* WMAY…
Still struggling with high gas prices? Republican candidate for governor Darren Bailey is offering a chance at some relief.
Bailey plans to give away a $100 gas card each day of the Illinois State Fair to a name drawn from among the people who sign up for the giveaway at the GOP tent on the fairgrounds. Bailey says the giveaway is designed to ease the pain of what he calls Governor JB Pritzker’s “monstrous” 2019 gas tax hike.
That’s when the state enacted a higher gas tax to help fund road and other infrastructure projects.
* Gas prices in Springfield via AAA…
* In June, Sen. Bailey said he wanted to eliminate the 2019 gas tax increase. WMBD…
In 2019, the gas tax doubled and now sits at 39 cents per gallon. Bailey said the first step toward relief is cutting out the taxes that he said are exacerbating the problem.
“We should permanently roll back the J.B Pritzker, Avery Bourne gas tax. But if we can’t do this, we should at minimum eliminate the sales tax on motor fuel. Friends here in Illinois, we tax tax,” Bailey said.
Bailey said he wants to get the message out to the public, so they will contact their local lawmakers and urge them to get to Springfield and work on the problem
* State Journal-Register…
Beginning July 1 and continuing through the end of the year, the motor fuel tax will remain at 39 cents for gasoline and 46.7 cents for diesel. Had the tax increase not been suspended, it would have increased to 41.1 cents for gas, per the rules put in place by the 2019 doubling of the tax.
- Commissar Gritty - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 9:10 am:
When you’re stealing your ideas from Willy Wilson, you’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel.
- Roadrager - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 9:14 am:
I wouldn’t call it “stealing” from Willie Wilson, as we can easily quantify that Bailey can only execute 1/10,000th of Wilson’s political strategy.
- Huh? - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 9:16 am:
Could this be considered an expenditure to influence the vote? It would be a violation of 18 USC 597 - Expenditures to influence voting
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 9:16 am:
“Ok”… that’s… “fun”.
I dunno how that helps with suburban women who Bailey is requiring to keep pregnancies full term or the religious zealot in him that can’t really understand the sickening take to the Holocaust, but if the old, angry, rural folks who likely attend the fair…
Tell me your idea of running for governor in the 5th largest state in America is gimmicky, without…
Bailey should stand with the GOP ticket and let them… “help”… with this… stand right next to him, amirite?
- Levois J - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 9:18 am:
I was just about to say he was taking a page out of the book of Willie Wilson though at least he’s handing out prepaid gas cards as opposed to having people wait in line at a participating gas station.
- Larry Bowa Jr. - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 9:20 am:
People will laugh, but a stunt gas card giveaway looks like Darren Bailey’s strongest argument for election to anyone not totally wasted on right wing propaganda.
- Blue Dog - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 9:21 am:
OW. maybe a bit of stereo typing. Mrs Blue is going. last time I asked she was a Cambodian woman.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 9:22 am:
===an expenditure to influence the vote?===
Nah. The question is if he received approval to hold the raffle.
- Homebody - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 9:23 am:
I said this about Willie Wilson and I’ll say it about Bailey: How the heck is it legal for a candidate running for office allowed to do this? Is it just because there is no formal quid pro quo, that people can get the cards even if they don’t vote for him? It still seems pretty terrible that this sort of open quasi-bribery pandering is permitted.
- Bruce( no not him) - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 9:24 am:
Heck yeah repeal the gas tax increase
Illinois roads are great. We don’t need no repairs.
/s
- Huh? - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 9:25 am:
“Bailey plans to give away a $100 gas card each day … to a name drawn from among the people who sign up … at the GOP tent”
Oh. My mistake. This is a scheme to build a campaign donor list.
Poor schlub who signs that list will be snowed under with flyers, texts, and email begging for money.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 9:28 am:
===Darren Bailey’s strongest argument===
Any day he’s not totally focused on things like inflation and JB’s presidential aspirations is a wasted day. He’s had a lot of wasted days since the primary.
- Roadrager - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 9:29 am:
==Oh. My mistake. This is a scheme to build a campaign donor list.==
Came back to post this when I realized it. Yep, this is all about building a list of suckers to sell, all for the low low price of $100.
- Vote Quimby - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 9:33 am:
Giving away a single $100 gas card daily? By the Republican candidate for governor? At the State Fair three months before the election?
Apparently Uline is doing his Griffin pull-out stunt a few weeks earlier.
- Arsenal - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 9:39 am:
I still think gas prices is one of Bailey’s strongest arguments, though obviously they’re going down and giving 7 people gas cards isn’t even a drop in the bucket.
Still. I like gimmicks.
- Arsenal - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 9:40 am:
==OW. maybe a bit of stereo typing. Mrs Blue is going. last time I asked she was a Cambodian woman.==
You have made it clear that Mrs. Blue is hardcore anti-choice.
- MoralMinority - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 9:49 am:
==JB’s presidential aspirations==Maybe JB isn’t the only one in this race who harbors secret aspirations. I could imagine Darren thinking that Trump is getting some years on him and could only serve one more term anyway. Might he be the annointed one to be God’s missionary to Washington in ‘28 after setting Illinois right as missionary to Springfield in ‘22?
- Siualum - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 9:55 am:
A gun raffle next?
- RNUG - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 9:56 am:
It a gimmick … but a harmless one, and it draws some attention to him and his campaign. Probably a better use of money than some of the campaign ads.
- MoralMinority - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 9:59 am:
I guess it’s ok to give the free gas cards as long as he doesn’t start handing out free Mountain Dew. If that starts, don’t take it.
- Anyone Remember - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 10:01 am:
IF Bailey wants to help motorists, he’d talk to gas station owners about Springfield gas prices going up 40 cents from yesterday. But, then again, it IS the first Monday of the State Fair …
- RNUG - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 10:13 am:
Higher gas prices during State Fair week is as much a tradition as the fair itself.
- Amalia - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 10:41 am:
Republicans. The party that does not want government programs to help people but who want to hand out money to help themselves.
- Bruce( no not him) - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 10:53 am:
“ Higher gas prices during State Fair week is as much a tradition as the fair itself.”
Also college move ins.
Gas in macomb yesterday at $4.19
- Steve Rogers - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 10:56 am:
Is this his money or the GOPs money? If the former, it’s good to see his farm subsidy money being put to good use.
- H-W - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 11:44 am:
We bought gas at the State Fair for $3.49 a gallon. As Bruce notes, gas is $4.19 in Macomb. It makes you wonder why the price of gas is 70 cents more expensive where Republicans run the local economy.
As to the post, buying 10 people a tank of gas is not exactly a large expenditure for the Republican Party of Illinois. If they wish to make people think gas prices are out of hand, perhaps they could drop $10,000 a day. But as it stands, the one lucky Republican who enters the Republican tent and ends up winning a tank full of gas, will probably not change their vote. I can think of better ways to influence voters.
Finally, driving through town, I saw the simple house that the Illinois Policy Institutes owns. Not nearly as impressive as I would have expected. /s
- Lucky Pierre - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 1:02 pm:
Gas is more expensive where Republicans run the economy?
Ever been to that Republican oasis in Cook County? Average is still over $5
https://gasprices.aaa.com/?state=IL
- JS Mill - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 2:00 pm:
=Ever been to that Republican oasis in Cook County? Average is still over $5=
Your link says $4.746. Checking with “math” and they say that is less than $5.
- Jocko - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 3:09 pm:
As stunts go, this is the Illinois equivalent of Jeb Bush’s “Please clap.”
- Arsenal - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 3:43 pm:
==Your link says $4.746. Checking with “math” and they say that is less than $5. ==
Well, this is the guy who bragged about a Republican lead when there was still half a million votes to count, and the guy who thought 0 was 5, so what do you expect?
- Just a guy - Tuesday, Aug 16, 22 @ 10:37 am:
- Huh? - Monday, Aug 15, 22 @ 9:16 am:
Could this be considered an expenditure to influence the vote? It would be a violation of 18 USC 597 - Expenditures to influence voting.
I’m certainly not a Darren Bailey fan, nor will I vote for him. But what would you call “freezing” the gas tax until after the general election? Irony?