Roland Burris for governor

[pnwmdk]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Bill Daley is a guy that has the good qualities of an effective insider

This is, in a nutshell, everything that is wrong with politics, the country, the economy, culture, society, and why our future is dim.

It's time we dispensed with "inside" completely and send every current "inside" out to pasture, and then change them so there's never again any "effective inside" ever again. We don't need "inside", we need people who are totally outside, who live in the real world, and apply real world judgment, where all we have now is academia and nepotism.

[linicx]

I have a hunch we can probably do just as well with a farmer who has 1200 acres off crop. This of course, would be if you could find a farmer who was willing to stay in Springfield long enough to accomplish something.

Most of the governors I've watched are busy being anywhere except their appointed office. Why should they stay at home and have a BBQ for friends when they can go to Chicago on taxpayers dollars where they can will be viewed, wooed, wined and dined in a exciting city. I can't say I blame them, but otoh. it doesn't create a warm and fuzzy feeling. ".... went to VXYZ to announce..." He could have done the same in Springfield with a gaggle of geese and one reporter. .

We really should close that non-essential duplicate offices like Illinois Tourism and move it to Chicago along with the governor. Maybe then he would stay long enough to actually do something, but I am not hopeful.

Here's a question for math and political science majors. Would merging counties, county offices, and school districts accomplish anything positive, or would it create greater problems?.

[pnwmdk]

I'm not a farmer, but I sure would. I don't like the "wine and dine" and hobnob nonsense.

I've been an employee of, or owner of, a small business all of my life.

[richb]

Burris as governor of Illinois? ha ha ha ha!

Sure am glad I moved away from Illinois. Wanted to start a business, and Illinois sure wasn't the place to do that.

[pvande55]

Of course the State is not a small business so what works for small business would not work for the whole State. Yes we need to consolidate units of government. Townships should be killed off and duties taken over by the counties. Abolish pension and medical benefits for village trustees.

[rparz]

Originally Posted by pnwmdk

This is, in a nutshell, everything that is wrong with politics, the country, the economy, culture, society, and why our future is dim.

It's time we dispensed with "inside" completely and send every current "inside" out to pasture, and then change them so there's never again any "effective inside" ever again. We don't need "inside", we need people who are totally outside, who live in the real world, and apply real world judgment, where all we have now is academia and nepotism.

You must be new here. My grandparents told me stories about the way things have always been and there's too many established parties in power for this to change.

Not that you're not onto something, but as someone living in the 'real world' doesn't see things changing.

Look at what happened to Blago, he wasn't doing anything that everyone else wasn't doing, except he didn't 'play ball' with the right people. Well, they railroaded him to get their rubber stamp Quinn to take his place.

What's your plan to overturn all of these incumbents again?

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by rparz

You must be new here. My grandparents told me stories about the way things have always been and there's too many established parties in power for this to change.

Not that you're not onto something, but as someone living in the 'real world' doesn't see things changing.

Look at what happened to Blago, he wasn't doing anything that everyone else wasn't doing, except he didn't 'play ball' with the right people. Well, they railroaded him to get their rubber stamp Quinn to take his place.

What's your plan to overturn all of these incumbents again?

Blago was an idiot. He was an "insider" of sorts -- his father in-law, the powerful Dick Mell started as somewhat of an outsider, coming from the business world, but made all the right connections / introductions for his son-in-law. Blago was not content to allow his incompetence to land him a cushy gig in the State house, he got elected to the US Congress on the strength of his connections and nice populist pitch and parlayed that into sweet gig as governor. His dreams of making a run for the White House were short circuited by the rise of the photogenic State Senator with all the right connections to the "angry left" and Blago's heinous ambitions warped the sense of caution that any sane politician needs to have regarding who he appointed to various boards and what sort of cash controls he had in place... Politicians that become overly infatuated with their own appeal tend to end up losing sight of the fact that they need to work for the people that they represent and not just themselves and donors...

"Tossing the bums out" is not a viable strategy as there are some pols that do balance their own desires with those of their constituents (see Madigan, Mike...) and wisely find others that can ensure their dominance. Even in cases where "term limits" have been put in place the outsize influence of campaign war chests (see Bloomberg, Michael) or entrenched non-elected officials to make government serve special interests (see California and their special mix of pensions...) means that DILIGENCE on the part of voters is the ONLY safe guard of democracy...