Sen. Mike Jacobs wollops Gov. Blago
If you haven't heard the audio click the link. Sen. Jacobs from the Quad Cities area lights into Gov. Blago in an unprecendented way.
If this doesn't make you think politics is a fun spectator's sport then I don't know what is.
http://www.plasmamods.com/jacobsvsguv.mp3Here’s a full transcript of Jacobs exchange with reporters courtesy of Daily Herald Capitol staffer Nate Hoekstra.
JACOBS: What I've experienced in the last 24 hours with the governor of Illinois, to me, is highly disappointing. We can disagree, we can have moments where we don't even like each other, but there should never be a time when the governor of Illinois threatens someone in a political and personal manner.
It's beneath the decorum of this building. I don't know if you've ever had the governor of Illinois lean on you in his beautiful room, and get me to the point where, you know, I thought we were going to come to blows. I'm sure that's happened many times in this building, but what's unusual in this situation is the length the governor has gone to, to get his way. Look, I want education, that's what I want. The governor wants healthcare. We need to find a compromise, try to meet in the middle. But I am not going to ever allow anybody in this building to run over me and to threaten me and to talk about spending every dime they've got and calling every labor union and tell them they're going to go after me, calling my university president and (mumbles) taking the $14 million we agreed on last year away from me because I won't vote for what he wants.
A governor of Illinois should have higher ethical standards, and a governor of Illinois shouldn't be in a position where he has to say 'Senator, you do what I say or else.' Because he or she should have the ability to work with people and to have relationships with people. I'm just very disappointed. I've been around this game a long time and I've never had anybody ever speak to me in that manner. And the real fight for me is education. The governor told me that he's going to run people against me. Well, I've got news for the governor of Illinois: This senator is going to run against Gov. Rod Blagojevich if the governor is still there because this state is highly mismanaged. We're going the wrong way, we need to prioritize, we need to have a better budget system, we need to have better and stronger leadership.
I was highly disappointed by what the governor did today, and I'm kind of ashamed to be a citizen of Illinois right now.
REPORTER: What do you mean by a personal threat?
JACOBS: Personal threat was that he would wreck my political career, that he would do everything in his power to generate every dollar; I was with him or I was against him. It was very direct. I don't know if anyone's been threatened by the governor of Illinois in his office, but it's kind of a scary thing. I'm just a person like everybody else. I put on my pants just like the governor does. And I'll be damned if I'm gonna let a governor, or anybody, tell me how it's gonna be and if it doesn't go his way, that there's going to be major retribution.
REPORTER: Did he say who he would run against you?
JACOBS: No, you know, Scott, at this point, I don't even care. To me, it's not about running someone against me. For me, it's about the tone, the threat, the implicit threat that my life was going to have some bad. When the governor of Illinois tells you you're going to have some bad, you start thinking they'll use state resources. And if you don't think the man will, be aware that he called my (Western Illinois) university president, Dr. Goldfarb, this afternoon and told him that they just lost their university, and thank you Mike Jacobs. He had (Deputy Gov.) Sheila Nix call. You know, I don't know what kind of game we're playing here, but this should be a hall of gentlemen and gentlewomen, people who may fight for what they want, but we darn well better treat each other with respect. And the governor of Illinois has lost all respect. And if the governor wants a fight, I'll give him a fight, because the people of Illinois are sick and tired of Rod Blagojevich mismanaging this state, Democrats and Republicans alike.
REPORTER: What did he offer you?
JACOBS: He offered me $75 million for Western University. I want the university.
REPORTER: And that was in exchange for a vote for ...?
JACOBS: For the healthcare proposal today, and if I didn't vote for it, I was losing it. I didn't even get out of his office before I got a call from President Goldfarb, you know, so I don't think he was teasing. Hey, look, you know, politics is tough. Sometimes they take things away when you don't do what they want. I get that. Sometimes you get things when you do the right thing. But this is beyond the pale. This is beyond the pale. You know, I'm not a crybaby, I'm not the kind of person who's a high-minded government person, you know, that everything should be just beautiful. But I've been around long enough to know when someone is shaking me down.
Note: A Western Illinois University spokesman later said he was unaware of any threat made to the school’s funding by the Blagojevich administration. A spokeswoman for the governor said it was Jacobs who was trying to get money for the school in exchange for his vote and the governor rejected the trade.
REPORTER: Do you know if anybody else has gotten similar pressure?
JACOBS: I understand they have, but I don't know if they've extended the same kind of treatment that I've been granted. If this governor would have been in East Moline, Illinois in one of my local taverns, I'd would have kicked his tail end. And that's the bottom line. As an adult I'd probably have to sue him, I suppose, but he'd probably love that. So, you know, I just want to make it clear, I want to send a strong message, we can dislike each other in this building, we can disagree with each other, but at the end of the day we should act like mature adults. And I'm going to go away and let the three children in charge of this place figure out what the rest of us ought to do, and if they refuse to run this building, then I'm going to start working very closely with my Republican colleagues across the aisle and Democrats across the aisle, and Democrats across Illinois to make Illinois a stronger place. Five years, three years, four years ago, we were the third largest state in America, now we're the fifth, soon to be the sixth. And if we don't start creating jobs and opportunity, you can give them all the free healthcare they want, but nobody is ever going to be able to collect on it.
REPORTER: Senator, what changed your mind to vote against the health care amendment in the first place?
JACOBS: Actually, the $1.5 billion tax increase. It's a lot of money for an experiment, for tinkering. Some people suggested 'Senator, you know you can throw the bill over to the House and let the House take care of this,' Well, you know, OK, but I want to stay focused on what I found offensive, and that was not the message, but the tactics. It was beneath the governor of Illinois to do.
REPORTER: Earlier this year you said you would support a gross receipts tax if the governor promised you $75 million for Western. What has changed?
JACOBS: Well first off we don't have a gross receipts tax, so the taxes are different. Look, there are things I will and won't do. And I will help the governor when I'm able to, but I'm not going to sell out my principles or the principles of my caucus and the people of Illinois because I'm afraid of the governor of Illinois. I'm not going to do it.
REPORTER: How was the meeting, did it start out bad?
JACOBS: The governor was calm at first, he was waiting for my arrival, he knew I was coming. I sat down, like a person on my feet, and I represent 220,000 voters, I got here the same way most people did, I won an election, I sat down across the table and said "Mr. Governor, I have high respect for you, I've always helped you, I've always tried my best not to say really mean things about you, but governor I cannot do this for you,' and he blew up like a 10-year-old child. And if it had been my son I might have put him over my knee and spanked him, but I really don't even believe in spanking.
REPORTER: Was there any profanity involved?
JACOBS: There was a lot of profanity involved.
REPORTER: Both sides?
JACOBS: Not on my side, I tried to do my best to remain as calm as I could, because I was intimidated. I was a little scared. I mean, hey look, you got people sitting in there, I don't know who these people are. There's security everywhere in that room and I've got the governor doubling his fist and acting like he wants to punch me.
REPORTER: What exactly did he say?
JACOBS: I wish I'd have tape recorded it so I could play it for you. Just know this: It's not so much what he said, it's how he said it, the setting that he said it in, it was intimidating. And if any citizen of Illinois was ever treated in that manner ... I can see why he can't get what he wants, because you can't get what you want when you sit around and pout. You have to be a grown up and try to find compromise. He acted like a spoiled child who was not willing to compromise on anything. So if the governor of Illinois wants open warfare with me, if that's his goal, come have it son, come have it. And I'm just a normal person, I don't have any special thing, but I'll be darned if I'll let anyone run over me, it's not going to happen. These people know I'm not a high-minded guy, so I'm not trying to take some high ground, I'm just letting the governor know that if he wants to play this game, I'll play it with him.
REPORTER: Senator, would you seriously consider running against the governor?
JACOBS: Absolutely. Absolutely. This governor of Illinois has done a terrible job. I don't have any ambition to be governor of Illinois, but I do have ambition to help my community, help my state grow. We're going the wrong way. If the governor of Illinois is going to say, 'Look, Senator Jacobs, I'm running people against you because you won't do exactly what I say' well, then I'm going to run against him because he won't do what I say. You guys all work with this guy, you guys all work with him. You know what kind of person he is. He's untrustworthy, a man you can't believe. You know, if he wants a fight, I'll fight.
Labels: blagoevich, fight, governor, Illinois, jacobs, legislature, mike, overtime
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