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Top 10 reasons for avoiding DC

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Obama

* A bit of snark this week in my syndicated newspaper column…

On rare occasions somebody will ask me if I’ve ever given any thought to moving up to the “bigtime” political scene in Washington, D.C.

I have a standard reply.

Never.

Here are my top ten reasons…

10) Partisanship can be intense in Illinois, but rarely will you see political followers swoon over gigantic flip-flops from their party leaders here like they have nationally with Barack Obama and John McCain.

Obama says change comes to Washington, not from Washington, but picks a running mate who has been in the U.S. Senate since Richard Nixon was president, and the Democrats cheer wildly. McCain spends months ridiculing Obama’s lack of experience on the national stage, then chooses a veep who was chairing the Wasilla, Alaska PTA six years ago, and the Republicans go gaga. What a pathetic scene.

9) Our last two governors have been even more unpopular than our current president, but at least they haven’t started any wars. At least, not yet. Perhaps I shouldn’t be giving Rod Blagojevich any ideas. I shudder to think what might happen to Indiana or Wisconsin.

8) Arrogance abounds in Illinois politics. But everybody in D.C. from the president all the way down to the janitors on K Street believe they reside at the center of the universe. It’s a terminal illness, and nobody out there is immune. Barack Obama was immediately dismissed by the Beltway crowd because nobody knew who he was. Oops.

The same goes for Gov. Sarah Palin, who has been subjected to some of the harshest press coverage anyone has seen in years. If you don’t regularly attend cocktail parties with the D.C. elite, you are nobody and therefore are not to be respected.

Unlike Washington, D.C., we give people a chance here in Illinois. Rod Blagojevich, an unknown, backbench Congressman vaulted to our state’s highest office without anyone really claiming that he didn’t have the “right” sort of experience.

OK, maybe we made a mistake with that one.

7) A national columnist referred to Bill Clinton as the “first black president” and was taken seriously. Rod Blagojevich called himself Illinois’ first black governor, and was widely ridiculed. We just have more perspective on things.

6) US House: 435 members. U.S. Senate: 100 members. Illinois House and Senate: Only one member who matters in each, the House Speaker and the Senate President. As a reporter, the Statehouse is just much easier to cover than the U.S. Capitol.

5) For security reasons, the American president is practically condemned to living most of his term in the White House. Our governor can live wherever he wants, which, come to think of it, is mostly in a bunker far away from reporters who want to ask him about his various scandals. So, maybe that’s not a great big difference.

4) Illinoisans are far superior to those D.C. folks because we long ago figured out Barack Obama’s eery supernatural powers.

Obama managed to kick an incumbent off the ballot the first time he ran for state Senate, which is about as rare in Chicago as a pro-gun politician. Then, billionaire Blair Hull self-destructed in the 2004 Democratic U.S. Senate primary after allegations surfaced of spousal abuse. Then, Obama’s Republican U.S. Senate opponent Jack Ryan was forced off the ticket after a sex scandal involving the candidate and his own wife.

Then, the state Republicans convinced Maryland resident Alan Keyes to run against Obama, only to discover soon afterwards that Keyes’ daughter was an Anarchist lesbian. Hull, Ryan and Keyes can now barely show their faces in Illinois.

I’m not sure I’d want to be John McCain or Sarah Palin.

3) Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White is a 74 year old man who can do a standing backflip. No kidding. Eat your heart out, Condoleeza Rice!

2) Unlike Vice President Dick Cheney, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn has never shot anyone in the face.

And the Number One reason I prefer covering Illinois to Washington, D.C.: I couldn’t bear to leave my readers at the [insert news outlet name here]!

Have you any additions?

…Adding… Let’s hope Gov. Blagojevich doesn’t get any bright ideas from this story…

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a “per diem” allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.

Like Blagojevich, Gov. Palin refuses to live in the capital city. Unlike Blagojevich, taxpayers are giving her a per diem to live at home.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 9:51 am

Comments

LOL!!! Great column!

Comment by Levois Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 10:00 am
rich, you’re missing the point! when people ask you about going to the “big leagues,” you should say, “thanks, but no thanks. i’m happy were i am.” and then raise your fees. because they are telling you that you’re “big league” ready. shouldn’t your fees be big league, too? isn’t that what they are really telling you?

btw, i don’t recall that my chicago lawyer fees are that much less than my d.c. lawyer fees. i’m just sayin’…

Comment by bored now Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 10:00 am
Yeah, yeah…but what if you were offered the job of Senior Executive White House Special Correspondent for the Onion?

Comment by walter sobchak Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 10:00 am
Rich - let’s not give Pat Quinn any ideas on that gun thing, OK? Might be far too tempting for him.

Comment by trafficmatt Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 10:08 am
Rich,

As to number 4, that really shows you how “democratic” and apolitical Obama is, doesn’t it?

As to the rest? Hard to disagree with the general idea, but I’m seeing in your post an uncomfortable comformance with the Democratic media machine’s strategy of turning this election into one pitting Obama versus Palin. I do agree that Palin is not qualified to be president, but she is running for vice president along with a presidential candidate who is certainly qualified. Obama, on the other hand, is not qualified to be president. He has shown over and over that it is not about “change,” but about advancing his own career.

Read your own number 8. Your last line is exactly what I have been arguing for the past 2 years. Let’s not make the same mistake twice, especially with so much at stake!

Comment by Snidely Whiplash Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 10:16 am
Don’t worry, trafficmatt—anything Quinn does starts out right but ends up misguided (usually to the left).

Comment by Vote Quimby! Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 10:17 am
Dont hate on DC.

Comment by Anon Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 10:19 am
SW, Number 10 compared the veep choices, Number 8 (which you agree with) is simply about media arrogance, Number 4 was a wisecrack that included McCain, so I don’t see how you can claim that I’m pitting Obama and Palin against each other.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 10:22 am
One other thing. While D’s can argue that 4 years of McCain would be another 4 years of “W,” let’s remember the one person who really DID buck Washington: McCain. He really did go after corrupt Dem and Republican alike. He really did fight for campaign and election reform, earining him the hatred of his “collegues.” He did so at a time when he was only one vote in 400, and later, when he was only one vote in 100. Somehow, we are to believe that when he is 1 vote out of 1, he will decide to favor the good old Washington way?

And, let’s remember how Obama took on the Chicago Democratic Machine that has backed him since he got into office. How he fought his mentor, Emil Jones, tooth and nail to do what’s right. Who remembers all that? I certainly don’t.

Comment by Snidely Whiplash Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 10:22 am
SW, please leave the DC talking points out of this blog. Thanks.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 10:27 am
I think Rich was pretty objective in his post, in terms of speaking specifically about candidates, etc. Not sure why he’s catching the heat from SW.

Comment by Anon Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 10:27 am
Very good post.

But do you really mean to imply that Alan Keyes’ daughter being an “Anarchist lesbian” had anything to do with why Obama had such an easy time beating him? I thought that was because Alan Keyes himself is an extremist lunatic.

Illinois voters roundly rejected Keyes long before any news about his daughter’s orientation or politics hit the news, and would have done so even if Keyes’ daughter had never been a story.

Comment by captain howdy Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 10:29 am
=== had anything to do with why Obama had such an easy time beating him? ===

Absolutely not. But instead of just losing yet another campaign by a wide margin, Keyes’ image was damaged.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 10:32 am
Yes, Keyes lost because of his Anarchist Lesbian daughter (which is the name of my new band). Good stuff

Comment by Wumpus Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 10:33 am
It is 810 miles from Governor Palin’s home, where she has five kids - one newborn - and the state capital.

Her per diem is $60 per day. Her expenses were $54.00 per day.

Because of the size of the state, Alaska legislation permits their Governor to use the per diem and their home as an official residence.

Nothing illegal here.

But, as you point out in your article, D.C. politics and journalists make it a point to haul water for one of their preferred political parties. Over the past two decades, commentators have replaced reporters who make non-news such as Governor Palin’s expense report, news.

Senator Biden lives at the extreme northern end of his home state of Delaware while the state capital is in the center of the state. Distance? 49 miles!

What we need to do is get real. Read the state laws before screaming about an expose’. Do some math and discover that expenses were less than the allotted per diem. Discover how freakin’ big Alaska is and how they handle having a state capital inaccessible by land.

And read D.C. political news with a spittoon by your side to avoid soiling your carpet.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 10:36 am
I guess DC isnt for everyone.

Comment by Anon Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 10:40 am
Rich - I may have to say this was the funniest thing you have ever written(in a good way!).

Line that made me laugh out loud:

“2) Unlike Vice President Dick Cheney, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn has never shot anyone in the face.”

Comment by GoBearsss Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 10:44 am
VanillaMan - I think the point isn’t that she lived at home or had to travel back and forth.

It is that she paid herself a Per Diem to live at home…

She didn’t have to. She purposefully filled out those reimbursements each week or month in order to get that extra check.

The law in Illinois probably allows the Governor a per diem when he travels around, too, but I don’t think he has taken one. I am sure it would have been news already if he took a per diem for each day he wasn’t in Springfield, at the very least.

Comment by GoBearsss Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 10:50 am
Right now our Gov. Sleazy is screaming at himself, “Why didn’t I think of that!” upon hearing the news regarding the per diem given to the governor of alaska.

Comment by fedup dem Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 10:50 am
If she’s using her home (or part of it) as her office, I don’t see any problem with a modest per diem, although I do find it a bit tacky for a guv not to work in the capitol.

Rich, I apologize if I sounded like I was attacking you. That wasn’t my intent.

Comment by Snidely Whiplash Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 10:59 am
After reading the whole WashPost article, it will be easy to make political hay out of this. Getting paid EXTRA to work at home? Breaking rules written by her now chief of staff? The undated expense report amendments? This will be used relentlessly to counteract her ‘change’ personna. She may have been vetted by the insiders, but her public vetting is only now getting started.
I, too, hope RRB doesn’t hear about this and start billing the state to stay home.

Comment by Vote Quimby! Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 11:12 am
Another reason to prefer Illinois over DC: 2 good baseball teams over a single terrible one.

Comment by Vote Quimby! Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 11:14 am
Rich,

SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, please don’t mention anything about any “alleged” Blago plans for invading neighboring states.

OpPlan “Kokomo” is merely a myth. Ignore any rumblings you hear coming out of Camp Lincoln. Camp Lincoln allegedly being the HQ of the Illinois National Guard. No such plan or place exists. Wink, wink.

Comment by IrishPirate Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 11:17 am
VM-

While true it is nothing illegal, does that make it right? How would you feel about it if Blags was collecting a per diem? I’d be honked off if he tried that BS, even if it were legal.

Someone who claims to be a reformer and who actually is a reformer would never have collected a check for sleeping in their own bed — period. While it may be legal, she did not expend a single penny to go home and sleep there, and in my mind, that simply isn’t right — and it sure as hell isn’t reform. But I’ll give you this, it may be the “maverick” way of doing something in the sense that most officials with good media sense wouldn’t do it.

- VanillaMan - Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 10:36 am:

It is 810 miles from Governor Palin’s home, where she has five kids - one newborn - and the state capital….Because of the size of the state, Alaska legislation permits their Governor to use the per diem and their home as an official residence.

Nothing illegal here.

Comment by VanillaMan Said Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 11:26 am
Do you understand what a per diem is? If you use your own car for official business, we offset your costs. If you use your own home for official business, we offset your costs. If you use your own food for official business, we offset the costs.

What’s the big deal?

I don’t have a problem with this. Even if Blagojevich did it, which he and many others do. There are costs involved and the per diem is intended to cover it. It is moral and legal to do this. It would be wrong for the state government not to reimburse, right?

Even as a reformer, I don’t have a problem with anyone using a per diem that is legally recognized by state law. It is merely the cost of doing the job, not an extra check - by any means.

Claiming that Governor Palin is doing something wrong when she is clearly not is over-reacting. Using a per diem is not being anti-reform. It has nothing to do with it.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 11:54 am
VM, face it, you’re stretching for partisan purposes. If RRB took a per diem for “working” out of his home, the entire political establishment, myself included, would be up in arms.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 11:58 am
Methinks the McCainiac should have vetted Palin a wee bit more. My guess is that by November she will be a big time liability as Dick Cheney might say.

Time will tell.

Comment by IrishPirate Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 12:05 pm
Methinks, IP, that she has become a huge, crowd-drawing celebrity and none of this will really make it thru the clutter.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 12:08 pm
Methinks 9 weeks is a long time. Methinks none of us truly knows what is going to happen.

She is certainly a celebrity. I’m surprised at the Messianic reaction to her by elements of the evangelical community. It is almost as if she has “outobamaed” Obama.

I suspect that as her history and views get better known her numbers will go down. Right now the ticket should be Palin/McCain. People will learn more about her and the more that becomes known about virtually anyone the less unrealistic expectations people will have about them.

Obama is an Illinois Pol who has compromised……shocking.

Palin loves Federal Pork as Mayor and Governor…….shocking.

It’s gonna be fun. I just hope the Obamanator wins because I’m too damn old to get recalled to active duty to invade Canada because McCain’s ego was insulted.

Comment by IrishPirate Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 12:16 pm
Amen - I agree 100% with your top ten reasons. I lived out there and you were dead on about most of the residents. It’s scary to think that those people run our country.

Comment by LadyRepublican Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 12:22 pm
==VM, face it, you’re stretching for partisan purposes. If RRB took a per diem for “working” out of his home, the entire political establishment, myself included, would be up in arms.==

No I wouldn’t. If they took more than the per diem, that would bug me. Perhaps it is because I lived on a per diem for almost a decade. It doesn’t bother me. If Blagojevich had a special needs child or a family crisis to deal with, I would have no problem with him staying in Bridgeview permanently during his entire term.

When Governor Swift birthed twins during her term, she had special needs to deal with. Massachusetts didn’t even have a governor’s residence since they assumed that every governor would be within driving distance from Boston. Swift was from North Adams, in the opposite corner of the state next to New York and Vermont. She had to fly across the state twice a day and poorly handled her situation by putting official gubernatorial staffers into domestic service instead of government work. Governor Swift showed how this could be poorly handled, yet it wasn’t until Romney was elected that Massachusetts bought an official residents to solve this problem.

There is no scandal here. If you went after Blagojevich on this, I would disagree with you. Per diem has a purpose and I have no problem with using it as intended. It doesn’t corrupt any reform message.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 12:31 pm
Trying to ban books in the village library and trying to have your ex brother in law fired from the State Patrol does corrupt a reform message. Or does it?

Comment by IrishPirate Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 12:35 pm
And Gov Palin enjoys an 80% approval rating from her constituents while ours is lower than President Bush…. just not as poor as US Congress approval at 9% - yet.

Comment by North of I-80 Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 12:35 pm
Excellent column, Rich! I could not agree more, especially about Illinoisans having a better perspective on things and knowing we’re not the center of the universe. I can’t deal with the DC everyone-is-an-insider garbage!

Comment by Undercover Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 12:38 pm
===And Gov Palin enjoys an 80% approval rating ===

It would really be nice if her new legion of supporters could get a few basic facts correct. It’s far lower than that. Or, it was, before she was picked in the veepstakes.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 12:40 pm
Did you see that McCain just pulled in 5 mil. at a Chicago fundraiser??

Comment by Anon Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 12:58 pm
Let’s try to get back to the topic at hand, please.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 12:59 pm
the topic at hand

Like invading other states? Pretty good idea, actually. Just a few miles into Indiana we’d get US 41, a nice 4 lane road, and TWO casino sites!

For Wisconsin, we’d need to decide. Dells or Door county? I don’t think we could do both.

Comment by Pat collins Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 1:11 pm
After the flood, the Dells aren’t worth taking. I say we extend our Lake Michigan coastline northward and eastward.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 1:13 pm
Also, it’s been said that our citizens in Kaskaski are regularly mistreated by the folks across the river in Missouri.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 1:15 pm
Maybe we could just give the northern tier of counties to Wisconsin.

Comment by Cal Skinner Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 1:21 pm
We did not need to bill the state for “at home” peri diem ’cause Chris and Tony either got the campaign to pay for everything or contractors who wanted state biz kicked back. If that pipeline goes dry we will take a look at per diem.
Meanwhile quit picking on Saracuda’s faith and family by nicking the taxpayers to stay at home.

Comment by 2ConfusedCrew Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 1:21 pm
Hey, this is about control over strategic resources, folks. I say we march into Wisconsin and get control over that flow of cheese, before those damnded Michigonians do!

Comment by Snidely Whiplash Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 1:37 pm
I will say this about Rod Blagojevich versus Sarah Palin: When I called Blagojevich out about his untruth on a state lawmaker he claimed had been threatened with the loss of his city job, RRB dropped that claim from his speeches. Palin continues to claim that she stopped the bridge to nowhere, when she waited to do so until after it was clear that the feds were refusing to provide full funding, then kept the money and continued to build a “road to nowhere” which was supposed to connect to the bridge to nowhere.

Anyway, I’ll give Rod credit on that front.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 1:43 pm
Charging a per diem for staying at home is an ourage perpetrated against the public treasury under any/all circumstances. It should make for a nice attack ad or debate sound bite, which ordinary people not well-versed in politics and public affairs will understand as fundamentally improper.

Per diems are intended to reimburse public officials for travel-related expenses like meals. But I guess the rules should be different in Alaska,for Republicans, and for other hypocritic sycophants feeding off the public trough. Just ask Senator Stevens.

Oh,what a tangled-web Republicans like Van Man weave when acting as apologists for the indefensible.

But I’d be the first to agree that there are more important reasons for voting against the McCain-Palin ticket: Sara Palin is absolutely unqualified to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency, particularly when the President is a 72 year old man.

Just to make a more pertinent local connection, Sara Palin reminds me a lot of the mercurial Chicago Mayor, Jane Byrne, the woman who contributed significantly to Chicago’s reputation as “Beirut on the Lake” during the 1980s.

Comment by Captain America Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 1:55 pm
I do agree with the general thrust of Rich’s remarks that beltway types have a warped sense of reality and priorities as a result of an obsession with power and influence. But I’m not sure the view from Springfield is much better, given the gridlock and dsysfunction that have characterized State government in recent years. We have our fair share of charlatans,con men, and Machiavellians too, not to mention the Emperor of Chicago,Hizzoner himself.

Comment by Captain America Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 2:06 pm
Is the Alaska Governor’s mansion large enough to handle a family the size of Gov. Palin’s? If not, the state paying her a per diem to stay at home really is the only choice.

Although VM mentioned this, it bears repeating: Juneau is 800 miles driving distance from Wasilla, and even a daily commuting flight would likely be impractical.

Still, though, my gut feeling is that, if you take a job far from home, you should either move closer to the new job or deal with the long commute on your own dime.

Comment by cover Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 2:14 pm
===Is the Alaska Governor’s mansion large enough to handle a family the size of Gov. Palin’s?===

Y’see, there’s this newfangled contraption called the Intertubes. And somewhere in those mysterious tubes is a gadget known as The Google. By using both of those doo-dads, you can find this…

===The original budget for the 2 1/2-story 12,900-square-foot frame structure and furnishing was $40,000 and included planned servants quarters and a territorial museum on the third floor which were never built.

===The first floor includes a reception hall, drawing room, library, dining room, office, kitchen, two pantries, and a conservatory. The second floor contains four large bedrooms, a sewing room and three bathrooms.===

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 2:21 pm
Let’s be honest with ourselves, Missouri’s been asking for it.

Comment by Scooby Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 2:22 pm
===Let’s be honest with ourselves, Missouri’s been asking for it.===

Agreed. I long ago said I favored an incursion into St. Louis as far as University City.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 2:25 pm
Finally, Rich, some snark with a little bit of gumption (particularly your right-on points about Obama).

Who needs D.C.? We’ve got a lovely cast of characters right here in good ole Springfield.

Comment by Black Ivy Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 2:32 pm
BI, I could’ve said the same thing - even more - about HRC dead-enders. lol

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 2:43 pm
Palin’s popularity as a news topic should be embraced by the folks running BO’s campaign. Let her take all the scrutiny and heat, so their man looks like a clean whistle in comparison. I am always amazed how the ties to Chicago politics, Tony Rezko, and being a veritable non-entity as a Senator, have slipped off the Dem Presidential candidate in the national press.

For all you kids out there who thumb your noses and becoming a good public speaker, take a lesson here.

Comment by Captain Flume Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 2:48 pm
“Our last two governors have been even more unpopular than our current president, but at least they haven’t started any wars. At least, not yet. Perhaps I shouldn’t be giving Rod Blagojevich any ideas. I shudder to think what might happen to Indiana or Wisconsin.”

Ok, first off, if Blago is directing the IL NG in any military movements (short of a bowel movement), we’re toast. As a leader, the guy’s got a several case of A-ADD (Adult Attention Deficit Disorder). He’d probably invade Peoria, thinking that the Illinois River was the Mississippi River, and that Peoria was the Iowa part of the Quad Cities. Peoria will have to put up big signs along the IL River saying “We’re in Illinois, Stupid”, and remembering to make sure that you add “Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor” at the bottom of each sign.

Actually, Missouri will pull a fast one and change all those “Welcome to Missouri” signs to have “Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor” at the bottom of each sign and we will be so confused, we won’t have any idea what to do.

Comment by Judgment Day Is On The Way Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 2:54 pm
I know , Rich, but you didn’t mentione HRC, did you? BTW, the fight for HRC is neither “dead” nor has it “ended.” Very pleased that the Republican party acknowledged the significance of nominating an accomplished woman to the presidential ticket!

Comment by Black Ivy Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 3:00 pm
so this is all you have? she didnt break any laws here - this is allowed.

comparing Palin to Blago - that is reaching pretty far..seriously. dont we all wish that all we had to write about him was collecting per diem.

Comment by Anon Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 3:26 pm
===comparing Palin to Blago - that is reaching pretty far===

It’s more than you might think.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 3:30 pm
{Illinois House and Senate: Only one member who matters in each, the House Speaker and the Senate President. As a reporter, the Statehouse is just much easier to cover than the U.S. Capitol.}

You might want to re-evaluate this one, since I suspect a lot of your sources (subscribers) and posters, could dry up.

Comment by Left Out in the Cold Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 3:41 pm
===You might want to re-evaluate this one, since I suspect a lot of your sources (subscribers) and posters, could dry up.===

lol

My subscribers know the score, and I’m sure my sources weren’t offended.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 3:45 pm
==the fight for HRC is neither “dead” nor has it “ended.”==

Yes it is. I hope she loves New York because she’s already spent 8 years in the White House and she’s not getting any more.

Comment by Vote Quimby! Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 4:06 pm
If we invade Missouri can we at least rip down the ‘baseball heaven’ sign from that ballpark built thisclose to Highway 40 (known to those outside the Loo as I-64)? It’s not baseball heaven–Illinois has 2 stadiums (stadia?) that are better!

Comment by Vote Quimby! Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 4:09 pm
Consider it done.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 4:14 pm
Cove, I come from a family of five kids. We lived pretty well in a house that had less than 12,000 square feet the Governor’s mansion in Alaska has. We’d have been in heavan in a house that size.

Comment by Crafty Girl Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 4:35 pm
I can’t address the Alaskan Constitution, but here in Illinois, all elected officials are required to “maintain a residence” in the seat of government during their terms in office. The seat of government is still Springfield, folks, which means Blago has violated the Constitution…again.

Comment by Crowley Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 5:34 pm
reading the constitution is not the same as understanding it.

Maintaining a residence means just that. You maintain a residence. If the framers had wanted the guv to live full-time in Spfld they would’ve been more specific.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 5:42 pm
I love DC.

Not the arrogance or the pretentiousness, on both points you are correct. It’s also a national scandal the overkill of security around the White House and Capitol Hill — security is one thing, the firepower on the streets is ridiculous. Cross from the Capitol tot he Supreme Court Building, and a nice security guard will let you in and tell you where you can get a drink and go to the bathroom.

But the glorious history is everywhere. On the Mall, on every corner, the Smithsonian. It’s incredible if you’re a buff. Then, all the Civil War and Revolutionary sites nearby — I love it.

And Gettysburg is only two hours away. If you’ve been, you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, go. It’ll change your life.

I think all Illinois junior high kids should spend a couple of days in Springfield, and all high school kids a couple of days in DC. And Gettysburg — all free people everywhere.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 6:12 pm
Rich, liked the column. “Lol-ed”, actually.

I’m not even going to get into this Blago/Palin “per diem” nonsense but to point out a couple differences in the facts:

-Most States’ travel policies, and many bureaucratic processes, are very similar, because, well, “innovative bureaucrat” is a real oxymoron. People take what seems to work in State A and tweak it for State B.

-The Illinois State Travel Rules specifically exclude the Governor. No worries to you “Doubting Thomases”, as Emil would say, who think RRB is gonna rush out and fill out 5.5 years worth of vouchers to get some quick walkin’ around money.

-If the Governor were subject to the Rules, he could not draw per diem for “living at home” because he has chosen Chicago as his “headquarters” for travel purposes by maintaining his residence there. He could, as many of his staff have done, draw per diem, hotel/rent, and other travel related to his dropbys to Springfield.

-Gov. Palin’s per diem payments, right or wrong, are allowable under the comparable Alaska State Rules. (I tried the Google myself just to make sure.)

Palin’s per diems tallied up to roughly the July 2007 bill for Air Blago, but AA doesn’t have a dog in this race.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 6:44 pm
I can’t believe you had the nerve to say that, Rich. By your standards, we should consider the language of the constitution as pure “puffery”?

What…? Maintain a residence for no other reason than to pay utilities on it for four years? Well, that is precisely how Chicagoans treat the laws of this State.

Nonsense.

Comment by Crowley Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 8:37 pm
[…] Rich mentioned reasons to hate Washington–this is a perfect example. […]

Pingback by ArchPundit | Lipstick on a Pig Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 9:27 pm
=== Nonsense===

Say what you want. That’s what it means.

Jerk.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Sep 9, 08 @ 10:47 pm
Here’s one: In Illinois, you hardly ever have to deal with issues involving the UK–or any other country for that matter–telling citizens for whom they should vote. (I don’t even think that Blago has become THAT popular.)

The UK are obviously on a roll the last couple of days (so-called “funny guys, their PM, etc. etc.), though I can’t figure out where they’re going with all of this. If they’re looking for “warm and fuzzy”, OK, maybe Obama over McCain. Logically, however, Obama’s a bad choice for them, but let them figure out why.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Sep 10, 08 @ 12:24 am
If Blagojevich discovered himself pregnant at age 43, and went through a nine month high-risk pregnancy after his election and birthed a special needs child I seriously doubt that the majority of Illinoians would rake him over the coals for not being in Springfield.

Instead, he would be raked over the coals for not caring for his infant special needs child, wouldn’t he?

Now, couple that with Alaska’s understanding that it’s massive size requires it’s governors to be able to attend to their duties thousands of miles from it’s capital - while still remaining in the state. Alaska ain’t Connecticut. It is double the size of Texas.

So they permit the governor to receive their per diem doing state work at their home. It is $60 a day.

Palin spent $48 a day fulfilling her gubernatorial responsibilities at home while going through her high-risk pregnancy and caring for her special needs child, now 4 months of age.

And you have a problem with this?

You people are seriously nuts attacking her for being a governor, a pregnant lady, and a mom.

All over $50 bucks a day?!

Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Sep 10, 08 @ 12:24 pm
VM, that was such blatant partisan spin that I almost deleted it.

The TRUTH is that she billed the state for per diem for more than 300 days.

Low blow, VM. Low.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Sep 10, 08 @ 12:27 pm