attack on Michael Madigan is in the dozen or so precincts outside the City of Chicago that he has to get in order to maintain his speakership, and the time to start it is now. It’s too late once the Legislature’s sworn in in January. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:12 pm: Voted NO - wordslinger - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:13 pm: Mason, you don’t get it. John Kass is a genius. Great writer, too. Keeps that box of 64 crayolas razor sharp. This is the guy who celebrated Mourdoch beating Lugar in Indiana. He’s a true friend of conservatives and the GOP. - dupage dan - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:14 pm: Marquis of Queensbury Rules, like in “The Quiet Man”. I’m betting on the pilgrim. - Johnny Q. Suburban - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:15 pm: What was the “Fire Madigan” strategy if not an all out attack on the speaker? - OneMan - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:15 pm: Voted NO, the would just be too bloody… - Upon Further Review - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:15 pm: It would nice to see some push back on occasion. Jim Edgar left office almost sixteen years ago and he was the only one that I recall ever contesting issues with Madigan and former Mayor Daley. The combine approach has not served us well. It has been tried and the results speak for themselves. - wordslinger - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:18 pm: “Tom Cross, the Speaker, the House Majority Leader, really didn’t bring the fight to Madigan…” What a moron. - Carl Nyberg - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:21 pm: Rauner is threatening to go after how the Democrats make their money? Sounds like Bruce Rauner is a beacon of good government. - Carl Nyberg - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:22 pm: Locking up the John Kass vote wouldn’t land you the #3 spot on MWRD. - Weltschmerz - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:22 pm: Mike Royko once had a contest where he would hire a “hitman” to hit his readers’ favorite target with a cream pie. When it was over he announced their 2nd place choice was hit. He also told them he wasn’t stupid enough to target their first place choice. Kass you are certainly not Royko. - Unethical - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:23 pm: Kass should be censored for using such terms. - Try-4Truth - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:23 pm: One additional question: How’s that work out for Rod? Oh, and a follow up: How did the HDems get a super-majority? Didn’t the R’s run against Madigan? How’d that work? Ok, lots of follow ups, but still, it’s not like no one has tried to “unseat” the Speaker. - Big Muddy - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:24 pm: Voted yes. He is the keystone that holds it all together. You may be able to pull a few lesser bricks out but he just replaces them. Take him out and the whole Chicago democratic castle becomes massively weaker. That being said I think he will depart office before an effective attack takes hold. But at his age it might help get him to the door a little quicker. Who would want those headaches at his age? - Anonymous - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:24 pm: When John Kass becomes the driver of political debate, the fight is already lost. - Great Caesar's Ghost! - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:24 pm: My word, I think that Rauner sounds like the reincarnation of Governor Dan. Hey, how did that all work out? We should hope that never happens again. - Try-4Truth - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:26 pm: I don’t think The Speaker is a bad guy or even a bad public official. He’ll work with you, he’ll collaborate with you. Just don’t come after him and he’ll leave you alone for the most part. - 19th ward guy - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:30 pm: Of course. Madigan’s disapprovals are terrible. Rauner is his worst nightmare and the more the legal “appraisal” work sees the light of day the more likely the Speaker will be grabbing the gold watch Can’t see Pongee talking him on but the others will - Northsider - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:31 pm: 47th @ 12:58: Heh, I see what you did there… To the post, no. Madigan is part of the problem, but only part. Both parties, political leaders up and down the state — and the voters who keep re-electing them — are to blame for our current situation. We were decades getting ourselves in this deep, we’ll be decades digging ourselves out. - Try-4Truth - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:32 pm: - 19th ward guy - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:30 pm: Of course. Madigan’s disapprovals are terrible. Rauner is his worst nightmare and the more the legal “appraisal” work sees the light of day the more likely the Speaker will be grabbing the gold watch Can’t see Pongee talking him on but the others will—– Prove what you say, don’t just say it. - Robert the Bruce - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:33 pm: I voted no. Not a terrible idea to launch an all out war against Madigan in a republican primary. But an awful idea, if you want something done, to go to war with him once you’re elected. - Buster - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:36 pm: Kass, Madigan, Rauner….. These are just a few examples of those that are making Illinois the sad mess it is today. Do we really need to further encourage their thug instincts? They’re doing enough damage on their own. - TwoFeetThick - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:36 pm: I voted no. As far as reason, see Blagojevich, Rod. Does anyone really want to return to those days? - Carl Nyberg - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:38 pm: If Rauner wants to take on Madigan, why not buy a house in the district and run? If Rauner won that race, he’d have some cred. - wordslinger - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:43 pm: Try, what’s “legal appraisal work?” Is that Kasspeak, like “Tom Cross, the Speaker, the House Majority Leader….” As in, words have no meaning? - bored now - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:43 pm: yeah, i voted no because we’ve already seen this act before. didn’t get blagojevich very far, and i can’t imagine it would get rauner any farther… - Chi - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:46 pm: Hilarious that Kass and Rauner are attacking Madigan for using personal fortunes to “subsidize the Democratic machine”. What exactly is Rauner doing with the money that he made off of pension funds? - Mason born - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:51 pm: Wordslinger I know I know everytime Rich has an excerpt from him i’m happy he is far far away from me. - too obvious - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:52 pm: GOP should definitely go to war. Kass can help come up with new cutesy nicknames for Madigan which will drive the Speaker to his knees in no time. - rauner's inner monologue - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:54 pm: I voted yes because what this state really needs is to bring the government and its legislative overlords to their needs. Its not about governing, its about destroying the village in order to save it. In the end, the people will thank us for destroying this Democratically controlled government. And I know how to do that. I’ll get all of the hedgefund managers in the state and even some of those ought of state, and we’ll dismantle, er, remake the state government so that those CEO’s running the outsourced state services can earn the profits that their efficiency measures will produce. - Leave a Light on George - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:54 pm: Voted no. Heck Madigan is starting to act more like a Republican every day. Wants to cut corporate income taxes now! - CITIZEN - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 1:59 pm: What could be more un-American than conniving to hold power for 30 years - M is the poster child for term limits, if he wins the primary expect a big campaign on the term limits ballot question with the ads featuring Madigan and Quinn supporting Madigan but not term limits - that Quinn championed all those years on the outside, now he is just one of them. Pretty easy picture to paint - steve schnorf - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:01 pm: Absolutely “yes”. Assuming we want to continue our lock on being obstructionists who accomplish nothing except give away potentially winnable seats by running un-electable candidates, I can’t think of a better way to do it. On the other hand, if we really want to accomplish anything (I’ve yet to see a list of anything we want to accomplish, by the way), then working with him to put more R spin on things he wants to do (say, reduce the corporate income tax) would seem to make more sense. - William j Kelly - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:04 pm: It is hard to keep this all straight, is kass part of the Rahmwing oftherepublican party? - Smoggie - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:06 pm: While I generally am in favor of doing something to target the Speaker as a symbol of things gone wrong, the statements by Kass crossed the line from political into creepy. Kass apparently wants people to determine the political affiliation of any business before supporting the business. That’s just weird. I don’t care about the politics of the guy who handles tax appeals for my companies. I care about if the guy handling the appeal can get a good result. If Kass’s comment is what the question is suggesting, I want no part of it. - wordslinger - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:10 pm: Mason, Kass came up as the Tribbies in-house shill for Fast Eddie Vrodolyak. Fast Eddie gave him some good stuff back in the day — but that’s because Fast Eddie knew where the dirt was, because he was in it up to his eyeballs. Never, ever, saw a negative column from Kass on Fast Eddie. Never seen a breaking news column from Kass since Fast Eddie faded away. - orzo - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:11 pm: That sound like a recipe for the kind of politics practiced by the tea party wackos on the national level. Is that what we want and need here? Kass and his type like uncivil discourse because it sells newspapers. It’s not a model for good government. - Marie - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:11 pm: I coted no - and I wonder how Rauner would have made so much $ if he had not sucked it out of the states pensions funds - hypocrite - South of Sherman - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:14 pm: Absolutely they should. And then they should write and let us know how it worked out for them. But use extra postage just to be sure the message gets back to us. - What's in a name? - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:23 pm: Voted No. I know MM has enormous power. How did he get it? Last time I check this was still a democracy. Don’t like him don’t vote for him or people he supports (an will support him). I sincerely don’t believe he is the cause of our problems. He fought Blago tooth and nail. Quinn while a genuinely decent human is no rock star of a governor. We will survive and even prosper in the long run. At the end of the day, MM is generally the smartest guy in the room. Take him on at your own peril. - MOON - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:23 pm: Should Rauner get elected Governor I am sure he will go to war with Madigan. It will serve no purpose and just put Illinois further behind. Look no further than DC. Has Obama’s war with the GOP help move this country forward? I am also confident that Madigan will more than hold his own against Rauner. Madigan knows how to compromise but he is capable of dealing with the likes of a Rauner. - Golfman_r - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:23 pm: Hate the game not the playa - Tommydanger - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:30 pm: Voted No. I’m guessing Kass plucked that idea from the intellectual brine of his three favorite cons: Confrontation Consternation Conflagration - Dirty Red - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:30 pm: “You come at the king, you best not miss.” - Omar - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:35 pm: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” - George Santayana - zatoichi - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:38 pm: Since Madigan’s tax practice is that good I will bet many downtown real estate owners already use him and whoever else can win their case for them when needed regardless of political beliefs. If Madigan’s business subsidizes the Dem machine, what does Rep business owner’s money earned through Dem businesses do? Sit in CD accounts? So Rauner wants to squeeze Reps who are helping Dems make money. Yeah, that’ll make the wagons circle around him. Naturally all those people will suddenly see the light and follow whatever Rauner says. Right. If Madigan is a thug what were Thompson, Edgar, the Daleys, Dirksen, and many other long term Illinois pols. Passive little choirboys? They would naturally never consider pressuring anyone. - Marie - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:40 pm: Does anyone remember the first years of the Edgar administration when noting was done on time and nothing moved through the legislature - he did not have the knowlege or background in the general government (don’t get that at the Sec of State alone)- it would be worse with Rauner - bwana63 - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:40 pm: Ugh, Kass, really??? Total face palm. I’m hardly a Madigan fan, but Kass? Wow! What an embarassment. Sadly, it’s even worse that he’s a Greek-American, like me. Troll spends most of his time in his bunker, chanting “Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi…” - langhorne - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:41 pm: my standard opening refrain: baron von brucey is blago 2.0, w money. take the fight to madigan, yeah, sounds great. its bunk. you take the fight to someone politically, with better ideas. counter proposals that make sense, make it difficult for chunks of his membership, and thus make him uncomfortable. be willing to compromise (that dirty word), take your gains, and move on to the next issue. it is the function of the minority to innovate, not stake out positions that are impossible to enact, or that turn off large portions of the electorate. thats how you expand the ranks. not purity tests. would you rather fight, or win? - langhorne - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:43 pm: kass is a load. he will endorse rauner, bec he provides the best fodder for columns, but the least likelihood of doing anything positive for the state. - Fan - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:43 pm: No! Why upset the apple cart when things are going so well in this state, and have been since he became Speaker. - Phineas J. Whoopee - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:49 pm: Wow, what an exchange between John “Stumblebum” Kass and the Baron. “I know where those Democrats make their money,” Rauner said, “I know what their alliances and their underlying pins, where Republicans businesses are underneath there helping out. I can go after that. I can leverage some power and drive a result.” The Baron is the guy he has to go after. I mean, Smokey IS the Bandit. And for Kass to call Madigan a thug is just plain wrong. He may be a lot of things but he is as far from a thug as you get. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:50 pm: ===And for Kass to call Madigan a thug is just plain wrong.=== I took the bait. I was wrong. Rich, I am sorry. - steve schnorf - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:51 pm: marie, i fear you lack a clue - Adam Smith - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:53 pm: I generally think there is much to be gained from collaboration and finding common ground, but I voted yes, because this just has to change. Living in fear of MM while the state goes into the dumper doesn’t seem a prudent strategy for anyone. Actually, Republicans AND Democrats should wage all out war on MM because until his stranglehold on power ceases to be the first and only issue in the mind of the House Speaker, we aren’t going to make any progress. - wordslinger - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:54 pm: Edgar, actually, played hardball with Madigan and Daley better than anyone. Madigan, I think, came to respect him, but Edgar drove Daley crazy. How dare some dude from Charleston defy the prince of the city? - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:57 pm: Rich Daley never could figure out Jim Edgar, and Madigan figured out how to find commom ground with Madigan after they both got to show they weren’t caving in to the other. Edgar and Madigan knew that working to find that chance for both to claim a piece of victory was better than having both seem defeated. Co-Equal Branches. That was their secret. - bwana63 - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:58 pm: I hear you ‘Slinger, but Edgar was far too square to be a dude. - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 2:58 pm: ===Madigan figured out how to find commom ground with Madigan=== Yikes … “Edgar figured out how to find commom ground with Madigan” Better. - Anonymous - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 3:04 pm: Who did Kass think he was talking to, some kind of outsider? Bruce Rauner is driving the freaking “combine” he writes about all the time! He made Rahm a millionaire, hired Stuart Levin, and spread campaign contributions to politician in both parties, as long as they kept giving his firm pension investment business. - Phineas J. Whoopee - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 3:13 pm: It was the Maria Santos feasco that really ripped open the Edgar-Daley rift, culminating with her going to jail and the former Mayor galivanting off with the US attorney for some needed R&R. One of the more unsavory political memories I have stored away. - too obvious - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 3:13 pm: I also love how John Kass allows everyone to think he coined the term “the Combine.” In fact “the Combine” was widely used when Teddy Roosevelt was fighting corruption in NY state long before he became president. - Arthur Andersen - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 3:15 pm: Nope. - Walter Mitty - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 3:23 pm: Yes, it seperates Rauner from the other three and cements the “outsider”. This IS his platform. Although here, we know he is the INSIDER. Does not matter, it plays, well. Furthermore, Rutherford was on earlier in the morning and asked about the “Ganging up with Democrats against Rauner as charged?” His answer, was not No… I was surprised by the one word response…Seemed like an oppoertunity to not attack but subtly send a message of wackiness of a thought… - Big Time - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 3:25 pm: This is how Rauner thinks…it’s all about money and who makes it. The vast majority of elected officials in Illinois don’t have the “millions on the side” he talks about in his commercials. So how will he “leverage” them? - John Galt - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 3:27 pm: I voted no. The ILGOP definitely needs to get more assertive, but they need to do it strategically. Madigan is far too powerful to take head-on right now. It’d be like doing a full-on charging of the castle gates with not enough troops & equipment, when the castle gates are high and thick. They need to start picking off weaker elements first and/or need to start undermining some of Madigan’s support from within. Perhaps start picking off a few of his stronger lieutenants or allies. Or better yet, flipping them against each other. But an all-out frontal assault on Madigan is dumb. He’d just mow everybody down. The ILGOP was not assertive enough in the past, but now they are in the extreme minority, they are also impatient. So their urge is to do this ham-fisted “Fire Madigan” stuff. It won’t work that way. - Rod - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 3:38 pm: What an odd idea that Kass raised with Mr. Rauner, that Madigan & Getzendanner be boycotted by Republicans. I assume Kass had an intern examine the firm’s client list http://www.madigetz.com/client-list.html -hopefully none of the 80 or so entities on the list are associated with Mr. Rauner’s GTCR LLC, or he has yet another fiasco on his hands. Regardless of Kass’s researching, since when is saving money on property taxes an idea opposed to the free market ideology of the Republican Party? I voted No, but I do like the idea that Rauner has decided to make an enemy of the Speaker. It will likely motivate the Speaker to pull out the plugs in support of Quinn once Rauner wins the primary. It’s all good. - Anon - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 3:49 pm: Even if Rauner’s term limit proposal is ratified, Madigan will remain Speaker, God willing, through 2022. That means the next governor will either have to cooperate at some level or face two terms of gridlock, which the state can’t afford. - walker - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 3:49 pm: @Adam Smith: For those who think it’s time to stop “living in fear of MM”, I agree. Start in your own heads! Don’t buy into the BS spread by those who cannot figure out why they don’t win, or get anything done. Those who “fear” MJM, fail to have the strength, confidence, evidence, arguments, to be taken seriously. He is not a “thug”, as much as someone with disdain for empty arguments, political ineptitude, playing the victim card, or reliance on someone else’s generic talking points. Bring your best game, and he’s usually willing to deal you in as an equal. Rauner might have the talents to work with him, and should. Kass is so often so wrong, that I wonder if he even lives in Illinois. Adam Smith, with respect, I don’t mean this to be personal, but would like to challenge the general mindset. - ash - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 3:51 pm: Actually, I wish the Democrats would stage a coup. I’d prefer to see a true Democrat in charge — one who cares more about the state and its citizens than personal power and lining the pockets of his army (yes, I get it. This is Illinois). With the 5th largest economy in the country, there is no reason, other than poor decision making, that we are in such horrible shape. The common denominator in most of those decisions is Mr. Madigan. - Big Muddy - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 3:56 pm: Those that think Rauner has no ground game better go check out his updated D2’s. Appears to be Sen. kirk’s staff as well as some well experienced out of staters. - railrat - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 3:58 pm: voted NO, my guess Kass goes to sleep every night counting Royko’s, as “in your dream’s” !! sheesh - Upon Further Review - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 3:59 pm: Sadly, many of the decisions that have been bad for Illinois have been personally beneficial for Mr. Madigan. - Rudykzooti - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 3:59 pm: Yes, just to see the smackdown - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 4:10 pm: To the “victims of MJM”, The Jim Edgar model to the Madigan, House Speaker, is the best solution. The House side, and the Senate sid too, just to point that out, will not be changing Party hands in 2014. With a Veto-Proof majoriy, it would be quite unusual that THAT many seats would flip, in one cycle to get from Veto-Proofed to Majority. That is real. It has nothing to do with MJM, it has everything to do with the reality of the hole the HGOP is in, and starting to get out of beginning now. So, when Rod became governor, and went through his battles with MJM, as a governor, not as a Felon, or what was going on, but as a Co-Equal partner and how Rod went about that, failed miserably. Enter Pat Quinn. Between cartoons, and college trustee battles, and Friday news dumps, and halting paychecks, and stages shared and not shared at state fairs, Pat Quinn’s approach does not engage MJM at the most “fundamentally” appealing trait that Madigan may like; thinking and thinking it through. Now, GHR, harkened to the Thopmpson “get it done” style, and a partnership that MJM could be seen to work with, and that could and would be, only speaking to the “good”, a good way to be a Co-Equal partner. However, with the GOP looking at 12 years out of the Mansion, a “buddy-buddy” will scare some in both parties, looking for some balance in government. So, back to Edgar. Remember the talk MJM gave with Lee A. Daniels? Very telling. Very. Shall we revisit? ===Edgar “was a little more strident than Governor Thompson. Jim Edgar was and is a student of government. Thompson had another career. He was a lawyer. He was a U.S. prosecutor in Chicago. Edgar was involved in government, I think, all his life, and he made himself a student of government. And so he’d be far more interested in heavy discussion about government policy, government operations. He’d be far more willing to engage in protracted negotiations in order to get what he wanted, especially on the budget, which is exactly what he did in 1991.”=== See, MJM understood who Edgar was, and is, and approached Edgar as that Co-Equal on many levels. There was no cozy relationship. there was no feeling that one was over the other. Co-Equal. To Rauner, and Kass and all this “baloney”… Go back and look at the Post Rich had up, and then you think; Is Bruce Rauner, portraing himself as he is, goig to be a successful governor going after MJM, especially if Madigan can work with those he respects, who “go to the mattresses”? Is it worth it? Will it lead to successes? Is that leadership, or Lemming-herding? https://capitolfax.com/2012/01/30/question-of-the-day-1316/ Read it, then tell me if its smart to go after MJM, given today’s “hand”, and the “hand” of who My Party has to be MJM’s Co-Equal partner. - Buster - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 4:17 pm: ==Does anyone remember the first years of the Edgar administration when noting was done on time and nothing moved through the legislature == What I remember most about the early Edgar years was the time spent destroying all traces of Thompson including all initiatives, regardless of effectiveness and worth, associated with Thompson. Favorite question in those days was, “Aren’t those guys in the same party?” - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 4:17 pm: ===Is Bruce Rauner, portraing himself as he is, going to be a successful governor going after MJM, especially if Madigan can work with those he respects, or should Rauner be that someone who only seems to want to “go to the mattresses”?=== Yikes, sorry. Better - Henry Clay - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 4:53 pm: Voted “yes” based on the assumption that they don’t just stop after throwing a few haymakers at Madigan. Most Republicans (and a lot of Independents) are so frustrated with the way things are (no matter who caused it) that they are inclined to let this guy named Rauner take a shot at “fixing” what they see as a broken (at least in spirit) state government. I like Brady but unless the feds indict Rauner for some supposed “no-no” in his personal and business past before March 18th, I will probably vote for “The Bruce”. Desperate times demand desperate measures as the old saying goes. I will let the guy take a shot. We can’t be in much worse shape no matter what he does or doesn’t do while he serves a 4 year term as governor. As Larry The Cable Guy would say to Bruce Rauner—”Git er done!” - Buster - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 4:58 pm: == Desperate times demand desperate measures== There’s “desperation” and then there’s suicide. - Superanon - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 4:59 pm: No, no matter what Kass writes or the Bruce spends, madigan’s not going anywhere. Trying to work against him is not productive. Kass calls Madigan a thug? Is it fair game to call Kass names? I can think of a few. - Anonymous - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 5:30 pm: Sorry. I know that the question specifies a more specific timeframe and players, but I guess I didn’t get that memo that said Pat Brady’s battle cry to do so was no longer in effect. In that case, I guess the answer is still either “Why?” or “No.” (It all seemed for naught anyway, and how embarrassing when all that chest-pounding didn’t seem to amount to much.) - Just The Way It Is One - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 5:34 pm: No. SO much more I could say as to why, but, in short, that’d just be a big, fat waste of time and won’t get those engaged in such a dastardly objective what they’d want anyway…! - Powell - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 5:54 pm: Ridiculous. When has rauner ever taken on madigan? Rauner bought off madigan with the stand for children$$. Seems kass probably forgot that when he talks about wanting someone to take on mjm. - Michael Westen - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 7:29 pm: Kass is a sell-out. For all of his empty rhetoric about the dreaded combine all those years, I do believe Kass would have Rauner’s baby now if he could. Sorry about the mental image that creates. - Anonymous - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 8:09 pm: Kass is an …. Listen, the “guy” in that brief clip used the word “fight” four times. John Kass never served. John Kass has never been educated. All he cares about his smoking his packs a day and collecting his paychecks. And since he joined WLS, he become his idol: Rush. - Bill F. - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 9:23 pm: The Tribune should really be embarrassed. If there was an ounce of self-awareness in Tribune Tower, they’d be red-faced. He’s a joke. - Arthur Andersen - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 9:48 pm: Buster, as a die-hard Thompsonite who was taken on by the Edgar folks when they very easily could have said, “Take a hike, Arthur,” I think you are exaggerating a tad. Yes, they dumped some programs that maybe were past their prime, and some folks got the boot from exempt jobs that got in under JRT but weren’t likely to be pulling an R ballot any time soon. - Cheswick - Thursday, Jan 30, 14 @ 11:07 pm: Voted no. Bruce Rauner and the anti-Madigan ilk, would be well advised to drop what they’re doing and really pay attention when Mike Madigan speaks. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.