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Question of the day
Thursday, Sep 3, 2009 * Gov. Pat Quinn was on WSOY’s Byers & Co. program earlier this week. The host, Brian Byers, asked the governor about Monday’s Question of the Day, wherein we discussed who would play Quinn in a movie about his life. The governor apparently saw the post because he mentioned one of your suggestions. Take a look to see which actor Gov. Quinn jokingly suggested play him in a movie… You can hear the entire interview by clicking here. * The Question: Since the governor apparently checks the blog, what one bit of advice would you give him? 
- Posted by Rich Miller
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- OneMan - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 12:23 pm:
Stick to your guns at bit more…
- Speaking at Will - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 12:24 pm:
Shave the hair off thats still hanging around the sides of your head.
- Sap - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 12:26 pm:
Don’t compare yourself to the same actors that Rod compares himeself to.
- Lefty Lefty - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 12:29 pm:
Separate yourself from the do-nothings in Springfield and lead this state out of the mess it’s in. LEAD, dammit!
- 47th Ward - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 12:39 pm:
Get fully and forcibly behind HB 174. It passed the Senate and is in limbo in the House. It is your last chance to save the state from fiscal ruin this year.
Yeah, it ain’t what you proposed, but it’s the only income tax hike that won approval by the Senate. Put the heat on Madigan and Cross during the veto session to get this done. You know as well as anyone that the state will run out of money well before June 30. It’s put-up or shut-up time.
- Dooley Dudright - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 12:54 pm:
I won’t give things away (at least not outright, anyway) by naming the two actors tabbed by the governor. Gotta click and listen. (And watch. Fab picture splices, Rich!)
But I will give PQ some advice on what to call his faux biopic.
A recombinant (and adaptive) title based on leading roles of his icons:
“Mr. Gump Goes to Springfield”.
Couldn’t resist.
Outta here.
- Gregor - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 12:54 pm:
Stay true to your roots, spend a little more time analyzing and getting advice first, and less shooting from the hip with stuff you’ll have to take back later. You can be firm without being intractable. The trick is knowing what to be firm about, defining the scope, saying where there is room for horse trading and where you’re going to hold the line.
Once you lay down a line and define a position, the debate should become about what to do within the framework set out, how to get the most practical results. Basically tell the time, not so much how to build the watch.
- Bill - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 12:55 pm:
Quit
- Anon - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 12:59 pm:
“What, and give up show business?” (if you recall the joke that punchline belongs to)
- Skeeter - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 1:00 pm:
I would give complete opposite advice of Lefty — Mine would be to get along with the people in the House in order to start getting things done.
Quinn so far has not shown much as a leader, and that’s OK. He can be an effective advocate for many issues, and a very good gov., if he learns to avoid the useless contradiction of others.
- SangamoGOP - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 1:00 pm:
Stand up for Springfield against the Union Pacific takeover of downtown. Call your buddy Durbin and tell LaHood and Obama that we need the high speed money without the 10 overpasses and complete destruction of Downtown Spfld, the Medical District and surrounding neighborhoods.
- Obamarama - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 1:04 pm:
You’re getting a dress-rehearsal to be our Governor, this time without the asterisk. This is your try-out. You’re not a very adept politician so forget about this silly idea that you can out-politic Hynes. Get as much done as you can (and make sure you’re surrounding yourself with people who know what they’re doing), keep your mouth shut, and let the results speak for you.
If that doesn’t work out, you don’t/didn’t deserve to be Governor* in the first place. In which case, the right thing to do, for the people my dear Governor*, would be to step aside.
- Moderate REpub - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 1:05 pm:
Get Blago folks out of the budget office, put competent, qualified, vetted people on 2M, and delegate, delegate, delegate.
Everything has to go up one of a hundred flag poles in your office and the end of the pole is always you.
- Louis Howe - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 1:10 pm:
Stand up for taxpayers and actively manage the 56,000 state enterprise. The U of I Board of Trustees controversy is peanuts—fire Blago’s appointments to the State Labor Board then hold fast to your position to renegotiate the AFSCME contract. It’s not that Illinois has too many bureaucrats, it’s the lack of consistent and taxpayer friendly executive management within the agencies and from the Governor’s office. Blago real crime was that he was AWOL and allowed the Palace Guard types run state government.
- Take Control - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 1:11 pm:
Weather you want to or not you have to get rid of the Blago hacks. They continue to run the Departments and take care of their own. It is the only so called work they do. Take charge and clean house. It also might get some cooperation from their sponsor.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 1:14 pm:
Measure twice, cut once
- Boscobud - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 1:17 pm:
Don’t hire Froehlich in your adminstration.
- dupage dan - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 1:20 pm:
I suggest the same thing to him that has been suggested to me on this blog:
“As a state employee paid by the taxpayers, you should get off the blog and go back to work!”
- Okay Then... - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 1:27 pm:
Please do not run for Governor, next year or any year for that matter.
Getting into the executive office takes more than just saying I’m here and I am the leader. You have to be a leader in the right situation/context, and the Governor’s Office is not a good situtation/context for you. You are far better suited for leadership somewhere that is less overwhelming for you.
I came across this recently (see link below), and Marcia certainly had you pegged. Seems like you’ve come full circle? http://www.lib.niu.edu/1980/ii800204.html
- Lefty Lefty - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 1:34 pm:
To clarify, I meant “separate yourself” in the abstract sense, not by actually cutting himself off from the Assembly. Put another way, stop being a windsock.
I’ve heard too many legislators with too many answers that go nowhere and do nothing in Illinois since Ryan left office. No capital bill, no budget fixes, no pension reform, no maintenance of the state’s natural resources, etc etc etc. Our elected officials have to do these things for us. All of us over-informed people here at CF can’t do it, RM can’t do it, and Quinn couldn’t do it back when he was a gadfly. Now he can.
Hynes’ tax proposal might help. Maybe Quinn’s income tax hike could help. Maybe a Republican has the answer! But what they–all of them, D and R– have done in the past 8 years has done only harm.
- Just the Facts - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 1:34 pm:
I would echo the call to get rid of the Blago holdovers in the budget office - and do some real “funigation” at the agencies as well.
At the same time, come up with a real plan for dealing the current budget mess for the remainder of the current fiscal year, and a real plan to address next year. (Hope, without substantive action on your part, that the General Assembly will decide to adopt your income tax increase is not a plan.)
Announce that you have decided not to run for a full term and that you will devote the remainder of your term in office to developing solutions to the state’s budget problems, without the interference of campaigning.
- Leave a Light on George - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 1:41 pm:
“Get Blago folks out of the budget office,”
“fire Blago’s appointments to the State Labor Board then hold fast to your position to renegotiate the AFSCME contract. It’s not that Illinois has too many bureaucrats, it’s the lack of consistent and taxpayer friendly executive management within the agencies and from the Governor’s office. Blago real crime was that he was AWOL and allowed the Palace Guard types run state government”
“Weather you want to or not you have to get rid of the Blago hacks. They continue to run the Departments and take care of their own. It is the only so called work they do. Take charge and clean house. It also might get some cooperation from their sponsor.”
I believe you coined a phrase for this Gov. Q.
“Fumigate!”
- Secret Square - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 1:43 pm:
Pray that Chicago does NOT get the Olympics, and that if they do, you don’t get reelected! If you think you have fiscal problems now…
- hopatit - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 1:47 pm:
1. wear an undershirt when you walk in parades
- publius - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 1:50 pm:
it is essential to get competent hohest people running the departments—but even more crucial is a competent—honest—non-vindictive leader of the budget operation—governor you will live or die on that choice and so far you are dead in the water
- Pot calling kettle - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 1:56 pm:
You have some good ideas, I feel you heart is in the right place. But…(As PeeWee Herman once said, “Everyone I know has a big but.”)
You need to pick a couple of key issues and stay focused on them. It was OK to bounce from issue to issue in your old post, but, you are The Man now. Use the position to advocate for a couple of key issues.
Some say you are not a good campaigner, I disagree. I think the campaigns for what you want aren’t moving forward because there are too many of them. Pick a couple and push them hard. If you could get the voters to dump 1/3 of the Reps, you can do this, too.
- Betsy - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 2:04 pm:
PLEASE retire me!!!!
- Spend - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 2:14 pm:
Start doling out the capital bill dollars! These projects need to get underway!!
- Chi Gal - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 2:21 pm:
1. Stop pandering for the African American vote. It is going to take more than one demographic to get elected.
2. Stop surrounding yourself with young and inexperienced handlers. In selecting these people it looks like you aren’t really taking your office or campaign seriously, so if that is the case, why should we take you seriously?
3. Stop demonizing those that don’t agree with you 100%. You are never going to win over those leaning toward your ideas by demonizing them.
4. As was noted above, add a t-shirt when doing outdoor events and keep the hair as short as possible!
- enough - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 2:27 pm:
Hire competent people in the Govs office!!!! You have kids running your office with egos larger than Rods that pretend like they know everything when they have little to no experience. They and you have lost the respect of many members because of the way these legislative aids interact with staff and GA members. They are horrible to work with and remind me of the early blago days! Its time to stop the impersonations and get down to business!
- VanillaMan - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 2:29 pm:
Seriously -
Governor, you have been given an opportunity the rest of us will never have. You have been a fixture in Illinois long enough to know that you are not the normal type of guy that gets elected as a Democratic governor. So, consider it a miracle.
We don’t want nuthin’ to do with the last guy who held the governor’s office. Every time you kick someone out the door, every time you tell the truth, every time you take a stand, you remind us that you are not Blagojevich, and that is a big plus.
Do your job, sir. Strip the abilities of legislators to have their pet projects, paid for and built by Illinoisans, named after them. We have been fighting two wars, and it is far more fitting and proper to name public projects after our fallen heroes than after the flea-bitten, flatulent grandstander who shephered it through the General Assembly. If you do this, it will help set our priorities in order. It will reward those who sacrificed their all over rewarded those who play games in Springfield and Chicago. It fits your image as a man respectful of our military, and it will enhance your image greatly.
Ignor Dan Hynes. He is the damn comptroller who squeaked annually when the heavy lifting in the GA required leadership. Being a canary in a coal mine doesn’t make it an eagle, being Dan Hynes over the past decade doesn’t make him someone to listen to. Dan Hynes couldn’t even update the comptroller’s antique Cold Fusion website over the past decade, so just how is he going to update a fund-less Illinois?
Beside - everytime you take on Dan Hynes, you force voters to wonder where you have been since 2002 - and you don’t really want to go there, do you?
- MrJM - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 2:41 pm:
Rum + Coke = Magic
- Responsa - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 3:05 pm:
Governor, Illinoisans en masse are sick to death of the antics and arrogance of career politicians and the fiscal disaster wrought by years of politics as usual. Circumstances– and your own history– have given you a small window to show you can be different on both counts. Don’t blow it by trying to be too clever by half. And step back from the pandering to constituencies which will not have your best interests at heart no matter what you do.
- A Moderate's Moderate - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 3:14 pm:
no more purple ties.
- former state employee - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 3:37 pm:
I echo all those who have said you need to begin the fumigation, and begin it now. It is already long overdue!! If someone needs a sponsor to keep their coveted state job, then maybe they are not really doing their job, but “relying on the kindness of strangers”. (not really strangers, but sponsors of all types)
- You Go Boy - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 3:56 pm:
Give as much emphasis, focus and vigor to addressing waste and fraud in government as you do pitching higher taxes, which logically means yet more waste and abuse. I’m not saying hikes are not warranted - just show you are doing something about the other side of the ledger.
- Address the basics - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 4:33 pm:
Address the leadership at DCFS, DHS, and HFS. Not necessarily advocating fumigation, although some most certainly need to go. These three very important gov’t agencies have functioned for 9 months without leadership chosen by the Governor.
- the truth - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 5:03 pm:
Your operations staffer fired a lot of talented, hardworking, honest and dedicated public servants who were NOT given the privilege to be judged according to their merits. My advice, don’t break your trust with the people of illinois (or repair what you can). I certainly can’t take your word for it.
- Wumpus - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 7:40 pm:
grow a set
- Can't Say My Nickname - Thursday, Sep 3, 09 @ 9:38 pm:
State employees had alot to do with Blago’s fall from office. They know where all the bones are buried. Most turn the other cheek and keep information to themselves as long as their raises, pensions and benefits are left alone.
- this voter will remember - Friday, Sep 4, 09 @ 5:38 am:
To help with morale, get rid of all the Blagojevich appointees. Fumigate like you said you were going to do, stop flip-flopping on the issues.
- phocion - Friday, Sep 4, 09 @ 6:18 am:
Don’t read blogs.