* 12:41 pm - Just 87 members are present in the House today. Listen or watch here.
* 12:45 pm - IL AARP takes a swipe at the guv for eliminating or cutting increases in funding for “programs and services that are essential to the welfare and safety of thousands of older adults in Illinois”…
Caring enough about seniors to offer them free rides should also translate into making sure that older Illinoisans have fully funded programs and services so they can live independently and with dignity in the communities of their own choice.
* 12:51 pm - The House was led in prayer today by Rep. Tim Schmitz, who was sent a prayer used in the Indiana House of Representatives several years ago…
Almighty God, You who created the heavens and the earth, light and darkness, the waters and the dry land, the stars and the moon, the plants and the animals, Adam and Eve in six days, help these hardworking legislators that they might successfully complete their work in sixty-one. Then after You have done that, please enlighten the governor as to the wisdom of their accomplishments so that they might rest securely in the knowledge that he won’t undo all the good they have done.
Amen.
LOL.
* 12:56 pm - The Illinois Federation of Teachers has sent a letter to Senate President Emil Jones…
We urge you to immediately reconvene a regular session of the Senate to act on the overrides.
Read the full letter here. Read the IFT’s letter to Speaker Madigan here.
* 12:57 pm - The House appears to be adjourning until tomorrow.
* 1:01 pm - GOP US Senate candidate Steve Sauerberg trumpets his polling numbers…
The polling, conducted by Southern Outreach, an Atlanta-based firm, shows Durbin struggling to break 50% in the uninformed ballot matchup against Sauerberg. In a head to head with Dr. Sauerberg, Durbin leads 52% to 35%. Outside of the Chicago-metro area, Durbin fails to garner 50% and only leads Sauerberg 47% to 40%.
The independent Rasmussen Reports recently polled the race at 61-27 for Durbin.
*** 1:07 pm *** The House has adjourned and will go to committees at 2 o’clock. The big action will be tomorrow. I doubt I’ll have more updates here for a while, but check back anyway.
*** 1:25 pm *** Uh-oh…
As GateHouse Media Inc. stock sank more than 20% in early trading Tuesday — briefly touching $1 a share — Morningstar released a trenchant report declaring shares of the acquisitive community newspaper publisher “could be worthless.”
“Because of the company’s exposure to a challenging advertising environment, a debt-heavy balance sheet, and declining cash flows, we think the equity shares could be worthless,” stock analyst Tom Corbett wrote. […]
Morningstar also said GateHouse is close to violating one or more of the covenants on its huge debt. “Should that happen, its debt could become due immediately, resulting in a possible liquidation scenario,” Corbett wrote.
GateHouse owns the State Journal-Register, Peoria Journal Star and a bunch of other Illinois papers. It’s trading at $1.05 right now. Oy.
*** 3:02 pm *** The House Executive Committee moved a drastically scaled back capital plan to the floor this afternoon. The proposal would reportedly be worth about $5 billion $1.8 billion - far less than the governor’s $34 billion plan. But the House version will require no new money. The billion dollars in state cash $360 million - to be used to leverage about $4 billion $1.8 billion in federal money - will come out of the state’s Road Fund. More in tomorrow’s Capitol Fax.
LIVE session coverage...
- joe Davis - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 1:00 pm:
a great waste of taxpayer dollars
- napoleon - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 1:01 pm:
at least a few more are on their way, been passing them on 55
- PhilCollins - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 1:03 pm:
Last week’s Rasmusen U.S. Senate poll said: Durbin, 61%; Sauerberg, 27%. How can we know which poll is more accurate?
- If It Walks Like a Duck... - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 1:06 pm:
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my program to keep;
And if I die before I vote,
I pray to keep the spending plan we rewrote.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 1:08 pm:
Rasmussen is an independent pollster, so probably them.
- A Citizen - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 1:14 pm:
The House may well restore many of the Vetoes, pass the fund sweeps, and guv and Emil may simply take no action on the veto over rides and take the sweep money and redirect it to whatever Emil and guv want. If the House can’t restrict the sweep money to specific purposes then they should not pass it. Trust remains a stranger in Illinois Gov’t.
- Anon - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 1:17 pm:
Legislators that have no committees this afternoon got a pretty good deal today - $85 for 10 minutes of work. Not a bad gig!
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 1:17 pm:
===If the House can’t restrict the sweep money to specific purposes then they should not pass it.===
I’m pretty sure they’re gonna specify funding.
- A Citizen - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 1:23 pm:
Rich, then Emil better fuel up the limo and head down to Springfield. He’s got some work to do for the people. Not that it really matters, but has guv been in Springfield lately?
- A Citizen - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 1:29 pm:
“This Just In” Rich Miller to buy the SJ-R and become the oldest political pundit newspaper in Illinois.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 1:30 pm:
LOL.
No.
- Rob_N - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 1:32 pm:
The incredible disappearing Sauerberg and his bloggy friends like Ill Review are hyping a partisan poll that shows him getting trounced across several demographics, before Durbin has even opened his campaign war chest?
Whatever floats your boat.
On another topic, is the good doctor related to Umholtz?
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 1:36 pm:
I just saw their story. Hilarious. Striking distance? Man.
- VanillaMan - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 1:40 pm:
Why did Sauerberg waste money on a poll? Anyone can tell him he should run for office as though he hasn’t a chance. Like a poll is going to help him? 47-40 or 68-21, it doesn’t matter. You lose, you lose!
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 1:40 pm:
I presume the New York hedge fund people who came up with GateHouse’s fail-safe business plan of borrowing huge amounts of money to buy up every paper in sight, then run them into the ground with staff cuts so as to keep the stockholders happy, will still manage to come out smelling like a rose somehow? I know times are bad in the newspaper industry but has any media stock ever become officially “worthless” before?
- cover - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 1:41 pm:
Rich, you could probably get a great deal on the SJ-R at the Gatehouse fire sale…
But seriously, maybe Copley can buy it back at a steep discount versus last year’s selling price. The order of the transactions doesn’t matter, you can “sell high, buy low” and make money as well. Even a stable but low-growth business can be a great investment if it’s cheap enough.
- Rob_N - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 1:43 pm:
Stop it, Rich. They’ll think you’re my chihuahua and that sugar-daddy guy Larry will get jealous.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 1:43 pm:
===Rich, you could probably get a great deal on the SJ-R at the Gatehouse fire sale===
What, and sell it in pieces for scrap? lol
…Adding… That was a joke, by the way. There are lots of good things about the SJ-R. Truly. I mean it.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 1:44 pm:
Rob, aren’t you my trained monkey? Or was it poodle?
I like monkey better.
- Rob_N - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 1:57 pm:
Just keep that supply of bananas up.
…Light bulbs go for about 30¢ or so at the hardware store. Depending on how many are in the Gatehouse offices you might be able to recoup the buy-out costs real quick.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 2:00 pm:
Gatehouse market cap is something like $67 million. If you could just buy them without assuming the crushing debt, it would be great. Anybody have an idea? Maybe we could turn this blog into an investment bank. lol
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 2:05 pm:
I suspect we may be in for a round of media company bankruptcies. Watch your pensions, folks, if they weren’t tied up in the stock already.
- A Citizen - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 2:06 pm:
For a slight policy shift on your part, the State Econ. Development folks might give you a grant.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 2:07 pm:
===For a slight policy shift on your part, the State Econ. Development folks might give you a grant.===
Slight? lol
The grant would be too expensive. Don’t think I could afford the contribution.
- anon - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 2:10 pm:
Maybe John Filan could pick up Gatehouse’s debt and sell it to investors to offset pension fund obligations.
- Anon - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 2:11 pm:
I havent even heard of those other guys.. CapFax is the ONLY place for up to the minute, fair and balanced, news.
- Say WHAT? - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 2:14 pm:
Poor newspapers. I still like to read them, but most people just go online. We get most of our news from you Rich! Hey! Ever think of selling stock in the Capitol Fax?
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 2:27 pm:
Say What, the catch is that a lot of the news you read online comes from — you guessed it — newspapers!
- Downstate GOP Faithless - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 2:43 pm:
i love spin…i love if sauerberg gets every undecided he gets 48%…yippie!!! we’re number 2! we’re number 2! we’re number 2! one may be the loniest number, but its the best number!!! um, arent repubs supposed to win big downstate, but in this case he is losing by 7%?
jumping subjects-arent the old people supposed to love blago? and now they dont even seem to be to fond!!!
- Reddbyrd - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 2:51 pm:
Speaking of up to date, fair & balanced…The House Exec committee just took the first step to avert the “crisis” over losing federal earmarks that has been used by the panic peddlers in recent weeks as the excuse to pass the gamblers bill. The new bond authorization paid for with the gowing road fund balance will get the job done.
I think KFan will have more once he wakes Capt Fax up :)
- Greg - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 3:05 pm:
Rich, if you can figure out how to buy the company without the debt, then you should definitely turn into an investment bank. And can’t a blog become too big to fail?
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 3:06 pm:
Reddbyrd, I was trying to get details. They’re up now.
- Say WHAT? - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 3:07 pm:
Anon 2:27 Excellent point. A point I missed in part because my brain is fried from all of the angry phone calls I have been taking. I do read the papers. I am constantly getting info from newspaper links on Capitol Fax. Our economy is taking a terrible hit. Every day we hear about a new group or business being effected. Today it is Illinois Newspapers. I understand they are a huge economic engine. I stand corrected.
- Lurking moderate - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 3:16 pm:
Using road fund money to possibly fix roads? Interesting.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 3:19 pm:
If Gatehouse goes belly up, a lot of local governments are going to have to scramble to meet statutory publication requirements for legal notices. If they have to go to larger papers,(which are not exactly in great financial shape either) the cost could go way up. More gasoline on the inflation fire.
- Arthur Andersen - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 3:22 pm:
The good old-fashioned way to buy a company sans debt: Buy a company without debt or have the seller pay it off at closing.
The “new way” to buy a company sans debt: Bankruptcy Court.
Who needs JP, ML, or CS when you have AA.
- A Citizen - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 3:23 pm:
- Anonymous -
The state does its “advertising” on the internet through the Ill. Procurement Bulletin” system. Local gov’t might have a problem, though.
- Team Sleep - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 3:27 pm:
Any capital plan should be so specific it would make an accountant jealous. I wouldn’t trust giving our governor $5 and telling him to bring back change from getting gas station coffee.
Sauerberg is a card. Striking distance? Close only works in horseshoes and handgrenades.
- Muskrat - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 4:29 pm:
Hey, if the Governor’s so bad at math that he thinks a 12% approval rating is a good thing, then can’t someone just tell him that $1.8 Billion is more than $34 Billion? If he won’t buy that, tell him that’s the gross after Colonel Tom Parker takes his cut of the original $34 Billion. There are cerainly days I think that if the State of Illinois spent $34 Billion on roads, there would be about $1.8 Billion of actual, necessary, competent work done, and $32.6 Billion in sloppy work, skim-offs, ghost workers, contract fees, permit fees, EIS preparation, NEPA documentation, et freakin’ cetera…..
- Timmy OToole - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 5:32 pm:
What a waste. The legislators can afford to give themselves a payraise, but can only must 360 million dollars for capital bill? Pathetic.
If I were labor I would be livid. How many jobs will this creat? 2?
- Bill - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 6:35 pm:
This just in;
Rich Miller named “Chicago’s Best Watchdog” by Chicago Magazine.
Congratualtions to the pride of Kankakee!
- Ghost - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 7:01 pm:
AA lets not forget you can buy the company name and all of its assets without buying the company or its debts :)
- Obvious - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 10:19 pm:
Timmy,
If you use the Governor’s formula, it would create 40,000 jobs. Not bad considering it can done without selling or leasing the lottery, concocting some half baked casino plan, raising taxes or refinancing the pesion debt for the 2nd time. I went to a small school, but 42,000 is more than 2.
Another point, I’m not against the government spending money on necessary projects, but when did it become such a necessary obligation of government to be primararily responsible for creating jobs for labor?
- Bookworm - Tuesday, Jul 15, 08 @ 11:48 pm:
Anyone who worked for GateHouse or its predecessor, Liberty Publishing, saw this crash coming from the moment GateHouse started on its buying spree in 2006 and early 2007.
“Possible liquidation scenario” is a polite way of saying that they could go bankrupt and be forced to sell everything they own — down to buildings, equipment, furniture, etc. — to satisfy their creditors.
To whomever dreamed up their business strategy, which it didn’t take an economic guru to see was doomed to fail: Thank you very much for destroying the profession I gave 20 years of my life to.
- Arthur Andersen - Wednesday, Jul 16, 08 @ 3:49 am:
Obvious, it’s a little known fact that the Blago job creation calculator is the same one used to calculate “savings” for their various proposals. (You know, double down on the pension debt while the markets are tanking and save $55 billion.) AA has heard from reliable sources that a Dunn Fellow at GOMB pressed the wrong key several weeks ago, almost causing a catastrophic error: “Gov.Blago Illinois Works creates $600 billion savings for Illinois Labor.”
- Obvious - Wednesday, Jul 16, 08 @ 6:52 am:
AA,
It will be interesting to see how many jobs this last proposal will cost labor. Blago will spin this, that labor will have less jobs than it does now if this passes. I can see it now.
“Madigan causes labor to lose over 600,000 jobs with his proposal, it’s not good for people,” said the Governor, “Unemployment will exceed 10% if this proposal passes, I will use my amendatory veto to make it better by adding $31.8 billion with the projects to be determined later ……….by me.”
- Bill - Wednesday, Jul 16, 08 @ 7:36 am:
Arthur,
You gotta start getting more sleep!