Is it any wonder that Quinn finds himself looking up in the polls at a right-wing slacker who looks the part of a pleasant businessman and promises to cut the state budget, even though he can’t actually explain how he plans to do it either?
Let me answer that. No, it’s entirely understandable, and it’s a shame, because Pat Quinn is a good man who wants to do right by the people of Illinois. But he continues to show he just doesn’t get what the world of state government looks like to those outside it.
I can’t argue with a single word in that. Same with this…
The only means the governor has at his disposal to force AFSCME to the bargaining table is the threat of layoffs.
The problem is that Quinn considers himself a friend of state workers and doesn’t really believe in layoffs, which means that when push comes to shove, he’s a pushover.
“The worst thing to do in a recession is lay people off,” he told the editorial board.
I can understand that. Hasn’t been much fun to watch my friends ushered out the door here in recent years, maybe the same where you work. But I sure as heck don’t believe in increasing the pay of state workers when the state is broke and its residents are taking real pay cuts — the kind that leave you with less money than you used to get, not just a scheduled raise that gets postponed.
But not this…
There was some nonsense Tuesday from Republican candidate Bill Brady that the deal is “scandalous” because Quinn agreed to it around the same time he got the union’s endorsement. That’s stupid because the real problem is that Quinn was always inclined to protect those workers and always going to get that endorsement.
Not necessarily. Quinn signed the pension reform bill and AFSCME was hugely upset. They’ve sat out governor’s races before, they could’ve done it again. Quinn wanted that endorsement badly, so he pushed hard for it.
Gov. Quinn said Tuesday that Sen. Bill Brady should apologize to first lady Michelle Obama for a wisecrack commentator Glenn Beck made at her expense Saturday night. […]
“Get away from my French fries, Mrs. Obama,” Beck warned. “First politician that comes up to me with a carrot stick, I’ve got a place for it. And it’s not in my tummy.” […]
“I thought it was important: I was disturbed on Saturday night to see Glenn Beck come to our state and disparage and mock the first lady of the United States of America,” Quinn said Tuesday following a private debate before the Commercial Club of Chicago. “Michelle Obama is my friend.” […]
Tuesday’s Commercial Club forum was closed to the press and public. But Brady spokeswoman Patty Schuh said when Quinn asked Brady to apologize for what Beck said, “Bill answered to the roar of the crowd. ‘You have to be kidding me.’”
Tying Brady to Beck in a news item is a good thing, and Mrs. Obama is still quite popular, but this is more than a little trivial.
“As Bill Foster launches one desperate and dishonest attack after another on Randy Hultgren, it’s important that voters are fully informed of Bill Foster’s out-of-touch, liberal record of voting with Nancy Pelosi 93% of the time, and his support for the Wall Street bailout, the so-called ‘stimulus,’ and the Foster-Pelosi government takeover of health care,” said campaign spokesman Gill Stevens. “This ad does just that, and reminds voters that Bill Foster is part of the problem in Washington, DC.”
* Hare asks opponent to give back donation: Democratic Congressman Phil Hare is asking his Republican opponent in the November election to give back a campaign contribution from a company cited for worker’s death in 2007. Hare made the request of Bobby Schilling during an appearance Monday at the Galesburg Labor Temple.
* State senate 31 candidates differ on employer performance reviews
