Ads by Yahoo!

" In one breath, Blago proposes to move IDOT jobs to southern Illinois to bolster the economy and in the same breath, manages to squeeze out yet another lie that closing Pontiac would be a savings of $5 versus $31 million. Yeah, sure, Pontiac wouldn't have a payroll budget anymore because it was closed but Thompson's payroll would have to increase for a full staffing so where are the savings? You're just moving the money from one pocket to the other!

I'm shocked (and grateful) we haven't had a riot at one of the facilities yet given the sad state of affairs Corrections is in. However, I am sad to say, it's just a matter of time before Blago gets someone killed.

IF YOUR SENATOR OPPOSED THE RECALL. VOTE THEM OUT!

Put this address into your browser to visit the Illinois General Assembly page to see how your senator voted. If you don't see them, that means they were a no show on this crucial vote.

Replace the word DOT with a period. This site does not allow the posting of URL's.

tinyurl.com/5pkavl "

" Rausch said “Relying on legislators, rather than agency experts, to make decisions..."

PLEASE! All the experts have left! We couldn't take working for Blago anymore!

The director was a sheriff of a county that had a few hundred inmates in his county jail and the assistant director HAS NO LEO OR CORRECTIONS EXPERIENCE AT ALL!

We have assistant wardens and wardens of penitentiaries that were florists and bartenders (Yes, I am serious) and a bunch of political hacks calling the shots that have never worked in the field.

As usual, Blago's mouthpieces are lying through their teeth for him. Guess he doesn't have the "testicular virility" to do it himself!

All the prisons are overcrowded and understaffed. Thompson should be opened to max capacity. The state has spend a boatload of money renovating Pontiac so as to be able to keep it open, all that would be wasted funds.
"

" We could be cynical and conclude the Governor is saving money for his next pay raise. But to be fair, perhaps he is still trying to find ways to pay for his healthcare plan or other projects. Whatever. I find his concern over the interests of the taxpayers to be beyond the level of laugh-out-loud. "

" thanks for the input real American
lets make Blago stay in the gov. mansion ( that is why we built it) I suppose we could imminent domain to take his house in Chicago( we could then sell it to help defray his traveling cost to date)
MEL there is no state of Chicago (as much as blago wishes it were true). I say kick Chicago out of the state of Illinois and let them finnish building the state of disarray "

" Could Illinois secede from the state of Chicago? "

" Thank God this is Rod and Emil's last term. The people of Illinois will never be this stupid again. "

" How about this Gov. Blago NO PAY RAISES FOR YOU OR ANY OTHER "STATE OFFICIAL" That should save a lot of money.... our governor is an IDIOT!!!!!! when is his "term" up??? "

" As a Guard at the Pontiac Prison, I would like to let you all in on a few more facts and one big secret: #1 Pontiac is the only maximum security prison in central Illinois. If the inmates were moved to Thomson, the state would have to pay $1,000s in overtime whenever these guys have a writ. #2 Pontiac also houses approximatly 500 protective custody inmates, these are maximum security inmates, some of which are former death row inmates, that can't be housed in the general population. Where are they going to go? #3 We also have approx. 70 mental health inmates. Are there going to be enough beds in Dixon to house them? Dixon is the states largest mental health facility for prison inmates. Menard too has some mental health beds but, not as many as Pontiac or Dixon. Finaly Blagos' little secret, if he was realy concerned about saving money, why doesn't he stop paying the Cook County Jail hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, to house inmates already sentenced to the Dept. of Corrections, and move them into Thomson? Cook County houses approx. 3,000 inmates for the Illinois Dept. of Corrections. "

" I hate writing add-ons to this forum but the public needs to know. In all these articles, it mentions that the state will save $5 million but never mentions how much it will cost to maintain Thomson once the inmates are in place let allow the cost of transferring them and the manpower to finally shut down Pontiac. Where are those figures, Governor? I'm telling you people, this closing will make things worse. not better. I have a sick feeling the reason he is doing this is to push his idea of spending his proposed $150 million on Chicago's inner city schools for crime prevention, forcing democrats and republicans to vote yes in order to save existing prisons. "

" To All-

It should be obvious that Hot Rod only lies when he moves his mouth. Wassya expect? He's the love child of the Chi-Town Democrat machine, so inextricably tied to it that he cannot bring himself to move to Springfield. He is a disgrace to all but those holding allegiance to Cook County Regular Democrat Organization.
"

" One more thing, Ms. Rausch works for the governor as well as the "agency experts" she professes so much support with. What do you think THEY will say if the this governor wants Pontiac shut down? This is a political gambit. You Ms. Rausch and your so call experts would be fired on the spot if you went against the whims of this idiot of a governor. People please call and send emails to your local representatives. There are Pontiac prison guards who live in Bloomington-Normal and supports its' economy. They need your help. All contact information is listed on the State of Illinois web site. Every little bit counts . . . THANK YOU. "

" Sell Thomson to the Federal Prison system and keep both Statesville and Pontiac..I have heard for years that the Feds want that Prison at Thomson... "

" This prision is 100 years old , the buildings are falling apart , it costs too mutch to heat , it is dangerous for the guards and inmates , closing this would improve pontiac and save taxpayers lots of money. "

" Daily not impressed with Blogo either: From the Sun Times:
Saying he’s on “a crusade to help Mayor Daley,” Gov. Blagojevich staged a West Side rally Tuesday to unveil his $150 million plan to curb youth violence and “stop the killing.”

But Daley, who was attending a separate event at a North Side school, didn’t exactly jump on the bandwagon.

It’s a good proposal. But, you need the money. You need the beef,” Daley told reporters. “At least he’s proposing this. But, where are you gonna get the money?”

"

" Wake up guys, prisons are scams. The population of pontiac is up (more state bucks) with a prison full of people who aren't much of a drain on local recourses. Close the prison and the prisoners and gaurds go elsewhere and the population of Pontiac drops, then the state bucks dry up (Gov's $$ saving).
"

" this dooshbag is such a tool, i am an idiot for voting for him the first time. how about we save a little money and you live in springfield! what a crazy idea governor! that would probably save us from having to close the prison in pontiac, i think you living in springfield, and staying there, would be in the tax payers interest "in the long run", helmet head! "

" This governor is joke. Pontiac is the most efficient maximum security prison in the state. All the buildings are functioning at 100% capacity. And on top of that, the prison is close to being centrally located when compared to other prisons. Transfers of inmates constantly come to Pontiac. So my question is why does this idiot of a governor want to close such an establishment? Stateville is in far worse condition yet it was saved. Taxpayers, don't believe him about money being hindered because of this moratorium. He had his opportunity when Stateville was selected first. However, he let his political cronies (i.e. Emil Jones) get the better of him. This is YOUR fault, Governor. "

" Say no to Blago! "

" This is unbelievable to think that the citizens of Illinois are represented by this person. He is a spoiled child that you cannot talk to regarding any matter. He seems to think the all is great and well in this state. when we all know better. We do not have leader. This person wants to save money yet he wants to waste 26 million dollars by not closing Stateville. There are mothers and children in this state who do not even have 75 cent bus fair to go to the doctor. I would hate be remembered the way this governor will be remembered. "

" "The 551 workers at Pontiac would be offered the opportunity to transfer to other prison jobs in the area." Who in the heck said this? I am a guard at Pontiac, I know for a fact that not all of us will be offered the opportunity to transfer to other prisons in the area (i.e. Dwight, Lincoln, or Logan). Some of us MAY be offered tranfers to prisons that are hundreds of miles away from our homes like Menard which is falling apart. You morons are making it sound like we all are going to just start working across the street from where we are now. For me even a transfer to Dwight, Lincoln, or Logan is going to add 20-30 miles one way, at these gas prices who needs that? Some of you are going to be saying, "then just move", I say why should I have to? There is nothing wrong with the Pontiac Facility. This is nothing more than our Governor showing Dan Rutherford what he can do if he (Rutherford) doesn't give him what he wants. Just like Ryan did when he closed Sheridan. Thomson was built to releive the current overcrowded prisons. "

" Guess I'm a bit confused. Balgo says he wants to save money for the state and feels he should rely on agency experts to determine facilities to close rather than legislators. The agency experts in this case said the state would save $31M by closing Stateville vs $5M by closing Pontiac. Based on my math, closing Stateville saves $26M more based on the experts analysis. Why (other than the fact he's a complete idiot) are they even talking about closing Pontiac? "