Gov. Pat Quinn says 'no final decisions' yet on prisoner releases

Gov. Pat Quinn tried Thursday to temper growing concerns over his plans to release low-level inmates so he can lay off 1,000 prison workers, saying he wants to "carefully examine" the idea but has made "no final decisions." Prison union leaders say as many as 11,000 of Illinois' 45,500 or so inmates could be eligible for release.

[Prison Tyrone]

Quinn, your scare tactic is not working. Release people who have minor drug offenses. KEEP CUTTING. There are social programs out there that can be cut. SHARED SACRIFICE is the catch phrased being used by politicians, including Obama, so that means EVERYBODY! Cut from all social programs and let them share in the sacrifice.

Anyway, the people of Illinois will be screwed soon. Michael Madigan, who is in favor of the tax increase, will soon back off his demand that Republicans support it. Now that his daughter won't be running for the US Senate or for governor.

[A Guy]

Prison Tyrone wrote:

Quinn, your scare tactic is not working. Release people who have minor drug offenses. KEEP CUTTING. There are social programs out there that can be cut. SHARED SACRIFICE is the catch phrased being used by politicians, including Obama, so that means EVERYBODY! Cut from all social programs and let them share in the sacrifice.
Anyway, the people of Illinois will be screwed soon. Michael Madigan, who is in favor of the tax increase, will soon back off his demand that Republicans support it. Now that his daughter won't be running for the US Senate or for governor.

What do you see as Quinn's scare tactics? It looks like the union is offering the scare tactics.

But yes, non-violent drug offenders should be at the top of the list, followed by a change in the laws so that we can stop wasting time locking them up in the first place.

This is great that we are actually seeing serious talk about getting rid of government employees. Too bad it takes a financial disaster to shrink government.

[Montys python]

Just wondering how many of these "low level" drug offenders had more serious charges dropped by prosecutors to pad their conviction rates?And what exactly is a "low level" offender? A pot smoker,a street dealer?Courier,crackhouse inmate?

[John J Coughlin]

It's time for every Illinois taxpayer to get radical at the ballot box. Screw these crooks!

[Prison Tyrone]

A Guy wrote:

<quoted text>
What do you see as Quinn's scare tactics? It looks like the union is offering the scare tactics.
But yes, non-violent drug offenders should be at the top of the list, followed by a change in the laws so that we can stop wasting time locking them up in the first place.
This is great that we are actually seeing serious talk about getting rid of government employees. Too bad it takes a financial disaster to shrink government.

He vetoes a budget instead of following through with the supposed cuts to social programs. He is trying to play on peoples emotions and now with this prison talk, probably try to scare them into approving what he wants or the mean criminals come out. It is a game he is playing, apparently, you cannot see that.

My main thing is that I want less government. Cut all around, I don't care. The answer to government is to raise taxes instead of living within a budget or cutting back. That is what normal, everyday people do, at least the responsible ones. And this governor doesn't want a small tax increase, he wants 50%. If it was 2-3%, something small, maybe I'll go with that, while still expecting cuts in government.

I would love to see the city of Chicago cut back on the number of alderman. There is no reason we need 50 of them and all of their associated expenses.

When the economy is bad and affecting almost everybody, that is when government wants to tax more, increase and create fees, and pass pay raises for themselves as the alderman passed their 6% increase for a part-time job. I have not heard of government looking for creative ways, such as looking at pensions, to save money. Not get rid of them entirely, but do they really have to be so much for public employees?

So yes, scare tactics. Yes, playing on emotions. The governor parading around women and children and creating protests to try to get his way is a farce.

[Jun]

This guy is a complete joke. Yes Madigan will support a tax increase, he always has.We should be very proud of these people. Just keep electing these low life demos. We have had the same old crap since the democrats got control of the legislature, but just keep electing them jokers.

[Lester Maddox]

Everyone should arm themselves and when A HOLE Quinn lets all of these felons out of the pen, when you spot one of them, shoot them!

[zermatt]

Oh, the drama. Why doesn't Quinn threaten to release them all?

When will Quinn man-up and make cuts across the entire government? Perhaps he can eliminate the redundant staff that he had as Lt. Governor? What about changes to state employee benefits and furlough days?

Quinn - what a tool.

[WEJ]

Quinn is a joke

[TaffyApple]

Governor do what you MUST do. Costs are escalating OUT of CONTROL and there seems to be know resolve.

[Go Poo Poo]

What a great government

[Capital Punishment]

Just kill the really bad prisoners instead of releasing
the half bad. Save 23k per rapist, murderer, and child
molestor.

[Taxpayer]

Tell the dead beats that you are going to cut them off. No more free ride.

Cut welfare by 20% now. Cut it again in 1 year and again the year after.

The freeloaders of our society are not entirely stupid, they will catch on and move to California.

The down side, we may risk losing a huge part of the Democrat's voting base. I'm willing to risk it.

[Karl Marx- I oughtta know]

A Guy wrote:

<quoted text>
What do you see as Quinn's scare tactics? It looks like the union is offering the scare tactics.
But yes, non-violent drug offenders should be at the top of the list, followed by a change in the laws so that we can stop wasting time locking them up in the first place.
This is great that we are actually seeing serious talk about getting rid of government employees. Too bad it takes a financial disaster to shrink government.

Serious talk? Not yet.

I work for the government, we're still flush from the porkulus.

It should start from the bottom.

[Karl Marx- I oughtta know]

TaffyApple wrote:

Governor do what you MUST do. Costs are escalating OUT of CONTROL and there seems to be know resolve.

Nothing new here, why should the liberals start now?

[Yeah Right]

Well now, so the Irish Pedophile Papist supporting Quinn drops the fear-card...
Give me my way {aka: your money/higher taxes}, or - I'll let the villans out on the streets; how'd you like that?
Every honest citizen/taxpayer in Illinois should be outraged over this... fear-mongering/socio-pathic play by Mr. Wasn't Elected To The Office He Holds.
By all means - CUT the state budget. Cut it by AT LEAST the $9.2 billion deficit {and then some}. But, to play the villians on the loose card - what kind of fool does this Irish P O S think we are?
As far as I'm concerned, deport any/all illegals currently anywhere in the state penal system, export the really dangerous ones to a sub-contractor facility somewhere in deepest, darkest Africa, serve the remaining prisoners oatmeal three times a day, remove all air-conditioning, TV, recreational facilities and just establish a 24/7 lockdown!
Quinn - you're a chump and a remainder of one-term {at longest} putz. If you're not indicted {or strung up}- count yourself lucky!

[Blanche]

It is way past time to start reducing our disproportionately minority prison population, particularly the ones who are in jail for nonviolent drug offenses It costs about $40,000 a year to house an inmate in our increasingly expensive jails.

I don't live in Lake Forest either. I live across the border from a drug-infested part of the city and have for decades without incident. I have a dog in this fight. I'll take my chances rather than see our prison system get even more expensive and our exorbitant overall tax burden get even higher viith Pat Quinn's regressive income tax hike.

For AFSCME, this is all about jobs and union fees. The fewer state employees, the fewer union fees. Obviously, they are going to raise the specter of (mostly minority if it's Illinois)
men rampaging about committing crimes. They are shameless.

However, there probably are other ways of reducing expenses if Quinn blinks, as he probably will. In fact, this talk of reducing
expenses by releasing prisoners is probably more scare-mongering than thoughtful policy on his part, since he is so desperate to fill Democratic coffers with contributions from prison contractors and others who profit from our huge prison system.

However, for those who remain opposed to the idea of reducing the prison population, remember that there are ways of cutting expenses that don't involve the prisons. For example, Quinn could fire at least a few of the 3000 Blagojevich hacks he inherited when he took office...all of them making hefty salaries plus cheap health insurance and lavish pension credits, all paid for by us. Or he could cut the massive patronage machines, Democratic patronage, in the management ranks of agencies like DCFS and DHS and
DCEO.The managers in these places get their jobs through merit. They get them because they made the proper
"campaign contributions" in order to purchase their high-paying jobs or because they are a relative or friend of a politician. Flatten the management structures and get rid of a few thousand of these folks and you won't need to cut the prison population. You won't need to raise taxes either.

It won't happen. Quinn wants money from taxpayers and he doesn't care how he gets it. And he wants to preserve the Chicago Democratic machine statewide-jobs and contracts.

[ice]

how about deportation of illegal immigrants in Illinois our budget can be decreased from 9 billion down to 6 billion dollars!

[Fibbity Gibbit]

Quinn - what a dope you are!
You think we're all stupid?
Go ahead - release 'em all, I don't care. I conceal and carry anyway. This pathetic state is SO corrupt, non-elected to the post/top to bottom and there's really no difference between 'top' and 'bottom': Quinn, Madigan - both of 'em, Burris, Jackson, Jr., Jones, Stroger, Steele, Rush, Cullerton, the Greek {I can't spell that lose the kids college funds due to incompetence Treasurer's name}, etc, etc.
Just let 'em ALL out and we'll have us one big and long overdue turkey-shoot - starting with the politicians!

[rightt]

And what revenue stream will the released junkies turn to? Good luck