President Bush is in town? Big, fat, hairy deal
So, here I am. Wide awake at 7 a.m. (I went to sleep after Jay’s monologue) and ready to read the online edition of the Journal Star. Trouble is that the today’s articles haven’t been posted yet. That’s off, because I’ve seen articles posted as early as 4 a.m.
I suppose everyone is too busy doing their bit to cover President Bush’s visit to East Peoria’s Caterpillar facility, where he can be photographed standing next to a shiny yellow tractor. All the local stations are planning live coverage, and at least one is saying they plan to broadcast it on the Web.
Big whoop.
Yeah, it’s a big news event. But it’s for the most part, a highly scripted, tightly controlled media event. It’s not like the guy is going to be shaking hands at the mall or ducking into Whitey’s Tip-Top Tap for a slice of pizza.
Pardon me, but I’ve been through this before. I edited the County Star in Tolono, Ill., back in 1998 when President Clinton gave a post-state-of-the-union address speech at the Assembly Hall. This was promoted as part of a his big comeback tour following revelation that he did, in fact, lie under oath about having sex with “that woman,” Monica Lewinsky. I really didn’t give a rat’s rear end whether Clinton was having sex with barnyard animals. But I was furious that he lied under oath, and the fact that virtually every Democrat in America was willing to pretend there was nothing wrong with that helped shatter any lingering emotional ties I had with the Democratic Party. This pattern repeated itself in 2006, when virtually ever single Democrat running for office in Illinois unabashedly endorsed the re-election of Rob Blagojevich as governor, even though he’s almost certain to be indicted for any number of corrupt activities.
But I digress.
Actually, I’m not digressing. One of the things I noticed about Clinton’s visit to Champaign as how the local media — including the rabidly conservative News Gazette — spent a almost week fawning over the man, who just a week earlier was being vilified as the lying sack of crap that he turned out to be.
No doubt the local media here will do pretty much the same thing and concentrate on the “Gee, golly whiz, the president is actually in Peoria! How historic” aspect of the story. Myself, I’d fill the pages of the Journal Star with quotes from ordinary citizens, community leaders and activists about what THEY would like to tell President Bush, were the man to actually meet with and listen to such people.
Not that I would waste my time standing in line to see him. I blame the man for his lack of competence in running this war. I blame him for fighting the war on terrorism by taking away the rights of Americans and for putting our soldiers at greater risk of torture by authorizing its use against prisoners. I blame him for not “pulling the trigger” and killing or arresting leaders of violent militias when we had the chance. I blame Bush for not dealing with the issue of illegal immigration.
Feh.
I’ve already shaken the hand of the man I think will become the next president. I don’t need or want to meet the current holder of the job.
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
Yeah, I hear you. You and I disagree on many political issues, but we agree on this President Bush (I really didn’t mind the first one)
But Peoria really embarrasses me sometimes…”Oh my goodness, the PRESIDENT is coming HERE, to our little CITY…..oh….I can’t believe it!!!!”
Never mind we are one of the few “non-one-horse-towns” that would have him.
Sigh…
Deleted due to an uncalled-for Nazi reference to another commenter.
The president’s trip may be scripted and all, but it’s not every day a small airport like Peoria’s gets a 747!
Sure, Bill. We all know you’d crap your pants and tell Bush how it’s a great honor to meet him if you actually got to meet the President.
I don’t know. It would be a hoot to dramatically kick the man out of your house with the camera’s rolling. I true YouTube moment. Of course the secret service would jump your arse and that would be the last anyone would see or hear of you for a few years. You would find yourself in some third country with electrodes strapped to your groin, while Dick Cheney is sitting in his undisclosed location pulling the lever with a thousand volts coursing through you, muttering something about, ‘whose got balls now’.
You guys are all so jaded- it’s the President of the United States, for Christ’s sake. If he visited on a weekend, you bet your ass I’d be trying to follow behind.
You got it PeoriaIllinoisan…..i’d probably even go see that unspeakable name (whispering….hillary clinton) if she were prez even though I wouldn’t have put her in office.
The office deserves respect.
Well, he didn’t duck in to Whiteys… But it looks like he has “ducked” into Sterling Family Restaurant to get some breakfast.
Highly scripted? From the sounds of the traffic on the police frequencies, it wasn’t exactly well known to a lot of the police.
I wouldn’t mind meeting Bush if I thought we might have a meaningful conversation but any POTUS is way too busy for that. Otherwise, no, I don’t really care if he’s here.
Bull. Tell me you haven’t been listening to the coverage.
I listened to about 10 minutes of it on WMBD. Ed Hammond was on top of a tractor and Shawn Newell was speculating on what Bush had for breakfast. Scintillating stuff.
If it makes you feel better, Chicago and its media went similarly batshit over Clinton visiting when he was president. I think it’s just a universal impulse outside of the Beltway.
Note: I’m not fond of the man these days (as you can tell by my post), but I draw the line at describing people who are fond of him as brown-shirted Nazis. Doing so is libel and I’ve deleted a comment or two because of it.
Please play nice, children.
Not so much libel as just plain asinine.
Like I said, Vonster. Let’s play NICE now.
‘kay?
Was just gonna say that I just saw the prez at Sterling Family Restaurant…well, his motorcade, anyway…but Tony beat me to it. (yawn)
Does Godwin’s Law apply here?
I thought of Godwin’s Law, too. Pretty quick to get there, though….
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/01/20070130-1.html
Billy, I’m not sure what you think really makes a difference. The fact is, it’s good for Peoria as a whole. It puts Peoria in the National spotlight for a town that trades with countries from all over the world. It exports (becuase of Cat) far more than most small towns in this Country. This was good for the nation to see that Peoria is more than Big Als. Like Bush, hate Bush, any sitting President that talks up Peoria in the national spotlight is good for this city. Stop being such an butt head, and negitive. I’m sure if you were in one of the white press pool vans, this post would be somewhat different.
Eyebrows McGee said:
If it makes you feel better, Chicago and its media went similarly batshit over Clinton visiting when he was president.
————————-
But Clinton’s approval ratings were something like double what Bush’s are; he was (and still is) way more popular.
He left office with approval ratings in the 60’s and hit in the 70’s even while being impeached!
Point: popular president: goes to places like Chicago.
Unpopular one: Peoria.
’nuff said.
Apples and oranges, Ollie.
Reagan came to Peoria in ‘84, and he was (and still is) more popular than Clinton.
First, I don’t agree that Reagan was more popular than Clinton, but more on that later.
I wasn’t around here in 1984; but the rub here is Reagan’s association with this area (Eureka); kind of like Clinton visiting Hope and the like.
Now about Reagan’s popularity:
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1832
and
Bush is fighting a war that is selling lots and lots of Cat’s diesel engines, making Cat lots and lots of money. The least they could do is host him for a bit of propaganda for a day.
And you say you’re “…not by any stretch of the imagination a Democrat.”?
Right. I’m neither a Democrat nor a Republican. I can form my very own twisted opinions, thank you very much.
Who cares why he is here. You people would bitch if he never showed up saying “he doesn’t care about the working man”. So he shows up and you say “it’s all propaganda”. Geez.
So, Bush been here. How many times can the governor of our fair State say the same??
Even my very own husband who is quite unimpressed with the prez went out to watch the motorcade on 74 and sent me an email of the photo. The man may not be impressive — but the office apparently is. (I told him I was surprised the President did not stop and tell him to be nicer!)
So — I guess there may be a little something in many of us that when actually faced with the President himself are just a little in awe — if not of the man, of the office?
Let me know when he doesn’t put his pants on one leg at a time…then I’ll be impressed…
I’m just glad he (Bush) wasn’t the 5th shooting victim in Peoria. Whew!
Now that was funny. LOL
CJ: Reagan had roots in this general area (like Clinton and Hope).
And, Reagan’s approval ratings were actually LOWER than Clinton’s; his high was not as high, and his average was actually a few points lower (remember Iran-Contra).
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1832
“”Ronald Reagan was the most popular president ever to leave office,” explained ABC anchor Elizabeth Vargas (6/6/04). “His approval ratings were higher than any other at the end of his second term.” Though the claim was repeated by many news outlets, it is not true; Bill Clinton’s approval ratings when he left office were actually higher than Reagan’s, at 66 percent versus Reagan’s 63 percent (Gallup, 1/10-14-01). Franklin Delano Roosevelt also topped Reagan with a 66 percent approval rating at the time of his death in office after three and a half terms.”
and
“Through most of his presidency, Reagan did not rate much higher than other post-World War II presidents. And during his first two years, Reagan’s approval ratings were quite low. His 52 percent average approval rating for his presidency places him sixth out of the past ten presidents, behind Kennedy (70 percent), Eisenhower (66 percent), George H.W. Bush (61 percent), Clinton (55 percent), and Johnson (55 percent). His popularity frequently dipped below 50 percent during his first term, plummeted to 46 percent during the Iran-Contra scandal, and never exceeded 68 percent. (By contrast, Clinton’s maximum approval rating hit 71 percent.)”
Yeah so I followed your link and when I was trying to determine the legitimacy of the site I found this:
“FAIR was launched in mid-1986 at a time when the major media were bending distinctly rightward. Big media businesses were being absorbed by even bigger ones, with dangerous implications for those viewpoints already underrepresented. Well-financed right-wing groups like the misnamed Accuracy In Media (AIM) were harassing journalists who uncovered unpleasant truths about poverty, inequality, government corruption or U.S. military and nuclear policy.”
Not to mention the article you cite all of the information from doesn’t even bother to cite who wrote it. I think if anyone reads the articles on the Fair.org homeopage they will realize just how untrue the name is.
But the claims were easy enough to check; for example, you could always look up the respective numbers.
I verified Clinton’s numbers by looking at the poll data; I didn’t do that with Reagan’s.
Polls, schmolls. Look at the only poll that really counts: Reagan won every freaking state in 1984 except Minnesota (and D.C., which isn’t a state, of course) and 58.8% of the popular vote. Clinton’s not even in the same league.
“Clinton’s not even in the same league.”
And I thank my lucky stars every night that he wasn’t. Because that’s a “league” I want nothing to do with.
I had a writer at the PJS claiming that Peoria’s a Democrat town. I asked her what planet she was on. I’m a minority in this railing hotbed of conservative demeanor. I was very amused the prethi-dent (yes, he’s the prethi-dent) ended up with his eggs & toast at Sterling Family Restaurant. I can be pretty riffy, but I don’t even go in there and if I don’t go in there. it’s a pretty sorry scene. In my 46 years in Peoria, I never knew such hobbnobbers ate there, even that long-haired Shazzam guy. WHERE THE HELL IS GOMER
ANYWAY?
I worked home-based today instead of traveling because it’s surreal having ANY prethi-dent in town, so I did watch the coverage.
Seeing Air Force One rumbling over my house was definitely my highlight of the day.That was AWESOME!!
There are a large number of people outside Illinois that assume the entire state is part of Chicago. As a corollary to that, they assume we are all Democrats.
OK, didn’t anyone else think that Sterling Family Restaurant was a poor choice? Come on. It’s a DIVE. What a terrible representation of Peoria.
Then, we hear he ordered wheat toast and only ate 1/2 of one slice. Duh, he was afraid to eat any more of it.
Bush rocks dude. Peoria did a fine job of welcoming him.
I think the place is owned by a realitive of LaHood’s…..
What place ISN’T owned by a relative of LaHood’s?
Rumor was Wubbya brokered a GOS-GOP deal in the back room of Sterling’s. Can anybody confirm?
It was in the PJS story. Chamber of Commerce people met with him.
Oops, Dubbya
Coffee kicking in now.
I would be fine with the estate tax if you were allowed to avoid it by donating some portion of your estate to charity. I don’t want the government touching my money, but I wouldn’t mind a convenient reason to donate a whole crap-ton (relative to what I can afford to donate while living) to my favorite charities.
Ben… having the estate tax encourages people to donate to charity. If you donate it to charity, it is not taxed. The uber wealthy know this and take advantage of it. Indeed they have argued that eliminating the estate tax would severly hurt charitable foundations.
As to farmers being burned by the estate tax. Well get some legal advice, there are ways around it.
Mahkno – We’re not talking about the uber-wealthy. We are talking about ordinary people who have about 1 million+ in assets who get nailed by this tax. Add up house, 401k, life insurance, savings… lots of “ordinary people” fall into the trap. This is primarily income that is being taxed twice.
Read that Washington Post article… very few farms and small business owners fall into the category of getting burned by the estate tax. I believe that still holds fairly true today. I would like to think more people have the foresight to prepare and have > $1.5 million in assets on their deaths but shockingly very few do. This is especially true after years of medical bills.
One of the more liberating things that happened to me back when I became a libertarian was that it freed me of the addiction to belief in class warfare that had been fostered in me by nearly four decades of liberalism and exposure to “Big Two” party politicians.
The Republicans push the concept that we’re all engaged in a cultural class war, with pointy-headed intellectuals who live the ivory towers of academe and the newsrooms the media elite telling ordinary, wholesome Americans that everything they believe in is wrong.
The Democrats push, however, tell us that rich fat cats are hoarding all the wealth, and that by taking some money away from them through “progressive” taxation and inheritance taxes, we can level the playing field to make it more fair, so the little guy can get ahead and the government can keep poor people from starving.
What a load of hooey. Folks, in the absence of outright theft, one person’s poverty is NOT caused by the fact that some other guy is wealthy. Wealth is NOT a finite substance, like water. The amount of wealth grows to meet the circumstances.
You want to improve your circumstances? Get a job. Job sucks? Get a better job. Want to be wealthy instead of living from paycheck to paycheck? Then find some service, product or skill you can provide better, faster, funnier, prettier, more efficiently or more reliably than the other guy. At the very least, join or organize a union to bargain collectively (just remember that some unions are so successful, no one can afford to hire them).
Stop looking for saviors in government. YOU are the person most responsible for YOUR economic circumstances.
Oh, and by the way: Who do you think wins in a class war between the rich and the poor? It ain’t poor people. Somewhere, there’s a rich guy calling Pelosi, Kennedy, Biden and the rest, demanding for the start to that class war they’ve been talking about.
We’ve had more than 50 years of progressive income taxes. If it worked, why is the middle class shrinking and why the rich are gettign richer? Because these progressive politicians are screwing over the poor and middle class by making sure their rich friends get all the tax incentive and loopholes they need.
Anyone who thinks the inheritance tax and “progressive” taxation actually helps spread the wealth is deluding themselves.
Bill, major problem here is the definition of the work “rich”.
When I think “rich” a million dollars comes to my mind. When politicians mean “rich”, it is a another story.
is $40,000 family gross income rich?
$60,000
$120,000
$250,000
Where is the line? Where is the line for “middle class.” Where is the line for “poor.”
Well if you make more than $80,000/$160,000 (single/joint) a year you can no longer contribute to IRAs. That would seem to be a meaningful demarcation of some sort.
Billy, wealth may NOT be finite, but good jobs ARE. And, when the fat cats and politicians helped to bring about the demise of the well-paying industrial jobs around here and elsewhere, they DO have a direct impact on your ability to make livlihood.
Not everyone is meant to go to college. Not everyone is able to deal well with the public. Certainly, not everyone is born into a family that has had millions of dollars for decades, and they now act like they earned it all themselves.
Reality is sometimes hard, Billy. But, the reality is that just because you’re willing to bust your butt, work hard, and do all the right things, that may not mean you will succeed.
A caring government and populace understands that… and will not allow fat cats and politicians to pull the rug out from under the working class any more than they already have.
“And, when the fat cats and politicians helped to bring about the demise of the well-paying industrial jobs around here and elsewhere, they DO have a direct impact on your ability to make livlihood.”
So would you have rather waited until our industrial heavy economy completely tanked due to global competition and EVERYONE suffered?? Why should jobs that are either low skill or moderate skilled pay as high as high skilled tech jobs? And the “not everyone is meant for college” argument is poor at best. What you’re trying to say is everyone who isnt meant for college should still make as much as the ones that do go which is ridiulous. You’ve got to sit down and realize what your good at and attempt to become great at it.
“Billy, wealth may NOT be finite, but good jobs ARE”
Good jobs are only finite if your desire to educate yourself and develop your skills are. If you don’t want to continue to improve yourself than find, but don’t expect to get a handout for he company you work for in the form of a raise or better job. The real problem prego man is that all of these industrial jobs were union jobs, and as a result those employees couldn’t be paid according to their value to the company. The must productive and competent guy on the line is paid the same as the guy who’s screwup closed the line down for a couple hours earlier. If you take a look at yourself and build your strengths you won’t have to pass the blame onto “fat cats and politicians”.
Prego: “Billy, wealth may NOT be finite, but good jobs ARE.”
Me: Are you smoking crack? Jobs are created every DAY! Jobs are lost every day. There are more jobs in some sectors than we have people who can fill them, or are willing to fill them at the wages being offered.
And it’s proven, again and again, the the best way to create jobs is through the private sector, through the free market.
11Bravo, you’re clueless. Many of those that depended on the “menial” jobs have every right to live as good of a life as anyone else. Just because someone in South Korea is willing to work 12 hours for a cup of rice, does that mean Americans should be willing to do the same? And, that “industrial heavy” economy collapsed because the fat cats and the politicians WANTED it to… not because it would have done it of it’s own accord, for crying out loud.
As the good paying jobs streamed overseas, did the COSTS of those products go down? Huh? Did they? Of course not. They went UP, so the profits of the shareholders and the bonuses and salaries of the fat cats would go UP. That’s fair in your world, right?
11Bravo, take your Aaron Schocked Republican mind and try to open it up a bit, will you? You’re delusional in the thought that everyone can handle the same things mentally and physically… you may be a she-bang college whiz-kid with all sorts of great horizons ahead… but, if you think that there are PLENTY of great paying jobs out there for ANYONE, again, you’re delusional.
I’lll see you on TV next time Bush is in town… placing towels around Ray LaHood’s neck.
And there in lies your problem…
NO ONE has a RIGHT to a job. You EARN IT.
And what you failed to realize is that if the US economy realied solely on industrial and manufacturing sectors for its economic growth than the world market we compete on would have eventually turned its back on our products anyway. Would you prefer government raising your tax dollars so it can than subsidize your job? That would of course only work for a few years untill you could no longer afford to pay the taxes required to subsidize your job.
You might as well start quoting Mao or Lenin, because what you’re talking about is pretty extreme Socialism whether you realize it or not. The US cannot maintain its economic prosperity or growth from internal business, we have to compete globally, and workers have to adapt.
I’m sure your argument was made at the turn of the previous century when jobs went from agriculture to industry. “I can’t learn how to use these new-fangled machines, I’d rather just stand behind oxen pulling a plow” well we all know how that turned out don’t we? Prego, YOU determine how good a life you will live.
I am open minded about this, I am willing to take a look at how these changes work on a global level, it is you who is looking at this from a much smaller perspective, specifically your own personal bank account. If you want workers to all make a good living and stick it to ceo’s than grab your hammer and sickel and try to make a nice living in Russia??
Billy, are you smoking Drain-O? The fact that Cat is 1/4 of what it used to be; Hiram Walkers, Pabst, Standard Brands long gone; manufacturing jobs are just a shadow of what they used to be… boy, give me a hit of that stuff… it’s sometimes grand to be completely out of it, right? Sure, lots of jobs for accountants, actuaries, 92nd District Congresspeople… but, what about those who really CANNOT do those types of jobs properly? And, don’t give me that drivel about anyone can do anything they put their minds to. Bull-hockey. We are all born with special gifts, and some not so special. For the folks who LOVE to work with their hands, get grimey and dirty, and work HARD, the good paying jobs AIN’T THERE ANY LONGER. Sheeeesh.
You bet those great jobs in this area are just going gangbusters. This is sad. I thought you were more connected to reality than you’re showing.
I’m done “discussing” this because it’s obvious I’m talking to the wall and the low ceiling. So, I’m outta here…
Wealth is infinite?
I think it was Steven Wright who said, “You can’t have everything. Where would you put it?”
DID Cat become 1/4 of what it used to be or did it just become diffuse? Just because they’re not so big in Peoria anymore…
Although I would imagine CAT employs less people than it did in it’s heyday, it is a lot more diffuse as well. Outside of Illinois they have several major sites in the US and Canada. Worldwide as well when you look at their joint ventures in Asia, not to mention dealerships on every continent.
CAT is actually about 4 times what it used to be when you look at diversity.
Well, let’s talk Central Illinois then, since that’s where we live. The UAW is 1/4 of what it used to be. I’m sure the “diversity” includes all of the jobs created in Mexico, South Korea, and India, amongst others. If that’s cause for you to celebrate Caterpillar, have at it. In the meantime, I’ll just say that I don’t feel that situation is a good thing. Good for the high muckety-mucks? Of course. Good for the share-holders? Absolutely. Good for the Central Illinois economy? Not a bit.
And, as you know, those Caterpillar products now sell for HALF of what they did when the UAW was so strong, right?
Oh yeah…
Hey Rush! Nice to see you on the boards here as “11Bravo”!
Ah come now Vonster, after a long night of dreaming about Bush clearing brush, you woke up this morning with a big hard on. You then jumped out of bed like a giddy school boy on Easter morning ready to go find those
IEDsgolden eggs ofmainstreamconservatism. Enjoy your holiday.: P
….
IEDsgolden eggs ofmainstreamconservatism. Enjoy the holiday.: P
(needs preview feature)
Ahh, it’s fun, admit it.
Vonster, he obviously too ashamed to admit being a Democrat or even worse… hes a Green
I’m a registered Libertarian, if you must know.
You want nothing to do with the league of presidents who get a majority of the popular vote instead of a mere plurality? I would assume you’re a Bush supporter, then, eh?
Clinton won with 43% was it? That means 57% voted against him?
Strictly talkin’ policy, here, C.J.
And Reagan’s policies buried most of family (Minnesota farmers) financially for the rest of their lives.
And I’ll take a clear plurality over losing the popular vote total anytime.
Lemma ask ya, BJ: Are you opposed — as are MOST liberals — to the elimination of the estate tax? You know that tax that ON PAPER is supposed to make sure that uber weatth is not accumulated in the hands of a few wealth families? he same inheritance tax that is destroying family-owned farms in the name if liberal-style social engineering?
Billy, Billy, Billy, that’s not what’s destroying family farms (or at least what’s left of them).
No, it was the Reagan administrations policies favoring corporate farms and big ag-business over small family farms that ruined family farms.
Besides, with the estate tax not even kicking in unless the deceased’s assets add to over $675,000, it was never even a factor in Minnesota. My Grandfather’s 80-acre farm, 60 tillable, 20 pasture, his two tractors, his two plows, one disc, one cultivator, one planter and various other little pieces of equipment and old outbuildings wouldn’t have added up to $675,000 if you included everything twice.
But to answer your question: Yes, I’m opposed to the elimination of that tax. Proponents of it’s elimination are only thinking of one thing: attempting to shelter the assets of extremely wealthy constituents.
(BTW, that last sentence was CUT and PASTED from the CBO, not my words. I do that because the CBO knows a helluva lot more about it than I do.)
BJ – 60 tillable acres quit providing for a family LONG before Reagan came into office.
http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/EIB12/EIB12c.pdf
Read the first paragraph.
From a peak of 6.8 million in 1935 ” the number of U.S. farms fell sharply until the early 1970s”
A few more sentences brings us to:
“The decline in farm numbers slowed in the 1980s…”
It looks like your perception is pretty skewed when compared to the data.
BJ
Shelter assets from whom? So a man (or woman) can work his entire life and just because he happens to do better than most, his family has no right to it. And it would help family farmers, just because it didn’t help yours isn’t a reason to discount its importance. I live on a family farm right now that would benefit from an elimination of the death tax, as a matter of fact the majority of people here in Central Illinois who would benefit from the elimination are farmers. But I guess they aren’t important enough to worry about when someone’s got it in for the big bad rich people.
The current exemption for the estate tax is $1.5 million
In 2009 it goes up to $3.5 million.
Washington Post