* Eric Zorn tees off on the governor today. Zorn blasted Blagojevich for saying last week after the announcement of his $150 million anti-violence program…
“Children are being shot and killed. And for lawmakers to say we can’t do it, that’s exactly the reason why there’s so much violence out there today and so we’re just not gonna take ‘no’ for an answer.”
* Zorn…
In fact, last August… “no” was his answer to a remarkable anti-violence program: In cutting the state budget, he removed the entire $6.2 million allocation for CeaseFire.
* More from Zorn…
Friday, Northwestern University released a 229-page report concluding that gun violence dropped 17 percent to 24 percent in six of seven neighborhoods where CeaseFire mediators were in place.
The three-year study, commissioned by the U.S. Department of Justice, offered the most striking proof yet that CeaseFire’s trained peacemakers—”violence interrupters,” who are often former gang members themselves—really do save a significant number of lives.
After Blagojevich cut funding to CeaseFire in August, 96 of the program’s 130 conflict mediators lost their jobs, according to founder and director Dr. Gary Slutkin, a University of Illinois at Chicago epidemiologist. CeaseFire’s analysis of police data suggests this has resulted in 170 additional shootings since September.
* Zorn goes on to point out that Blagojevich was an early backer of CeaseFire and that a House-approved bill to double CeaseFire’s appropriation is still sitting in the Senate Rules Committee, “where Senate President Emil Jones sends legislation to die.”
“Pass that bill and I’ll sign it!” Blagojevich did not say last week.
He should have.
* The State Journal-Register takes another whack at Gov. Blagojevich, this time over prison closings…
If Pontiac closes, 800 inmates would go to the Mississippi River facility, with the rest being shipped all over the state. Had Stateville’s wing closed, 400 prisoners would have moved to Thomson. Meanwhile, [a Department of Corrections spokesman] said 800 would have gone to — you guessed it — Pontiac.
If it strikes you as odd that a prison now in the governor’s cross-hairs was, until last week, part of the solution for another prison’s partial closure, welcome to wacky Illinois. Indeed, shuttering Stateville would produce an advertised first-year savings of $31 million. Boarding up Pontiac would supposedly save $4 million annually. We’ve yet to see an apples-to-apples comparison. […]
Is the governor’s reversal politically inspired, then? Did it happen because the legislator representing Stateville, state Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi, is a Democrat like the governor, while Rutherford is a Republican? Or because Rutherford supported putting a recall measure on the ballot, while Wilhelmi took a pass?
Good questions.
* Meanwhile, Dawn Clark Netsch had some harsh words for Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn…
Netsch was quoted in 1980 suggesting that Quinn should be strung feet-first from the third-floor brass rail in the Capitol rotunda. Her opinion hasn’t softened much in the years since.
“The showboating, the press conference every Sunday. … It was always, ‘We’re doing it for the people,’” recalled Netsch, now a law professor at Northwestern University in Evanston. “Put it this way: There are other people I would rather see as governor.”
* Rep. Bill Black had another view…
“Had you been here 25 or 30 years ago, I don’t think people would have said ‘Pat Quinn’ and ‘governor’ in the same sentence,” said longtime state Rep. Bill Black, R-Danville. “They do now.”
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- Anonymous45 - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 9:53 am:
Ms. Netsch needs to move on and or reassess…sounds like a wee bit of sour grapes to me…
- GoBearsss - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 9:56 am:
I agree, Zorn is being a huge Drama Queen.
Ceasefire can get grants from the State just like every other worthwhile anti-violence program that works that is out there.
They just choose to pursue earmarks and special appropriations than to actually go through a grant process.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 9:59 am:
Somehow, GoBearsss, I knew you would get that headline backwards. lol
- Squideshi - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 10:00 am:
Dawn Clark Netsch seems to me to be quite the party loyalist. I spoke with her prior to the 2006 election, asking her if she might consider supporting Rich Whitney for Governor; but she didn’t feel that things had gotten to the point where she would consider supporting anyone outside her own political party–the Democratic Party.
- Ghost - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 10:03 am:
Blag has a good point, why spend 6 mil on a program that works, and is in place with demonstrable effectiveness, but failed to make regualr 25k contributions to his campaign fund. Instead we should take 25 times that cost, 151mil, and toss it to unknow programs and intitives. After all, there are a lot more people who would be willing to kick back money to the gov for their share of the 151 mil, and he has lawyers to pay. And if a million here or there goes missing redirected to fellons, whats the harm? its not like we are in a fiscal crisis.
- bored now - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 10:22 am:
ghost, while you may have a point, the governor took a big risk. he stopped funding gang violence prevention and then, not even a year later, gang violence exploded! it won’t take a republican to point this out, in very colorful form, in the gov’s next campaign. blago may feel like he sure showed them state rep’s who needed ceasefire for their constituents but it looks like the gangs had the last word…
- Bill - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 10:33 am:
Zorn should have looked at the questionable acccounting practices and what really happens to the money before touting Ceasefire as the answer to anything.
Paying (ex)gangbangers for peace sounds a lot like extortion.
As usual, Zorn goes for the cheap and easy headline wihout doing the work.
- GoBearsss - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 10:42 am:
I think Ceasefire is worthwhile. I know why legislators like it (lots of rallies with them in front of the teevee), but I think they probably do good work.
Its just that they should know - when you rely on pork allocations for funding, eventually the pig will be all gone.
The unpredictability of “legislative initiatives” allowed them to soar and expand quickly, but it also taketh away.
Go through a grant process like everyone else. At least you will know what funding you have from year to year.
- Squideshi - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 10:48 am:
Bill wrote, “Paying (ex)gangbangers for peace sounds a lot like extortion.”>
That’s pretty much a theme amongst Democrats in Chicago. That’s why the Conservative Vice Lords were shut down.
- Eric Zorn - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 10:53 am:
Bill, I only get 600 words, give me a break. I looked into the auditor’s report that found irregularities in accounting practices and concluded there was a bit of sloppiness but no corruption or criminality — the Trib did a tut-tut editorial on that issue in the larger context of the good work CeaseFire does. At the end of the Web enhanced version of the column –
http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2008/05/blagojevich-can.html –
there’s a link to Alex Kotlowitz’s lengthy NYTimes article on CeaseFire which reveals the shallowness of your summary that CeaseFire is simply extortion. For someone who accuses me of not doing the work, you appear not to have done the reading.
- GoBearsss - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 10:55 am:
Eric - please address my point then.
Why should ceasefire get special appropriations?
Why won’t they just go through a grant process like every other worthwhile program has to?
Why do they keep relying on “pork” to get their funding?
- Anonymous45 - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 10:58 am:
Blago just showed everyone AGAIN that he is a poser on the issue of the day -Zorn simply got folks to see that he is at least consistent in his poserdom (word?)
- Anon - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 11:38 am:
“As usual, Zorn goes for the cheap and easy headline wihout doing the work.”
So, do you mean that the separation of powers clause in the constitution reserve this activity to the Governor?
- wordslinger - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 11:39 am:
I like Netsch — but if you’re talking elitism, she makes Barack look like a West Virginia coal miner (pool hustling and White Sox games aside).
I suspect the number of people she would rather see as governor other than Quinn is one - herself.
- Team Sleep - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 11:55 am:
Ms. Netsch should be worried that Blago could or will have a state-level Bush-like reverb. Bush cost the GOP the House and Senate. Down the road, Blago’s mismanagement and road-grating style could easily mean long-term problems for the Dems. Of course, that’s all predicated on the state GOP getting its act together - which is asking a lot.
- VanillaMan - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 12:12 pm:
“Had you been here 25 or 30 years ago, I don’t think people would have said ‘Pat Quinn’ and ‘governor’ in the same sentence,” said longtime state Rep. Bill Black, R-Danville. “They do now.”
Had you been here 25 or 30 years ago, I don’t think people would have said ‘Rod Blagojevich’ and ‘governor’ in the same sentence.
Had you been here 25 or 30 years ago, I don’t think people would have said ‘Eric Zorn’ and ‘writer’ in the same sentence.
Had you been here 25 or 30 years ago, I don’t think people would have said ‘Bill’ and ‘thinks’ in the same sentence.
Had you been here 25 or 30 years ago, I don’t think people would have said ‘VanillaMan’ and ‘exhausted father’ in the same sentence.
Had you been here 25 or 30 years ago, I don’t think people would have said ‘Rich Miller’ and ‘beard’ in the same sentence.
Had you been here 25 or 30 years ago, I don’t think people would have said ‘Dawn Clark Netch’ and ‘living’ in the same sentence.
- VanillaMan - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 12:18 pm:
Had you been here 25 or 30 years ago, I don’t think people would have said ‘George W. Bush’ and ‘sober’ in the same sentence.
Had you been here 25 or 30 years ago, I don’t think people would have said ‘George Ryan’ and ‘prison’ in the same sentence.
Had you been here 25 or 30 years ago, I don’t think people would have said ‘Login’ and ‘server’ in the same sentence.
- Pot calling kettle - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 12:19 pm:
GoBearss: The budget is becoming packed with special approps to ensure that the gov doesn’t direct it elsewhere. He redirects anyway, but it indicates the lack of trust.
- VanillaMan - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 12:21 pm:
Had you been here 25 or 30 years ago, I don’t think people would have said ‘Cubs’ and ‘World Series’ in the same sentence. Or 25 or 30 years from now.
OK - I’m done!
- Gregor - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 12:42 pm:
I like Dawn, voted for her once, and still carry respect for her, but her critique of Quinn is outdated. The guy has matured a LOT over the years since then, and as lite gov he has taken a really cruddy job with little control or authority and done arguably more with it than any earlier lt. gov. In fact, his best work gets stolen by Blago all the time. I think if/when Blago gets ejected, Quinn will surprise many, and make this state proud again.
- Budget Watcher - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 1:02 pm:
GoBearss,
I don’t follow your logic…Ceasefire shouldn’t request direct funding from elected officials, but rather from rely upon grants issued by non-elected agency officals? Certainly there’s more direct accountability when lawmakers pass line item funding…or when a Governor vetoes it.
- Bill - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 1:12 pm:
===Certainly there’s more direct accountability when lawmakers pass line item funding…===
You’ve got to be kidding!
I still don’t like the idea of paying gangbangers for “peace”. Where does all that money go?
- Budget Watcher - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 3:26 pm:
Bill,
In this case the accountability issue is clear. The GA appropriated Ceasefire dollars and the Governor vetoed Ceasefire dollars. That’s pretty direct. More directly accountable than allowing an executive agency to grant or not grant dollars. Or, as is happening now, grant the dollars and then never release them.
- GoBearsss - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 3:57 pm:
Budget Watcher - you know better, so I will be brief.
There is a reason there exist grant processes. They work. They are universally used. They have accountability.
A “legislative add-on” or “pork” has no more accountability than the mood, preference or whim of the legislators adding it in.
- Anon - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 4:15 pm:
GoBearss — “They work. They are universally used. They have accountability.”
Loop Lab School. Need I say more? Or are you going to tell us who approved the payment and how specifically they were held accountable?
- Budget Watcher - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 5:39 pm:
GoBearss,
Please tell me your last post was supposed to be humorous. The Church/Loop pre-school grant is the lastest and one of the most blantant examples of a lack of accountability. However, Bill Holland’s shop could give you tens, if not hundreds more examples of grants award or administered without rules, policies, or bureaucratic oversight. I’ve read many of those AG audit reports, including CMS, DHS, and DCEO. In those cases, the executive branch owns those problems too.
- Mad Max - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 8:16 pm:
The one thing that Democrat politicians (such as Pat Quinn) can all agree on is that Rod Blagojevich makes them all look good in comparison to their fearless leader, Rod.
- JohnR - Tuesday, May 13, 08 @ 11:20 pm:
Budget Watcher - you just killed your whole argument.
Loop lab school is the perfect example… but of the opposite of what you think. It was a political special appropriation or gift. The exact thing that every good budget manager (or “Watcher”) should be against.
It was a school getting money on the whim of a politician. Exactly like ceasefire.
What GoBearsss is referring to is competitive grant processes. He(or she) is exactly right - they are far more accountable and prevent against waste and whims of politicians.