Dissing certain areas of the state.

[Saturday]

I don't approve of some posters dissing certain areas of our state here in this forum. I got deleted below because I called a poster out for doing that. I'm not sure if this thread will stay either but blaming Chicago for the plight this governor is in is unproductive. Blaming Blagoviech because he closed a couple parks in southern IL while he gave us health care for chilren and open road tolling seems small minded IMO. Saying he didn't live in the governors mansion so therefore he didn't look after the whole state is silly. He gave us children's healthcare and open road tolling and that was not just for one part of IL. His situation has hit at just the worst time for Obama and I grieve for that but I don't think pissing on him or dissing Chicago in this forum is going to help anything. Working together to make this state better is a better answer.

[olkaz]

1. You're completely out of touch.

I don't know much about the Children's healthcare program. I don't have kids, so I never saw it in action. I've never heard rave reviews from anybody I know.

Open road tolling? Seriously? Name a toll road south of I-80 (Is there even one?)! You're going to advance that as a reason we should stop our complaining?

Blagojevich punished areas outside of Chicago for political reasons. Your post is just one more example of how insular and callous the attitudes are north of I-80. Want to work to make the state a better place? Try listening.

And honestly, you're defending a criminal. Good luck with that.

[Saturday]

2. Try reading what I said again.

I'm not here to defend Blag (I think he's guilty). I pointed out 2 instances where he has done good for the whole state of IL. And I'm here to say that IMO this IL forum is no place for southern IL to diss Chicago as has been done. It only divides us when we have enough troubles right now.

[olkaz]

3. Explain to me how this is not defending Blagojevich.

"Blaming Blagoviech because he closed a couple parks in southern IL while he gave us health care for chilren and open road tolling seems small minded IMO. Saying he didn't live in the governors mansion so therefore he didn't look after the whole state is silly. He gave us children's healthcare and open road tolling and that was not just for one part of IL."

No matter your intent, you're defending Blagojevich here.

Your two instances don't add up to much (but you'd have gotten that out of my first response had you read it).

Like I said, you're out of touch. You don't care about our problems. You may as well just admit it. We're small minded, we probably won't care.

[Saturday]

4. I'm defending Chicago, the city you and another are using

to blame Blago because he prefers to live there. And I guess, I'm defending anything good Blago did to show you he was not all bad because he closed 3 parks in southern IL and didn't build any tollways south of I80 during his term so you and 4-6 other people could drive on them. My two examples affect millions of motorists and children in this state. They don't add up to much? It seems you are the one that is out of touch. The population of the state is in the north and Chicago brought Obama in as your President not the voters of southern IL. Stop bashing Chicago and let's let the jury decide if Blago is guilty.

[olkaz]

5. Not sure why I keep going, but here's another waste of time.

You're providing a perfect example of what we have to deal with, and those in power typically have your attitude.

There are a great many of us downstate that are loyal Democrats and who are utterly ignored. Your tone and choice of words indicate nothing but disdain for us. And even though we get treated like dirt and called names, we'll keep voting for our party because we have no choice.

"I'm defending anything good Blago did to show you he was not all bad because he closed 3 parks in southern IL and didn't build any tollways south of I80 during his term so you and 4-6 other people could drive on them."

If you can't see why that is offensive, I don't know what to tell you. You're defending a criminal who used his political power to punish downstate Illinois (and if you think it's just the park thing, ha). Our anger is justified, yours is not.

[Saturday]

7. My 4-6 people comment was to let you know....

that you don't have the population to warrant a tollway south of I80 and that's why you don't have one. We don't build billion dollar tollways for low population areas. The north does have the population and thus open tolling is saving money, energy etc for the WHOLE state and the world. What's so hard for you to understand about that? Very touchy when it comes to what I say but no problem insulting Chicago eh?

I don't know why the parks were closed but my guess is budget cuts. Probably not able to sustain themselves and since money was tight they were closed. Is that right? 43 states are in financial hard times, IL is just one of them. It's nothing personal southern IL. It seems like a chip on your shoulder to say he did that to punish downstate. What are the other things he's done that makes you think you have the right to be angry at Chicago? Closing 3 parks and not living in the mansion? Is that it?

[Radical Activist]

6. I was planning to write a nice response

explaining things from a downstate perspective. But after reading that...screw you. Really. You have no clue. It was a lot more than 3 parks. Blagojevich spent the last 6 years taking a giant dump on downstate Illinois and you have absolutely no clue about any of it just like 99.9% of the people in Cook County.

Blagojevich got 20% of the vote in Sangamon County. That's where Springfield the state Capitol is, in case you don't know. Obama won Sangamon county twice but Rod only got 20% in '06. Why? Because it's where most of the state workers live and everyone in town knew what an absolutely incompetent crook he is. It wasn't about living in the Governor's mansion. If people in Chicago had listened to what downstaters were saying about this guy in the last election then we wouldn't be in this mess. We also could have gotten Glenn Poshard instead of the crook George Ryan.

[Saturday]

8. Please explain to me what the "dumping" things were?

I just googled it and 11 state parks were closed and not all in southern IL. And just as I suspected they were all closed due to money issues.

The Illinois state parks that will be closing on November 1st, 2008 include the following:

Castle Rock State Park, Oregon
Lowden State Park, Oregon
Hennepin Canal Parkway State Park, Sheffield
Illini State Park, Marseilles
Channahon Parkway State Park, Channahon
Gebhard Woods State Park, Morris
Hidden Springs State Forrest, Strasburg
Kickapoo State Park, Oakwood
Moraine View State Park, Leroy
Weldon Springs State Park, Clinton
Wolf Creek State Park, Windsor

[Radical Activist]

10. Some of those parks MAKE money.

It wasn't about money. The budget could have been cut elsewhere. You left off the historic sites. What kind of moron closes a Lincoln historic site two months before the world celebrates Lincoln's 200th birthday? The downstate economy depends on tourism. But you probably think just a few parks is no big deal, huh?

[Saturday]

11. According to the article I read it was about money.

It said it was due to hard economic times and could be reopened again in the future. But whether it was or wasn't the parks are not all in southern IL, they are all over the state, the state is equally suffering so IMO that is not a valid reason to be mad at Chicago.

[Critters2]

14. You're confusing "downstate" with "Southern Illinois".

The parks WERE all over the state. As far north as Oregon, as far south as Fort Kaskaskia. All over the state...but not a single closing in Cook or DuPage County. Some of these communities depended on the income from those sites.

I'm tired of hearing that we downstate don't deserve services because there are fewer of us. Yes, we're in the minority. Since when is dumping on the minority a Progressive thing to do?

[Ken Burch]

37. I'd heard Poshard was a hard-core pro-lifer.

Also, hadn't Poshard already LOST a couple of statewide races by solid margins?

I'd appreciate more info, but I'm not sure why you see that particular guy as an improvement. Not a Blago fan, but not aware of what's so great about your guy either. Info please.

[ColesCountyDem]

38. Poshard never lost a statewide race.

I don't know what a 'hard-core pro-lifer' is. He is pro-life, but he said repeatedly that he would enforce the law of the land (read: Roe v. Wade) regardless of his personal beliefs.

[Ken Burch]

39. Poshard lost to Ryan in the governor's race

Here's Wikipedia on his views as a Congressman and on the governor's race:

Congressional service

"Poshard ran for U.S. Representative from Illinois' 22nd Congressional District and was elected in 1988, where he served until 1992 when he was forced to run in the 19th district because of redistricting. Poshard, a Democrat, represented the 19th district in the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 1998. As Congressman, he was considered to be a social conservative and fiscal populist; he was opposed to abortion, gay marriage, and the death penalty largely on religious grounds, and opposed free trade agreements and encouraged fiscal responsibility.

Gubernatorial campaign

In 1998 Glenn Poshard ran for governor against Republican Secretary of State George Ryan. He was considered by many to be to the right of his centrist opponent — specifically on issues like abortion, which gained him the support of many social conservatives who would normally vote Republican but also cost him some support from Chicago liberals.

Poshard strongly supported campaign finance reform. In his campaign, Poshard severely curtailed contributions to his campaign, refusing to accept any corporate or special interest group donations and limiting private donations to a small amount per individual. Because of his stance on campaign finances, Poshard faced a significant financial disadvantage in the campaign against Ryan and was outspent by a roughly 4 to 1 margin.

Glenn Poshard was first to alert the public about George Ryan's connection to the "licenses for bribes" scandal and other corruption. Some individuals, even prominent Democrats like former Senator Paul Simon, criticized Poshard for his attacks on Ryan's corruption. Simon and others were proven wrong several years later when Ryan was indicted in late 2003 on 22 counts of racketeering conspiracy, mail and tax fraud, and false statements charges alleging public corruption during his terms as Illinois Secretary of State and as Governor. Ryan was subsequently convicted and was sentenced to serve six and a half years in prison.

Poshard lost the Governor's race to Ryan by a 47%-51% margin."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Poshard

He was right about Ryan's corruption, but other than that, what is it about him that's tolerating the variety so socon stances he's taken(opposing gay marriage as well as abortion)?

Is there really an argument for nominating a Dem as far to the right as Poshard for any statewide office in Illinois when Obama himself, among others, proved that conservatism wasn't necessary to win a statewide race as a Dem?

[kevsand]

40. Poshard's conservative stands may have been a wash in terms of votes.

They gained him significant votes in downstate rural areas, but cost him critical support in the traditional urban Democratic strongholds.

The thing that really did him in, though, was his refusal to raise PAC money. While it has since been demonstrated that a candidate can prevail on predominantly individual contributions, Poshard taught us that this can't work if one has alienated a significant percentage of one's own base. The people who would normally have been predisposed to pony up the cash for a Dem kept their checkbooks closed to Poshard, and that's why he got outspent so badly.

[ColesCountyDem]

41. I mispoke.

In replying to the 'several' statewide races comment, I knew about but failed to mention the sole statewide race he obviously lost. Mea culpa.

:hi:

[Ken Burch]

42. No biggie, wasn't meaning to nail you.

And you didn't "misspeak" ("Misspoke" is Republican for "lied"). You just made a small factual error. Coulda been anybody.

[murielm99]

15. He closed two parks in Northern Illinois.

Just where the hell do you think southern IL begins? At the city limits of Oak Park?

Those parks are in my county. It is a red area. This hurts us badly, whether we are Democrats or republicans.

[Critters2]

44. Quinn is already talking about re-opening the parks, according to Peoria

TV news. He's also begin moving into the executive mansion.

A governor who cares about downstate Illinois. It's too good to be true!!

[Blarch]

33. "And honestly, you're defending a criminal"

Nice try. But in this state a person is INNOCENT till proven guilty. The trial hasn't happened, and frankly, we haven't seen the evidence, or even an indictment.

So cool it spanky.

[olkaz]

34. "Spanky?"

Out of all that is going on in this thread, you dive in to defend Blagojevich?

:nopity:

If Blagojevich is exonerated, I'll come back to this thread and take it back, just for you. Merry Christmas.

[Blarch]

35. I am not defending him.

I am defending the system.

He is innocent till proven guilty.

[DollyM]

9. This debate will never be settled . . .

The people of SI resent Chicago because we end up with stupid policies that obviously are designed for the needs of the people in the urban areas (ie, Chicago). Having worked in a substance abuse prevention program in rural southern Illinois, we would get mandates that came from Chicago while they totally ignored the needs of our rural communities. Case in point, while we wanted to do education on Meth, which is a huge problem in rural southern Illinois, the state was saying we needed to do education on raves, (uhhh . . . if it can't be held in a corn field here, we don't do it!) It got so frustrating, we battled the state program representatives on a regular basis, until I finally got fed up and quit the job, figuring I could do more as a mom and a volunteer.
The point is, there is a disconnect between the northern and southern part of the states because the needs are totally different and we get frustrated because those needs are not addressed in funding. I do give Blagojevich credit for the All Family Health Care program. Without that, we would not have had health care as we do not have jobs with health insurance, (actually no jobs at all right now due to this stinking economy). Dare I even add, you should try living in Wisconsin and being from Illinois. They hate Chicago people with a vengeance and they think everyone from Illinois is from Chicago! We lived in Wisconsin briefly for a job opportunity and I have never experienced so much prejudice and downright hatred in all my life, just because we were from a different place and place where they deemed everyone was a F.I.B. (I won't even bring myself to defining that for you, just use your imagination and Illinois is the middle word.)
Yes, the people of southern Illinois would very much like to split the state in two and let us have our own government that is more geographically and socially in tune with our needs, but that will never happen so we will go on being frustrated. I hope that sheds some light on the situation for you. We just feel like the ugly stepchild in this part of the state.

[Saturday]

12. Thank you for the nice response.

I can totally see that projects that work in an urban area would not work in a rural setting. That makes sense.

I just thought with the goings on in the news that the IL forum was a friendly place where we could cry in our beer together rather than be at each others throats because we live in the north or south. I don't like to read dissing on Chicago as if they were the enemy. By the way, I don't even live in Chicago.

But, rather than IL forum lifting my spirits as I had hoped I found Obama's press conference today uplifting with Obama saying...."That's why I ran for office, to change politics". So, maybe the Blago's will be in our past.

[Critters2]

13. About that "health care for children" you're giving him credit for:

From today's Tribune:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-blagojevich-hospitaldec11,0,5126019.story

Let me give you the highlights:

Among the more lurid allegations in the criminal complaint against Gov. Rod Blagojevich was that he wanted a $50,000 contribution from the head of Children's Memorial Hospital for backing $8 million in state funding.

The money, however, wasn't for the hospital but instead a statewide pediatric medical-care initiative to pay hundreds of doctors to treat poor sick children throughout Illinois, a coalition of medical providers said Wednesday...

But sources close to We Care for Illinois Kids say Magoon was targeted by the governor because he was a point person for the coalition ...

It is not uncommon for these children to have to wait weeks just to get an appointment with a specialist. The $8 million would go toward easing those lines by getting more money to doctors throughout the state, according to the coalition's Web site.

"Children's Memorial is very disappointed that the $8 million in funding that the pediatric providers of Illinois believed would enable them to care for Illinois' neediest children has been tied to an alleged pay-for-play scheme," the hospital said in a statement.




Yeah, Rod Blagojevich is a great friend to the children of Illinois. For a price.

[DollyM]

16. yes, I was disappointed to see that news.

I don't understand how you can champion healthcare for everyone in the state and then try to deny funding to a children's hospital. But the fact still remains that I am very greatful that we live in a state that does indeed provide health care to it's children and families in need. I don't know what we would have done without it.

[Critters2]

21. If you look at the article, the funding wasn't for the hospital,

it was for We Care for Illinois Kids--the very "healthcare for all children" he likes to brag about. He was trying to keep that funding from happening...until he got his 50K.

[Saturday]

18. Again, I didn't start this thread to defend Blago.

But if you can't see that every child in the state of IL having health care as a good thing that Blago did then there's nothing I can say to change your mind. If you think that releasing $8 million in state funds to pay Drs to alleviate the long wait time for children to be seen and treated isn't good but instead you only want to see that Blago wanted $50,000 in exchange then I can't change your mind. I prefer to look past my little house on my little street in my little town and look at the whole picture. Yes, Blago did some bad things but he also did some good things for IL. I'm sorry you refuse to see that.

[DollyM]

31. I had stopped looking at this thread but . . .

I saw that it still lived on . . . anyway, in response to My critters2, I don't know about "We Care for Illinois Kids" initiative, all I read in my local paper was that it had to do with denying funding for a Children's hospital. Maybe we don't get "all" the news in the southern part of the state . . . we don't get alot of things down here . . . but back to the topic in question, what I do know is that every month, two medical cards show up in the mail, thanks to having a child in Illinois, one is for my husband and I and one is for our son. My husband was hospitalized twice in October for complications from diabetes and ended up having his toe amputated. His medications alone would probably be a couple of hundred dollars a month if it were not for the fact that we are enrolled in All Family/All Kids. For that, I am grateful. If we lived in Missouri, or Iowa or Kentucky, this wouldn't be the case. (Wisconsin has a program similar to All Family/All Kids), so no matter what, I am grateful that Blagojevich did this for us and hundreds of other families that needed medical coverage. I am sorry he made some other poor choices but he also made some good ones that helped some families like ours.

[Critters2]

32. Actually, Iowa has a program called Hawk-I Kids that sounds smiliar. nt

[WildEyedLiberal]

17. SIGH. Here's a hint: stop saying "southern Illinois" when you mean "not Chicago"

I DO NOT live in "southern Illinois." I am tired of being marginalized as "southern Illinois" because I live south of Chicago. Not that there is a damn thing wrong with ACTUAL southern Illinois, but please, do not lecture us when you can't be bothered to learn basic geography.

You're not *from* a small town like Clinton or Windsor, so you obviously don't understand how such towns *depend* on the tourism generated from those state parks to survive. And let me give you another hint: yes, it's extremely patronizing to the rest of the state that Blagojevich can't be bothered to live in Springfield. If he couldn't be bothered to live in the state capitol, why did he run for governor? But if the marginalization of our state's capitol doesn't bother you, how about the MILLIONS of dollars he wasted billing us taxpayers for his DAILY private jet to and from Springfield? He can afford to fly his pampered, lazy ass back and forth every single day but can't keep relatively inexpensive state parks open? Oh, that's right, those parks are in "southern Illinois" so they don't matter.

Blago also closed the Lincoln Log Cabin in Coles Country, built on the site where Lincoln's parents settled. On the eve of the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth, he CLOSED A PROMINENT STATE LINCOLN SITE. That could have brought in tens of thousands of tourism dollars to Coles County. But BLAGO DOESN'T CARE. And neither do you, apparently.

I don't hate Chicago, but you really need to understand that downstaters would not have any reason to resent Chicago if this patronizing dismissive attitude were not present. If we were not *constantly* belittled and demeaned by Chicagoans as "southern Illinois" (regardless of where, geographically, our towns actually are located) where "4-6" people live (and who therefore are so insignificant to deserve even the slightest of attentions), then maybe we'd have a better opinion of the city's inhabitants. But I don't see that changing any time soon, because it's not enough for Chicago to monopolize the state's budget and politics - it has to spit on anything south of I-80 in doing so.

[Saturday]

19. I said southern Il because that's where the 3 parks

were that the posters said had been dumped on by Blago. Excuse me for not knowing southern IL was a bad thing to say and offensive. Since the other 8 parks that closed were not mentioned I honed in on the area they suggested.

It's sad that any town in our state is loosing money because of tourism but guess what....it's not just little towns. Our coutry is in a recession and tourism everywhere in this country is suffering. Clinton and Windsor don't get a pass because you want them to. No town gets a pass.

Actually it was the comment implying that anything east of 39 and north of 80 was riff raff to the pureness of the state that I found patronizing and dismissive and belittling. So the population doesn't warrant what gets spent where in the state? Interesting. Low population areas should have tollways? Is that kinda like advocating for the bridge to nowhere? Were you for that? Is that money well spent?

Edited for spelling.

[Critters2]

22. Please quote the post that said low population areas should have tollways.

No one said any such thing. And those towns downstate wouldn't be "loosing" tourism dollars if the governor hadn't closed their tourism sites. Seriously...you think it makes sense to close Lincoln sites on the eve of the Lincoln bicentennial?!!

Your attitude is exactly the problem.

[WildEyedLiberal]

23. Uh, no, those 3 parks weren't in "southern Illinois"

Clinton and Windsor aren't in "southern Illinois." Also, as another poster in this thread pointed out, there have been park closings in northern Illinois that have adversely affected the local economy. You really don't want to have an honest discussion, do you?

And fuck your patronizing "no one gets a pass" bullshit. Downstate has been EXPLICITLY screwed ever since Blagojevich took power - well, longer than that, but he stopped even trying to disguise his contempt for the not-Chicago parts of the state. Blago's decision to close these parks predates the recession and has NOTHING to do with "saving money" and EVERYTHING to do with his utter contempt for downstate Illinois. I notice you didn't bother to address the issue of Blago wasting millions of dollars flying back and forth from Chicago to Springfield every day. If this were really about money, where's your righteous outrage over that?

Clearly you consider ANY money spent in the not-Chicago area of the state to be equivalent to the "bridge to nowhere," and yet you have the audacity to feign offense at the anger downstaters have over the constant condescension we receive from arrogant citydwellers like you. You are too narrow-minded and blind to see that your own attitude is directly responsible for the resentment, and clearly, you aren't interested in dialogue, so really, what's the point?

[Saturday]

26. I asked a couple of times for you and others to tell me

what "EXPLICITLY" Blag did to screw "not Chicago parts of the state". So far, you've told me he closed parks and he did it to screw you. When I read a couple articles about the closing it showed closings all over the state (does that mean he wanted to screw the whole state?) and they said it was due to the ecomony. The parks were closed Nov 1, 2008 not before the economy turned bad as you suggested. So you can call me all the names you want and add a few more fucks in there but I don't see that as Blago dissing you. Regarding flying back and forth to Springfield....I don't intend to be goaded into defending Blago for all he's done. Clearly some things have been wrong. I don't approve of everything he's done but I do approve of (1) health care for all children in this state, (2) open road tolling and (3) free senior transit rides. If he's done something wrong then he can go to jail for it but I won't stop saying he's done some good for the state too. Oh, by the way, I don't live in the city so I'm not an "arrogant city dweller". I still love all of IL, every section of it.

[Critters2]

27. Free senior transit rides are only within Chicago. nt

[WildEyedLiberal]

28. Oh for God's sake: he announced the park closings before they *actually* closed

He announced it several months ago. And for someone who seems to be paying a lot of attention to what Blago does, you must have missed the prison closure at Pontiac for purely political purposes, the slashing of IDOT jobs in Springfield, the incessant budget cuts to every state university (except Chicago State, conveniently), etc etc etc... look, obviously it doesn't matter to you if he does shitty stuff that affects us "4-6" little people out in the sticks, but I can assure you that we've felt the effects of his indifference quite acutely.

[yagotme]

45. Prison Closings

Pontiac wasn't the first. Vandalia (Southern IL) was, and it was a long hard fight to keep it open. The Vandalia capital building was also scheduled to be closed recently, but a local donation, which had to be "approved", kept it open. Yes, the Guv did have it in for S. IL, which means, as I see it, non-Chicago. Just my $.02.

[ColesCountyDem]

46. He was no friend of downstate Illinois, in general.

I'm relieved that he's gone. Pat Quinn at least acknowledges that we exist, and that we also have needs.

:)

[mopinko]

20. thanks for the effort.

i guess our president needs to spread some of that o-magic here at home before he heads off to springfield.

fwiw, the poster who did the most whining in that thread has a thing about the evils of chicago, having lived here for 6 months or something. i think she has some trouble dealing with the non-black and white nature of the world. just gotta take that with a grain of salt.

i am tired of people thinking that all you have to do is say that someone is from chicago, and they are automatically bad. like ritchie daley must be corrupt, because he is the mayor. but in 5 terms he has been actually accused of- nothing. couple minor scandals that were not about him, personally. do i think that he is the worlds biggest choir boy, maybe not. do i think that he is a big thinker and doer, who loves his city, and runs it in a way that things get done. more like it. do i know that he likes to find the easy way to get things done, yes i do. one more reason to like him.
do i think that we have some city councilmen that are not perfect, yeah that too. bernie stone is a racist old fuck that should be put out to pasture. but then again, we do have a handful of candidates for choir boy status. and an informed and active electorate that, in case you missed it, remade the face of the council in the last election.

we aren't all bad here. i join you in your call for a little more- can't we all just get along.

[Saturday]

25. Thanks, I think it is a black/white issue.

I thought Republicans only saw in black and white but I see a few here can't see grey either. If you live east of 39 and north of 80 you're shit according to some. I get it now. I was actually trying to extend a hand but it's been bitten off so I know not to do it again. I actually like all of IL, northern IL, southern IL, western IL and eastern IL. Opps, I said southern IL, me bad. LOL Have a nice night.

[benny05]

24. Interesting thread

I don't see anything wrong in discussing how the state budget is being spent and the problems thereof. I also think Blago isn't the only one to blame; I'm not happy with many of legislators either as Blago greased the wheels for many of them.

Regarding what I see are the accomplishments of this state: one is raising the minimum wage and at a faster pace than our feds were willing to do. The other is covering children for health care, albeit I'm still unclear how that's getting funded as I've read many times that families are having a difficult time finding state-supported clinics and doctors to work in them. But I know from working at the Champaign County Dem booth for the past few summers, these two accomplishments stand out with the working poor.

Having said that, I've been extremely frustrated with our governor. I work for the Univ of Illinois, and I have watched a flagship struggle with finances because the governor has raided our coffers many many times. He has done so for two reasons: his wife dissed our school. She is a graduate of U of I and I've heard more than once she was disappointed in the school. Maybe it is her upbringing (and hence the dissing of geography) above the I-80 corridor. Perhaps she was better off going to a private school.

Our governor has little appreciation for a public university. He was educated in private schools.

This is not to say that UI, SIU, etc, shouldn't be accountable for their funds. But to me it is pathetic how he (and his predecessor) withholds money for crumbling buildings. Getting a new building built is almost impossible--unless you are Chicago State--for most of the public universities. Mind you, I think Chicago State is worthy of getting newer facilities as there needs to be good schools serving urban areas. But our legislators have voted at least 3 times to fund upgrades of buildings, and nearly every time, the funding has been held back by the governor, citing budget reasons. I don't buy it. Now we are preparing to take 10% cuts for the FY2010 and that could mean layoffs.

Then one sees the budget being squandered on marketing for the Jeffrey Ballet orchestra, an electric arts music festival--all around the I-80 corridor. Funding for the arts is fine except if you have to choose between balancing the budget for health care or for the arts, I think health care should prevail.

My understanding is the gov played favorites on which other projects would be funded. For example, a badly needed highway extending into more than one district would be funded for one half of it--and you guessed it--for the half in which the governor liked the legislator--and the other half would not get funded. I don't know if the second half was in a rethug district or not, but that doesn't make sense in general.

Blago promised to bring ethics reform. I have to take an ethics exam or go through some kind of training every year as a state employee. To me, it is a big waste of money to administer it every year when one considers that the preacher governor doesn't practice what he preaches. Essentially, it is a mockery.

Because I am not a native of this state, I'm not as aware of the prejudices that many of commented about downstaters and those who live around I-80, but I do hear about them. But I have noticed that most of the money seems to have gone to Cook County and the suburbs thereof. While more populated, I don't see anyone in the city governments trying to control the growth or other pols promote living in other places besides there (or around STL). My legislators work very hard to get what little they can for the rural areas, and as I say, it's downright frustrating.

I see that our Attorney General is trying to get Blago removed, but her father refuses to move on the impeachment front. That is a power play almost as bad as Blago himself. And where do they live?

It's no wonder why the dissing is here. I think it's time for some real leadership that our state wants. And no one is exercising it in the most productive avenues for all of us.

[nemo137]

29. I've been disappointed, too, with the capital bill being help up.

Lincoln Hall is falling apart, and because of delays the cost to fix it keep rising. But hey, someone donated a couple million for a new bell tower and alumni center.

Ech, I really think Blago just hates U of I between holding up funding and putting Kickapoo on the original state park hit list.

[ColesCountyDem]

30. I was born in Southern Illinois-- the *real* one south of I-64...

Sadly, most Southern Illinoisans are used to being ignored by Springfield; this accounts for much of the 'f*ck you' attitude many of us have/had toward state government. The federal government has been far more responsive to the region's needs, once the voters figured out that longevity and seniority count for a lot in Congress.

This isn't meant to be an attack on you 'flatlanders' who live in the central and northern parts of the state, just an honest assessment of how someone who was born and raised in Southern Illinois knows that the people feel about things.

:hi:

[barb162]

36. No parts of the state should be dissed. You're right .

We're all Illinoisans, we're all Americans. :)

[nickinSTL]

43. apparently, the children's health care thing wasn't so great...

someone I know tried to get her kids covered, but couldn't because the kids hadn't been uninsured for a year! So, for being responsible, and trying to make sure her kids were covered, she was rejected.

That might have been fixed later on, but I know she said that was an issue. Which is a really BAD policy, IMO.