Governor Absentovich

That's the cost of doing business in the capital of Illinois these days. Governor Blagojevich will not even attend the sessions, even though he called it and will be in his office only two floors up. He's pouting, you see, because he and House Speaker Michael Madigan (father of A.G. Lisa Madigan) are mad at each other. Perhaps "Governor Absentovich" would be a better name for this governor, who rarely steps foot into our capitol city, let alone the capitol building. Hmmm, $40,000... Closer to home in Rogers Park, that's the approximate combined cost of the CTA-DevCorp mural over Morse Avenue and the one planned for the CTA wall between Morse and Lunt. The Illinois Legislature, however, will actually accomplish something. We hope. SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - July 5 - Illinois lawmakers met today in a special session ordered by Governor Blagojevich, but the governor did not take part. Lawmakers scolded the Democratic governor for refusing to attend a House hearing. MORE... SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Lawmakers are back in Springfield Thursday for a special session of the Illinois Legislature. Governor Rod Blagojevich called the session to try to break the impasse over a multi-billion-dollar budget. The session will cost the state thousands of dollars a day. Some estimate the cost at more than $40,000 per day. MORE... RELATED: Blagojevich Getting it Done! and Special session will cost plenty