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Nopinka

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Topinka rules out tollway sale, but won’t rule out tax hikes.

Republican Judy Baar Topinka said Thursday she will not lease the tollway system if elected governor, but instead raised the potential for higher taxes if the state needs money.

â€œIâ€™m not going to say it will be popular,â€ Topinka said of the tax increase option without elaborating on her state budgeting ideas.

Unlike her Democratic rival Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the three-term state treasurer has refused to take an election-year vow not to raise taxes. On Thursday she repeated that such tax increases would be a last resort for her administration.

At the same time, Topinka blistered Blagojevichâ€™s interest in other money-raising proposals, namely the idea of selling or leasing off the state lottery or tollway system to get billions of dollars for state spending.

â€œIt is irresponsible,â€ Topinka said of the Democratic-led idea of leasing the 274-mile system to a private company for more than $15 billion. â€œWhat is going to be next? Lincolnâ€™s Tomb?â€

Topinka and some suburban lawmakers view the prospective tollway deal as a raid on the suburbs to bail out Chicago and downstate.

She really needs to come up with something that she’s for.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 4:34 am

Comments

Good work Rich.
Clearly Nopinka is an excellent addition to the names AccordiOnGal and Judy Bore.
Now all the handwringers can start whining about name calling, blah blah blah.

Comment by Reddbyrd Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 6:39 am
What is the difference in raising taxes,which I would rather have and we need to do,or raising fees on businesses and them pass them along plus the ones that put out a closed sign or moved to a neighboring state.Selling off our assets will only hurt this state in th future.

Comment by DOWNSTATE Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 7:12 am
Rich you took the words out of my mouth. What is Judy for? What programs is she offering? What solutions to problems does she have? Rod has been clumsy with a lot of his initiatives, BUT AT LEAST HE IS OFFERING IDEAS. Is very easy for Judy to sit back and criticize EVERY LITTLE THING that Rod does, but what are her solutions. Her campaign is hinging on the alleged misdeeds of the Blago administration, what will she do if neither Lisa or Fitzgerald do anything by election day? She has nothing. She has no campaign, she just likes to criticize, not a good strategy.

Comment by wndycty Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 7:19 am
Wndycty - the Governor sure has lots of ideas. The problem is they never come to fruition or else they are so costly and cumbersome that the legislature refuses to support them, which is what we elected them to do.

Ms. Topinka just needs to sit back and let the Governor and his untrained, uninformed and uncaring staff implode, with the help of Mr. Fitzgerald. The walls have ears!!!

Comment by Disgusted Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 7:33 am
Didn’t the Earl of Elvis make the same promise last time, then raise every possible fee, raid every possible special fund, and sell every possible state asset? What was Blago “for” last time? In the debates during the previous election, he had no clue about any of the issues, and responded to each question (with a blank look on his face), “I care about people.” Yet, the liberal media declared him the “winner” of the debates. I’m hard-pressed to think of a funnier game of Jeopardy than one starring Blago & Bush, each not having a clue, nor a teleprompter, nor an earphone, nor being able to use a b.s. catch phrase to con his way into being declared the “winner”. We’d all be laughing our butts off!

Comment by Snidely Whiplash Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 7:48 am
Disgusted, those who are not fans of Blago DESERVE better than a candidate who sits back and watches the the other candidate implode. Are you voting for a brighter future? Does not sound like it.

This is truly laughable and sad. Go ahead BASH Rod. You can criticize his leadership or what you feel to be lack thereof, but excuse me, at least he is attempting to lead. A candidate who sits back waiting for the other to implode is not a leader, but an opportunist, does Illinois really need an opportunist? It needs a leader, even if that leader is flawed.

Comment by wndycty Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 7:50 am
Rich- we actually could have the Lincoln’s Tomb named “The Pepsi Lincoln’s Tomb” if the Governorvich gets his way. Remember, he hired some California firm to sell naming rights to our state’s assets. I am waiting for the millions to be spent wisely.

For example, we could have the Pepsi Tomb, the Budweiser State Fish & Wildlife Area, Tony Rzeco’s state office building, etc.

Comment by roy slade Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 8:00 am
Roy, you can be a pessimist and dismiss sponsorship as a revenue stream or you can have some sort of imagination. Rod has never ever mentioned selling the naming rights to Lincoln’s Tomb or the naming rights to a state park. There are a number of state assets that would be suitable for sponsorship/underwriting. Have you ever been to a museum or for that matter Millennium Park? While it would be in poor taste to sell a state park, what would be wrong with Visitor Centers at each state park funded with corporate underwriting? It seems reasonable to me. Or corporate underwriting for special exhibits, its done all the time at museums, do you feel that it is in poor taste? Its easy to ridicule this as funding source by pointing to outrageous examples or you can look at it as a serious revenue stream and find an ethical and proper way to do it. But its typical of those who do not like Rod to act in an irrational manner.

Comment by wndycty Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 8:30 am
The governor has not offered programs, he has offered press releases.

I’d rather see Topinka take her time and put something on the table that makes sense than fire of a press release proposing some flibberty-jib.

Besides, does anyone really believe that when Topinka does start releasing her plans, the Governor is going to do anything different than he’s accusing Topinka of? No, he’s going to criticize and pick it a part. That’s what politics is, folks.

I think the only way we might get a proposal of real substance from the Governor is for Topinka to show him how it’s done. Until then we’re doomed to government of the press release, by the press release, and for the press release.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 8:41 am
P.S. Topinka has said what she would do about school funding. She said she would work with the legislature. That’s Speaker Madigan — who has opposed short-term, unsustainable gimmicks — and President Emil Jones — who has championed increased funding for schools across the state. A sustainable way to increase funding for schools across the state sounds like a good plan to me.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 8:46 am
YDD, I think you need a new screen name. lol

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 8:48 am
The election is less than 5 months away. She can’t wait forever to come up with some plans and initiatives, even understanding the desire to reduce the amount of time Blago has to criticize them.

Waiting for some indictments to save her is awfully risky. What if Madigan and the feds find nothing and announce same. Or don’t announce anything. Illinois’ anti-corruption laws are notoriously weak and Blago may well be able to drive through them legally.

She also needs to get a debating coach who can teach her to speak in paragraphs. A campaign limited to one-liners is simply not going to
go anywhere. At some point, she has to start speaking in complete sentences and paragraphs. Blago has learned how to do this, so we know anybody can.

Comment by Cassandra Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 9:21 am
People are figuring out Nopinka, and the polls are showing.
Blagojevich reports strong job creation; Topinka doubts figures
ASSOCIATED PRESS
06/08/2006

CHICAGO

Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Thursday that Illinois added more jobs - 23,100 - in
April than any other state in the nation, but his opponent in the fall
gubernatorial election questioned the numbers, charging the governor has
released misleading figures before.

According to a statement issued by Blagojevich, state and federal figures show
that April was the first month since January 1995 in which Illinois led the
nation in monthly job growth and bring to 43,600 the number of new jobs in the
state in the past three months.

“We’ve come roaring back from the recession that took away so many jobs between
2000 and 2003,” the governor, a Democrat, said. “We led the nation in job growth
in April, more tourists are visiting Illinois than ever, and we continue to keep
doing everything possible to bring new businesses and jobs here.”

But state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, the GOP nominee for governor, questioned
the figures. Earlier this year, Illinois Auditor General William Holland
contended that a count of jobs by the administration’s Commerce Department was
filled with errors, missing information and had questionable definitions of what
to count as a job as well as figures contradicted by other documents.

Said Topinka: “This particular administration just has a problem with numbers.”

Most of the month’s new jobs, according to the governor, were in the
professional and business services sector. That sector, which includes such
positions as accountants, lawyers and consultants, had an increase of 10,000
jobs. Most of that increase came as existing businesses expanded, an indication
the economy is improving, Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said.

The leisure and hospitality industry, which includes restaurants and hotels, saw
an increase of 6,000 jobs, according to the governor’s statistics, which he said
came from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics and the state’s Department of
Employment Security.

Ottenhoff said the job growth was the result of the governor’s policies: “Three
and a half years of not raising income taxes, three and a half years of not
raising sales taxes, doing what we need to balance the state’s budget without
burdening businesses across the state.”

Blagojevich has irked many business groups, however, by raising scores of
business fees and other taxes. Topinka said there is a “very poisonous climate”
for businesses in the state because of “overtaxation.”

The economy promises to be a major issue in the fall. Topinka has said
Blagojevich’s policies have prompted businesses to choose neighboring states
such as Wisconsin instead of Illinois because of what she says is an
antibusiness climate.

But Blagojevich said investment packages that he and the state’s Department of
Commerce and Economic Opportunity have provided businesses around Illinois have
resulted in new jobs, including 2,500 at the Chrysler Group of Belvidere and
some of its suppliers, and 1,000 jobs at Triumph Foods in East Moline.

Blagojevich also trumpeted the growth of the tourism industry in Illinois since
he took office, pointing to figures that show travel spending in Illinois
increased 6.8 percent to a record $26.2 billion in 2005.

In campaign news, a new poll reports Blagojevich leading Topinka 41 percent to
34 percent. The telephone survey of 600 registered voters June 1-3 by the
Chicago-based Glengariff Group has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

Topinka has lost support compared with a similar survey done in April that
showed her leading Blagojevich 44 percent to 41 percent.

While Blagojevich was talking jobs Thursday, Topinka focused her attention on
the Illinois Tollway. Topinka and her running mate, DuPage County State’s
Attorney Joe Birkett, said they would not sell the tollway to a private vendor
and want Blagojevich to commit to not doing so.

The governor has already proposed leasing or selling the Illinois Lottery to
raise $10 billion for Illinois schools, and some have speculated that leasing
the tollway could be another way to raise money to pay for state programs.

“This governor has become the king of trying to sell assets for a one-time cash
flow,” Topinka said.

Comment by SilverBackDemocrat Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 9:28 am
Tostinka is a shill for the has beens of the republican party. I dont believe that she really wants to be governor. She clearly hasnt put any thought into how she could improve the state. How can she be without an education plan midway through June, especially after a contested primary. She has no substance — she is George Ryan.

Comment by Juice Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 10:37 am
Disgusted said: “Wndycty - the Governor sure has lots of ideas. The problem is they never come to fruition or else they are so costly and cumbersome that the legislature refuses to support them, which is what we elected them to do.”

A lot of politicians’ idease never come to pass — look at the conservative record in the Senate just this week.
- the Hate Amendment against gay Americans failed
- the repeal of the Paris Hilton TAx Cut failed

Over the past year or two… the President and Congressional conservatives have also failed at Social Security reform and (even though it passed) Medicare reform.

It’s not the getting-done of the big ideas — it’s the talking-about the big ideas that voters tend to go for (whether those ideas come from the right or left).

Comment by NW burbs Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 11:03 am
A tax increase in this state hurts the working poor and lower middle class the hardest because of the nature of our flat tax. So to me, yes, I want to see the gov and the leg coming up with all kinds of other ideas, even if they turn out to be non-workable so they can be discussed, kicked around, tweaked and maybe lead to a workable idea.

Comment by cermak_rd Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 11:25 am
I don’t care about the criminal investigations! I don’t care if he raided the pension funds, putting generations into debt! I don’t care if he has raised everything BUT taxes, like every fee in sight! I don’t care if he is selling off state assets to fund his giveaway programs, which themselves were proposed solely to get re-elected! I don’t care if Illinois is 46th in job creation! I don’t even care if Rod IS a crook!

Gosh darn it, Rod is a LEADER!!!

I’m just going to play ostrich until this icky stuff is over.

LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA!!!!! I CAN’T HEAR YOU!!!!

Comment by Bubs Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 12:12 pm
“YDD, I think you need a new screen name. lol”

No doubt about it. It isn’t to suggest that a Democrat can not hate Blagojevich for all of his being. But the name implies fealty to party over all else.

“I’d vote for a yellow dog if he ran on the Democratic ticket”

Comment by SenorAnon Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 1:24 pm
Say, how about “Red Fox Republican?” Just a thought.

Hehehehe.

Comment by Bubs Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 1:34 pm
Senoranon-

YDD has generally been an articulate partisan here, and under normal circumstances would probably be supportive of a fellow party member. However, it’s my impression that the Current Occupant is proving that everyone, even a YDD, has their limits.

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 1:55 pm
I was neither impugning YDD’s articulateness nor attacking his/her right to express opinions. Few things are more American than the right to offer criticism.

Just pointing out the irony of the screen name.

On topic, Topinka says she would not lease the tollway. Did Blagojevich say he would?

Comment by SenorAnon Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 2:23 pm
Judy B is a loser against the Current Occupant unless she comes out with programs which the voters can support. Just being the “Not That” candidate will throw it to the incumbent. And if Illinois winds up in a crap throwing, countercharging campaign on each side, the voters are going to wish there was a candidate named None Of The Above and stay home.

She is also going to have to convert some of the Conservatives on one or more of their core issues.

As widely as we may disagree on this Blog, I think that the group would be a good Executive Branch — which one for Guv, I do not know. But better than Blago and his merry men.

Comment by Truthful James Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 3:39 pm
Judy has inherited a Republican problem, and it’s not George Ryan. As a party here in Illinois, we’ve let ourselves be trapped into not being for things, thereby letting ourselves be defined by what we’re against. The truth of the matter is, generally as a party,we’ve offered no affirmative suggestions in almost any area you want to pick.

The last 4 Republican Governors of Illinois have been far more activist than the party as a whole. Many of their proposals had to be passed over the objections of Republican members of the GA. Many failed at the hands of the Republicans in the Illinois GA.

I agree with YDD that I would rather see well thought out proposals from the JBT campaign than quick ones. One of the problems she is facing is that she has to start from scratch on most issues, and that’s a shame. I happen to believe our Republican Governors have done a good job on those issues where we have been for something; welfare reform, ILLINOIS First, Chicago school reform, subsidized child care, KidCare, FamilyCare, etc. But remember, those were mainly gubernatorial initiatives, where the party had to be dragged along kicking and screaming.

Judy will do the party and the state a real favor if she can lay out a positive agenda of things we are for. We’ve been far better at finding problems than we have at offering solutions.

Comment by steve schnorf Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 6:37 pm
Wndycty:

For your info, I voted for the governor. I thought that surely, given the corruption and sleazyness around Ryan, that he would know what NOT to do. I have a real problem with “ideas” and no follow-up. I have a ton of ideas to improve the city and state, but no one will listen to me because I’m not “in the $$$ loop.” Blagojevich had a golden opportunity to do this right, cut the dead weight out of govt., stop the spending on every little desire of the legislators and their constituents and tightening everything up and streamling. Instead, he is spending right and left, using the money in state agency budgets to fund his ideas which are headlines for a while and then they disappear. And the agencies are left holding the fiscal bag for the money they expended to advertise his latest enthusiasm. I know this for a fact since I know people who work in print shops in state agencies who are on constant pins and needles because they may not be able to produce IMMEDIATELY, what his staff are demanding. For instance, they have no conception of how long it takes for bids to be received from and awarded to outside vendors. It’s just “get it done.”

Even though the state is belt-tightening in many areas, there seems to be no curbs at all on use of outside vendors for printing and the like, just to get it all in place for the governor’s arbitrary deadlines. And those are the people who have been stiffed for 5 years, as well as having their pensions raided.

If you want to run a successful business, you must keep your workers happy, fulfull your obligations and be trusted by the public and your staff. No matter how much you love his constant barrage of ideas and pressure on an already floundering state government, we are not running a magazine where the latest has to be on the forefront until the next great thing comes along. The decision made by this administration will linger into my grandchldren’s adulthood and they will still be paying for it all. Mr. Blagojevich is a real-timer and could care less about the future of this state, as long as he gets to Washington (again.)

Comment by Disgusted Friday, Jun 9, 06 @ 10:44 pm
JBT’s primary ads said she’d “hold the line on taxes.” If she’s not pledging to prevent tax increases, what did she mean in her ads?

I could understand a tax swap to lower property taxes, but why would that prevent her from pledging not to increase overall taxes?

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jun 15, 06 @ 6:08 am