Blagojevich Closes State Parks!! (Chicago: move, office, business)

[runninfiend]

I'd lay fat odds that he's never been to any of these parks, and if he has, I bet he never left the limo.

I personally would be surprised if these actually close. My guess is that it's a political move. Nothing pisses off the masses more than when you start hitting them in their public lands, especially downstate where lots of folks camp, hunt, and fish on public land because private land can be hard to access.

Even if the parks themselves don't close, the slashing of the DNR budget is very bad news and a serious step back for outdoor enthusiasts in this state. Since we have basically zero federal lands, the DNR is hugely important, and head blows like this will be felt by those of us who frequent state parks.

[JerichoHW]

It's nice to see Illinois Residents, and Wisconsin residents in JoshB's case care so much about Illinois State Parks.

[DirtDawg]

Is it a surprise that Emil Jones wont let the money go until Nov. 10th? The Parks are scheduled to close Nov. 1. The money is there, but now the Chicago machine wants all the park funds to go "above I-80" to fund whatever the people of Chicago do. When will the people NORTH of I-80 vote these bums out? The downstaters saw Gov. Rod for what he was in his FIRST attemp to get the Office of Governor. WE could tell the difference between JIM Ryan and George Ryan. WE voted for JIM, YOU voted for Rod. He comes up for re-election and what happens? He wins the three or four counties around the Lake, a couple above 80 on the west side of the State and ONE county below I-80! Now the "Chicago Machine" wants us to elect Rod, Emil and Tonys buddy, Obama, to lead the U.S.? Get real!! Bush is the worst President we have had since Reagan made it popular for the Corporations to own the Government and to put the screws to the working man. A Chicago Democrat in the White House? God willing that will never happen.

[JerichoHW]

Originally Posted by DirtDawg

Is it a surprise that Emil Jones wont let the money go until Nov. 10th? The Parks are scheduled to close Nov. 1. The money is there, but now the Chicago machine wants all the park funds to go "above I-80" to fund whatever the people of Chicago do. When will the people NORTH of I-80 vote these bums out? The downstaters saw Gov. Rod for what he was in his FIRST attemp to get the Office of Governor. WE could tell the difference between JIM Ryan and George Ryan. WE voted for JIM, YOU voted for Rod. He comes up for re-election and what happens? He wins the three or four counties around the Lake, a couple above 80 on the west side of the State and ONE county below I-80! Now the "Chicago Machine" wants us to elect Rod, Emil and Tonys buddy, Obama, to lead the U.S.? Get real!! Bush is the worst President we have had since Reagan made it popular for the Corporations to own the Government and to put the screws to the working man. A Chicago Democrat in the White House? God willing that will never happen.

I guess im "cool" considering I live a mile south of I-80. Don't generalize an area, many people voted against you know who "up here". I might want to keep the state parks open, but rude remarks should be kept to yourself. Maybe if the republicans haden't chose Judy Barr in the primaries we wouldn't have blago right now. It's a shame Jim Ryan didn't win, but republicans had a chance in 2006 to bring a real reformer in as there nominee. Judy Barr was not that reformer, so in the end I ended up voting for Rich Whitney as a protest vote. Had there been a better republican then you could expect the 10% of the Green Party vote to go to the republicans who would have one. So don't go accusing anyone of anything without first looking at what Central & Southern Illinoisans could have also done.

[DirtDawg]

THE people ABOVE I-80 keep putting him into office. THEY need to vote him out. He has the state so poor that dead animals are all over the Iliinois Highways. If they would quit smelling the bus fumes and get out into the rural areas, they could enjoy the smell of rotting deer,oppossums, and other animals along the highways. Thats as they dodge the dead semi tires and various other debris littering the lanes of traffic! What will this bankrupt State do with all the snow and ice this winter? Rod needs to spend more time on real issues instead of posing with his Chi-Town groupies! If he would sell just HALF of the States jets that fly him and his cronies back and forth to Springfield daily. He would save enough to keep the parks open. But its more than parks,too. Rod is wanting to lay off guards in the States prisons and even release some dangerous inmates onto the streets as he tries to balance a budget. We have had only one REAL Governor in the last 50 years. That was Jim Edgar. He was not under investigation at anytime before, during or after he held the office of Governor. He had the State running in the BLACK when he left the office of Governor. It was deep in the red from Gov.Jim Thompson when Edgar took over. But the people above I-80 elected another "city-boy" named George Ryan. Between THAT Ryan and Gov. Rod, our States finances have went down the drain. The U.S. economy already looks like Obama has won and is in the White House. Bush is terrible but a vote for Obama will make it worse. Or as they say in Louisiana, "A vote for Obama is like a chicken voting for the Colonel!"

[histo320]

I am oh so happy I dont live in Illinois anymore. Blago is ruining the downstate. I pray for those of you in Illinois because it is only going to get worse, especially with his buddy Obama possibly being president.

Can't wait til Blago is is prison, it would be funny if it was the same cell as Ryan.

By the way. George Ryan was from Kankakee and I don't think he was very involved in city politics like Blago and Obama.

[gypsysoul62]

Government by the People??? Government for the People??? Our wise elected officials can not figure out how to equitably fund the schools maintain the State's infastructure or how to keep invaluable historical sites and State Parks open??? What the H E double hocky sticks are they doing withour tax dollars??? HMMMM well they do seem to be doing quite well in their own personal lives. And HEY! Don't I remember something about a pay raise for the State Legislature this past session?? How about some transparency to go along with that budget eh?

[cubssoxfan]

Is it a surprise that Emil Jones wont let the money go until Nov. 10th? The Parks are scheduled to close Nov. 1. The money is there, but now the Chicago machine wants all the park funds to go "above I-80" to fund whatever the people of Chicago do.

Blago & Emil do not strike me as campers or hikers.
The state is missing out on $$ because of how they run the parks.
My suggestions:
1) Charge a daily or annual fee. Make it less $ for IL residents. IN, MI & WI do this and their parks are quite full.
2) Implement a web-site oriented reservation system for camp sites. Currently, IL's web-site is a joke! Only a few IL parks take reservations and it is by phone-quite cumbersome. Talk to DNR in WI, MI & IN who do this. They outsource this through 3rd party service. If your parks are fuller, you should generate more $. My family goes camping in WI, IN & MI because we do not want to drive several hours, hoping there is a vacant camp ground. We go where we can make reservations, look at a map of the camp-sites and reserve one in advance.
3) Take $ generated by fuller campgrounds and put it back into the parks. Make sure parks are tidy, garbage is picked up and facilities work, are up to date and clean.
4) Once camp-sites are fuller and tidier, raise campsite fees a few dollars. You can charge more for a better "product".
5) VOTE YES FOR CON-CON on NOV 4th.
6) If con con goes through be involved in selection of delegates.
7) Remember this in 2010 and vote the clowns/current democrats out of state and county offices.
8) Make sure Republicans get their heads out of their *sses and select a competent, talented and charismatic group of candidates! NO Oberwiess, NO Alan Keyes!!!!!

Thank you for listening, I really feel better now

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

8) Make sure Republicans get their heads out of their *sses and select a competent, talented and charismatic group of candidates! NO Oberwiess, NO Alan Keyes!!!!!

Thank you for listening, I really feel better now

I agree. But seriously, I think ANY repub would be better than the Dem slime that has plagued this state in recent times and dragged us into the abyss.

Can we vote Ditka in?

[j33]

I'm about as lefty as they come, but I'd vote for the Illinois Fascist Party before I'd vote for this guy. The sooner we toss him out of office, the better.

I would absolutely consider a competent Republican candidate if one would run (sadly that hasn't been the case recently, I've been voting third party for governor).

Stevo - Ditka would be worse than Blago, that guy can't tell his rear from a hole in the ground, really now.