ArchPundit

Not What I Said, What I Meant…

ArchPundit May 28, 2004 No Comments

OneMan will appreciate this one from the Capitol Fax:

BROKEN PROMISES (excerpt) Back when Rod Blagojevich was campaigning for governor, he went on record to slam attempts to tap into the Illinois Fire Prevention Fund as “unconscionable.” The dedicated fund skim bill he now supports would all but empty out the Fire Prevention Fund. He wants to skim $20 million, but the fund only has about $22 million in the bank.

But, hey, that was the campaign, this is now. Last week, the governor explained that when he pledged during the campaign never to balance the budget on the backs of workers, he was referring to workers in general, not state workers.

Ending Business As Usual

ArchPundit May 28, 2004 No Comments

If you count changing who gets the perks from someone else’s friend to your own friends.

I don’t think most of us do.

Bumbling into Durbin

ArchPundit May 28, 2004 2 Comments

“I was misquoted” Charles Barkely on his autobiography

“I read that thing and it kind of irritated me because I don’t speak like that,” Blagojevich said. The Blagorgeous upset about a column under his name.

But Greenberg said it was the governor’s office that solicited the magazine to allow the governor to appear in the “My Turn” column of the St. Louis-based publication.

But what I don’t get is why he brought Durbin into the deal. Is he really trying to anger every Democrat in the state?

Blagojevich questioned the sports loyalty of another Democrat, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin.

“If you hear Sen. Durbin, he’s Cubs, he’s Sox and the Cardinals,” Blagojevich said. “I’m a Cubs fan.”

No Good News for the Guv In the Poll

ArchPundit May 28, 2004 No Comments

Simply bad:

But the latest survey of 600 registered voters, conducted May 21-24 by Market Shares Corp. of Mt. Prospect, showed his job-approval rating falling below a majority of Illinois voters for the first time in his 16-month tenure. Only 40 percent of voters surveyed now view his performance as governor favorably, while almost as many–36 percent–disapprove.

As recently as February, a similar poll found Blagojevich with a 55 percent job approval rating while only 27 percent disapproved. A total of 18 percent had no opinion on Blagojevich’s job performance then, a figure that has risen to 25 percent now.

The graphic passes the interocular test.

Four Tops Meeting Rumored

ArchPundit May 28, 2004 No Comments

SpringfieldDem comes through with some gossip in comments:
Word here is that, on top of the bad Trib numbers, the four tops – sans Blago — met in Frank Watson’s office yesterday informally. The result was an agreement to begin working cooperatively on a “zero-growth plus” budget with the goal of acheiving a veto proof majority on the budget by Monday. See today’s Captiol Fax (subscrip req) for more details.

The key is Jones — who has a foot planted in both camps. However, given the Trib numbers, it seems unlikely that Jones makes his stand there.

Unless The Governor pulls a serious rabbit out of his hat, he could be heading towards a seriously embarrassing defeat

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