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This just in… 2

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2:42 pm - It turns out that Senate President Jones scheduled todays meeting with the utility bigshots, so all that dumping on Madigan by Blagojevich & Co was misplaced.

Also, the House Dems who were at the guvs office earlier today were just told that the meeting has been canceled. No condirmation yet from the guvs people.

3:20 pm - Speaker Madigan is on his way tothe wake for Wyvetter Younges husband, so there will be no leaders meeting.

Also, the utility issue seems to be very close to resolution.

3:35 pm - So, were the guvs people telling the truth when they claimed that Madigan insisted on a 10:30 leaders meeting? The Speakers people say that it was Frank Watson who asked for an early meeting.

4:00 pm - Ouch. The new line from the Speaker’s office is that the refusal to allow Majority Leader Currie to represent Speaker Madigan at this morning’s meeting was “insulting” and “sexist.” It just gets worse by the minute.

4:20 pm - The Senate Dem leadership appears to have settled down a bit. Real movement on electric utilities and now the AT&T cable TV bill has zoomed out of committee.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 2:47 pm

Comments

Seeing how news seems a bit slow ’round here Rich… Did you see the story in The Hill about Lipinski’s new challenge?

http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/accidental-congressman-lipinski-draws-another-primary-challenge-2007-06-14.html

Comment by Little Lips Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 2:54 pm
Amazing that with all the personal assistants a meeting can’t be scheduled and people arrive on time.

As for the utility issue: It might be close to being done, but will it be something of which the average person will approve? Whole lotta backroom stuff happening there and nothing going out in the public. It’ll make some people skeptical.

Comment by Fan of the Game Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 3:30 pm
Fan –

I’ve heard a couple of state representatives say that there basically needs to be a check to each household served by one of the power companies — that rebates won’t work, there must be something people can keep in their hands. The implication was, lawmakers really think that if this doesn’t happen, they’re suddenly extremely vulnerable in 2008.

Comment by So Ill Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 3:36 pm
The Guv is in proceeding with the lottery lease. He is making it happen with or without legislative approval. It is happening as I write this. The Guv is quite a guy.

Comment by Little Birdie Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 3:50 pm
I like the impeachment idea.

Comment by What's in a name? Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 3:52 pm
Little Birdie,

I don’t see how he could do that. Because all the leg would need to do is make the lottery illegal or make private ownership (or leasing) of it so. Also I think I would fall under the asset rule where there needs to be approval of the leg. (like the Thompson center)

Comment by OneManBlog Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 3:53 pm
The whole electric rate deal is crazy.
Look at 101st house district Bob Flider who was Illinois Power’s lobbyist and asking elected officeholders to speak no evil about Decatur’s Ip employees. Now, He blasts the heck out of power company.( one wonders if he will get any pension benefits from his years as lobbyist).
Flider replaced Julie Curry who blasted the power company about rates . Now, she loies for the power company and others.
No wonder we lose when the politicans turned lobbyists or the lobbyists turned pols can speak one way one day them 180 it the next.
Who can we trust? Who will protect the little guy? One is not sure in the 101st house district.

Comment by politics in the 101st Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 3:56 pm
Air Rod reschedules again. Now it’s 5pm. http://flightaware.com/live/findflight/KORD/KSPI

That’s the 3rd time the flight has been rescheduled today.

Comment by play by play Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 4:02 pm
Rich, your post seems to have disappeared. All it says now is, “This just in…2″

Comment by play by play Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 4:05 pm
It works now.

Anyone who knows Barb Currie knows she is a true leader and one of Madigan’s top representatives. It’s ridiculous that he dismissed her like that.

Comment by play by play Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 4:07 pm
Maybe it is sexist that House Dems didn’t elect a female speaker?

Comment by steven Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 4:11 pm
The Gov is going ahead with the RFP for Lottery lease. That is all. It is a responsible move with no opposition.

Comment by Nickname Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 4:17 pm
The Gov is going ahead with the RFP for the Lottery lease. That is all. It is a responsible move with no opposition.

Comment by Nickname Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 4:17 pm
This is so sweet for the Repubs.The Dems are the majority and the Repubs will cast the deciding vote, since it so screwed up Madigan needs them, and then sit back and let the Dems take all the blame.

Comment by DOWNSTATE Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 4:21 pm
OneManBlog,
You are correct. It probably is not legal. But watch what happens.

Nick,
I’m fully aware of the RFP. I’m not talking about the RFP.

Little Birdie will never say I told you so!! lol

Comment by Little Birdie Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 4:26 pm
How long before the governor tries flying on different planes to elude Capitol Fax ?

Comment by Napoleon has left the building Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 4:32 pm
Real movement on electric utilities and now the AT&T cable TV bill has zoomed out of committee.
All this, without Blago!

Comment by Wishful Thinking Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 4:56 pm
steve brown saying the gov is sexist is like the pot calling the kettle black. brown called sheila nix “inexperienced”, while saying that louanner peters was a “nice lady” but “uninformed”. now who’s the sexist?

Comment by demgrrl Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 5:13 pm
I, for one, dont mind the current state of affairs in Springfield. I’m a democrat who feels that our party chairman has not acted like a democrat. No matter how he tries to paint this, democratic disunity is his fault as the chairman of the party. I dont know if he realizes that this overtime will put many of his vulnerable members at risk.

I dont think Blago really cares about the fate of his fellow dems in the general assembly, nor is it his job to. He has been elected to represent the people who elected him, and I feel that is exactly what he is doing. The politics of the party is Chairman Madigan’s problem. The governor will drive this fight into the fall to get what he feels is right for the people he represents, and we will be talking about Speaker Cross in 1 1/2 years.

Comment by Anon Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 5:13 pm
What is sexist is the speaker using currie as his pawn. This was a setup by the speaker. Dont kid yourselves. Open your eyes.

Comment by Tina Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 5:17 pm
Having been there done that as a female in politics I have no problem believing that the governor was being sexist. After all, what hope do we women have of being blessed with testicular whatever it was he said.

Comment by Leigh Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 5:26 pm
Is it training wheels up on the $7900 flight back to Chicago yet?

Comment by A Citizen Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 5:27 pm
It appears blago has two supporters on this blog who almost always post at the same time. Hmmmmmm

Comment by Hmmmmmmmm Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 5:32 pm
Hope they remember to turn the lights out (saves energy) and lock the doors and escape routes when they leave the guvs office.

Comment by A Citizen Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 5:48 pm
Hmmmm, you talking about demerol, er, I mean demgrrl?

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 5:52 pm
http://flightaware.com/live/findflight/KORD/KSPI

Air Rod has not left.

Comment by play by play Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 5:54 pm
My mistake. He did leave. http://flightaware.com/live/flight/IDT97

Comment by play by play Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 5:55 pm
“play by play”, if you’re gonna call the game, you need to learn the players’ names so to speak. You’ve been looking at a “scheduled” flight of Air Blago from Chicago (KORD) to the “Patch (KSPI) which is obviously “inoperative” since said plane and passenger are already here.
For you aviation buffs and Blago haters, he (or the plane) is on the way back to O’ Hare.

Comment by Wilbur Wright Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 5:59 pm
Gosh, does he even NEED the plane ?

Comment by A Citizen Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 6:01 pm
Blago can not fly.
He can walk on water.

Comment by politics in illinois Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 6:13 pm
How bored ARE you republican staffers today?

Comment by steven Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 6:33 pm
Dont you mean how bored are you HOUSE staffers today???

Comment by Tina Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 6:44 pm
Anon 5:52

A little originality, please? I’m sure you can do better than that.

Comment by demgrrl Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 6:52 pm
I’m going to contact my rep/senator and suggest they cut the IDOT funding for aviation. That will stop G Rod’s from a daily waste of our precious tax $.

Comment by DRB Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 7:00 pm
- DRB - I understand that an Air Carrier from Chicago Midway to Springfield recently discontinued service because of a lack of ridership. It’s a shame that a state gov’t air service puts a private taxpaying business out of business. If the state employees were using the private business it would be prospering and paying taxes and employing people. I’m sure the gov wouldn’t use it but the rest of the volume would make it a going business.

Comment by A Citizen Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 7:19 pm
It’s about time somebody called Blago a sexist.

Remember when Blago called the Tribune “sexist” and “neanderthal” for daring to asking questions about his wife’s kinky business deals with shady Blago buddies? Gimme a break.

Blago made the most sexist move of all a couple years ago when Lisa put the quash on his plan to mortgage the Thompson Center. He said she was just doing her daddy’s bidding and that he hoped his own daughters would someday watch his back, too.

The almost total absence of outrage from female leaders over that remark was astonishing.

Comment by GirlCrazy Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 7:20 pm
drmgrrl thinks the guv is dreamy. I think it’s the Pantene hair products and Dippity Doo that did it.

Comment by A Citizen Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 7:33 pm
I wonder how many uninsured kids could get shots and check ups with the mony Blago wastes on Blago Air taxpayer funded trips to nowhere. That should be your next T Shirt Rich a slogan for air blago. Thats a charity t-shirt I would gladly buy.

Comment by Fed up Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 7:39 pm
GirlCrazy,

There’s a good reason why there wasn’t an outcry on behalf of female legislators today — they know this is nothing more than posturing on the part of madigan’s people. There’s no “there” there. A leaders meeting is supposed to be with the leaders, not subordinates. The meeting was about madigan’s own bill scheduled per his own time and he decided to play games by scheduling another meeting at the same time. I think that female legislators are smart enough to see through that. And, they’re hardly going to take the bait from brown. Madigan would have been smarter to put currie out there herself if it was indeed such an outrage. Instead, he put brown out there to deliver this nonsense when he’s spent a good part of the last few weeks belittling the women in blagojevich’s inner circle.

Only those who want to divert attention away from getting a budget passed are trying to sell this story.

Comment by demgrrl Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 7:46 pm
A citizen

If you actually had something meaningful to say per the post, I might engage with you, but ignoring you is way more fun.

Comment by demgrrl Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 7:49 pm
HMMMMMMMM
Make that three.

Comment by Bill Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 7:51 pm
Emil scheduled the other meeting and you know it. If there were any hijinx, it was on the part of Emil and Rod.

Comment by Get it right Demgrrl Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 7:56 pm
Seriously,
anon 5:13 has it exactly right. This is Madigan’s overtime. He wanted it and he got it. Maybe he should try to address the needs of the people of Illinois instead of perpetuating this juvenile turf war with the duly elected governor of our state. It will backfire. The citizens of Illinois will not be fooled. Speaker Cross is a little far fetched though. As for Brownie, well, you get what you pay for.

Comment by Bill Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 7:59 pm
A,
I wouldn’t mess with demgrrl if I were you.

Comment by Bill Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 8:00 pm
-Bill- You’re probably right, but sometimes the memory of those young dem staffers just gets the best of me. But on the issue of the private air service that went out of business for lack of ridership, don’t you agree that state employees using that service (not the guv of course) would save the state money and provide employment and tax income? drmgrrl can engage if she would like, I’ll try to shelve my sexist tendencies.

Comment by A Citizen Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 8:07 pm
Bill, no offense, but don’t sit here and say Madigan doesn’t ‘address the needs of the people of Illinois’ when he and Jones actually apparently got something DONE today.

Electric Rate Relief IS a major need of the people of Illinois, especially those who can’t see the Sears Tower from their doorstep. Maybe it’s not what you wanted to see done, but at least admit — it’s some progress.

(even if Jones did set the meeting up…at least something moved forward. I don’t think anyone needed another CTA presentation, certainly not as badly as they need rate relief)

Comment by So Ill Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 8:13 pm
I don’t know. Sometimes when I book a flight less than 6 months in advance they want an outragoues fare of about $650. Commercial air service from Springfield is really bad.Many times they just decide to cancel the one scheduled flight. Then you are stuck in the patch or in for a 10 hour train ride.
The state plane is usually full so it is probably cheaper for the state to continue running it.

Comment by Bill Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 8:13 pm
Get it right,

Of course it was a hijinx on the part of emil and rod. In fact, it was a part of their grand plan months ago to get to this very day so they could schedule a leaders meeting, and then schedule another meeting at the same time just to blame madigan for it for the scheduling snafu. They’re geniuses!

Comment by demgrrl Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 8:14 pm
So Ill,
What did they get done?

Comment by Bill Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 8:14 pm
Rod ought to be ashamed of himself. He served with Barb Currie in the House. Currie was a leader at that time. He knows she has the authority to negotiate.

Or was Rod really that clueless when he was a rep? Everyone knew the only thing he was interested in was running against Flannigan. As far as working for legislation, forget it.

Can Bill or someone tell me where I can go to get a refund of the $250 I gave Rod in 2002? I know I can’t get the hours back I devoted to walking precincts for the guy. Fortunately, they were easy precincts located in Fritchey’s area (back when Fritchey trusted Blago).

But I want my $250 back. The guy is simply not competent to be governor, and this train wreck of a session is a prime example. Instead of working with others in an attempt to win others over to his position, he points fingers, causing more opposition. The “wallflower” comment, “testicular virility”, insults of the Attorney General, and now this.

Can someone PLEASE tell me where I can get my money back? I won’t even insist on interest.

Comment by a former legislative intern Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 8:18 pm
I love how Blago supporters are quick to point out Currie is a subordinate, which is true, but conveniently leave out that she is, in fact, the House Majority Leader. If it is a so-called “Leaders” meeting, I think her title alone is sufficient to allow her to represent her caucus.

Comment by Anon Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 8:19 pm
Sorry, no refunds. Thanks for your time and effort though.

Comment by Bill Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 8:19 pm
Anon 8:19pm You are exactly right. Everyone knows that Currie has the full confidence of the Speaker. She is the one that sponsors all of the tough, difficult legislation that is not politically popular but is in the best interests of the state.

Rod’s latest juvenile action was one of a desperate politician desperate to avoid taking responsibility for this overtime session.

Comment by a former legislative intern Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 8:23 pm
Wow, the full confidence of the speaker!

Comment by Bill Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 8:25 pm
Is that all you can come up with, Bill?

Simple minded. Figures, just like Blago and his staff.

Comment by a former legislative intern Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 8:27 pm
Oh, one more thing…no outrage today from female legislators, but just wait until tomorrow or the next day the House is in session. Look for bipartisan speeches against the Governor’s actions.

Comment by a former legislative intern Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 8:29 pm
former,
Thanks for the compliment. You are just mad about the $250.

Comment by Bill Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 8:31 pm
Seriously though,
You legislature types treat this guy like some sort of diety. All knowing, all caring, super strategist, plays chess instead of checkers, and on and on and on! You are all afraid of him and can’t wait to get in line to suck up.
It is really pretty amazing.

Comment by Bill Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 8:34 pm
A former leg intern,

thanks to those who gave money just like yourself, there are now 500,000 more people who have health care, nearly 4 billion more has been invested in schools, we have a healthier state pension system, a reduced longterm deficit, and smaller government. Wow. Sounds like Blagojevich
was a very wise investment after all.

And, if you thought way back when that he only wanted to run against flannigan and had no interest in being a state rep, then why the heck did you give him $250 in 02? Maybe you expected to get something in return, but didn’t? Hmm.

Comment by demgrrl Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 8:40 pm
Somebody get that glass of Kool Aid away from demgrrl. It’s laced with something.

Don’t worry, former leg, we all make bad investments once in a while.

Comment by Truth Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 8:47 pm
Truth,

It’s not koolaid. It just the plain facts. Pick em apart if you can, but you won’t be able to.

Comment by demgrrl Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 8:52 pm
does blagos plane have internet service bill and demgirl must be sitting with smiling rod on the taxpayer paid for trip while hes doing his elvis bit for them to defend this goof and his actions.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 9:17 pm
Bill, you don’t have to feel like a one man band over here any more. Looks like you have a very capable wingperson.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 9:27 pm
Hope all is well. We have to disagree on this one.

The fact is that it was not the Speaker that set up the electric rate meeting, it was Emil.

The fact is that it was wrong to refer to Currie as a subordinate in this situation. Not only is she the Majority Leader who was designated to be the point person on the issue, this was not a typical leaders’ meeting, a good number of legislators were also invited to participate.

Another fact is that the Governor has frequently, and understandably, had staff attend meetings with leaders on issues in his stead. Things come up, and if you have authorized decision-makers in the room, you move forward - if that’s what you really want to do.

If you want the facts of what transpired at the meeting, read my post at http://johnfritchey.blogspot.com/2007/06/beyond-belief.html.

While you may, and likely will, reach different conclusions than I do, I don’t think that anybody will argue with my facts of what happened at the meeting, since I was in the room.

See you next week maybe.

Comment by Rep. John Fritchey Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 9:30 pm
I forgot to mention that I was responding to demgrrl’s remarks. Have a good evening everybody.

Comment by Rep. John Fritchey Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 9:32 pm
Rep. Fritchey,

With all due respect. Having staff attend meetings with leaders is a lot different than calling a “Leaders” meeting, and then staffing it out.

Rich, others, please disagree with me if I am wrong, but it seems the ONLY, SOLE purpose of a “Leaders” meeting is to have the leaders there in one room, together.

If they aren’t all there, it isn’t a “Leaders” meeting, it is just a meeting. And meetings that are just meetings happen all the time, and nothing necessarily gets done.

You may be insulted Rep. Fritchey, but the truth is that you are not one of the three(or maybe you could say 5 now) “leaders”. You, like everyone else in the room, are just window dressing.

That’s the truth, plain and simple.

Comment by JohnR Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 9:52 pm
Getting back to the lottery lease… Here’s what Blagojevich told an eager young reporter who staked out the governor’s basement escape route this afternoon:

“The sale or lease of the lottery is something that we think makes a lot of sense,” he said. “By all accounts, we need to do it with legislative approval. And that’s what we’re seeking – legislative approval.”

Comment by horse's mouth Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 10:00 pm
If the gov really was a leader he would have accomplished something out of tha meeting other than just a repeat of his childish outrageousness. He disgusts me!

Comment by A Citizen Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 10:03 pm
Plus, and one more thing to add that I don’t think anyone has touched on yet -

If the “Leaders” meeting was allowed to be held today with surrogates attending instead of the actual “Leaders”, that would set a pretty unfortunate precedent.

The whole purpose of having the leaders meetings is to get those 3 (Governor, Speaker, President) into a room to bang their heads together to work things out.

If all three aren’t there, then nothing gets done. It demolishes the whole concept of a leaders meeting. And then the three will never squeeze into the same room again. And we are in for an even longer summer.

Madigan was testing the waters on this in order to see if he could diminish the importance of leaders meetings by sending surrogates. If him and his staff were actually interested in going to the meeting today, they surely could have rescheduled it easily.

Comment by JohnR Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 10:10 pm
I received an automated call this evening, stating that it was a one question survey on the performance of Governor Blagojevich. The only question was if you disapproved or approved of the governor’s performance. Name of the group was Concerned Illinois - or something like that.

Comment by In the Sticks Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 10:10 pm
DISAPPROVE !

Comment by A Citizen Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 10:12 pm
A Citizen - I must admit that you made me laugh. Like you had to proclaim your disgust for the Governor, as if people don’t already know.

You don’t have to feign outrage here - there is enough feigning to go around.

Comment by JohnR Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 10:12 pm
John,

As I responded to you on my blog, it was the Governor’s idea to bring Houlihan down and have a more open meeting.

If we were intended to be nothing more than window dressing (an unfortunate but distinct possibility), the blame still rests in the same place.

And that underscores the other point I made in my post. HE is the one that insisted that rank and file legislators be there to ‘get the job done’.

If he now thinks that it’s not worth his time to meet with us, then he needs to get off last week’s message.

Comment by Rep. John Fritchey Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 10:14 pm
I have to chuckle a bit myself. Sometimes my passion just unleashes itself. Sorta an out of keyboard experience.

Comment by A Citizen Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 10:17 pm
Unfortunately, the Governor’s many accomplishments do not include maintenance of the state’s buildings. There has been no real maintenance done on any buildings just used by ordinary people (other than the capitol) since this administration took office. Mostly the roofs still leak, the doors don’t close, the boilers have failed. Emergency projects just continue to happen, and increase in frequency. But of course, there is a hundred million in capital for Chicago State, resulting in at least one building named after Mr. Jones. That is over $15,100 per student, significantly more than any other state school receives per student.

Comment by In the Sticks Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 10:17 pm
Rep. Fritchey -

Here is the point. You don’t matter. Rep. Currie doesn’t matter. No one else in that room matters in the grand scheme of getting something done to the issue.

The people who needed convincing and the people who needed to come to an agreement weren’t there.

Everything else is just a waste of time.

Comment by JohnR Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 10:26 pm
JohnR-Then why do we elect and pay for all these unnecessary pawns?

Comment by A Citizen Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 10:30 pm
What’s wrong with being sexy?

Comment by CM Wangs Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 10:32 pm
No idea -

If they all just do what they are told anyway, we should just hold a direct statewide election for Speaker of the House and Senate President and assign them 117 staff members and 58 staff members, respectively.

Don’t you agree Rep. Fritchey?

Comment by JohnR Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 10:35 pm
Now there’s a real justification for a ConCon, but scrap the staff element - make them work 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year, in Springfield and EARN their keep, for a change.

Comment by A Citizen Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 10:39 pm
If it a leader’s meeting then why were there 40 plus people in attendance? A true leader’s meeting would really be about 5 people if it isn’t a show for the press.

Comment by not important Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 10:42 pm
John R.
They seem to matter this year. Madigan keeps polling them on tax hikes, spending plans and giving the results to the governor’s office who keeps implying the House should be more like the Senate where Sen. Jones apparently talks to few of his members while promising grand things that he, so far, has been unable to deliver with this supermajority.

Madigan set the stage for a tax hike this session with his comments at the swearing in. But when he asked his members, they said they weren’t willing to vote for one.

Could they be swayed, coersed, twisted, beaten into submission? Perhaps, but why? To give Blagojevich a couple more billion to spend or four years worth of ammo to shove down their throats.

And so we are where we are.

And for clarification, today’s meeting, and in fact most of the closed-door meetings in recent weeks aren’t really “leaders meetings” in the classic sense. By all accounts there’s no negotiations going on, no talk of delivering votes for this or that or willingness to sacrifice here or there. It’s still in the lecture phase and for that matter the guest lecture phase as specialists and economists, rank and filers and others are trotted in for portions.

There were even freshmen Senate Republicans invited to today’s meeting.

BFC should have been peeved that she had to waste her time, I’m sure she’s got more important stuff to do than babysit a couple dozen wanna-be leaders.

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 10:48 pm
John,

I’ll accept your frustration, but not the rest of your comments.

You can be of the mindset to continue to work to make things better, or you can throw in the towel and accept a system you don’t like. Everybody has to decide for themselves.

We can leave it at that.

Comment by Rep. John Fritchey Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 10:49 pm
Who was Emil Jone’s designee since he was in the meeting with Madigan. Why wasn’t that an issue. Would the Gov stay for the meeting if Madigan did attend and the President sent a designee?

Comment by CFblogger Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 10:54 pm
What kind of backwards, sexist neaderthals are these people, to insult Barbara like this? They should be ashamed! Oh, it must be different when they’re not talking about the wife, hm?

I love the 2-faced response of a governor calling Barb not equivalent to a leader, but running all HIS public press dealings from behind “Milorad’s Angels”.

The Blago team is imploding day by day. I’d call them the Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight, except they forgot to fill their water pistols.

Comment by We've come a long way, baby. Not. Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 10:58 pm
Obviously, my comment was snark.

My problem obviously is that people aren’t working to make things better. That they are more concerned with avoiding controversy than actually doing good things.

Mr. Madigan’s whole exercise of polling his members was just a big smokescreen to give him a public excuse for not doing anything contentious.

With all the problems we have in this state, we can’t have people that like to punt on first down.

Comment by JohnR Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 10:59 pm
However, “doing good things” doesn’t have to cost billions of dollars. A few hunnerd mil outta do nicely.

Comment by A Citizen Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 11:12 pm
Interesting day everybody. Not a good one, mind you, but an interesting one. I’m going to sleep.

Comment by Rep. John Fritchey Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 11:18 pm
Rich, I’m beginning to believe, yes believe, you should rename this site the Illinois State Shadow Government. Seems you get more accomplished here than in the “other” one.

Comment by A Citizen Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 11:21 pm
Get your rest.

You have a busy day tom… err… after your 6 day weekend.

Comment by JohnR Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 11:23 pm
WHAT? No “special” session? Great chance for grabbing the PR spotlight! Tinkaboudit.

Comment by A Citizen Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 11:30 pm
horse’s mouth - Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 10:00 pm:

Getting back to the lottery lease… Here’s what Blagojevich told an eager young reporter who staked out the governor’s basement escape route this afternoon:

“The sale or lease of the lottery is something that we think makes a lot of sense,” he said. “By all accounts, we need to do it with legislative approval. And that’s what we’re seeking – legislative approval.”

SORRY!! If Blago said it, it must be true! Put 2 and 2 together Horsey. You don’t find it interesting that the lier said that so specifically. Especially on the same afternoon when I told you what was going on. Are you really that naive?? I never cease to be amazed.

Comment by Little Birdie Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 11:36 pm
Man, if only I had the power to call a special session, I would be all over that. 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year, just like you said!

Can voters turn in a petition asking for a special session?

Comment by JohnR Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 11:39 pm
Sure, you go first.

Comment by A Citizen Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 11:42 pm
John R,

Unfortunately, anybody who knows me well can tell you that I am not somebody that you can knock for not putting in more than my share of hours working. Don’t believe me? Look at a picture of me when I first got elected and look at me now Good night.

Comment by Rep. John Fritchey Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 11:44 pm
Goodnight Representative, and thank you for your hard work!

Comment by A Citizen Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 11:46 pm
As a resident of your district, representative, I have always admired your work ethic, and rapid aging.

Comment by JohnR Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 11:48 pm
Ouch.

Comment by Rep. John Fritchey Thursday, Jun 14, 07 @ 11:53 pm
I have no idea about what they’re like now, but I can tell you that under Governors Edgar and Ryan, budget-related leaders meetings usually consisted of 10 or 11 to perhaps 15-18 people, depending on what was being talked about.

Comment by steve schnorf Friday, Jun 15, 07 @ 1:52 am
If the Governor calls a special session, the General Assembly members will get their daily per diem for the days of the special session. Now they are not getting a per diem. (from the General Assembly Compensation Act)
25 ILCS 115/1
“…food and lodging allowance shall be equal to the amount per day permitted to be deducted for such expenses under the Internal Revenue Code; however, beginning May 31, 1995, no allowance for food and lodging while in attendance at sessions is authorized for periods of time after the last day in May of each calendar year, except (i) if the General Assembly is convened in special session by either the Governor or the presiding officers of both houses, as provided by subsection (b) of Section 5 of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution or (ii) if the General Assembly is convened to consider bills vetoed, item vetoed, reduced, or returned with specific recommendations for change by the Governor as provided in Section 9 of Article IV of the Illinois Constitution.

Comment by Anon Friday, Jun 15, 07 @ 7:28 am
DreamGirl:
Not sure I see the comparison.
The governor has applied a clear double standard.
The only discernible difference is gender.
The facts surrounding the previous comments speak for themselves.
You may be sure I continue to have the highest professional respect for the Governor and his staff — many I worked with directly on the House staff

Comment by Steve Brown Friday, Jun 15, 07 @ 7:48 am
JOHN FRITCHEY FOR GUV!

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jun 15, 07 @ 7:57 am
Steve Brown, I call bullsh**

You know you are just playing little political games.

Stop screwing around and get something done. You can’t ride out the clock for 4 more years until Lisa is Governor. We will be in fiscal ruin by then.

Comment by hmmmm Friday, Jun 15, 07 @ 8:21 am
It seems to me (way outside, looking in)that the Guv and the legislature have twisted themselves together into a situation which has no single solution.

Time for an ungnarling.

The problem lies in the number of special interest groups — other than the taxpayers — which all hands believe need to be satisfied.

We needto get back to the days of the Wild WEst courts. In a Nevada silver mining case the judge announced:

“I have received $100,000 from the plaintiffs to decide the case in their favor. I have here $150,000 from the defendants to decide the case in their favor.

“I am returning $50,000 to the defendants and we shall decide the case on its merits.”

Comment by Truthful James Friday, Jun 15, 07 @ 8:25 am
There are several problems with the current scenario.
First, the “budget” passed by the House is NOT balanced. Rather than a $900 Million surplus, there is actually between a $600 and $900 million dollar deficit when more accurate estimates of revenue growth and expenses are used. So that makes a disparity of about $1.5 billion in terms of estimates.
I don’t believe members who voted for this budget realized that they were voting to CUT funding to education. Maybe they did realize it but just did what they were told. Either way, the Madigan budget is flawed and not workable.
Second, several proposals by the Governor AND the President were rejected out of hand by the Speaker and his new pals in the other party.
All polls indicate that the public wants to reform the way public schools are funded in our state. They are willing to pay higher taxes to accomplish this.
The governor is opposed to raising taxes on the hard working people of this state in the form of income tax or sales tax. He was elected on his promise not to do so. He has made several proposals for revenue enhancement that do not raise sales tax or income tax.He has compromised on his proposed budget several times. He has compromised on his stance on increased gaming. He has indicated willingness to compromise further. He is championing more funding for mass transit. He wants to improve access to health care for the less fortunate. Studies indicate that his proposed health care plan will save the state billions in the long run.
So what is the real rpoblem? Is it with the Governor and his hissy fight with the Speaker or is it recalcitrance on the part of the Speaker and his repub/dem caucus to engage in meaningful discussions with the goal of arriving at a budget agreement that will accomplish what the voters sent Rod Blagojevich to do?
To the frustrated state employees, republican staffers, Speaker’s minions, and other insiders who post a majority of the entrys on this blog, Rod is incompetent, corrupt, and lazy. To the voters out here in real life, he is our champion! He is the one guy, along with President Jones, who is looking out for us and our interests. It would be a big mistake to write us off. We, the real people of Illinois, will prevail.

Comment by Bill Friday, Jun 15, 07 @ 8:51 am
If nothing else, Governor Blagojevich could have used the time yesterday to speak candidly to the people in the room about his plans and to try to persuade them to his view. He has taken a beating in the press and at the capitol for his remarks toward the “rank and file,” and this was an opportunity to smooth over, but he didn’t take it.

Comment by Fan of the Game Friday, Jun 15, 07 @ 8:56 am
How many of you were in the room? As I can tell, only Rep. Fritchey was for sure (possibly Mr. Brown?). None of the rest of you were, so no one has any idea as to what happen. Let Rep. Fritchey’s telling of the story stand as what happened. All we’ll get from Emil or Sheila is spin.

As for having extra people in a leader’s meeting, where’s the harm? Do you honestly believe that MJM or Emil are 100% versed in EVERY issue facing the GA? If you do, you’re smoking some pretty powerful stuff.

That’s why they have staffers, committee chairs, etc. If Rep. Currie is the point person on the assessment issue and that is what the meeting was about, she should be in the meeting. Plain and simple.

Either Bill is Rod and Demgirl is Shelia or each is some sycophant on the payroll, so disregard anything each says. I know I do.

Comment by jwscott72 Friday, Jun 15, 07 @ 9:03 am
jwscott72 -

you think that those two are the only people on somebody’s payroll?

That’s pretty naive. My guess is that about 70-80% of posts on here come from somebody on “somebody’s” payroll.

A lot of bored Dem and Republican legislators and staffers are sitting in Springfield with nothing to do. So they, too, come on here pushing their own spin.

— with regard to your comment, I think it is pretty clear that nobody has said that the other people shouldn’t be in that meeting. The controversy was over who wasn’t there, not who was there.

Comment by steven Friday, Jun 15, 07 @ 9:10 am
No - the controversy is that the Governor had a large number of legislators and leaders in the room, and acted like a child, and refused to meet with them, and WALKED OUT.

Not a way to run government, not a way to work within the process, not a way to be a leader.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jun 15, 07 @ 9:17 am
Steven-I don’t doubt that some commentators (couldn’t think of anything else to call them) are on a “payroll”, but don’t think it’s 70%-80%. I also don’t believe that there are any legislators left in Springfield at the moment.

What I do believe is that that 70%-80% of the commentators on here are interested in the political process and machinations going on in state government because it affects them. I am certainly not paid by the Dems or GOPs to spout an agenda on here.

I thank Rich for keeping us well informed and giving us a venue to vent. I thought about emailing him to find out where he would be at last night to get some more dirt, but he probably drank at home last night! LOL Keep up the good work Rich and Paul!

Comment by jwscott72 Friday, Jun 15, 07 @ 9:34 am