How convenient…This morning State Senator (I’m suddenly a reform minded Senator now that I am running for Congress) Halvorson is quoted by Bethany Jaeger saying:

With two weeks left before the deadline to adjourn the General Assembly, one prominent Democrat says the process is behind schedule. “There are things they should have been working on a long time ago,” said Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson of Crete.

Halvorson also said the Senate should pass a “bare bones” budget and only pay for what the state can afford.

First, there are things Halvorson and her Democratic pals should have been working on a long time ago including ethics reform, a recall amendment, lowering taxes on Illinois families, and not supporting Rod Blagojevich and billions of dollars in new spending. So yes, Senator, there are a number things that should have been worked on a long time ago.

What’s interesting is that Halvorson, as Majority Leader, has done nothing on those issues for the last several years. Her preference has been the Rod Blagojevich way of doing business.

Which leads us to her second quote regarding passage of a bare bones budget.

As noted in a previous post, it’s amazing how a congressional campaign has changed Halvorson’s outlook on Illinois issues. After supporting Rod Blagojevich and his overspending for years, suddenly she’s in favor of passing bare bones budgets? How convenient…

Finally, that leads us to the same questions asked of her last time. Is Senator Halvorson the Majority Leader? Is she the “go-to person” as she claims?

If so, then why isn’t she pushing on these issues that they “should have been working on a long time ago”?

My guess is she will say she is pushing on these issues. But that begs the next questions: where have you been these last several years? why now? what has altered your outlook that would cause you to turn away from Rod Blagojevich and Emil Jones so quickly?

Oh, that’s right, you are now a candidate for Congress. How convenient…

Today the new State Senate Rules Chairman, Ricky Hendon, reminded Illinois voters that State Senator Debbie Halvorson, as Chair of the Senate Rules Committee, was one of Rod Blagojevich’s main protectors by holding up numerous pieces of legislation including ethics reform.

“It’s unfortunate that Senator Halvorson continues trying to re-write history and her longstanding support for Rod Blagojevich and his policies,” said Illinois Republican Party Spokesperson Lance Trover. “However, today’s comments from a fellow Democrat colleague are a stark reminder of how Senator Halvorson represents the Rod Blagojevich way of business as usual in Springfield.”

According to this morning’s Capitol Fax:

Hendon claimed last week that he wants to run a kinder, gentler Rules Committee. Hendon said that he already had 70 requests from both sides of the aisle to move bills out of Rules, “and I’m going to honor a lot of them.”

“More bills will be coming out of Rules,” Hendon proclaimed. “I’m not going to promise that every request will be honored, but [members] have a much better chance than ever before.” Hendon said he believes strongly “in the power of the individual member,” and said he had always thought the way Rules has been traditionally run by leadership “was wrong.” Even though he was a member of the committee, “I would go crazy when I couldn’t get stuff out of Rules.” Hendon also said he was taking a “much more active rule with staff” about how the committee dealt with bills.

“Ricky Hendon’s comments cement what we have known for years - that Senator Halvorson was Rod Blagojevich’s chief lieutenant and protector working vigorously to stymie any type of reform in Illinois,” said Trover. “Senator Halvorson needs to end the Blago-talk and explain to voters why, for the last six years, she has chosen Rod Blagojevich’s needs over the people’s.”

–Illinois Republican Party Press Release

In Kristen McQueary’s Southtown column yesterday, State Senator Debbie “I’m suddenly not best pals with Rod Blagojevich” Halvorson had an interesting take on what her duties as Senate Majority Leader are:

“I don’t know what happened. I have no idea,” she said. “We vote on 100 bills a day. I have no control over who is picked off and given something for their vote. When I counted, we had 36 votes. I pulled every trick out of my trickbag to make sure that bill came out of rules, and I voted for it on the floor.”

When pressed on who changed their votes and why she didn’t investigate afterward if the bill was so important to her, Halvorson said lawmakers vote their conscience and it’s not her job to twist arms.

“I don’t have power over that. It’s not my job to go into their privacy and see why they decided not to vote for it,” she said.

That’s quite a change from January 2005 when she told McQueary:

“I’m the go-to person who will guide the agenda, keep everyone calm and make noise when I need to,” she said.

It’s amazing how confident Senator Halvorson was about her new role as Majority Leader in 2005. Of course, that was prior to her decision to run for Congress.

It’s funny how a congressional campaign affects things including a person’s abilities to do their job - especially when that job requires being the Chief Lieutenant for Rod Blagojevich and Emil Jones. It’s even funnier how a congressional campaign affects job descriptions.

So which is it, Senator? Are you the Senate Majority Leader?

Are you the “go-to-person”?

Or are you simply the person who has “no idea”?

The act of saying one thing, while being caught in the act of doing another

Senator Halvorson can’t figure out where she was (literally) during recall debate

CHICAGO - The Illinois Republican Party today is calling on State Senator Debbie Halvorson to come clean with the voters and stop Blago-talking them on her record in the Illinois Senate.

“Senator Halvorson needs to stop Blago-talking voters when it comes to ethics, GRT, and Recall,” said ILGOP Spokesperson Lance Trover. “Further, it’s time she told the truth about where, exactly, she was immediately following the recall vote.”

Immediately following the failure of the Recall Amendment, Senator Halvorson made the motion to adjourn without considering the House Republican’s version of the amendment. Since that day Senator Halvorson has given conflicting stories on where, exactly, she was immediately following the vote.

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Statement from ILGOP Spokesperson Lance Trover on State Senator Debbie Halvorson’s removal as Chairwoman of the Senate Rules Committee:

“After years of working to advance the interests of Rod Blagojevich and Emil Jones at the expense of her constituents, Senator Halvorson has now chosen simply to advance her own political ambitions.

“Unfortunately for Senator Halvorson the damage has been done.

“The voters of the 11th Congressional District will see right through this desperate attempt to distract the people from her long record of being Rod Blagojevich’s go-to person in the Senate.”

For more than a year the Illinois Republican Party has been advocating tougher ethical reforms for our government and if today’s published reports are true Illinois may be on the cusp of obtaining the first step in some much-needed reform.   

Of course, it’s guaranteed there will be a number of individuals who will line up to take credit for passing these reforms.  One such individual is State Senator and Congressional Candidate Debbie Halvorson.

 However, it’s important to understand that the Illinois legislature would not have to be debating new ethical rules today if Senator Halvorson had not bottled up the house ethics package that passed and landed in her committee more than a year ago.   

As Chairwoman of the Senate Rules Committee Senator Halvorson held up the unanimously passed house ethics package in her committee for over a year!  She even went so far as to say last fall the house was just playing politics with the Governor by passing these reforms.

 Suddenly, after announcing her candidacy for Congress and prodding by the Illinois Republican Party, newspaper editorials, and voters Halvorson has had a change of heart.  She’s now working overtime in the face of a public spotlight on this issue to get an ethics plan through the legislature.  My, how time and a congressional candidacy changes things.    It’s laughable at best.   Halvorson protected Rod Blagojevich by sitting on ethics reform for more than a year but is now ready to claim credit.  That’s not leadership.  That’s opportunistic.  That’s being a politician.

Go ahead and try to take credit, Senator.  Try to tell the people of this state that you wanted ethics reform all along.  Try to convince the people of your district that you have not been Rod Blagojevich’s chief lieutenant in the state senate.  Keep trying. 

Just remember, Senator, the voters of this state are not dumb.  They are going to remember when you had a choice between them and Rod Blagojevich, for over a year you chose Rod Blagojevich.