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Barring unforeseen circumstances (bad weather canceled yesterday’s fly-around) the announcement is today:
Judy Baar Topinka is recruiting an anti-abortion, tough-on-crime running mate in her campaign for the Republican nomination for governor.
Topinka has made clear for days that she was close to sealing a deal for DuPage County State’s Attorney Joseph Birkett to run for lieutenant governor.
She and Birkett have scheduled a series of news conferences around the state tomorrow where Birkett is expected to announce his candidacy.
Meanwhile, the governor will personally address the Illinois State Board of Education today. From a press release.
During the Illinois State Board of Education’s meeting tomorrow, Governor Rod R. Blagojevich will explain why he believes the board should vote to adopt new rules banning the sale of junk food and soda in elementary and middle schools.
Afterwards, he’ll award a $500,000 grant for educational programs at Chicago’s Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Dec 15, 05 @ 1:09 am
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It must be me getting senile in my old age. I was under the impression that we had a major financial problem in the Illinois state government. Obviously, I must be wrong or Elvis Blagojevich wouldn’t be out there again giving away other people’s (your’s and mine) money. At this point in time , I would cast my vote for “anybody” just to get rid of this guy as governor. My vote is never determined by Party affiliation but rather by whoever is best qualified and who will fix the financial mess in the state of Illinois. My wife and I are retired and we must live on a fixed income. We can’t afford to keep paying for his incompetence. Neither should our children and grandchildren.
Comment by Beowulf Thursday, Dec 15, 05 @ 4:52 am
-Tertius - your comments were very funny. You should not forget that Luis Gutierrez will be right next to Rod at the grant announcement so Gutierrez can gain some camera time and speculate on his mayoral run.
Comment by Just looking Thursday, Dec 15, 05 @ 7:23 am
blagojevich
spend spend spend tax tax tax pork pork pork
Comment by ron Thursday, Dec 15, 05 @ 8:19 am
Hey Tertius — Never forget in BrickHeadJoe’s world everyone is guilty until he finds a crime to charge you with. Unless you bought a get out of jail free card at one of the fundraisers.
Can we start the countdown clock on how many days it will take for AccordianGal to plunge into a tie with ChopperJim and Marcia’sBrother now that she has her band in place.
I’ll pick 20 (got to leave some down time for Christmas) How to go fromn runaway primary winner to dead heat in less than three week!
Comment by Reddbyrd Thursday, Dec 15, 05 @ 8:29 am
I dont agree with the choice of Birkett as a running mate at all. Of course, I dont even really see the point of picking someone as a running mate when that person may not even make it out of the primary.
The fact that Birkett has a tainted (to say the least) reputation as a prosecutor is not going to help Topinka when she will be dealing with her own baggage. Birkett is another Republican insider from DuPage who along with Topinka represents the waaay old school dirty politics in Illinois.
I would imagine that Birkett will start throwing around allegations regarding wrong doing. Dont look for any truth behind them. When has the truth ever mattered to this guy?
Comment by JSM Thursday, Dec 15, 05 @ 9:14 am
I have been to the Mexican Fine Arts museum several times and it is lovely; it is also free, as I recall. Blago’s decision to give it our money may well be appropriate…I doubt it has gotten as much as more mainstream Illinois museums in the past. Of course, this has little to do with Blago’s interest in Hispanic culture.
He wants the Latino vote and is openly seeking it with our money. As I have said in the past, he doesn’t need the campaign war chest. He has virtually unfettered access to taxpayer money for his campaign. This is a continuation of other Hispanic-directed taxpayer-funded campaign initiative such as Allkids (illegals will benefit hutely) and the almost-free housing loans for illegals.
If Illinois were flush with money, this would be less problematic. But we aren’t. The pension fund that Blago and his cohorts plundered is severely underfunded and only by plundering it could Blago make all this largesse available to illegals, state employees (raises unconnected to performance), future recipients of almost-free state health insurance, and future recipients of almost-free government subsidized housing.
Retirees don’t need to worry as much as the 30-50 age groups, with many of their prime working years ahead. If they stay in Illinois, they will be funding the huge tax increases that will be necessary to pay for all this.
Republicans should take note that the tax increase might actually turn out to be theirs to propose and implement if they win the statehouse in 06 or 10.
All us Dems and Repubs and Independents are going to be stuck with the results of Blago’s mismanagement of government monies and bureacracy.
Comment by Cassandra Thursday, Dec 15, 05 @ 9:17 am
So the governor is going to appear before his hand-picked State Board of Education to try and convince them to adopt his junk-food rules…makes ya really wonder just how transparent these types of appearances are really becoming. Does anyone really think anybody on the Board is going to challenge the governor on this? Eliminating junk-food isn’t a bad idea, but does it really warrant all the attention?
Comment by Common Sense in Illinois Thursday, Dec 15, 05 @ 10:24 am
Junk food in schools is the biggest education crisis our state has ever faced. Considering that Illinois has the best funded schools in entire nation, the most qualified teachers, and that every child is provided the education to go on and become governor, it is time for us to take our collective heads out of the sand and recognize that potato chips and pop will be the downfall of our Great Society. Thank goodness Blago is displaying the leadership to address this crisis head on. We all should be proud.
Now pass me another Twinkie.
Comment by Bluefish Thursday, Dec 15, 05 @ 11:30 am
Tertius - 7:03 am
Your remark in Spanish just is not cool. First it is “este” not “esta” and secondly, wheteher in English or any other language, I thought the use of profanity was not acceptable on this blog?
Comment by Xolotl Thursday, Dec 15, 05 @ 11:31 am
I concur with Bluefish. Recent studies clearly indicate a significant degrading of our public school systems after the introduction of the potato chip vending machine in 1959.
Alfred Marxs, lead food scientist of Frito-Lay foresaw a decline in tobacco sales and the failure of the new FL tobacco-flavored snack food “Smokey Butts”, as an indicator that tobacco was on it’s way out, and that Frito-Lay would need to create a new addiction.
By 1962, nacho-cheese Dorito beta tests on mice clearly showed that IQ significantly dropped after 90 seconds of consumption of these chips. However, the mice loved the snarky nacho cheese flavors and yellow fingers, clearly indicating a huge marketing success to follow.
Contributions to Lyndon Johnson’s 1964 campaign eased federal restrictions on toxic junk foods and Frito Lay’s campaign to promote the health benefits of their products helped open school doors nationwide. “Silent Spring” was rewritten to shift focus away from it’s warnings on junk food, to warnings on a benign chemical, DDT.
By 1968, educators became concerned over recent school test scores and suspected junk food, however FL was able to quickly shift focus towards Sweet N Low, forging lab results to conclude that it caused cancer.
Now, after 40 years, courageous leaders such as Governor Rod Blagojevich are standing up to the unspeakable damage junk foods has wrought on our nation’s public schools. New documents recently released showed that Frito Lay has given over $15 million toward a Blagojevich re-election bid, yet the courageous, silken-haired, maverick governor demands that this evil scourge of tasty snacks stop at our school doors!
Blagojevich believes that if junk food is eliminated from Illinois schools, the money that once was used to support this filthy habit, would return to fill school budgets. The millions will enable schools to increase salaries, end Cheeto fingers, and slim waists across the state. Children freed from the damage junk food wrecks on young minds, will once again be able to read at grade levels, freshen breath, and do advanced calculus by age 5.
The time has finally come for our schools to become once again, the beacon of all knowledge and hope. The time has finally come for Frito Lay to admit their wrong doings and face the consequences!
Go Rod go! Save us from ourselves! We are too weak!
Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Dec 15, 05 @ 11:59 am
Ricardo y El Posse, please delete profanity in all languages, por favor.
Comment by Anonimo Thursday, Dec 15, 05 @ 11:59 am
For all those that have never voted before.First you pick the person that you feel will do the best job as governor.Then you look at the list of canidates for Lt. Governor and pick one of them.It does not have to be the persons running for governors runnig mate.There might be a place for write in and you can put your favorite bartender down.
Comment by WAY DOWNSTATE Thursday, Dec 15, 05 @ 12:47 pm
Thanks Pat…always fun to have a show off on here…dork.
Comment by Enuff Thursday, Dec 15, 05 @ 2:35 pm
I have been following Blago and his antics and do you know that we will have to elect 2 governors one to handle the state and the other to clean all the stupidity this guy has put into place.
Comment by WAY DOWNSTATE Thursday, Dec 15, 05 @ 3:21 pm
All:
My apologies that some found my use of ‘the “P-word”‘ was offensive. Amongst the people I speak Spanish with, it means no more that “jerk” or “butt-head” [both terms quite mild, compared to what gets printed here] disculpe..
(LOL - after a search of Wikipedia, seems like ANY Spanish word I’m used to using is an extreme vulgarity!)
Even so, I’d rather not hear Blago [or Bush or Gore or Clinton] mangle Spanish in an attempt to impress a Latino crowd.
Sorry, Rich - I know you wanna keep things civil here.
Comment by Tertius Thursday, Dec 15, 05 @ 5:50 pm
JSM. There you go again. Saying JBT has all of this “baggage” that will bring her down. Hot Rod has so much baggage I heard he had to send some of his flunkies to O’hare to get a few extra baggage carts just to tote around this past years “baggage.”
Comment by Papa Legba Thursday, Dec 15, 05 @ 7:06 pm
School nutrition by nutritionist Governor–Cheetos in Milk out. Deep down administration must be anti cow. Just when Elsie the Cow was going to announce for Lt. Governor on Oberweis ticket.
Fiscal responsibility–Money for Museum no money to settle state employees Workman Comp. claims that have been agreed to.
Housing czar–illegal aliens in—balanced budget out
Classic evidence of thinking outside the box. I can’t believe he only got “c’s” in school.
Comment by muletown Thursday, Dec 15, 05 @ 8:51 pm
The Dupage Township Republican Organization has formally endorsed Topinka and Birkett (among many other locals) for Govenor and Lt. Governor. The DTRO failed to recognize Republican Senate candidate Christian Smith. He is running against A.J. Wilhelmi (D) 43rd senate dist. Mr. Smith has made no effort to be involved anywhere in the district’s communities. He’s an opportunist and the DTRO feels Sen. Wilhelmi is an honest candidate. The DTRO remains nuetral on that race.
Comment by BolingbrookElephant Friday, Jan 6, 06 @ 11:56 am