* Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration has just contracted with his new CFO Donna Arduin’s consulting firm for $30,000 a month…

Sole Source Only Justification: The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget is giving notice of its intent to enter into a sole economically feasible source contract with Arduin Associates, Inc. to provide consulting services for continued implementation and necessary adjustment of the State’s 2015 budget to assist in preparing the State’s 2016 budget.

Total Amount of Award: $120,000.00

Length of Initial Term: 4 [months]
Contract Begin Date: 02/02/2015
Contract End Date: 05/31/2015

* Ms. Arduin…

* The Question: Caption?

       

186 Comments - AlabamaShake - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:05 pm: So is she getting paid $30k/month on top of a salary? Doesn’t she have a staff position as CFO? But to the caption… “They pay me $30k a month, and I don’t even know that IL isn’t allowed to privatize prisons. Imagine what I could make if I knew anything about IL?” - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:05 pm: “Can the firm get the $120,000 now, before I make the cuts?” - IB Strapped - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:05 pm: “I mean, it’s up to you to justify why it’s too much-I think it’s fine.” - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:06 pm: “Tell me; Who are you, what do you do all day, and please, don’t hold back…” - Reality Check - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:07 pm: Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore. At least I sure hope not. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:07 pm: “Give the firm four months, they’ll make the case even you, Speaker, aren’t REALLY needed…” - 47th Ward - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:08 pm: You think pirate shirts are cheap? - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:08 pm: “Senator, it’s only contradictory if I say it is. That’s how I’ve operated for years…” - Carl Nyberg - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:08 pm: I expect to be well compensated to inflict pain on the 99%. Capitalism uber alles. - Michelle Flaherty - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:08 pm: It’s amazing what passes for essential these days. - walker - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:09 pm: Is this in addition to her state salary? Or is it all of how she’s being compensated? - Warren Beatty - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:09 pm: “Hand it over–all of it. Clyde’s waiting for me in the car.” - Big Muddy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:09 pm: “Yes. All of my desks must be gold-plated. It’s in the contract.” - 47th Ward - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:10 pm: ===Contract End Date: 05/31/2015=== At midnight. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:10 pm: “I didn’t say ‘get a job’. I said ‘Is that you, Rob’. He looked my friend Rob. Robert (long pause) Ok?” - SAP - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:10 pm: Will they extend her for another 3 months to keep her around until the end of session? - Mouthy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:10 pm: “See what you can do without an union” - Skeptical - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:10 pm: Mirror, Mirror on the wall, will I do better here than in Kansas come the fall? - ChiTown Seven - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:11 pm: Let’s see. . . That’s the finger before the thumb, and that makes 4 — the answer to the question, Senator, is $4 billion. . . . Wait a minute. Let me check my math. . . . - IB Strapped - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:11 pm: ” I’d like to answer that but I see your time is up!” - Anonymous - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:11 pm: I couldn’t be a blood-sucking vampire; you can see my reflection in the glass. - Under Further Review - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:12 pm: Skeptical beat me to it. I saw the reflection and thought of “Snow White.” - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:12 pm: “I had heard, Representative, that your chamber was reduced by a 1/3 at one point. What if 38 more just…left? Poof. I’m just thinking out loud…” - BigBob - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:14 pm: Senator. As long as I get mine, I’m OK with that. - chi - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:14 pm: “No, the racial breakdown of the employees at our company is nothing close to the racial makeup of the state. Are you kidding? Why do you ask?” - Demoralized - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:14 pm: Donna Arduin shows her abilities to turn things upside down. - Linus - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:14 pm: “But I WANNA be a pirate!” The flip-side of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjFjD11zOCM - Mouthy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:15 pm: 200 hours at $150 an hour with paid bathroom breaks.. - Not Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:15 pm: Eager actress Donna Arduin auditioning as an extra for “That 70s Show”. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:16 pm: “A-U-R-D-U-I-N…it use to be A-U-R-D-U-I-N…N…but I cut that last lazy letter, for obvious reasons…” - cdog1962 - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:16 pm: I promise I will eat more cheesecake, especially now that I am being compensated properly. (Until then, I will put rocks in my pocket so that I don’t blow away.) - Jorge - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:16 pm: This is the same poofy shirt worn on Seinfeld. Cost me 4 Kansas state workers and a California prison guard. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:17 pm: “Ok. It’s your dime. Start with the questions.” - Jimmy CrackCorn - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:18 pm: **Sorry not a caption contest entry** But, the sole source justification attachment is also a great read. A case study in answering questions, without answering questions… Q2: Why are the requested supplies or services the only one that can satisfy your requirements? A: Arduin has advised multiple other states on budget matters including California, Michigan, Florida and Kanasas. Q3: What are the unique features of the supplies or services that are not available in any other product or by any other vendor? Provide specific, quantifiable factors/qualifications: A: Although there may be other budget experts, Arduin Associates has been highly recommended to the Governor by other present and former governors of other states Q5. Were alternative supplies or services evaluated A:No Q5c: If no, why were alternatives not evaluated A: (blank) Q6: What efforts were made the get the best possible price? A: The parties conducted arms’ length negotiations as to price and conditions Hahahhahhaha - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:18 pm: “I’ll let my past work speak for itself…” - Anon - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:19 pm: Unconscionable and ironic, especially given that Ms. Arduin will, based on her record to date, advocate for draconian cuts which will impact those who already socio economically marginalized. - DeKalb Guy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:19 pm: The top talent the governor paid top salaries for is just not good enough. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:20 pm: “As part of the $120,000, my colleagues, Bob…and Bob…they will be visiting all the agencies real soon.” - Commonsense in Illinois - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:20 pm: Ladies and Gentlemen of the Committee, I would say this…how the hell you people ever got elected is utter amazement to me. - chi - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:20 pm: “Well, Kansas hasn’t turned out well because they didn’t make all the cuts we suggested.” - Michelle Flaherty - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:21 pm: She looked at herself in the mirror and said “get a job” Her reflection answered back, “OK, how about $30K a month?” - Loop Lady - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:22 pm: “must have been a lot of yellow paint left over from the department of transportation put to use elswhere” or “Gosh, for some reason I really want a hot dog right now with my favorite condiment”…. - Anonymous - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:22 pm: I hate government so much I make my living off it. - IB Strapped - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:22 pm: Senator, you get to ask the questions, I get to answer them. It’s not in my contract to make you happy.Look it up! - Norseman - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:22 pm: Yes, my contract requires a surface with reflection surface wherever I am. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:22 pm: “Usually there is water on this table, but I cut that…” - Downstate GOP Faithless - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:22 pm: “Knibb High football rules!!!” - DeKalb Guy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:23 pm: My recommendations are to immediately withhold legislator pay, eliminate COLA for all current judges, and force retirees to pay for healthcare. What’s that? - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:23 pm: “I am committed to cutting waste, and that contract the firm got proves my commitment…” - Downstate GOP Faithless - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:25 pm: “Trust me, when we cut basic services and eliminate the Treasurer’s office, you won’t even notice the $120K anymore…in fact you’ll want to give me more.” - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:26 pm: “I can justify a 10% pay increase to a $100,000 sakary for the First Lady’s Chief of Staff, but I need an additional 4 months and $120,000 to do it…” - Been There - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:26 pm: The last person who mocked my puffy shirt lost their job as a hand model. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:27 pm: “Senator. Please. The Governor is making a dollar a year. Sacrifices are being made…” - A guy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:27 pm: It looks like staff time to me. No added benefits cost and no leaks. It’s taking one hit on a Friday afternoon for the price of many. - DeKalb Guy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:27 pm: Austerity ain’t cheap! - The Captain - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:28 pm: If she is the only one that can fix the budget, the sole source, then why didn’t we elect her Governor? For starters we could have saved ourselves $30,000/mo. I’d even throw in a pirate clothes budget, go crazy. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:28 pm: “Yes. Who validates parking? Who do I see about that?” - IB Strapped - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:29 pm: “I hear you boys play real political hardball here, well,… GAME ON!” - Downstate GOP Faithless - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:30 pm: “We had to do it as a contract because Rutherford screwed up our ability to, in good faith, give out stipends.” - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:31 pm: “I’m Ms. Arduin. You must be the one know as ‘The Owl’ Ron Sandack? You can stop with the ‘who’…” - DeKalb Guy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:31 pm: The G.A.J. is my new plan to reduce unemployment. Oh, it means “get a job.” - Jimmy CrackCorn - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:31 pm: ==It looks like staff time to me. No added benefits cost and no leaks.== Most importantly no FOIA. - Arthur Andersen - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:32 pm: “Don’t make me press the red button.” - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:33 pm: “Mr. Sandack. I told you. I’m Ms. Arduin. Do you have any other question that doesn’t begin with ‘who’?” - Pot calling kettle - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:33 pm: “Well, I negotiated the cost with myself. And, believe you me, I was tough. I initially asked myself for $300 K, but I said, look, that won’t fly, and offered myself $30K, I went back and forth and talked myself down to $120 K, which, considering the starting point, is a pretty good deal.” - Downstate GOP Faithless - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:33 pm: “Call Donna…ask her if she can get the number to Cong. Schock’s decorator. The firm has some extra cash to blow…” - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:34 pm: “Mr. Sandack. Sir. If you say ‘who’ again, I’ll tell the governor to primary you…” - Bright One - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:35 pm: Who is this woman and why is she involved in Illinois state government in any capacity? - Observation - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:36 pm: “I heard that the Capitol Fax comments were running a bit negative. Is that a reflection on me?” - northernwatersports - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:36 pm: You’re kidding, right? No….seriously…. Do the optics suck on this thing or what? Come on AFSCME….come on media (Tribune)….where the heck are the hard questions??? - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:37 pm: “If you say I’m extorting my services to the state again, I’ll have your legs broken.” - Pot calling kettle - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:38 pm: ==Who is this woman and why is she involved in Illinois state government in any capacity?== She was brought on board to save us from fiscal irresponsibility! - Pot calling kettle - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:38 pm: If you want my reflection, you have to pay for it. - Gooner - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:40 pm: Hmmn, how are we different from Blagojevich? Let me give that one some thought, Senator. - DeKalb Guy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:40 pm: If I’m not 100% satisfied with my firm’s efforts, my firm will give the money back. - 1776 - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:40 pm: Hey, you Democrats are on the ones that just passed the big wage hike. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:40 pm: “I have an opening sentence, not a statement, a sentence; GOP members, the Governor says hello, and you know what he means by that. Don’t you? Of course you all do. So (deep breath) let’s all be friends…” - Pot calling kettle - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:41 pm: “Where will the money come from? If you give the Governor the spending authority he is asking for, there won’t be any problem finding the money for this.” - JS Mill - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:41 pm: “Am I not merciful?” Optics Baby! - Pot calling kettle - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:42 pm: “Look, the salary you guys are paying me is peanuts. Do you know what I could make in the private sector?” - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:45 pm: “Chairman, please ask Rep. Sandack to phrase the rest of his questions beyond a ‘who’ question. I’ll wait for him to think on that…” - DeKalb Guy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:46 pm: No, this contract cannot be diminished. Unlike pensions… - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:46 pm: “That’s a tough question. Are you a Republican?…you are…You want to rethink asking me that?…Yes I am taking names….” - RNUG - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:47 pm: Financial Disclosures Form? Potential Conflicts of Interest Form? Ethics Disclosue Form? Staement of Economic Interest? Never heard of them … - Pot calling kettle - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:47 pm: “What are you gonna do about it? You think anyone’s gonna believe you? You think anyone is gonna take your word over mine? I’m a woman of respect around here. They love me around here. I’m a swell gal.” (With apologies to John Hughes) - hakuna matata - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:48 pm: Are you sure that isn’t Renee Zellweger (post face stuff) and this isn’t just a really bad movie? - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:48 pm: (Sitting quietly, waiting for Rep. Ron Sandack to ask a non “who” question. Three minutes and counting…) - Meanderthal - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:49 pm: “I realize that it is unusual for someone not on the payroll of Chicago State to get this kind of money around here, but please give me a chance to show what I can do.” - Anonymous - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:49 pm: Well my neighbor sold his house at far above the value. My property taxes are going to increase. This should cover it. - Michelle Flaherty - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:49 pm: Contract End Date: 05/31/2015 This is GREAT news. It means session ends on schedule. Start planning the party now. - Pot calling kettle - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:50 pm: “You have to break some eggs to make an omelet. In this case, we need about 120,000 more eggs than we originally thought.” - Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:50 pm: Leave the axe, take the cannoli. - ChiTown Seven - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:50 pm: Sole source justification: vendor is only person identified who demonstrates capacity for developing budgets based on fictitious data, imaginary analysis, erroneous arithmetic, attacks on public employees, elimination of services for those in need, questionable borrowing, big paychecks and pay-offs to robber barons, bailing wire, band-aids, and blemish cream. See Arduin/Laffer report to the Florida Legislator and Arduin work for Sarasota County, at http://extra.heraldtribune.com/2014/01/24/arduin-story/ - Jerry 101 - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:50 pm: Oh, a little persuasion might be in order. Now let me see… Boiling in oil? Uh, keelhauling? Eh, marooning? - Pot calling kettle - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:51 pm: “We make up the 120 G’s by dropping them from the governor’s speeches.” - Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:52 pm: Vote with the governor on all ten issues or I’m moving in with your family. - Huh??? - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:52 pm: How the hell is this legal? Also, didn’t Rauner mention in his state of the state how much no-bid contracts are costing taxpayers. - Arthur Andersen - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:52 pm: “My firm has never been known by or used the name ‘’AA.” Why do you ask?” - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:54 pm: “Yes, Senator, I am what you would call a ‘buffer’. The Governor has a lot of buffers…” - William j Kelly - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:54 pm: You don’t just get me for 30,000/mon but you also get this cool hologram of me! Check this out, when I raise my right hand it looks like I am raising my left hand… Opps! Please forget I said that! - RNUG - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:58 pm: No, it won’t be business as usual; they’ll be different contracts and different players. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 3:58 pm: Rep. #1 - Why won’t she talk? Why is she helping us Dems? Rep. #2 - Speaker brought in her sister, from out of state. She’s seated with Brown in the front row… Rep. #1 - The Governor didn’t count on that… - Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:00 pm: “My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives.” - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:04 pm: (5 minutes pass…Rep. Sandack still trying to think of a question…) - Quizzical - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:04 pm: As a matter of fact, we could afford to hire me a few more times if we weren’t paying our cooks forty thousand dollars a year. - William j Kelly - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:05 pm: No senator, gov. Rauner is not an evil GTCR hologram project gone terribly wrong. - RNUG - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:08 pm: The Vulcan mind meld doesn’t seem to be working on Speaker Madigan … - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:09 pm: “Ok, Rep. Sandack, it appears your time is up, and the Chair hopes next time you come back to this committee with ‘non-who’ questions…” - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:10 pm: “As a GOP legislator, should I fear you, or the governor more?” - Abe the Babe - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:12 pm: Austerity for thee, but not for me… - Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:12 pm: Donna was the kind of gal that rooted for bad guys in the movies. - Anonymous - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:13 pm: No I never stick around for the aftermath why do you ask? - The Captain - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:13 pm: “I invented dibs.” - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:14 pm: “Oh Senator, you’d be surprised. Everyone works real well with me. They work well with me, or I get rid of them. I see no staffing issues.” - Pot calling kettle - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:14 pm: Per Executive Order 15-08 Until July 1, 2015, no State Agency shall let, award, or enter into any contract or grant, or any amendment or change order to or renewal of any existing contract or grant, that obligates the expenditure of State Funds except as follows: (a) Contracts Required by Law. (b) Contracts for Emergency Expenditures. (c) Contracts for Small Purchases. (less than $50,000) (d) Contracts and Grants for Essential Operations. http://www.illinois.gov/Government/ExecOrders/Pages/2015_8.aspx This clearly does not fall under exemptions (a) or (c) and I have trouble seeing how it fits under (b) or (d) as described in the Executive Order. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:15 pm: “Rep. Sandack, your twitching and blinking is distracting the witness…” - Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:16 pm: “For as long as I can remember, I always wanted to be a budget cutter. To me that was better than being President of the United States. To be a budget-cutter was to own the world.” - illinois fan - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:17 pm: This is Illinois right? I hope I get my money before this one goes to prison….. - sal-says - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:17 pm: Paraphrasing Jimmy: Q3: What are the unique features of the supplies or services that are not available in any other product or by any other vendor? Provide specific, quantifiable factors/qualifications: A: Although there may be other budget experts, Arduin Associates has been highly recommended to the Governor by ME ! - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:18 pm: “And a…tell the Speaker…in another life…we coulda been great friends…” - Skeptic Tank - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:18 pm: Define “shared sacrifice”? Senator, I think you should know by now we are workin as hard as we can to letcha y’all know what we’re fixin to do. - Joe M - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:19 pm: Ha Ha, Rauner is paying me $30,000 per month for recommendations that the Koch Brothers or Gov Walker would have given him for free! - NotYetRetired - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:19 pm: Governor: “Do as I say - Not as I do” when it comes to non-essential spending - ZC - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:19 pm: The Chicago Tribune reports today in a special exclusive that Arduin’s firm has received a 4-month, $40,000 contract from the state of IL. - DeKalb Guy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:19 pm: When the governor said no-bid contracts were bad, he meant for everyone else. - A guy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:19 pm: Hey…I see you under the table. - walker - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:20 pm: Guess My Line. The Governor’s CFO, the temporary contract employee, or the owner of a consulting firm which just received a sole source contract? Seriously, she has to be all-in-one. Being a salaried state employee as CFO, and being the owner of a contracted consulting firm receiving additional funds for a related function, could well be illegal. - Pot calling kettle - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:20 pm: “I like to think of the $120,000 as a negative budget cut.” - William j Kelly - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:20 pm: Ok senator, let me be clear, we are all GTCR holograms, you are completely surrounded, resistance is futile, so do I still get my 300,000 a month? - Pot calling kettle - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:20 pm: “Wait until you find out about the bonus clauses.” - Wensicia - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:20 pm: “And you thought the Mona Lisa had an enigmatic smile? Get ready for the Arduin experience!” - DeKalb Guy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:22 pm: Don’t worry, Senator, the contract does not have a “Prevailing Wages” requirement. - Jaded - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:22 pm: I’m trying to come up with something funny to say, but $30k a month is so disgusting I just can’t. - Anonymous - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:22 pm: I refuse to answer on the grounds it may incimenate me - Toffee - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:23 pm: “What do you mean, you want to know what we are doin’ under our contract?!” - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:23 pm: Rich, lol! Ms. Arduin learned two valuable lessons; never rat out the Governor, and always keep her cuts quiet. - Carhartt Designer - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:24 pm: Optics! We don’t need no stinkin’ optics! - siriusly - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:27 pm: Senator, I’m sorry but yes we are the Governor and we’re in charge here. - illinois fan - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:27 pm: I only ate those people because I was really really hungry. - Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:29 pm: “It’s like what Lenin said… you look for the person who will benefit, and, uh, uh… “ - name - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:30 pm: Arduin will be played by Meryl Streep in the upcoming Bruce Rauner biopic. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:31 pm: “I’m Ms. Arduin. I made my bones while other girls were being cheerleaders…” - Chicago Guy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:32 pm: Can I revise my vote yesterday on how well Rauner is doing down to a 1? - DeKalb Guy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:32 pm: Darth Donna looks forward to the praise from Darth Bruce after the brazen hypocrisy and conflict of interest caused all legislators’ heads to have literally exploded. - NotYetRetired - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:32 pm: Let’s recap a moment. The Governor campaigned on stopping back-room deals but his staff couldn’t give an Approp committee details of the Gov’s plan yesterday because they are having private negotiations. He also wants transparency, but wants broad budget authority which would likely not be as transparent until after the funds are spent and reflected on the Comptroller’s site. He has ordered non-essential spending stopped, but has hired his wife a COS (with no staff) for $100,000 and has hired Ms Arduin for $30 grand a month! Is it me, or does he keep contradicting himself? He also says he isn’t anti-Union. Based on his words and actions, there is another contradiction. - Pot calling kettle - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:35 pm: For Rich: “I am the Walrus.” - Tommydanger - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:35 pm: In this world, one thing counts In the bank, large amounts I’m afraid these don’t grow on trees, You’ve got to pick-a-(taxpayer)pocket or two You’ve got to pick-a-(taxpayer)pocket or two,boys You’ve got to pick-a-(taxpayer)pocket or two. - Wordslinger - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:35 pm: This is very sad. Governor: You won. You don’t owe anyone,anything. You don’t have to play the game. You dont have to please people like this. You are idependent. They are misanthropic losers, the worst. You can be an Altgeld, an Ogilvie - Stuff happens - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:35 pm: Ms. Arduin, upon being asked who ate the canary. - Pot calling kettle - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:36 pm: “This contract really ties the administration together.” - Tommydanger - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:36 pm: The 4:35 submission is from the new Springfield musical: Rauniver! - Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:36 pm: “Hey, Laffer, we got a new contract. I want you to round up every vicious criminal and gunslinger in the west. Take this down: I want rustlers, cut throats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, bushwhackers, hornswogglers, horse thieves, train robbers, bank robbers and Methodists.” - Gooner - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:38 pm: Yes, I did go 0-4 with my last assignments, but I’ve learned from those experiences and I have high hopes for this one. Now please have a minion fetch my coat. I have work to do. - siriusly - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:38 pm: “I am smiling” - siriusly - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:39 pm: Is that the first Blazing Saddles reference in the history of the blog? Amen ! - Samurai - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:40 pm: Ms. Arduin is seen here reflecting on her good fortune of being connected to Illinois Governor Bruce “Outsider” Rauner. - Griz - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:41 pm: “Off with their heads!” - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:41 pm: “I suggested this table so you all can see that I do have a reflection…so that one myth is debunked.” - William j Kelly - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:43 pm: (Angry robot voice)senator, begin transfer of 30,000/mon now or I will deploy GTCR lasers in my eyes! Beginning laser sequence in 3… 2…. - Wordslinger - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:44 pm: Excuse my gadget. But governor. — don’t go down in history with this crew. Be better than them. Because they’re the worst. For crying out loud, you’ve devoted two years and millions of dollars to get the gig. And you want to tie yourself to these ignorant haters? Be a mensch. Go yard. And look out for the folks who need you, as chief executive of the state, who don’t have anywhere else to go. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:44 pm: “I told your staffers before you all came out here; look to the right, look to the left, now look at me. One of the three of you won’t see June in state government, so I startted with the fun stuff…” - Chicago Cynic - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:44 pm: “Illinois must tighten its belt with this simple economic principle: All for me. None for thee.” - Marshon - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:45 pm: I’m just here so I’m sure I get mine. - Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:46 pm: “Dang, that was lucky. Doggone near lost a four hundred dollar handcar.” - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:47 pm: “The Governor told me this task was simple math. No addition, all subtraction. His Staff, however, all addition, NO subtraction, so I think I can handle that.” - VanillaMan - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:48 pm: “The Dingo ate my conscience.” - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:48 pm: “My firm has instructed me to secure payment in gold bullion…” - One day at a time - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:49 pm: Money …money…money………MONEY!!! Wish me had some like that - VanillaMan - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:50 pm: Bring me the money and I’ll let you buy my broom. - Anonymous - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:51 pm: Get a job - Gooner - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:52 pm: It is only with many months of hard work that my analysts can conclude that the best option for Illinois is to cut taxes (especially on the wealthy, if at all possible) and cut spending on poor people. - 47th Ward - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:53 pm: “When can the puppies leave their mother? Two weeks? Three weeks?” - Wensicia - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:53 pm: “BTW, this is essential, non-essential spending.” - okgo - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:54 pm: “What a deal!” - bored now - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:54 pm: told ya so… - Wordslinger - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:54 pm: 30K a month to this dingbat? Have the testicular virility to be the bad guy on your own. She aint worth the coin. - Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:55 pm: “What’s worth doing is worth doing for money.” - Michelle Flaherty - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:55 pm: That there’s a reflection debunks one rumor. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:57 pm: “Members of the Committee, you’re part of a legislature, nobody ever tells you that I’m coming, doesn’t happen that way. There weren’t any arguments or discussions with the governor like in the textbooks. See, your budget-cutters come with smiles, we come as your…friends, the people you’ve read about all of your career. And we always seem to come at a time that you’re at your weakest and most in need of our… help.” - IB Strapped - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 4:57 pm: My favorite quote? Well, I really like that “Let them eat cake” one but it may make me look too hard….No, not really! - Robert the Bruce - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 5:03 pm: “My consulting firm will first crack down on double dipping and then on lazy people living off the taxpayer dollar. Any suggestions where we should start?” - Arthur Andersen - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 5:03 pm: “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas any more.” - Tough Guy - Friday, Feb 6, 15 @ 6:31 pm: My mistake. I thought it was an emergency procurement. I think there still may a problem though. Per the Illinois Procurement Code-(c-15) Sole source procurements. Before entering into a sole source contract, a chief procurement officer exercising sole source procurement authority under this Code shall publish a written description of intent to enter into a sole source contract along with a description of the item to be procured and the intended sole source contractor. This notice must be posted in the online electronic Procurement Bulletin before a sole source contract is awarded and at least 14 calendar days before the hearing required by Section 20-25. Not sure what exempts them from a hearing and they have already started the contract. - conservative-fan - Monday, Feb 9, 15 @ 10:00 am: Eat your hearts out!! When Bruce leaves office, we will all (conservatives & liberals) will be proud of our state and what he has done. - jerry 101 - Monday, Feb 9, 15 @ 12:24 pm: “I also accept payment in the form of souls”. - Enviro - Monday, Feb 9, 15 @ 4:17 pm: Happy Hunger Games! Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.