What's wrong with this picture?
Quad City Images asks some important questions about the recent Illinois budget and where the money goes in the 36th district.
Why is it that Illinois can scrape together $140 million dollars for a prison they don't even use, but not $13.8 million for the first phase of the WIU riverfront campus.
Heck, why not spend $50 million and build the whole campus. If the single community of Davenport managed to spend 35 million bucks on an art museum, I would think the fifth biggest state in the US could find $14 million laying around.
Unfortunately non-Illinois resident alumni like myself don't have much sway with IL politicians. I urge everyone who lives in the Illinois Quad Cities to contact your state representatives, US congressmen, and the Governor and ask why this pocket change can't get tossed Moline's way.
Obviously school construction contractors don't get to donate to IL governors.
Why did it take someone in Iowa to ask these obvious questions?
posted by The Inside Dope @ 2/17/2006
10 comments
10 Comments:
Dope, I think that the problem here is really how stagnant our representation has been over the years. If they're not from the same family, they're from the same group of friends. You have to respect what John G. has done for the party, but you also have to admit that it's time for a change. Now I don't mean that John needs to go, but he does need to recognize the need for change.
If we don't change, the GOP WILL take over this area. Think about it, the number of Union voters in this area has steadily declined since the tractor plants shut down. More and more young people are getting Non-Union jobs. The scary thing is that a lot of these young people feel they can relate to the Republican party. They think that being a Republican means that they'll be rich, and powerful (thanks to Karl Rove).
The math is there. Declining Union voters, increasing young GOP's; the situation spells trouble for the Democratic party.
We need to find a way to pull people back to the good side, need to find a way to engage these young people - help them relate to the Democratic point of view.
Sorry dope, I didn't mean to change the topic, but I really think that our area has been the "same old - same old" for so long, that we don't get any respect at the state level. We need an energized party representing us, smart people, creative people, and people that will take action and get things done. That's why we don't get the funding. The State has gotten away with it for so long that we don't even get consideration anymore.
Just my too sense.
I think that we should continue to bring new bllod to our representation also. You can see the renewed work attitude that a new legislator bring to the table with Mike Jacobs. He has ppushed for the QC very hard in the first six months in office. I hope he can keep this kind of pace up for the area and that he doesn't get elected and sit on his hands as other longer term local reps have. I think the new young blood is good for the economy. You could see that after Denny brought the Mark of the QC anf riverboat gambling to revitalize downtown RI that he kind of slowed down. We do need young agressive leaders like Mike Jacobs.
Let's all encourage Pat O'Brien to run for higher office again! He has shown youthful energy and new ideas in his service with the City of Moline. It's a waste not having him at the table as a leader!
John G surely has noticed this unless he's blind.
Wow, the only person who has anything good to say about our young Senator can't spell or doesn't understand the use of spell check. I hope this is not an indicator of who the young Senator appeals to as you may have to put pictures in the polling booths so they know who they are voting for.
Young leaders that locals can relate to, not Silver Spooned Mike Jacobs.
We need to encourage more younger people to run for office like Rumler has done. It takes a lot of courage.
Sorry Anon, but most graduates can't relate to someone that gets handed a job....as a Senator, no less.
I think the WIU Quad City campus is important, but if there's a choice to be made, I'd rather see the money put toward opening the $140 million facility that we already built. The problem with Illinois is that our politicians like to announce and take credit for new projects, but don't like to follow through on funding. There are hundreds of projects throughout the state that were promised Illinois First money. The projects were built, but the state didn't come through with their share of the funding and cities and other entities were left paying the entire bill. We build state park amenities but don't budget funds to staff them. We build prisons but don't appropriate money to open them. Announcing a new project is more glamorous than maintenence or operations. I expect that there will be a lot of funding promises made before the November elections, but I wouldn't spend the money until I had it in hand.
"Silver spoon?"
Are you kidding me.
I have know Mike Jacobs since he was a little guy working at his grandma's resturant in Watertown. Mike was always a very nice young man. He was one heck of a football player as well.
If I am not mistaken Mike married a local hen he was 19 (still married to the same woman). Along the way, Mike worked as a grabageman, laborer and assembler at IH. After the six month strike, Mike went back to school and earned a Master Degree. Boy was his grandpa Jake proud.
Mike and his six brothers and sisters grew up on 7th Street in East Moline. I rember their mother dragging all them kids into church at Saint Annes every Sunday.
To say that Mike Jacobs was born with a "silver spoon" is simply not true.
Mike has worked for everything he's got. Heck, I understand his opponent doesn't even own a home in the District he claims to live in.
What a joke!
Glad to see all the great comments on the serious and important questions raised by Quad City Images in his thoughtful post.
Maybe I should post it again and see if the subject gets changed immediately next time.
And of course, no matter if the post is about horse manure, it will get twisted around until it has something to do with what's his name one way or another, usually by the same couple of commenters who loudly whine that he's mentioned too often.
Dope I thought it was about barnyard animals of all types - "hen" included...see granpa whatever his name is and his post above. Someone is a bit confused....was it a hen or a woman grampa?
Is the plan to move all of western illinois university to moline? or just part of it?
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