Bill of Rights wrote on Aug 29, 2008 6:57 PM:
" Illinois is a disaster. Keep electing these types of politicians and see how fast the jobs begin to leave Illinois. Illinois didn't get the new VW plant..it's going to Tenn. Didn't get the Nissan Plant,,it went to Miss. Didn't get the Merc Benz plant...it went to Alabama. Didn't get the Honda plant ...it went to Alabama. Didn't get the toyota plant it went to Kentucky. The BMW plant went to South Carolina. I think Alabama got a Hyuandi plant also. Saturn went to Tenn. Toyota trucks to Indiana. What is wrong with Illinois? the VW plant is going to create over 11,000 jobs. Think of that in Southern Illinois. Illinois is NOT a good place to do business. Companies will leave (along with doctors because of the lawyers) and new business will choose a state that is more friendly to business (and has lower taxes). I hate to see these parks close. I've loved them all my life and they add to what is great about Southern Illinois. Get rid of these politicians. Stop voting for incumbents. It will be very very had to fight against the corrupt machine in Chicago that dictates leadership in Illinois. Secede and join Indiana or Missouri or Kentucky. That would shake them up. Draw a line south of I-70 and vote yourselves out of Illinois. "
110h wrote on Aug 29, 2008 5:03 PM:
" mdblogger and Ed, I agree that something needs to be done with the infrastructure of the Illinois state government. Too many times incomponent people are appointed to jobs that they are not qualified to perform, forcing the rest of the system down with them.
However, to suggest that the caseloads of DCFS be incorporated into DHS for the removal of DCFS only robs Peter to pay Paul. The number of caseloads will remain the same and more workers would be needed for those caseloads (conservatively, each DCFS caseworker has about 20 cases).
There are many things that need to change in this state's politics. The only way to do this is through the election of qulified individuals who actually care about the state. Unfortunately, most of the good people are scared away from politics because of all the dirt kicked up by the "old cronies". "
Ed wrote on Aug 29, 2008 3:01 PM:
" madblogger i agree with you do away with DCFS. The law officals i have talked to has no respect for DCFS they say the only reason they deal with them is the law says they have to. And go into IDOC and type a common name like smith and see what they are in prison for and most are just petty. The Illinois tax payers are paying about $35.000 a year to put a person in prison for petty stuff like driving on revoked or smoking pot. Their should be a better way of taking care of business instead of locking up these small time bad guys at the tax payers expence. "
madblogger wrote on Aug 29, 2008 1:10 PM:
" What in the world are you babbling about ilgal? I voted for Topinka last election (And Jim Ryan Before That).
As for those "poor, poor, inmates" it's at least got to raise your brow when most of them are in there because of drugs or alcohol. Yes, they chose their path; or maybe it's all they knew; maybe it's all there was. I dunno. Obviously it's a problem if our prisons are overcrowding.
If you have a weed, you pull it up by the roots, you don't pull the leaves off of it. If drugs and alcohol are a major problem, then fix those problems. Don't sweep them under the rug and call them cured.
Trust me, the state can get much worse. Whomever takes up the task of cleaning up our monster of a government will prove that. It's going to take more than 400 jobs to clean up our government. We're talking about 3 decades of unchecked government growth.
For Illinois to be attractive to business, it's going to have to drastically cut taxes. Let's face it, business will locate where it's the cheapest to do so. Cutting taxes, means making hard choices about existing government jobs.
I say eliminate DCFS altogether. Pass the responsibilities of that agency to law enforcement and DHS.
Lastly, quit taxing us to death! There should be no reason we pay 20 cents a gallon more than Kentucky or Missouri for fuel. "
familyman wrote on Aug 29, 2008 1:09 PM:
" How would a campaign get started to put the word out that "if the politician didn't do their job, vote their butt outta there"? That's what needs to happen. Get it started with local elections and then go state wide and eventually national. Just maybe this country could get back on track. "
ilgal wrote on Aug 29, 2008 12:34 PM:
" And to cozmo - I also agree 110% with you that ALL incumbents need to go on BOTH sides. Well, except David Leuchtefeld (sp?). He always seems sincerely worried about the people of IL, until other locan Republicans. "
ilgal wrote on Aug 29, 2008 12:32 PM:
" madblogger - I'm sure it is all the fault of the poor poor inmates and it's our job as the tax payers of IL to rehab them and make them fit for society again, right?
How is the state of IL going to get any worse? Seriously, it's about as bad as it can get in my opinion. Long-standing companies are leaving IL left and right, while Rod calls legislators back to Springfield over and over with no production coming out of those meetings. It's sad. I hope if you voted for Rod the first and/or second time, you've seen the light and won't do it a third if he does run for a third term.
I agree 110% with you about the farmers cutting the grass along roadsides if that option were made to them. "
Steve S. wrote on Aug 29, 2008 11:31 AM:
" To madblogger: You give new meaning to the word optimist. You can obviously see the silver lining even in the darkest cloud. I salute you.
But I'm sorry I can't share your optimism. Last election, the voters of Illinois had a opportunity to vote this clown out of office and didn't take it. They even voted more Blago disciples in there with him. So whatever this nut job does was asked for. Someone mentioned the state fairs. Didn't he try to sell them along with the Springfield governor's mansion? Will the people ever learn or will they elect Obama, a Blago, Daley, Madigan, Jones clone to the White House? They call this a blue state. Well, I'm definitely blue. "
madblogger wrote on Aug 29, 2008 10:24 AM:
" Well said cozmo!
Let's also face some cold hard facts. In order to clean up the mess that this state is in, it will get worse. It's not going to be easy to undo everything and redo it the "right" way (instead of the way to help your buddies out).
Yes, IDOC is overpopulated with inmates. Why? I would venture to guess that most of those inmates suffered alcohol or drug dependancies that pushed them towards crime. The answer isn't "more prisons", it's fixing the underlying issues.
As far as the grass on the sides of the roads..... It would make sense to let farmers cut it for hay. The farmer's happy for getting the hay at cost of mowing/baling; we're happy because we can see (especially at intersections); the government's happy because they aren't spending the money or causing wear and tear on their equipment.
Speaking of dead animals, has anybody seen that huge beaver by Herrin Lake on Carterville Rd? Guess what, in a couple of weeks it will be just bones.
My advice? If you don't like the smell, don't live on the highway.... just kidding. "
cozmo wrote on Aug 29, 2008 10:07 AM:
" " [sleep in your bed]
As the old saying goes, sleep in your bed. Out of the union officials and Reps smashing Blagojevich, SHUT UP! You are the people that were donating money, having fundraisers and helping him get elected. You new the dangers of what he was capable of, but he is democrat. He cares for the working people. When are the people of this country going to get it. Times have changed, democrats are not for the working people and neither are republicans. All either party cares about is how to keep their position and get themselves and friends rich! If anyone still votes a straight ticket in this country they have to be insane. I know we don't have the "strait ticket" in Illinois, but going in a voting for all of the same party is the same. The only way we are going to get our country back is to run a campaign against all incumbents. No matter what your political affiliation is, DO NOT VOTE FOR THE INCUMBENT. I can promis you if we can get 25-35% of the incumbents beat this election it will send a message to Springfield and DC. Either do your job or you will be GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! " "
familyman wrote on Aug 29, 2008 9:51 AM:
" I thought the grass not getting cut and dead animals being left on the roadside was the result of high fuel prices. Not IDOT cuts...And health officials said other than a nasty smell, the dead animals didn't pose any health risk. "
ilgal wrote on Aug 29, 2008 9:31 AM:
" madblogger - he's already cut some of the important jobs. What about the cuts he made in IDOC to make our prisions seriously understaffed? What about the cuts to IDOT so they can't cut the grass on the sides of the roads, making it almost impossible to see the deer before it's right in front of your car? Or leaving dead, rotting animals on the side of the road for vultures or buzzards to eat - the fumes from that can't be healthy for people who happen to live nearby.
I'm sorry you've experienced a down-size in your company, glad you were able to find another job. That's not so easy now in our great state and that's why we're losing even more and more residents to neighboring states because our "leader" has taken away any opportunities left for the people of IL. "
madblogger wrote on Aug 29, 2008 9:26 AM:
" Oh, and I think this paragraph needs rementioning:
"The Department of Children and Family Services will lose 304 positions, while the Department of Human Services will be cut by 73 employees. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources will lose 39 workers and the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency will be cut by 34 employees."
73 park/historic site workers statewide. Considering there are 102 counties in Illinois, that's less than 1 person per county. "
madblogger wrote on Aug 29, 2008 9:12 AM:
" would you rather they close down more important things, like police departments? I mean, c'mon I haven't been to Fort Kaskaskia since 1993, and that was to see the Mississippi flooding. I once drove by Fort De Chartres when I was tooling around Prairie Du Rocher. I was more interested in the tunnels into the bluffs.
We knew, without new taxes, that there would have to be job cuts. Sure, I'd be upset if it were my job; but hey, I've been downsized before. What did I do? That's right, I asked for the removal of the owner of the company. Just kidding..... I went out and applied for jobs.
For the record, this falls back on more than just Blagojevich. Let us not forget our wonderful legislators who couldn't agree whether the sun was shining even as they are being sunburned. They could stand under a waterfall and argue that the water was not wet.
I'm in no way a fan of Blago, but at least he has the guts to actually cut government jobs when the need arises. It's better than bankrupting my children or my grandchildren. "
ilgal wrote on Aug 29, 2008 8:58 AM:
" Where is the person who said earlier this week that the IL GOP was dead? What about the IL Democrats? They're dead because their illustrious leader bled them dry!
On top of this, I heard the other day that the good ol' Rod is wanting to move the State Fair to the new capitol of IL - Chicago. Can you EVEN imagine??
If he runs for a third term and is elected again, God help us all. "
Neighbor wrote on Aug 29, 2008 8:34 AM:
" Let's see... A Chicago Democrat with little legislative experience, who ran on a platform of changing the way government did business... Sound familiar? "
the view wrote on Aug 29, 2008 8:26 AM:
" This gov. is a sick joke to the people of Illinois. I hope we all join hands in getting rid of him. It is a shame that we can't cut him and his paycheck. We would be so much better off. Tell me, does the title of "Gov. of Illinois" come with the word crooked attached to it. We do seem to elect the worst of the lot. "
CommonSense73 wrote on Aug 29, 2008 8:12 AM:
" It now seems the past is just and insignificant as our future to Governor Blagojevich.
This governor is a calamity! He must be stopped. It is time for a recall! "
