There has been some calls for impeachment proceedings to remove Governor Blah-blah1 – we hadn’t decided if we supported that or not, even though we think Gov Blah Blah is doing a horrible job. However, the contrast between two news stories published today:
The confusing controversy over Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s decision to give $1 million in state assistance following the Pilgrim Baptist Church fire has a new twist—the founder of the private Chicago school that got the money is contradicting the governor’s statement about what happened.
Blagojevich has maintained that he wanted the money to help the historic church but bureaucratic mistakes sent it to the school.
In her first interview since the controversy over the money erupted this spring, Elmira Mayes, the founder of the family-run Loop Lab School, said Blagojevich personally promised her the money.
Mayes said the governor visited the fire site and talked with her as she was sifting through debris from her burned-out school, which had rented space from the church. She did not recall the governor’s exact words but “he told me he would help build the school and give $1 million.”
Mayes’ account raises fresh questions about the Blagojevich administration’s efforts to clean up their boss’ campaign promise gone awry. Blagojevich has since pledged a second million dollars to the church and ordered a review of whether the state should recover the money given to the school.
[From Governor contradicted on $1 million ‘mistake’ — chicagotribune.com]
and
The stumbling U.S. economy is forcing states to slash spending and cut jobs in order to close a projected $40 billion shortfall in the current fiscal year.
That gap — identified Wednesday in a survey by the National Conference of State Legislatures — is more than triple the size of the previous year’s. It is the result of broad economic weakness at the state and local levels that could cause pain throughout this year and into 2010. Sales-tax collections, for example, have been hurt by the housing slump and high gasoline prices, which are prompting cutbacks in consumer spending. Personal income-tax collections have been hit by rising unemployment, while corporate income-tax collections have been eroded by falling profits.
“We expect it to get worse before it gets better,” said Corina Eckl, fiscal-program director of the National Conference of State Legislatures. The conference’s new report describes the shortfalls states face in their budgeting process for the current fiscal year, which began in July.
[From States Slammed by Tax Shortfalls – WSJ.com] [non-WSJ subscribers use this link]
is just too great. Gov Blah Blah squanders cash, can’t explain how or why, and yet Illinois is deeply in the red, cutting various social programs, considering tax increases. I don’t think Gov Blah Blah is even having any fun being governor, he should just resign, move back to Lincoln Park, and become a lobbyist.
Footnotes:- as we call Gov. Rod Blagojevich [↩]