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* In an “exclusive” report, the Associated Press tells us what most of us already knew: The governor has never visited a state park and most state historic sites…
Gov. Rod Blagojevich won’t know what he missed when two dozen state parks and historic sites shut down because of budget cuts.
That’s because he’s never visited them, according to Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero.
“A lot of people haven’t been, I mean the decision to close them are based on attendance figures not on whether the governor likes them or not,” Guerrero said.
Actually, I’m not so sure the closure decisions were based on attendance. Other legislators have asked about that point and were told different things.
* More from Guerrero…
“[The governor is] a student of history so … he obviously realizes the significance of all the sites,” Guerrero said.
The governor does enjoy history books, but during a conversation with me last year he mistakenly claimed that Vandalia was the state’s first capital. Nope.
* And I love this spin…
Blagojevich not visiting adds weight to the argument that the administration’s decisions on what sites to close are not subjective, Guerrero said.
It also adds weight to the argument that he has zero appreciation for the problems he’s creating. I mean, is it too much to ask that the governor visit a state park or historic site once in a while?
* Meanwhile, the park closures have found their way into the 11th Congressional District race…
…Republican challenger Marty Ozinga has called out his Democratic opponent — state Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson — for not doing enough in her leadership role to keep the state parks open.
But, the harshest words came from a fellow state senator, Republican Gary Dahl, at a Grundy County candidates’ breakfast this week.
“I would encourage everybody to call the Senate leadership, and I would include in that Debbie Halvorson,” Dahl told the audience. […]
“Senator Halvorson’s title, which she has been proud of for the last four years — she is the only woman to hold this position — is the Senate Majority Leader,” Dahl expounded after the candidate’s forum. “In my mind, that tells me that she is the No. 1 person in the Democratic Caucus. If she is not able to hold the Democratic Caucus together and stand up to Emil Jones, what is she going to do for us in Congress?
* Kristen Mcqueary wonders aloud whether Sen. Halvorson is unfairly being made to wear the jacket for Senate President Jones’ behavior…
All the while, Halvorson has served as Jones’ chief legislative deputy. As majority leader, she is Jones’ surrogate. She serves at the pleasure of the Senate president and earns a stipend of about $18,000 for the role, in addition to the $65,353 she earns as a lawmaker. […]
Until recently, she and Jones worked as allies. That’s the deal. You can’t be majority leader and be independent of the Senate president. […]
But that doesn’t mean Halvorson should be held accountable for everything Jones says or does. […]
When Halvorson took a more active role in the bill this spring and bucked Jones on other issues, including the recall of public officials, which she supported, Jones removed her as rules committee chairwoman. Jones sidelined another ally, state Sen. Lou Viverito (D-Stickney), last year after he voted against Jones’ wishes. There is a price to pay for disobedience.
“I don’t try to make excuses for him,” Halvorson said of Jones. “I don’t try to baby sit him. I go and tell him, ‘Do you know these comments are crazy? This is ridiculous.’
“But my job as majority leader is to listen to the caucus and make sure the Senate president knows what they want. I also have tried to empower each individual in that caucus. If I carried the water for everyone’s bills, I’d be cuckoo. Sen. Harmon wanted this (ethics) bill. I helped him.
She does, indeed, speak to Jones about these questionable actions, but she only started doing that on a regular basis once she decided to run for Congress.
Halvorson has not been a very powerful majority leader like her predecessor, the late Vince Demuzio. Ironically, her influence has increased since Ozinga got into the race because Jones’ members are worried that their actions could harm Halvorson’s campaign.
Kristen says Halvorson should maybe wear a sleeve, not the entire jacket. In reality, that’s probably true. But she is the majority leader, and that means she’s agreed to be the partner. So, if the jacket fits…
* Related…
* Pat Quinn pushes to keep state parks open
* Bivens: Park closures ‘purely for political gain’
* Union sues governor to block prison closure
* Blagojevich sued over plan to close Pontiac prison
* Lawmakers, union sue Blagojevich over Pontiac prison closing
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Sep 18, 08 @ 10:35 am
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“A lot of people haven’t been, I mean the decision to close them are based on attendance figures not on whether the governor likes them or not,” Guerrero said.
I’ll say it again…when you combine the total attendance from these 11 state parks slated for closure, it adds up to more than 5 million. So, Mr. Guerrero and the governor are now saying that 5 million attendance is too small???
Slamming the door on 5 million visitors in mostly downstate areas only enflames the argument that this Governor and his staff are completely clueless to the needs and aspirations of whom they serve. Pathetic.
Comment by Bass Man Thursday, Sep 18, 08 @ 10:41 am
I like Debbie Halvorson. She needed to use her successes in the General Assembly and packaged them positively in this congressional race. Being Majority Leader isn’t nothing, but instead of using it to her advantage with voters in the 11th, she runs from it.
When she did this, and still does it, she affirms critics who say she has something to hide. She affirms that she is embarrassed over her work with Jones. She affirms that her power in Springfield makes her a part of the problem in Illinois. Instead of creating her own image, she allowed her critics to do it to her detriment.
Now that she has given us reason to believe she is embarrassed about her role in Illinois government through her own actions, she has also given us real reasons to question every action she and her political mentor, Emil Jones, has taken during the past four years.
Since her candidacy, Halvorson tried to have it both ways; support Jones to keep in his favor, while pretending he doesn’t control her. She sandbagged both the ethics bill and the recall in backroom deals, then trotted out and publically endorsed them, knowing they wouldn’t pass.
She took the unusual step of allowing a bill to be kidnapped by it’s opponents, then claims she supported it. Perhaps McQueary falls for these stunts, but she is being played for a fool when she does.
If Halvorson and her inept DCCC staffers feel that running away from her political successes in Illinois is the way to appeal to voters in the 11th, they are perpetrating a fraud, selling Debbie short, and doing a nice ueberliberal lady an immense disservice. Debbie deserves better than the boobs running her campaign from DC.
Blagojevich-
I cannot imagine a governor unaware of the state parks and historic places within their state. I cannot imagine a governor not personally visiting every single one of them to learn more about the state they govern. What’s his problem?
Blagojevich’s “reform” political bashing success during the 2002 campaign are over. He killed it himself. His anti-Springfield, “I won’t live in the governor’s mansion” game seemed to actually be rooted in something deeper than we first believe. While it fine to be pro-Chicago, and a proud Chicagoan, we expect our governors to govern ALL of Illinois, not just east of I-294. We expect them to appreciate ALL of Illinois, not just what can be seen from the observation deck at Sear’s Tower.
Blagojevich repeatedly proves his failure as our current governor and his disrespect for Illinoians by his lack of appreciation for our environment and history.
Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Sep 18, 08 @ 10:57 am
The AP (and Rich) make good points. But let’s be honest: Folks wouldn’t care much whether he visited these parks - they might not give two figs if he sat in the middle of Sunnyside all day playing chess in his jogging shorts - IF he didn’t so consistently act to undermine the parks. And human services. And education. And prisons. And ethics. Etc., etc., etc. [your favorite cause here].
Comment by Reality Check Thursday, Sep 18, 08 @ 11:00 am
Go read this if you want to see what is going on at the ground level in DNR.
http://forums.bowsite.com/tf/regional/thread.cfm?threadid=158435&MESSAGES=14&state=IL
Comment by Leave a light on George Thursday, Sep 18, 08 @ 11:07 am
Oh, for the days of Vince Demuzio.
Comment by Fan of the Game Thursday, Sep 18, 08 @ 11:10 am
It really isn’t a question of whether its “fair” or not to hold caucus leaders, or even rank-and-file members, accountable for their leaders’ actions.
I would argue that its not only common practice, but inevitable AND necessary.
Every caucus member votes for their leader, and to some degree is responsible for their actions. There’s nothing sexist about this — just ask Gary Forby.
Its inevitable because of the concentration of power in the hands of leaders. Leaders are judicious about the use of structured roll calls that protect members in vulnerable seats (usually - ask Pat Welch), targeted members usually have political cover in their roll call votes. The only way the other party can go after them is to lay the blanket of blame broadly across them. So, even though rural Democrats may vote against gun control and reproductive rights, Republicans will blame them for legislation that is advancing or passes. And even though suburban Republicans may vote against weakening environmental standards or undermining gun control, Democrats will blame them.
This strategy becomes NECESSARY for our representative form of government because the seats of legislative leaders are safe, and the only way interest groups can hold leaders accountable for the exercise of that power is by laying the blanket of blame on rank-and-file members. So, when Emil Jones doesn’t want to bring lawmakers back to Springfield to keep our parks open or prevent cuts in drug treatment programs, groups are going to turn up the heat on targeted lawmakers with tight re-election races ahead.
“If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen” is a little too glib. But the only way to avoid being blamed for your leader’s action or inaction is to either change their mind or avoid being in targeted races.
I like Debbie Halvorson, and Marty Ozinga doesn’t belong in Congress. But if she wasn’t ready to wear the jacket, she shouldn’t have run for Congress.
That said, she only needs to do three things to win. Raise money, mention Obama and George Bush as much as possible, and remind voters that they have a very clear choice in this election when it comes to the economy:
“Republicans think the way to solve this economic crisis is to put more money in the pockets of the wealthy and provide tax cuts for companies that want to send jobs overseas. Democrats want to put more money in YOUR pockets and invest in programs that expand opportunity and create good-paying jobs. They call their plan ‘Trickle Down Economics,’ and I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of being trickled on.”
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, Sep 18, 08 @ 11:15 am
Whatever happened with State Rep Fritchey’s cryptic message the other day saying he thinks he has the solution for this mess?
Comment by Phineas J. Whoopee Thursday, Sep 18, 08 @ 12:29 pm
Yep, Illinois’ first capitol is, ironically, West of the Mississippi river these days. (It wasn’t until the river changed course.)
I’m getting tired of papers not mentioning Jason Wallace when talking about the 11th Congressional.
Comment by Squideshi Thursday, Sep 18, 08 @ 12:45 pm
I’m not a tree hugger and to call myself a naturalist is really stretching things. There was the day in my younger years when it was an adventure to pack up the younger LE’s and me and spouse and off we would go to Ramsey Lake or Weldon Springs or to a beautiful campground in Southern Illinois and spend a weekend in a primtive pop-up camper. Those were also the days we would branch out to other states and notice the difference in the state parks to our west, north and east, many of whom had admission fees on top of camping fees. We didn’t mind though because the parks were top drawer compared to Illinois. Fast forwarding 25 years probably still shows a difference in operations.
With that said, I’ve not been able to figure out a couple of things. 1) Why doesn’t Illinois have admission fees for its parks of just a buck or two? It would help with income for the park and the money would be negligible for the visitor.
2) I enjoyed the opportunity for my children to be lulled to sleep by the crickets and locusts, wake up in the morning to nature’s curtain of fog, traipse through the woods to find firewood and have your breath taken away by the beauty of the forest, and last but not least, eating one of those great campground wood fire favorite meals - a tin foil dinner courtesy of the Boy Scouts.
The least Blago could do is borrow a Class A $1.5M motor home from some swanky friend and drive through a couple of state parks with the Mrs. and girls. No fair to bring along state troopers though. Blago needs to do the driving because he would get learn at least two lessons - the beauty of the parks he wants to close and the horrible condition of Illinois roads.
Comment by Little Egypt Thursday, Sep 18, 08 @ 12:50 pm
A governor at least has the duty of stewardship. When he’s out around the state, he should be a constant presence at state parks, universities, colleges, mental health facilities, state police posts, prisons, etc. How else do you know what’s really going on?
Having said that, wouldn’t you embarrassed to admit you’d never been to one of these sites? Wouldn’t you try to correct it?
Why did he want the job?
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Sep 18, 08 @ 2:10 pm
The article doesn’t say Blago has never visted any state park…It says he hasn’t visited the ones slated for closure.
Comment by winco Thursday, Sep 18, 08 @ 2:14 pm
Do you think Janet Napolitano hasn’t seen the Grand Canyon? Do you think Arnold Schwarzenegger hasn’t seen Yosemite? Do you think Howard Dean hasn’t seen Calvin Coolidge’s birthplace?
But we have a governor that is disinterested in our parks and sites. This is inexcusable.
Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Sep 18, 08 @ 2:22 pm
Could someone please clarify — the Governor hasn’t visited ANY state park, or just hasn’t visited the ones slated for closure?
Comment by soccermom Thursday, Sep 18, 08 @ 3:02 pm
I’m pretty sure he hasn’t gone to ANY state park. If he had, for sure by now he’d have found a way to tell a boring anecdote about enjoying it with his kids or whatever. If he had, his staff would have made it a major press release to refute the damaging claim. Neither have happened.
I think in light of the budget battle and his mixed success at governing, history student Rod could learn a little by staying overnight at Starved Rock.
As far as his history-loving claim, I think its not true, not exactly. I think he likes to skim history books to pull bons mot and anecdotes from, reciting them rote like he does his memorized Cubs statistics and random scripture passages, but a solipsist like Rod is unlikely to want to truly immerse himself in a book to feel what other leaders felt. He wouldn’t care. He just looks for the parts that remind him of himself, is what I think he does.
Comment by I see what you did there Thursday, Sep 18, 08 @ 9:56 pm