The Capitol Fax Blog » Quote of the day *** UPDATED WITH AUDIO ***

Quote of the day *** UPDATED WITH AUDIO ***

Tuesday, Jan 15, 2008

* The governor was at an upscale Lake Shore Drive senior center today for a town hall meeting on his amendatory veto of the transit bailout bill.

The response wasn’t completely what he had hoped for, apparently. While the Tribune claims that “most seniors expressed appreciation” for his proposal, there were several questions about why there wasn’t means testing in his transit AV.

And then he stepped on his tongue…

“I hear you, but it’s not so bad,” Blagojevich told one senior who persistently asked about why the poor are not getting free rides.

“Just hold your nose and take a bus for free.”

Good one, guv. Insult bus riders and patronize well-to-do senior citizens all in one fell swoop. Perfect.

* The AP adds…

Most seniors at the gathering welcomed the free-rides plan. But when Blagojevich asked who would oppose such a benefit, several seniors in the audience of around 30 raised their hands.

*** UPDATE *** Chicago Public Radio has the audio of the governor’s event, featuring some interesting questions from seniors. Or just listen below…

…Adding… You really need to listen to this audo.

- posted by Rich Miller

85 Comments

- Bill S. Preston, Esq. - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:10 pm:
Oh. No. He. Didn’t.

I can’t wait for him to run for re-election.

- Ghost - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:10 pm:
=== “Just hold your nose and take a bus for free.” ===

That will show up in 2010.

- Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:15 pm:
Here’s a great, overlooked quote too:

Other lawmakers report the same reaction, including Rep. Julie Hamos (D-Evanston), one of the main sponsors of the transit legislation.

“I just spoke to a group and most of them were seniors and every single person thought it was a bad idea,’’ Hamos said Monday. “That was just one group, but we’ve been inundated with emails from constituents who do not think this is good policy. They’ve been hearing all year about the transit crisis and they don’t think this makes sense.”

Hamos is also worried about her fellow lawmakers, some of whom are considering switching their votes and voting against the transit bailout.

“People are not in love with this as a policy and they don’t like the process,’’ Hamos said. “I am sensing a lot of discomfort with another vote.”

- Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:17 pm:
where was the event, BTW?

- Joe Schmoe - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:29 pm:
Kind of reminds you of Judy dancing with George at the state fair…..it will find its way back to haunt.

- Rep. John Fritchey - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:31 pm:
Just as an observation, the overwhelming majority of seniors who have contacted my office actually oppose the Governor’s plan.

- Pot calling kettle - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:31 pm:
It’ll be his campaign slogan:

“Just hold your nose and vote for Rod. Blagojevich 2010!!!”

- Ravenswood Right Winger - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:34 pm:
Hey Milorad, riders already have to hold their nose while riding the CTA, regardless of whether they are seniors or not. Get some Lysol and clean those buses and trains!

- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:36 pm:
Pot, can he use that twice in a row? lol

- GoBearsss - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:36 pm:
I don’t think the quote was referencing that the bus smelled bad.

The holding your nose reference was referencing that the heckler didn’t want to ride free, not that they didn’t want to ride the bus.

- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:38 pm:
The heckler? lol

Nice spin, though. Stick with that one. Add one more insult to the pile.

- Ahem - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:41 pm:
It just gets weirder and weirder.

- GoBearsss - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:41 pm:
“who persistently asked about why the poor are not getting free rides”

That’s why I said heckler. And the TV news characterized it that way, too. If it wasn’t accurate, I will take that back.

I am not spinning - just reading the article and not trying to make something out of something that just isn’t there. This comment doesn’t do anything to influence coverage - just my opinion.

- Princeville - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:43 pm:
Does that mean there’s a bit of a smell on the pony from pile of horse manure Rod plucked it from? The seniors should just be appreciative even if plucking ponies was a stinky trick?

- Bill - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:43 pm:
Awright,
Whose turn was it to watch Rod last night? Why didn’t he just go see Hannah.

- Wumpus - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:43 pm:
Most seniors think it is a bad idea? laughable as they go to enjoy the Early Bird Special and their AARP discount at Denny’s.

- walter sobchak - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:44 pm:
Isn’t it about time for Democratic leadership to seriously consider impeachment? The Blagojevich administration seems to be spiraling down, out of control, and quotes like this one add to the sense of actual derangement at the top. That, coupled with the reality of potential indictment, seems to suggest history repeating itself. The Republicans allowed George Ryan to destroy the party as a state wide political force. Madigan, Daley, Jones et al seem to be risking the opportunity Ryan’s actions gave them by going down the same path if they don’t act against this Governor soon.

- GoBearsss - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:48 pm:
Look - every senior I know is a very proud person (in a good way). Not a single person I know wants a handout, and it takes a lot for someone to ask for one.

I ask them if they think they should ride the bus for free, and they say no thanks.

But ask them if they think they should pay a higher sales tax, and they say no thanks to that, too.

Whether you like the idea for free rides or not, it got the Governor to go along with this plan. So, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

- anon - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:50 pm:
I think I would change the AV language to be permissive rather than mandatory. If the Gov agrees, then all’s well: he still looks like he is doing seniors a favor, the transit districts can use their discretion as to freebies, and the sales tax increase goes ahead. If the Gov disagrees with the change, the he looks obstructionist on his own suggestion, the bill is vetoed, and whose fault it that?

- Ghost - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:54 pm:
=== …it got the Governor to go along with this plan ===

oh common, this was not offered up to get the Gov to go along with the bill, it was the govs own creation. If he wanted anything other then a grandstanding moment why not mention 9 months ago that he would support a tax increase with this senior provision. He may have been looking for a way to back out of the no tax pledge, but providing yourself your own incentive is just way to far a spin.

- VanillaMan - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:54 pm:
“Just hold your nose and take a bus for free.”

What he meant to say was:

“Just hold your toes and I’ll brown my nose.”

- Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:55 pm:
Wumpus-

Seniors already get a transit discount, if they want one. that’s what makes this all the more bizarre.

- Cassandra - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 3:05 pm:
Well, affluent seniors (and there are probably a lot of those in Hamos’ Evanston) probably rarely use the CTA so this is not where they’d like to see their legislator-provided random tax break fall.

They need to hold out for something they can really use.

- Greg - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 3:06 pm:
It’s not a gifthorse, GoBearsss. We’re paying for the horse, and Rod just made it a lot heavier.

- JJ - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 3:06 pm:
I am sure then, Rep. Fritchey, that you will vote your constituents and vote against the mass transit bill???

- What planet is he from again? - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 3:09 pm:
“… the heckler didn’t want to ride free …”

Was the heckler’s name Stadtler or Waldorf by any chance?

- DumberThanYouTHink - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 3:11 pm:
Who said our team did not make HM? We just snuck in and hid in Wymamontana Sky Box
TeeHee

- Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 3:15 pm:
Here’s why its going over like a lead balloon among seniors:

There are 282,000 seniors in Chicago.

MOST do not ride the CTA.

ALL will be paying the sales tax increase, and already pay for the CTA.

They assume, rightly so, that the Gov’s idea is going to mean more money out of their pocket.

Even those that do ride the CTA assume that they won’t be taking nearly enough “free rides” to make up for the additional cost that will come out of their pocket.

- Michelle Flaherty - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 3:18 pm:
Consider this:
If the senior freebie didn’t exist, and there was no added subsidy for downstate transit agencies (whose riders aren’t paying more) then you might not need the higher Chicago real estate transfer tax.

That tax is supposed to bring in $100 million. The senior perk is pegged at upward of $30 million and the downstate mass transit subsidy was reported as $50 million.

I realize the transfer tax was included to balance out the new burden across the region but with a little creativity and willingness to say “no” to some poeple, this bailout couuld be a lot smaller.

- VanillaMan - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 3:19 pm:
“OK LISTEN you old people!”
“What is it about FREE do you not understand?”
“You - with the blue hair - what’s your question?”

“OK, so you already get a discount! I’m giving you a discount “on top” of the discount you are already getting!” “Yes - it is like double coupon day!” “No - you don’t need a coupon!”

“Its free!” “I’m giving you free rides!”

“OK, YOU - with the oxygen mask…”
“NO - I thought I already explained this! Poor people do not get free rides. Seniors get free rides!” “Did I say anything about poor people riding free?”

“YES M’AM - please talk louder.”
“NO - I’m NOT saying that seniors are poor!”

“You sir, what is your question?”
“Yes, even if you are a millionaire you can still ride the bus for free.”

“No - this is not income based - it is based on your age! It doesn’t matter how much money you have, you get to ride the bus for free.”

“YES - you madam…”
“No one is going to force you to ride a bus, but if you DO, you will not be charged. Yes, you will ride for free.” “No, it doesn’t matter if you sit at the front of the bus, or the back - it is still free.”

“What’s that?”
“No, even if you use a wheelchair and have to use the mobile ramp, you will still not be charged.” “OH - YOU think these people should be charged for holding up the bus while they’re boarding…” “No, I disagree.”

“One last question….”
“No, I’m not Michael Madigan, I am Rod Blagojevich - I am the governor - not Michael Madigan…I don’t care what HE thinks about MY PLAN…NO I AM NOT IRRELEVANT!”

“OK! One more!” “You sir, you are not a senior, but what is your question?”

VM - “Hear that beeping sound Mr Blagojevich? I think Peter the bus driver is ready to back over you now!”

- capitol view - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 3:20 pm:
why do I have this mental image of the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party from Alice in Wonderland, with our governor and the seniors? Must be all the bizarre quotes and statements…

- Rep. John Fritchey - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 3:30 pm:
JJ,

Really haven’t made up my mind yet, but as I’ve already publicly stated, I’m leaning that way.

- Antimachus - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 3:43 pm:
“Even those that do ride the CTA assume that they won’t be taking nearly enough ‘free rides’ to make up for the additional cost that will come out of their pocket.”

YDD isn’t a reduced fare transit card only $35?

So in order to pay $35 more in sales taxes under this proposed tax increase, the senior must spend $14,000.00 per month totaling $168,000.00 annually. That’s a lot of expenditure for a CTA riding senior.

Therefore, any CTA riding senior who purchases less than $168,000 of merchandise annually would most likely benefit from the free rides.

Not that I support this plan at all, I am just saying that your logic there just doesn’t quite fit.

- OneManBlog - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 3:46 pm:
Actually He was confused….

That is a line from Hannah Montana EP 23 ‘Hanna Talks Smack’ where Hannah complains to her dad that she has to take a ride from her brother to the mall and gripes about the smell of his car…

Hanna: But daddy, his car smells like a old sweat sock.
Hanna’s Dad: As we used to say back home ‘You can give a senior a free ride it doesn’t mean grandma is going to make you pie’
Hanna: I am just going to hold my nose…

- Anonymous - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 3:46 pm:
Listen to the audio, you have to love the woman who busts his stones for never going to Springfield. Too funny.

- Anonymous - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 3:49 pm:
Also sounds like providers who receive state funding, and SEIU, had plants in the crowd.

- Concerned Voter - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 3:50 pm:
Okay,think about this. If we give free rides to seniors, imagine the bus stops. You’ll be stuck behind people who I’m sure will be required to produce some kind of ID card or something to prove that they are seniors. They dig through their wallet or purse, looking for that card they know they put in there yesterday or was it the day before yesterday? Hmm let me think about that….. Or the arguements, darn it, I served my country in the (fill in the blank) war, I’m a senior, give me my darned free ride!

Seriously, even seniors not wanting the guvs plan, would have loved to have seen that.

- The 'Broken Heart' of Rogers Park - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 3:57 pm:
Hanna: I am just going to hold my nose…

Are you telling me Rod is stealing material from Hannah now?

- GoBearsss - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 3:57 pm:
“Also sounds like providers who receive state funding, and SEIU, had plants in the crowd.”

See, Rich?

And that’s from someone on the other side of this debate. Don’t make me a scapegoat here…

- Transit Supporter - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 3:58 pm:
YDD,

Let’s be fair in terms of the “cost.” A senior who purchases a monthly pass pays $420 per yer / $35 per month; and many do. Unless and until that same senior spends $168,000 on RTA-tax eligible goods, they will save money through the free ride offer. Or to put it another way, a senior would have to purchase $800 in sales tax-eligible goods before forking over $2.00 in new transit taxes - which equals the full cash CTA fare. The numbers are even more favorable for seniors on Metra.

I am not debating the pros and cons of the Governor’s plan (although there are plenty of cons) but this notion that he is giving free rides on one hand and taking away through the sales tax with the other, is not very accurate. It is a good financial deal for seniors; that doesn’t mean it is a good financial deal for everyone else or even a good idea….

- JJ - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 4:02 pm:
Can Legislators be stuck in any bigger echo chamber than they are on this issue?

Willing to kill off the transit bill just to spite the Governor.

Sales taxes? Go right ahead! Taxes that will hurt our ailing housing market? Sure, why not!

What? You want to let seniors ride for free?

God no!

Veto it! Kill it!

- Wondering - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 4:03 pm:
Rep F.:

Would love to see nothing better than for you and all of those of you down there to stand up to Blago’s antics. Put the bill with his AV aside and send the same bill originally sent right back to him.
Right about now I am thinking people are not that stupid and people are paying attention and if you do this and he doesn’t act on it he will pay for it.
Frankly, if I had the tme and “testicular virility” he is so fond of I’d organize the mob action that would march to the front of his house in protest.
Could he be a bigger jerk?

This said, there’s plenty of blame to go around. I think people will remember this.

Hold your nose…

- Commonsense in Illinois - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 4:03 pm:
Please stop, I want to get off…

- Macbeth - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 4:04 pm:
Wait — so the free senior thing is from whatever that Hannah Montana stuff is?

You’re kidding me.

I mean, the Reagan/Gorbachev stuff was over the top — but you mean you can trace this whole to an episode of Hannah Montana?

Blagojevich is an idiot. He’s a bona fide idiot.

- OneManBlog - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 4:08 pm:
I am making the Hanna thing up, I do seem to recall an episode where she complains about her brothers odor…

- Bill - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 4:11 pm:
Now, John, we both know that you are not going to vote against this bill.

- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 4:19 pm:
If you listen to the audio, that lady was not a heckler.

- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 4:19 pm:
They’re gonna vote for it, but they’re giving leaders grief right now.

I’ve seen this sort of reaction before. From Republicans, when they thought they had Daley cornered on the state taking over O’Hare and Midway and he cut a deal with Indiana which thwarted them. Much outrage. Nothing they could do.

- Rep. John Fritchey - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 4:22 pm:
Bill,

You know me (and I know you), and you are right to the extent that I would not vote against it ‘to spite the Governor’ as JJ said.

That being said, I don’t think that the idea is a very rational one (go see my recent blog post), and as importantly, I have just about had it with these continual efforts to avoid working with the Legislature.

(Just wait until HFS comes to the GA hat in hand because it blew through its fiscal year appropriation because it ignored the GA and JCAR.)

A line needs to be drawn in the sand somewhere, and this is looking like an appropriate place to draw that line.

Whether all of this ultimately rises to the level where I feel justified in jeopardizing mass transit operations, I truly don’t know. But I am being very straightforward about my position, unlike many others. (Not a reference to you Bill)

I won’t be able to respond after this, have a couple meetings to go to. Carry on.

- GA Watcher - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 4:26 pm:
What I would like to know is who on the Governor’s staff arranged for this media moment. He/she may be looking for another position soon.

- DumberThanYouTHink - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 4:44 pm:
The best line was when the lady asked if the Blaggodits were going to Springfield for the vote and we had to check the cue cards to see if that was the “plan”
Is GA right? This was planned? Yikes. SpinSisters and BoyToys really gummed it up. Let’s try a torchlight parade next
TeeHee

- GoBearsss - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 4:45 pm:
Rich - I take back my comment after listening to the audio.

It looks like it was not in response to a heckler.

I apologize.

But the audio just made me think that the Trib did not do justice to the quote.

- GoBearsss - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 4:52 pm:
Rep. Fritchey.

If there ever were a time to draw a line in the sand, this would likely be the worst time to do it.

You say you need to finally stand up to the Governor’s abuse of power? You mean that his worst ever offense was issuing an A/V, which is perfectly within his constitutional authority, after saying for months that he would?

- Bill - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 4:55 pm:
Actually, after listening all the way through I thought the Governor did pretty well with the codgers.

- Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 5:10 pm:
Actually, after listening all the way through I thought the Governor did pretty well with the codgers.

All in all, it was a good day (wink).

- Bill - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 5:11 pm:
lol

- Rep. John Fritchey - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 5:14 pm:
Glad I checked in one more time.

GoBearsss, nowhere did I say this was his worst offense (far from it, and that won’t be for me to judge in any event).

I said “I don’t think that the idea is a very rational one (go see my recent blog post), and as importantly, I have just about had it with these continual efforts to avoid working with the Legislature.” I fully stand by that statement. And it’s far from the first time that I’ve said it.

It’s one thing to issue an A/V, it’s another to sit on your hands while everybody else is trying to negotiate a resolution to a critical issue, and then throw in a half-baked idea that you have been supposedly sitting on for two months in a take-it-or-leave-it manner via an A/V that could undo the whole agreement.

Or do you think that is a responsible way to govern?

From the recent polling data, it looks like 80% of Illinoisans feel the same way I do.

- Bill - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 5:17 pm:
You can’t count the 13% neutral.

- Rep. John Fritchey - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 5:20 pm:
When you’re right, you’re right :)

Make that, 67-80%

- Bill - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 5:26 pm:
I don’t think that anyone is accusing the governor of governing in a responsible manner. The question is when does it stop. Must we all be subjected to this constant gamesmanship and nonsense while the state flounders? We’ve got over two years to go, maybe more. I’m not sure status quo is going to be sufficient much longer. We need some statesmanship to end the childish bickering and try to effectuate some positive change in this state. The governor doesn’t trust the House. The House doesn’t trust the Senate. Nobody trusts the governor and we are all democrats. There is plenty of blame to go around and it is not all the governor’s fault. A working relationship is going to require effort from both sides. Otherwise we might as well all turn republican.

- Disgusted - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 6:03 pm:
Bill, it IS the governor’s fault. He says he has the power to do what he wants, so why hasn’t he taken the higher ground and worked with the government IN SPRINGFIELD to get these horrific monetary problems solves? He’s an adult and adults have to face the music with some moxy. Now he’s in some serious legal trouble, if we are to believe our federal government reps and the news, and goes into hiding. Please, the man needs to grow some “testicular virility” and do the job he was elected to do.

- Arthur Andersen - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 6:06 pm:
“Just hold your nose and take a bus for free.”

Rod, take your own advice and climb aboard the next time you see a bus marked “U.S. Department of Prisons.”

- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 6:08 pm:
Disgusted, Bill said it’s not totally the governor’s fault and he’s right. I don’t care how much you hate the man, you need to take a deep breath and let this sink in: He’s not responsible for everything that goes awry here.

That being said, he is a goofball. lol

- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 6:10 pm:
Also, Jm Thompson did just fine governing from Chicago. Geography isn’t the problem here.

- GoBearsss - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 6:17 pm:
Rich is right, the Gov can be a goofball, and it isn’t solely his fault.

I think a good part of the frustration stems from the constant push by one side to put people on a cliff until they voted or bailed-out their way off.

The Governor never was going to sign a sales tax. And everybody knew this. The strategy thus became to push all of the votes on the bill up against the doomsdays in order to force people to pass the plan, and force the Governor’s hand into signing it.

On the one hand, it got something to pass. On the other, it pushed the Superpowers to the brink of nuclear war.

- GoBearsss - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 6:21 pm:
I also would like to add - 80% (67-80%) of Illinoisans don’t care about process or whether the Governor works well with the legislature.

They care about stuff getting done. And what we see is that if 178 people can’t get along, only one person gets the blame.

- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 6:26 pm:
Don’t push it. lol

- Undercover - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 7:48 pm:
Did anyone see Ricky Hendon on Chicago Tonight last night? He actually said that “seniors have the option to pay if they want to”. That was his answer to seniors who don’t agree with this measure. Ridiculous.

- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 7:55 pm:
He’s wrong? They should pay if they disagree.

- Holdingontomywallet - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 8:13 pm:
No wonder he doesn’t have many press conferences. Will he tell the legislature, “Just hold your noses, and vote for the bill?” Man, he sure must spend a lot of time prying his foot out of his mouth.

- Dan S, a Voter - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 8:21 pm:
The doctor dropped him on his head when he was born, that has got to be the answer. Did he srve lemonade?

- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 8:30 pm:
Bill said, “I don’t think that anyone is accusing the governor of governing in a responsible manner.”

OK, who are you, and what have you done with the real Bill? Seriously, is GoBearsss the new handle for Friends of Blagojevich 2008? Are you yanking our chains too, or do you really believe what you posted above?

- Holdingontomywallet - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 8:40 pm:
That 5:26 post from Bill was something. Wow, I never thought I’d see the day… There is one thing for sure, the public realizes that this fiasco is going on with the dems in control of the Senate, House, and Governor’s Office. Their lack of leadership and ability to get things done will affect the next election. The squabbling and finger-pointing comes with a price.

- Linus - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 8:51 pm:
Overlooked here so far is that portion of the Governor’s comments today in which he accuses legislators of having “political courage” for taking the tough vote to raise sales taxes … and then he notes that it does not take political courage to offer free bus rides to older folks.

Questions:

1) Umm … ya think?

2) Whose argument was he trying to make, again?

3) Am I losing my hearing, or did he really say that?

3) Am I losing my mind? Because it’s clear he’s really, really, very really lost his …

- Gregor - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 8:52 pm:
This thing won’t be about holding noses, it will be about counting them…

- Anon - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 9:06 pm:
How many shills were put into this crowd..ie “I voted for you”……

- About Time - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 9:53 pm:
At least people are being thrown ON the bus and not UNDER it!

- Loop Lady - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 10:41 pm:
I believe the Democratic Party of IL or someone good God, needs to intervene and save the citizens, State coffers, and IL Dems from further dubious governing by Blago. Who will have the testicular (or ovarian) virility to do so?
This is totally unacceptable leadership and we cannot afford (in any sense of the word) two more years of this nonsense. SOS!!

- A Citizen - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 10:47 pm:
It used to be in vogue to have a village idiot. Illinois has the distinction of having a State Idiot! Quite an accomplishment. Be proud citizens.

- JohnR - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 10:55 pm:
no - Go Bearsss is right.

Madigan and Hamos (unfortunately) deserve a good deal of the blame for trying to force people to vote on it right before every doomsday - to force them into making a bad vote out of fear.

Hamos deserves but didn’t earn that blame - she didn’t choose the dates of these votes. She was just trying to get something, anything, done.

The only reason people voted for this is because they feared the wrath of the doomsday-hounding media.

It is the wrong reason to vote for something. And it is the wrong season to sign something willy nilly.

Pingback In Chambers » “just hold your nose and take a bus for free” - Wednesday, Jan 16, 08 @ 7:42 am:
[…] There ya go, Guv. Insult and patronize the seniors your supposedly trying to help. […]

- Ghost - Wednesday, Jan 16, 08 @ 8:20 am:
Doesnt the Gov has some kind of front people who go in before him and make sure this is a good site in the first place? This seems like a rookie mistake, no one talked to a sample of the seniors before hand to determine how he might be recevied. Just assumed it would be well recieved and went forward is the way it looks.

- VanillaMan - Wednesday, Jan 16, 08 @ 8:57 am:
Bill!

I loved your posting so much I saved it and will have it framed. It is about time you showed everyone you weren’t crazy.

Also, everyone -
Please note what John Fritchey posted. I was happy to read that guys like John are just tired of watching the silly games Blagojevich is playing instead of governing. I hope John’s opinion is common among our representatives. If it is, then we might start seeing some pressure to push the Governor back to working with our General Assembly.

I can hope, can’t I?

When Bill gets fed up, then the fat lady has sang!

- Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Jan 16, 08 @ 9:06 am:
If you want to know what’s wrong in Springfield, as yourself what’s changed in Springfield?

The Speaker is the same guy, but now we’ve got a Governor who suffers from low self-esteem and is more interested in reassuring himself about his “testicular virility” than actually getting things done.

- Garp - Wednesday, Jan 16, 08 @ 9:44 am:
I want to thank the Governor for beginning my late night TV viewing with laughter. His senior pep rally reminded me of Rosty’s run in with the old folks. Then Letterman had Denzel Washington and Don Rickles. A very amuzing evening.

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