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Just a quick note to say thanks for all the comments so far this week.
Also, a hearty welcome to some of the governor’s supporters who have finally begun to assert themselves here. I’ve been fascinated by most of the debate. Keep it up. (And I hope I didn’t just jinx this recent comment uptick by writing about it.)
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Feb 3, 05 @ 8:00 pm
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It’s only because there has now been a concerted effort to generate positive spin. You don’t really think that those are ordinary people writing that stuff? It’s staff and interested parties protected their collective a**es.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Feb 3, 05 @ 10:05 pm
Perhaps, perhaps not. Ordinary or special interest, it’s never a bad thing to have opinions.
I just wish more people in my downstate area even cared enough to know that anything happened yesterday.
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Feb 4, 05 @ 7:21 am
Everyone is welcome to comment here, including the governor’s staff. I know for a fact that other staff members are posting, so the guv’s people ought to be allowed to make their case as well.
If you don’t like a comment, you’re free to counter their arguments with your own.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Feb 4, 05 @ 8:52 am
Rich, I’m glad that the Governor’s defenders are finally getting their message out here as well. I’m a disaffected Dem who needs bolstering. I won’t vote for LaHood, but I’m not even lukewarm for Blagojevich.
I bet half the negative comments here on Blagojevich come from Dems like me. I hope that the Blagojevich supporters, whether they’re staff or not, keep that in mind. They also need to keep in mind that dismissing our complaints is not very persuasive. It’s a lot like saying, “You’re not fat, it’s all in your mind.”
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Feb 4, 05 @ 9:52 am
y’all are a bunch of cynics. While we may not always support everything our democratic governor does, he is ours. We won’t rally around everything he does or says, but he does put his best foot forward.
I’m beginning to believe that his harshest critics on this site are either the old school “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” types (think Dominic Longo), or the establishment egos (Madigan, and others) that have more to gain with Blago out of the way.
The party needs to reunite and clean itself up this next year. None of this self-serving overtime budget stuff. Its time to serve the people, not feed individual egos.
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Feb 4, 05 @ 10:24 am
To the guy who is a downstate D, but disaffected. I, too, am a longtime downstate D. I’m not sure what the heck we expected from this Governor in two years. Raise taxes and be a one-term wonder? Buy a shanty in every little town along the Kankakee, Illinois, Sangamon and Mississippi Rivers just to say he is one of us?
The GOP had 30 years to stack the deck, spend the resources (with the help of our downstate and Chicago dem legislators, of course). So, every Dem honcho and rank-and-filer had a huge laundry list of expensive projects and jobs they felt they deserved when we won.
To top it all off, AFSCME became the face of the GOP downstate after all those years of filling their ranks with committeemen and/committeemen’s recommendations. No better example exists than in Brown County where the GOP Chairman was a vacuum cleaner salesman until they built the prison. What was a solidly D Catholic community dropped like a rock when the shingle on his door read “for prison applications see me between the hours of x and x”.
In addition, our gun buddies (and I consider myself one) have simply refused to believe that this Governor is not out to disarm them and put daisies in their hair. If it’s a choice of voting pocket book issues or FOID card issues, we all know where they fall, even though the issue is fake.
So I’m all for giving this Governor a chance. Ya’ gotta remember that we had nothing, zilch, zippo, before Rod. To keep fighting amongst ourselves just empowers our partisan enemies–who are legion.
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Feb 4, 05 @ 11:37 am
I’m the disaffected Dem who posted earlier — and I’m a Chicago Dem, not a downstate Dem.
I can tell you that virtually every group I care about (enviros, health care, etc.) will readily say that they were better off under George Ryan than Blagojevich.
As for the myth of raising taxes: keep in mind that Jim Edgar entered office with roughly the same budget picture. He did raise taxes in his first year, and three years into his term the state was on sound fiscal footing. He went on to cream his Democratic opponent.
I have my criticisms of Edgar and I was one of the three or four people who voted against him. The fact is, though, that Edgar fixed the state’s finances and didn’t suffer politically. Under Blagojevich, the state’s finances have just gotten worse (despite big, big cuts in state employees).
As for downstate, I think you’re making the same mistake as Blagojevich is making if you think it’s all about the gun issue. I think they want a Governor who doesn’t act like everyone south of I-80 is a rube who can be appeased by a cheap hunting license and a quick visit to the state fair.
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Feb 4, 05 @ 12:18 pm
“I’m beginning to believe that his harshest critics on this site are either the old school “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” types (think Dominic Longo), or the establishment egos (Madigan, and others) that have more to gain with Blago out of the way.”
Boy I sure am glad there’s no backscratching going on in the Blags admin. By the way, how is that Accenture deal and the SBC legislation working out? Oh…
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Feb 4, 05 @ 12:41 pm
Don’t ya wonder who the silly toad is who believes GRod is not “scratching backs”? There is some much scratchin’ going on the guys like Kelly, Wyma, Wilhelm etc. have rashes.
I just glad he picked an American example — Cleveland — for this year’s visionary health care plan.
Wonder why no one notices an Illinois House committee failed to fall for the DHS nonsense on Thursday and roll out a supplement money bill to pay for the union raises?
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Feb 4, 05 @ 2:57 pm
The dude who who wrote about the lack of back scratching has TB - true believerism. It kills slowly. If anybody else with TB makes such a pathetic posting, don’t correct them. “Don’t waste your bullets let them burn.”
This thing is getting some interesting participants. It appears we have figured out how to get an answer out of the gov’s office, anonymity.
Hey Bradley
Have you done the divorce polling yet. If so did you include the dirty stuff.
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Feb 4, 05 @ 10:47 pm
I just want to clarify to the Chicago Dem who suggested Jim Edgar somehow flip-flopped and raised taxes but was elected. Jim Edgar always said he supported an extension of the temporary income tax enacted under Thompson.
As a matter of fact, Hartigan tried very hard to make the case that Edgar was for a tax increase–but it didn’t fly. Check out this old Pete Ellertsen analysis pre-Edgar’s election at www.lib.niu.edu/ipo/ii900214.html
Then replay the Netch campaign where our candidate did the “courageous” thing and supported a swap, the Chief Program, to fund schools. Check out all her support–and Edgar’s, for that matter, when he backed the same plan in his last term. It wasn’t there, not even close. People’s eyes were bigger than their stomach for higher taxes.
You’ll have a hard time convincing anyone that a Democrat can break their promise on sales and income taxes and still win.
Comment by Anonymous Sunday, Feb 6, 05 @ 8:19 am