The Consistent Flip-Flopper
Some people you can really count on. Some you can’t count on at all.
Both statements pretty much sum up Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. As in “you can count on not being able to count on him.”
Blagojevich recently signed a pay raise for legislators, after promising during his campaign that he would definitely not sign any such pay raise. Oops.
As one legislator of the governor’s own party put it: “He’ll say anything and do the exact opposite. For him to do a complete flip-flop, I would say, it’s the only consistent thing he does.”
Why did the governor go back on his word? Well, you know, he wanted to bribe legislators and, now I’m just guessing, he really didn’t want to use his own money. So Blagojevich gave legislators a nearly 10 percent pay raise using taxpayers’ money.
The Governor explained his flip-flop: “I want to say this in a nice way, but that [salary increase] seems to be, among many legislators, the single biggest priority for them.” What does he want? The Chicago Tribune stated it plainly: “a massive expansion of state-subsidized health care.”
What is it with bribery and Illinois governors? Former Governor George Ryan was convicted of taking bribes. Now Governor Blagojevich is making bribes . . . to the entire legislature.
The governor should have kept his campaign pledge — kept his word. That’s the right thing to do, even if you do stumble upon a really good political opportunity for bribery.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
22
AM
I don’t recall hearing about the 10 percent raise, but perhaps I missed it among all the other corruption taking place in Ill. Speaking of raises, I heard only one time so far, on a radio show, that the boys in Washington just received a nice raise of more than $4,000 each. How did that get through with nothing in the main stream media or are these people so much in bed with the politicians that they cover up all items the politicians don’t want us to know? Or maybe these media people were still too busy following Obama’s every move to keep us informed on what is really happening in DC. Imagine what would happen to each one of htem if Obama ever stoppedd quickly. Thank God for the conservative talk show people on radio, TV, and some newspapers, and the Internet people such as Paul Jacob. Keep it up. Lyle R. Rolfe, Aurora, Il.
22
AM
This politician is no different then most of the others. I would be willing to bet that he is going to slide by without any sort of impeachment process or penalty. There are just to many eating from the same trough. I know you’ve noticed different things that are against the Constitution lately..particularly this “bail-out” situation, yet you don’t hear anything about that either. Face it, socialism has finally taken over America, and we’re just going to have to live with the corruption it brings.And the fault lies at the feet of American people for failing to care about the character of politicians when they vote. Its time for eveyone to pray for America. Nothing else will fix its problems.
22
PM
We’re not helpless and the current state of affairs is no where near hopeless. Don’t lose heart, get mad or give up. Instead, get focused and get active my friends. Form or join a local taxpayer watchdog group and then pick a topic and wage yourself your own little war on socialism, idiocy, mediocrity and corruption in your local government. You really can make a big difference. I attend school district meetings and county board meetings quite often and trust me, these people are getting to know who I am and what I expect from them. I expect consideration be given to us taxpayers. Make it hard for liberals to get along in office and they tend to easily get discouraged and quit or not run in the first place. Publicizing a local liberal tax&spender is not so unlike shining a flashlight at the mouse in your house. They may scurry around a bit but eventually they crawl into a dark hole somewhere.