*** RAW AUDIO *** WBEZ has posted the raw audio of the entire Blagojevich press conference. Click here to listen.
*** 1:44 pm *** “Rewrite to Do Right” has begun. The governor kicked off his series of amendatory vetoes by AV-ing a health insurance bill and taking a whack at his favorite target…
…Blagojevich rewrote a House measure originally designed to let college students stay on their parents’ health insurance for a year if they leave school due to medical problems. In his amendatory veto, the governor included new language to allow those aged 19 to 25 to stay on parents’ policies. Military veterans can remain insured through their parents until they turn 30.
Sponsoring Rep. Chuck Jefferson (D-Rockford) said shortly after Blagojevich’s news conference that he would try to override the governor’s changes. If that move failed, the legislation would die.
Jefferson said Blagojevich aides asked him ahead of time if he would be amenable to the changes and he told them no, but the administration went ahead anyway. […]
Reinforcing the political bent of his news conference, the governor attacked Madigan, saying the speaker has gone so far as to be “aggressive in preventing access to healthcare.” The governor also went after House Democrats, saying they are all reading from Madigan’s “music book.”
*** 1:51 pm *** Apparently, Gov. Blagojevich took some swipes at Mayor Daley while he was at it. A reporter friend of mine was at the presser and said the guv quoted Desmond Tutu, and said something like: If you are on the sidelines in a war between justice and evil and you remain neutral, you are evil.
Just when you think things can’t possibly get any weirder, they do. I love this state.
*** 1:59 pm *** Something to think about…
Rep. Jefferson says he will try to override the veto. He’s the sponsor, so it’s his call. If the attempt fails, the AV is dead but the underlying bill also dies.
So, in essence what Blagojevich is doing with this and every other bill he “improves” is to risk killing them. He essentially just killed a decent health insurance bill today. More deaths to come.
Yet, somehow, in his own mind, he’s “doing right.”
What a crock.
*** 2:14 pm *** Another Blagojevich quote…
“They kill jobs. They kill education funding. They try and take away health care from people… There is no excuse for us not doing the right thing.”
*** 2:20 pm *** IIS has posted some raw audio. I doubt they’ll have many of the juicier quotes, but give it a listen [fixed] or download it.
*** 2:36 pm *** Another Blagojevich quote, this one from the IIS audio…
“Here’s another thing that Mr. Madigan keeps killing every year, and that’s fundamental education funding reform. There are several ways to invest millions and millions of new dollars in or schools and solve the school funding issue without raising taxes on people. And we’ve tried for six years to get Mr. Madigan and the House Democrats to properly fund our schools.”
Um, really? Yes, he’s put more money into K-12. But he proposed nothing this year other than a few extra bucks.
This statement is a complete, boldfaced lie. He proposed a hinky gaming expansion plan for schools last year. Other than that, he’s never proposed a fundamental restructuring of education funding. Never.
One more Blagojevich quote…
“The only thing Mr. Madigan and those House Democrats support are tax increases on people.”
It’s always all about the Madigan.
Grow up, governor.
*** 2:43 pm *** I agree with every single word that John Patterson just wrote…
Keep in mind, the Illinois Supreme Court has on at least three occasions ruled that governors cannot wholesale rewrite or change legislation via the amendatory veto. Those rulings have been cited over the years by House Speaker Michael Madigan in explaining why certain amendatory vetoes are never considered.
But that’s part of the point here. Blagojevich gets to champion his efforts to expand health care, even if few of them ever result in success. And if his plan is blocked by the House, even for legit reasons, he gets to bang on Madigan, his chief political rival.
All of this misses one important point: because of today’s actions, there’s the very real chance that next year, a college student will be diagnosed with cancer, catastrophically injured in a car crash, or suffer some other ruinous medical condition, have to leave school and, as a result, lose insurance coverage that would have been guaranteed if the state’s Democrats could just get along for five minutes.
Well said.
*** 2:58 pm *** This is a bit odd. As of today, Gov. Blagojevich (or his brother, since the name is “Rob”) is now chairing his own campaign committee, according to the State Board of Elections website.
But if you click the “previous officers” tab you’ll see that Jeanne Arens was named chair of the committee earlier today. Arens is the guv’s campaign advance person. Two chairs in one day? [Hat tip to a commenter]
*** 4:09 pm *** Former Ald. Arenda Troutman pled guilty today. Click here to read the plea. Here’s a brief excerpt…
Defendant used her official position as the Alderman of the 20th Ward to solicit, directly and with and through others, and to obtain, for the benefit of herself and others, including co-defendants Boone and Gilbert, with their knowledge and participation, payments and other things of value from persons who were involved in real estate work, with the implicit and explicit understanding that, without such payments and other things of value, her support for land use requests, zoning changes, alley access, sale of City-owned real estate, and other requests that required local government action would either not be forthcoming or would be delayed.
Defendant and others acting at the direction or with the knowledge of defendant, including Ward Office Worker A, solicited contributions from persons who asked defendant for assistance in her official capacity, such as a letter of support for a specific land use, a zoning change, or alley access.
*** 4:29 pm *** Here’s that Tutu quote…
“I think it’s time for Mayor Daley to start helping to get this done. And when he gets back from China I’m going to seek to talk to him about this…” added Blagojevich, later comparing Daley’s stance with a quote he attributed to Bishop Desmond Tutu about neutrality equating to siding with “the oppressor.”
*** RAW AUDIO *** WBEZ has posted the raw audio of the entire Blagojevich press conference. Click here to listen.