Guess who was in Peoria this week? Dick Durbin and Aaron Schock. You may recall that Scott Sorrel, Tom O’Neill, Jimmy Dillon, and Tim Riggenbach just last week traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with these same two people, at a cost to taxpayers of $3,000. They didn’t actually meet with them, though. They met with Schock’s and Durbin’s staffs.
The justification for this trip was that the city council and county board reps could meet with “key projects directors for the legislators, who are the one’s who really make things happen,” and who “typically don’t make it to Illinois.” Of course, those staffs work for the Senator and Congressman, not the other way around. So they only “make things happen” with the support of Durbin and Schock.
The bottom line is, they could have met face to face here, and Schock and Durbin could have directed their staffs to “make things happen” when they got back to D.C., and the taxpayers could have saved $3,000. Better yet, the City and County could simply stop squandering our money on bread and circuses so we wouldn’t have to lobby Congress for money to take care of basic services like municipal road repair.
Hope our local officials enjoyed their taxpayer-funded vacation to D.C.
Did we at least get a tee-shirt?
Here’s the thing: Shock’s and Durbin’s staffers are going to the ones doing the heavy lifting to get these project’s approved. They are the ones who are going to have to know the details about these projects. It is not feasible for these staffers to be back home touring communities gathering information AND working on the legislation needed to get this funding.
So this lobbying trip, to me, is not out of line.
Here’s how I see it, You have a plugged toliet, you can A) unplug the toilet or B)call the plumber or C) go to the plumber’s house and tell him it’s clogged. Either way, there is a turd someplace.
Billy,
Your missing the point in the end…
What were our city/county reps lobbying for…?
Like C.J. said, bread & circuses. That is out of line!
CJ, new voice;
have either or you actually ever held a real job other than working for a tax exempt shelter of hatred, and government? Billy’s right, and you know it.
Billy — Let’s accept your premise for the sake of argument. What then is the role of the $85,000 lobbyist that the county employs in D.C.?
AL — Great April Fool comment.
Al,
After considering your above comment carefully………..
Bite me.
Billy is right! we don’t Durbin or Schock at all… let’s eliminate them from the payrolls and keep their staffs on. Their staffs do all the work…
The city delegation did meet in DC with Schock and his staff, but not with Durbin or Burris. They did meet with Durbin’s staff in DC.