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Transit funding has stalled yet again, this time with the added bonus of absurdity: Blagojevich wasn't even in Springfield during the special session vote. No, he was at the Blackhawks game.
The vote was 57-53 in favor of the moving gasoline money around plan--except the bill needed 71 votes to pass. And even if it had passed, Emil Jones had said it would die in the senate. So what we're looking at is a Failure Parade down Bullshit Street in Bad Leadershipville. Also known as "Illinois."
The bill failed to garner enough votes because "many downstate lawmakers refuse to help without a companion deal on billions of dollars of road, school and government construction projects statewide." Mike Madigan adjured today's special session early but told everyone to watch out for the Bat Signal because they may be called back, again, for another special session. Again.
This isn't the only bad news for Blago this week. (Year? Day? Whenever.) CBS2's Mike Flannery filed a massive bitchslap of a story called "Exposing Blagojevich," which details the Governors many, many...let's call 'em eccentricities. He only talks to reporters two or three times a month. He often works from home, which apparently pisses everyone else off.
CBS 2 watched for several days over three weeks, repeatedly finding the governor at home during normal business hours but with no one other than family coming and going.At 11 a.m. on a sunny Wednesday, with a mass transit "doomsday" just four days away, Blagojevich, dressed casually, appeared to be working from home as the crisis was building.
Also, nobody likes him.
Capitol building by Seth Gaines
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That pic of the capital is old. It now has Christmas lights on it. That would have a been a good visual aid for this story...you know, some kind of Grinch double entendre...
The bill failed to garner enough votes because "many downstate lawmakers refuse to help without a companion deal on billions of dollars of road, school and government construction projects statewide."
-- Let's see how the whole state of IL fairs when Doomsday happens in Chicago. Don't they realize of the economic impact it will have on the downstate citizens.
-- Let's split the state into two states.
I've never heard of a telecommuting governor. jeesh.
Mayor Munchkin Mumbles is equally responsible for this fiasco. Bank on it!
Maybe there'd by more pressure on Blago et al. if they had to, you know, get to work somehow rather than working from home.
hey! Didn't Emile Jones sound great on WBEZ!
Its a match made in heaven
Spook - It was totally hilarious at the end when he didn't even say "thanks" or "nice talking to you" or whatever - he just said "Ok. Bye." So funny.
I think it was more like "Ba" and then he slammed down the phone. Some how I bet this is his first phone interview after being in the senate for over 20 years. Hummmmmm I wish I could get him to record my greeting on my answering machine
Why are we still talking about plane trips the Governor makes? Have pass Governor's had plane access or is it just Governor Blago. If people are getting so mad why don't we get rid of the plane so from here on out no Governor's can never use a plane. Oh wait, if we do that Flannery can write a piece how the Governor is abusing Government car policy. This so called "Flannery exposing Governor secrets" is just a way to fill TV time. It's not like he (Blago) hops on the plane in the middle of the night in the cover of darkness so no one sees him. Does our President of the United states need a plane? I mean he goes to baseball games, throws out the first pitch etc… I mean we have a war going on. We don't have time for baseball. In fact he doesn't have time for any extracaricular activities.Also, how did he get there? How much does it cost tax payers to get Air Force One off the ground? I think we should get rid of Air Force One and get the President a eco friendly car so he can drive everywhere he needs to go. If he has to go over seas, I'm sure there is a commercial boat that can take him. That would be cheaper than filling up a JUMBO JET. It all boils down to, the plane is there for a reason. Sometimes 'tax payers" might think it frivolous, but in all actuality everything can be considered waste of tax payer dollars. If anyone can get previous governors plane usage information I would be interested in finding that out. But hey Flannery, good job in filling some TV time.
Robrecke: I think you miss the point.
It's not the plane, by itself. It's that we have an ineffective governor who apparently can't be bothered to be there for the big fights, such as transit funding, and who seems increasingly out of touch and useless, a symptom of which is being reclusive and distant. Instead of getting in the trenches in Springfield, he flies back and forth, wasting money and causing even more ire among voters and other leaders.
Your rant was somewhat entertaining but really beside the point.
Robrecke: There was a much more compelling part of the story that Chicagoist didn't quote.
"Legislators can no longer take the governor at his word."
Blago has made deals to get bills passed, and has not made good on them. So why would anyone want to deal with him in the present or future?
Also, it seems that you have answered your own question as to "Why are we still talking about plane trips the Governor makes?"
We haven't. We're talking about the Blago not being in Springfield. When W stays in Crawford for too long, you will hear about that as well.
O.K. I'm a miss informed bloke who thinks Blago skips like a cracked CD, but is still shoulders above Ryan and Edgar in terms of a people's agenda. Still I can understand why people want to toss the kitchen sink at him. But why single him out as opposed to Mike Madigan and Emile Jones for such hate? It’s funny, that on Chicagoist, Emile Jones gets called out from time to time, but never does Madigan except perhaps the "Up" brothers.
And you never see Dubya in the Capital for important debates. It’s supposed to look like separation of powers and that the executive is not mired in gritty politics, but of course he is there more than in spirit