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On the bus.
Turnout was a bit light this morning at Navy Pier, but the crowd seemed enthusiastic enough. Just had lunch at Cafe Magdalena in Elgin. Surprisingly nice place.
The governor has been nicely received, of course. He’s on a well-planned, well-advanced trip. It’s better than I expected,
Not much news yet, but it’s just getting started. Everyone’s still in high spirits. I’m having more fun than expected. I’ve known the governor since he was in the Illinois House, so we’ve reminiced about old times.
He has done some press interviews on the bus. The AP had him for the first leg, and now Chuck Sweeny with the Rockford Register-Star is having his turn,.
The question I brought up was about the lack of legislators who say they are getting many or even any calls from constituents about the lack of health care. Instead, the calls are all about taxes and electric rates. His respone was that this statewide tour is at least partially designed to help generate interest in the issue.
Anyway, more later.
Sorry for any typos. The bus is kinda bumpy.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 1:32 pm
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In other words, to divert attention from his asinine tax plan!
Comment by fedup dem Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 1:45 pm
Any reporters have the onions to ask the Governor about the corruption in his administration?
Probably not, otherwise they’d be alongside the road hitching a ride back to where they came from.
Comment by Any Kodak Moments Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 2:19 pm
“His respone was that this statewide tour is at least partially designed to help generate interest in the issue.”
Why doesn’t he listen to voters? Few of us want what he is selling. Why should we take a risk on his medicinal cures, when we aren’t sick? Why risk the economic health of Illinois to satisfy his ego?
Here is a nice rule of thumb for the Governor - if there is no demand for a solution, don’t offer one. Instead, try focusing on what we DO want - OK?
Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 2:20 pm
Rich - Concerning the governor’s commnents about taking a hike to the critics of the GRT, was he inferring that they leave the state? Just looking for some insight.
Comment by Biz Lobby Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 2:21 pm
Rich, if you want to be my hero, ask the Governor if he will support a plan to use Instant Runoff Voting in all single-seat races throughout the state. This is an extremely important issue for Illinois Greens, and this is something solid that he can do to appeal to this constituency.
If that isn’t already enough, I would also ask him if he will support democracy by equalizing ballot access requirements for all candidates, regardless of political party affiliation, and why he refused to debate Rich Whitney in 2006.
Comment by Squideshi Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 2:22 pm
Rich,
Why is Blagojevich calling the shots on this “tour”? He is trying to pass off Alpo as Lean Cuisine, and no one wants to know his responses to the issues he has been dodging until now?
What about the Hate Crimes Bureau?
How about a comment regarding Dawn Defrates?
What does he say about the rest of the Illinois statewide elected officials who have yet to join him?
What does he say about Quinn’s comments?
Finally, when he tells critics to “take a hike”, isn’t his actions regarding the GRT already saying this to Illinois businesses, so wouldn’t those comments be redundant?
Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 2:28 pm
OK, in the office I work for we have recieved ZERO calls about lack of healthcare. We take many calls on taxes, utility rates and the like. As far as the GRT in particular we have recieved a few hundred emails mostly opposed. The opposed are coming from a wide variety of citizens. The emails that ask to support the plan are all from one segment. Teachers. These emails are all exactly the same generated out of some website with sender emails mostly ending in a school district’s email server. Education is the secondary part of this plan. No one wants this for the healthcare.
Comment by BBpolNut Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 2:35 pm
ask him if the monk deal is the new way of doing business.
Comment by uncle timmy Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 2:39 pm
ask him about his friend tony.
Comment by uncle timmy Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 2:40 pm
All this bus ride is, is but a diversionary tactic to divert attention away from the real stories, and that is CORRUPTION!
Comment by Magical Hysterical Tour Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 2:41 pm
ask about the football.
Comment by uncle timmy Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 2:42 pm
ask him if he is willing to sell out his own wife to maintain his position.
Comment by uncle timmy Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 2:44 pm
Choreographed Politics!
Is Bill on the bus?
Are guys going stop at a Yogi Bear Campground for the evening?
It would be inexpensive.
Comment by Sunset over Illinois Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 2:55 pm
So give us the skinny…who is on the bus? Let’s see who made it and why. Any papers that have given negative editorials? Any TV?
Comment by Niles Township Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 2:59 pm
All that birthday money would really go far at one of those Yogi Bear Campgrounds
Comment by Cup full of blues Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 3:10 pm
I’m still finding it hard to believe that the Governor let you on his bus, Rich.
I disagree with Vanillaman. Plenty of Illinois residents care about access to affordable health care. Namely the sizeable number of folks who don’t have any at all.
Comment by Bridget Dooley Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 3:28 pm
Bridget- I was assuming this is all part of an extended April Fools joke on Rich’s part…
But since it’s apparently not, who else is along for the ride, Rich?
Comment by team america, world police Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 3:31 pm
Is the Governor’s tour as credible as the Google “Toilet Internet Service Provider” (TiSP. Or perhaps they both can go away with a flush?
Comment by Gullible Illinoian Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 3:36 pm
Unemployment across the US is 4.5% and Illinois unemployment number is 6.7% and climbing..Illinois also crawls the bottom of the list (43rd) in job creation across the nation.
Perfect timing for a HUGE business tax that largely ( for businesses and services that survive the tax ) will be passes onto consumers. Brilliant!
Who is paying for the bus tour?
Comment by Anon Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 3:38 pm
Does the bus have a GPS link so we track the web it weaves through Illinois? Who’s paying for the bus?
What Blagojevich political insiders benefit from the GRT?
Comment by Rod's a rollin' stone Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 3:53 pm
Does the bus have a GPS link so we track the web it weaves through Illinois?
What Blagojevich political insiders benefit from the GRT?
Comment by Rod's a rollin' stone Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 3:54 pm
I’ve got $50 (monopoly) that Bill is driving this bus.
Comment by A Citizen Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 3:58 pm
The folks who don’t have health care are the ones too busy working 2 jobs at minimum wage without health care to take time to call or write a legislator. They probably don’t believe anyone would care about them anyway. They are probably right.
Comment by Just a Citizen Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 4:02 pm
Anon - I don’t know where you are getting that Illinois’ unemployment rate is 6.7%.
It has been below the national rate for months. It was between 4.0 - 4.1% in January, December, November and October.
Comment by steven Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 4:23 pm
Just a Citizen -
FamilyCare already covers most of the people working minimum wage jobs. “Illinois Covered” aims for an entirely different segment of the population.
People aren’t calling because the very folks the Governor is trying to herd into his middle class health care plan are the very same people who are suspicious of any government-run health care program.
As much as the Taxpayer’s Federation complains that we need to “trim the fat” in Medicaid, Joe Public sees it as bare bones, sub-standard care, and he wants no part of it.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 4:29 pm
YDD,
As you well know, IllinoisCovered is insurance not Medicaid. Anyone who has no health insurance would be interested in the plan. Unlike Medicaid, premiums would be paid based on income. Ask some single income families without insurance what will happen to them if the breadwinner gets sick or hurt.
It is true that uninsured working individuals don’t have lobbyists like IMA and the Chamber working for them. They don’t have an army of flacks. That doesn’t mean that they don’t care and it doesn’t mean that don’t want and need insurance.
Comment by Bill Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 4:38 pm
I heard nearing 25,000 illegal aliens are now on the GOv’s Kid Care Coverage.
Comment by What I heard Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 4:53 pm
Rich
:
Let’s get to the real question
1. Is there a keg?
2. Is it a School Bus, CTAmobile or a cool rock star version with cable & videos
3. Has Governor Dork left for home yet or a re you stick with him for the night
4. try putting the Palm on the head of any of a number of Dork boy’s top staff that should limit vibrations
Comment by GettingJonesed Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 5:22 pm
On the way to Bloomington this morning, a van with U plates passed me. It had Illinois Covered graphics all over the windows and on the door. Wonder who paid for the graphics and what agency is stuck with the bill for the car and gas?
Comment by In the Sticks Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 5:28 pm
> Sorry for any typos. The bus is kinda bumpy.
No, the bus is not bumpy. It’s our finely maintained Illinois roads.
Comment by Digital Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 5:28 pm
We need to read through Rich’s fine print. “Everyone’s still in high spirits (there IS a keg on the bus); I’m having more fun than expected (Jack Daniels too); I’ve known the governor since he was in the Illinois House, so we’ve reminiced about old times (Boone’s and Norb Andy’s); the governor has been nicely received (not as many state employees showed up as anticipated); just had lunch at Cafe Magdalena in Elgin (Rich had to pay); he has done some press interviews on the bus (carefully answered pre-selected questions); his respone was that this statewide tour is at least partially designed to help generate interest in the issue (he’s still focused on what he wants to cram down our throats - not what the citizens of Illinois really need which is relief from high electric bills); sorry for any typos (the first keg has run dry); and the bus is kinda bumpy (Bill’s driving). Can’t wait for tomorrow’s report. Have fun Rich. Drink the beer and the Jack but stay away from the Kool-aid.
Comment by Little Egypt Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 6:02 pm
Hello Little e,
Im not on the bus.
Comment by Bill Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 6:18 pm
Here are some answers
1. To all questions that begin who is paying….
A. “you are” (if you are an IL taxpayer)
2. What did they do between the 9 a.m. rally and lunch in Elgin? A. Go for a “run”
3. What time did the state plane take off from Moline? A. Right after the cameras were off.
4. Who really gets well under ILCovered?
A. United Health Care’s latest exec and former CMS boss Paul Campbell.
Comment by GettingJonesed Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 7:03 pm
Here is the vrey insightful (not) coverage of Gov. Dork’s Fab Bus Bash…Now he is dumping on the Jackson….
Ready for tax fight, Blagojevich questions Jackson’s opposition
By DEANNA BELLANDI
ELGIN, Ill. - Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Monday he’s ready for “the fight of the century” over a massive new business tax, and he suggested critics such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson are responding to pressure from financial supporters.
“I just am dying to have this fight, because it is long overdue,” he said Monday as he began a four-day tour of the state to promote his plan.
The $7.6 billion tax would generate money for schools, health care and property tax relief. It has outraged many business owners, who predict it would force them to raise prices and cut jobs.
But Blagojevich says those predictions are a smoke screen to cover the business community’s real goal: raising income and sales taxes on working families.
“Hit the road,” he said to business groups. “We will not raise taxes on the working people of Illinois.”
The plan has other critics as well. Jackson and the Chicago Urban League question its impact on small, minority-owned businesses.
Blagojevich said in an interview with The Associated Press that Jackson has changed his tune since earlier this year. The governor said the two men talked then and Jackson “thought it was a fantastic idea.”
“I think he’s getting calls from his contributors,” Blagojevich said, noting that he and lawmakers are getting the same pressure to “go easy on contributors and have an unfair tax system and screw your constituents.”
Comment by GettingJonesed Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 7:12 pm
It’s pretty amazing that Rich hasn’t responded to today’s banter regarding this post. Can’t believe there aren’t any candid photos from inside the bus.Did the Blagojevich staffers hand out a DON’TS LIST before climbed aboard?
Rich are you tied up, drunk or drugged ?
Just hit the pound sign so we know your alright.
April Fools!
Comment by Is Rich really on the bus? Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 8:20 pm
Hey Rich!!! maybe you can get an answer for this.
Re: State fund for war’s dead out of money
Families must wait as bill languishes
Chicago Tribune 4-1-07.
1, Why was Ms. Tate given the typical bureaucratic run-around, the Blago shuffle, when it came to distribution of funds from the War Deaths fund? Inexcusable, but typical of this administration.
2, Maybe while he (Rich) is at it he could ask Gov. “I care for Mommies and babies†why is it that Ms. Tate is having problems with medical bills for her now fatherless 13 month old child?
Would this not be a prime example of the type of situation where “AllKids†would and should be applied?
Please, the state really dropped the ball on this one. If the Guv was so compassionate towards these situations I would think his staff would be on top of these things. He has plenty of “staff†to go around.
A real journalist would press these issues. Aren’t these issues what Rod claims he is all about?
The fact that this wasn’t even posted as a question on this blog is sad.
I guess today’s QOTD is more “relevant†than a meat and potatoes issue that may rankle Rod.
Comment by Papa Legba Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 8:34 pm
“I just am dying to have this fight, because it is long overdue,†he said Monday as he began a four-day tour of the state to promote his plan.
Be careful what you ask for Elvis, you just might get it. Personally, I wouldn’t want to irk Jesse because you need his support and supporters.
Can we have an AMEN?
Comment by Little Egypt Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 8:35 pm
Okay, forget all the silly politics. Today was opening day, why would anyone spend it anywhere besides “The Cell”, despite the outcome. I don’t get it.
Comment by leigh Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 8:59 pm
I saw that state van at one of his stops today: has his name real big on 3 sides of it. Remind me again, what was that first law he signed his first week in office? Something about banning officials from putting their names on state property as if they were campaign signs? Like he did with AllKids? And now with this? The lies on the bus go ’round and ’round…. or am I thinking of the wrong bus trip song? maybe it is “100 promises up on the wall?”
Comment by to "In the sticks" Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 9:21 pm
Does Rod wear hairnet when he sleeps?
Comment by Aquanet+ Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 10:16 pm
We all play the Rod routine over and over again. If we expect a different outcome, then by definition, we are INSANE. Sleep well Rich, you are in Never Never Land.
Comment by A Citizen Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 10:24 pm
A couple of things.
One, all of you brave anonymous with the questions Rich should ask; Rich will ask his questions under his real name. Why don’t you?
Two, I beg to disagree with the posters who say that everyone without health insurance will be interested in the new program. Many will (I think), but the uninsured include a significant number of 18-30 years olds who are about as interested in health insurance as they are in retirement planning and life insurance; zilch! You don’t need those things when you are immortal.
Comment by steve schnorf Monday, Apr 2, 07 @ 11:44 pm
Mr. Schnorf -
I think that is why the plan includes one of the most interesting things I have seen in any proposal - that parents can keep their children on their healthcare plans until age 29 if they would like.
So, the kids may think they are immortal, but the parents at least know better and can do something about it.
Comment by JohnR Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 12:58 am
Also -
Isn’t it funny all the legislative staffers (legislators?) on here who have nothing to do now that the GA is on a break this week?
Seriously people, you can’t hide it very well.
Comment by JohnR Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 12:59 am
To Steve Schnorf,
Get off your high horse. We are all so proud of you for being retired. Well stevie, some of us are still trying to provide for our families and a person would have to live outside the USA to badmouth these revenge seeking nuts.
When and why did you drink the kool-aid?
P.S. Rich is becoming all the things he used to preach against, mostly a sell out who fears printing the truth. So go tell everyone bill cellini isn’t running the mafia, then tell them it was you who invented the internet, not al gore.
cellini = mafia = illinois politics
Comment by uncle timmy Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 6:59 am
Steve:
Some of use nom de plume because we work deep inside the most inner circles of state govt. I for example am Frank Watson’s show shine boy
‘nough said.
Comment by GettingJonesed Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 10:29 am
i totally thought this was an April fool joke too, shocked that you’re on the bus - shocked I say
Comment by Napoleon has left the building Tuesday, Apr 3, 07 @ 10:38 am