As you probably have heard by now, the Illinois State Senate failed to pass its measure for a fall ballot question on whether to add a recall provision to the Illinois Constitution. The recall measure, even though it applied to a number of different types of elected positions, was aimed squarely at Governor Rod Blagojevich. Not only has Blago been at odds with the General Assembly for years now, his administration has been tainted by hints of scandal, some more direct than others, such as the latest testimony in the Tony Rezko trial that alleges Blago was basically selling state positions for campaign contributions.
Well, we have something to be proud of in Lake County. Two of our own state senators, Democrats Terry Link and Michael Bond, voted to kill the amendment. Yes, marching in lockstep with State Senate President Emil Jones, these two Lake County legislators voted to protect a corrupt governor rather than vote the will of the people, which overwhelmingly appears to be in support of giving the people to right to recall elected officials, much as they do in several other states, such as California.
The amendment failed by three votes, as I understand it. So, it's clear that Bond and Link had the potential to make a difference. Interestingly, state senator Susan Garrett voted in FAVOR of the amendment, even though she has no GOP opponent for the fall election. She even voted for it in spite of personal reservations that the addition of other elected officials besides the governor (an amendment to the bill that many believe was intended to be a poison pill to thwart the bill) wasn't a wise move. Garrett may be trying to earn the label of "do-gooder" that some TA commentors would like to hang on her.
Senate President Emil Jones, who is a staunch Blago supporter, argued vehemently against the recall provision. Terry Link is Emil Jones' henchman. Bond, of course, was made by Link. So, Lake County, it's pretty clear who your state senators support when push comes to shove--they support their own leadership, and a corrupt governor, rather than the will of Lake County voters.
Think this will be an issue for Link in the fall election? Count on it. The Lake County GOP already has a scathing press release up on their website.
UPDATES FROM THE NEWS: The Waukegan News-Sun runs a short AP piece on the recall vote and fails to address the local issue. The Daily Herald does a better job.
Meanwhile.... The other big story of the day was that Northwestern University rescinded its offer to Reverend Jeremiah Wright to bestow an honorary degree on Wright at NU's commencement this spring. Check out the story at the NU paper here. For bonus points, check out the several comments that have already been posted at the paper. As one commentor astutely observed, this appears to be an extreme embarrassment for NU as their tacit plan to indirectly endorse Barack Obama for president completely blew up in their face. Well, what you expect for a once-great institution that hires an unemployed loser like Dan Seals to teach night school? UPDATED-- All of this seems to be taking a bit of a toll on Obama... will it be enough to turn the tide for Hillary?
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24 comments:
And as long as we the voters keep sending him back to Springfield we have no one but ourselves to blame. :(
kkellyann 1293 is right: this is OUT shame out here in Lake County. Couple this vote with what Link and Bond have been known to do, or, better yet, NOT DO, we should all remember this on November 4. And these guys talk about change? Our State is the laughing stock of the nation for the antics of Blago and company, and now this. TA, I hope that the media pounds this story over and over. I intend to send Susan Garrett a note of thanks for being a stand up elected official. She's to be commended for her vote, I'm sure you agree.
I've never been a big Garrett fan, myself, but it does appear that she exercised some independent thought and stood up to the fearsome Terry Link, this time.
No doubt she was pressured to vote against the recall since she is in a "safe" district with no GOP opponent this fall, which would have allowed another Dem senator that's not so safe (Bond, for example) to vote for the amendment for political cover, just as Debbie Halvorson (who is running for Congress in the 11th Dist.) did yesterday (although, after the Senate recall bill failed, she was the one who moved to adjourn before the Senate could vote on the House version of the recall bill, which Capitol Fax Blog instantly picked up on and exposed).
I live in Senator Garrett's district. I have regularly campaigned against her. Yesterday I was proud of her for bolting from the zombies who voted lock step with Jones on the recall issue.
What is the excuse Link and Bond are using? Link in particular is up for reelection this November. Is he planning to be recalled then?
Now the next question becomes: who in Springfield has the guts to file for the impeachment of Public Official A?
Louis G. Atsaves
Senator Bond is as corrupt as Senator Link. After Link's people get indicted, looks like we will have to take out Bond too.
TA - any info in Bond's campaign disclosures?
Link looks as sick and corrupt as he votes.
Tweedle and Tweedle Dumb represent us in the IL Senate. We need to rev up our energies and vote these shameful guys out in November. Yes, Garrett I'm sure was given a pass to vote for the recall since I don't think she'd do this on her own. Regardless, she should be thanked for that vote. Now let's see her get behind something substantive to get these jerks out of office once and for all. If she's truly about good government, if she truly wants to restore some credibility to Springfield, now is the time for her to show some strong leadership. Time will tell.
Hey, TA, I just heard Susan Garrett talking AGAINST a planned pay raise for State Senators. Guess who is SUPPORTING the raise? Emil Jones. Let's see which way Link and Bond are leaning on this additional stupid thing at a time when our State is miserably broke. Whatever her motive or reason, it's nice knowing that Garrett can stand up and speak out when something like a pay raise it at issue.
You can not seriously consider yourself a Kirk Republican or Republican period if you in anyway stand up for or support Susan Garrett, Karen May or any of this other liberal trash that march as foot soldiers in the 48th worst governed state in the country.
A vote for Garrett, or Link or May or any of these other clowns is a vote for more blago, more rezko and more of the b.s. that has our state in the toilet.
Perhaps you have forgotten that they are part of the democratic smear machine captained by lauren beth gash that has used nasty attacks to tie Mark to Tom DeLay and the President without regard for his competent mainstream leadership in Congress.
Republicans in this state do not fight hard or enough. Particularly those in the center, and it is why we are shut out right now and stuck with nightmares like Dan Seals and Obama running against dream candidates like Mark and McCain.
Also TA as you call out Dan Seals on his record, this is a good story to keep in mind about the kind of difference you can make.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080502/ap_on_el_se/franken_s_foe
McCain is a dream candidate?! He's little different than Dubya! 100 years war? Do you want to pay for that? And what's with that gas tax stunt? I actually find myself agreeing with Obama for once--it's a gimmick not rooted in sound economics.
RE: Anon 729
I don't think that applauding a Senator's vote is voting for them or supporting them. I would think most of us here that read this blog would champion Congressman Kirk as a prime example of what an elected official should be doing, i.e. crossing the party lines to get things done for the people who have voted him into office. I think any State Senator who voted for the recall bill deserves a note of thanks. I actually sent an email to State Senator Garret thanking her for it. I mentioned in the email that I am a republican, and would not see eye to eye with her on most issues, but I do think that if we are going to rag on our elected officials for the job (or lack of) they do, we need to commend them when they do the right thing.
Am I any less repulican because I thanked her? No. Would I vote for her? No. Do I support her positions on most issues? No. But I think that if we want to hold Congressman Kirk up as a standard for other politicians to look to, let's not rag on the democrats when they break with party lines and vote for to protect our common welfare.
Anon 7:32- IMHO, you need to relax a little. I never said I'd vote for Garrett, and neither did anyone else on this Blog.
8th District Committeeman is excactly right, only he chimed in before I could respond to you myself. This is the same issue we have with EBG and her ilk, where no matter what Kirk does, he's the devil, and cannot, under any circumstances, do anything right. I have news for you: no one party has the monopoly on the right way to run this state or this country.
I'm not going to run out and vote for Garrett, or Ryg, or any other Dem that occasionally makes the right choice, because on balance, most Republican politicians tend to reflect my personal views. But it's not simply that they have an "R" next to their name. they have to earn my support, same as anyone else.
BTW- Anon 7:49, please go back to reading your MoveOn.org propaganda and don't insult the faithful TA readers with your swill. McCain was referring to the peacetime presence of the U.S. in Iraq, much like we have had a peacetime presence in Germany, South Korea, etc. The more MoveOn and such keep repeating this baldfaced misrepresentation of what McCain said, the more credibility they (and you) lose.
Anon 7:49, get a grip. Nobody has stated that any of the candidates running for President could be called "ideal". John McCain is head and shoulders above those on the D side. It's nice that TA has this this Blog so you can spout the MoveOn clap trap. But you do know better than to believe that what John McCain was saying about 100 years is what you're saying in your post. So, get real, get a grip, and understand that John McCain is NOT Bush any more than Mark Kirk is a Bush clone. Sorry to disappoint you. Look at the VOTES cast by these leaders and then come back and talk about their records.
Nice article in the Tribune yesterday about how campaigns pull quotes out of context and turn them into lies.
One example: John McCain's "100 year war."
Anon. 7:49. You paying attention?
What's next? Democrats really and honestly support the troops?
Louis G. Atsaves
TA,
Check out the Link and Bond comments in the Waukegan News-Sun and The Daily Herald today about their shameful votes against the Recall Amendment bill.
What a bunch of sad comments. I know them both and they are both better people than this, but their vote against the recall provision was absolutely disgraceful. When the George Ryan scandals erupted, we Republicans didn't exactly rally around him and protect him the extreme way Link, Bond and other Senate Democrats rallied around Blagojevich this week.
Congratulations to Susan Garrett for doing the right thing. Morals and doing the right thing matters. Representing your constituents is more important than protecting Public Official A, Todd Stroger and others like them.
Their bosses are the voters who elect them. Their boss is not Emil Jones and Rod Blagojevich. Time those two remember that. And time perhaps for Senator Michael Bond to find a new mentor in Springfield.
Shame on Senators Link and Bond for doing the wrong thing. Shame. Shame. Shame!
Louis G. Atsaves
As always, Lou, well stated. It's incumbent on ALL of us to see that these poor excuses for elected officials are ousted from office. No place for self-serving puppets like Link, Bond and so many others. We need to reclaim our State government NOW. I did have the smile this morning when I heard the news report that Emil Jones said he HAS to have that pay hike. He needs the money. How about representing the PEOPLE in the State of Illinois, Mr. Jones?
TA, you are to be commended for bringing the dark side of Link and Bond to your readers and those who come to browse on this Blog. We all owe you a debt of gratitude. The way to re-pay this is to work overtime to get these scoundrels OUT in November. Of course our top priority is to work double overtime to secure Congressman Kirk's re-election. I'm already anticipating the infusion of a huge chunk of DCCC cash for that the opponent's campaign. Fortunately, Mr. Kirk has exceeded, and continues to exceed, all past fundraising efforts. I'm told that the campaign office is having a hard time keeping up with all the requests for events. Keep it up! Mark Kirk is the gold standard. We are very fortunate to have his leadership in Congress.
Maybe things haven't gotten bad enough yet for some republicans in this state to take issue with the fact that the democrats control I don't know almost EVERYTHING except for the White House and Mark's seat now.
In all likelihood Garrett's vote was orchestrated so that she could come home and claim she's not part of the cesspool in Springfield-they are politicians that read polls down there. Well fact is, a Republican state senator from this area would I imagine be using a heck of a lot more than one vote right now to show his displeasure with the joke we have as a state government.
The democrats are showing no quarter with Mark despite his moderate record in tying him to the president, and Tom DeLay and so Louis I am wondering just how low you are willing to let the state sink under democrats to start fighting them as hard as they are us.
Anon 2:16, I sincerely believe that Lou, that I, that all of us who share your disgust with the dimwits who have disgraced the offices they've been elected to occupy ARE ready to fight as hard as we can to keep Mark Kirk as our Representative. We're not blind to what's a daily occurence down in Springfield, in Todd Stroger's office, out here in our district as well. We KNOW what's coming, believe me. We KNOW that it's going to take a massive GOTV effort on all of our parts if we are to win in November. Our Congressman knows this, bet on it. There's no time for whining, for second guessing, for should of, would of, could of. We all need to come together to help galvanize the kind of support and strong team effort to keep Mr. Kirk in office and to rid ourselves of these jokers who have had a stranglehold on offices they were never fit to occupy. Call the Kirk for Congress office today and offer your time and talents to Mark's campaign. Call 224 639-1070and join the most energetic team you can imagine. You Bet we're going to win. Make that call right now.
TA:
Notice that as Obama falls, we see less and less of "mini-me" Seals?
TA, Dan appeared at the City-Wide WAlk for Israel today but nobody noticed! Congressman Kirk spoke eloquently, was cheered and greeted warmly by the few thousand in attendance. Seriously, nobody was walking around with Dan, nobody noticed Dan, and nobody cared that he was there. He wasted a couple of hours this morning, but again, nobody even knew that he was there.
Support for Mark is a given as it has been since we walked for him against Shawn Margaret Donnelly and John Cox 8 years ago, but you can't drain the swamp of the opposition by buying their garbage votes. If anything there should be a vigorous lte campaign against Blago Buddies Karen May, Susan Garrett, and Terry Link.
I was at the Israel walk too. Seals was unnoticed and unwelcome. Overhang from the Obama implosion.
McCain's 100 years comment is such a killer. It doesn't matter how he qualifies it, or explains it, Americans know in their gut that it's an idiotic idea.
Mainly because if he thinks Iraq is like Germany, or Korea, or Japan, he's in the realm of naive fantasy.
Democrats will be happy to debate this one all year. So keep on trying to explain it away, chumps!
Anon 4:55, sorry, perhaps it's the Kool Aid you guys drink. That comment is well understood for what it actually implies. Your team is into wishful thinking. Did you like Oprah's statement that she exited old Rev. Wright's Church after 2 years because she realized that the Pastor was way off the charts. Our Junior Senator obviously didn't get that message!
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