Today Sen. Mark Kirk was transferred from Northwestern Memorial Hospital to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) where he will be under the care of Dr. Richard L. Harvey, Medical Director of RIC’s Center for Stroke Rehabilitation.
Dr. Harvey said, “RIC’s team of experts will spend the next few days assessing Senator Kirk’s condition and developing a comprehensive, targeted rehabilitation program tailored to achieve the goals that will be established by Senator Kirk and his family. The Senator has several pre-stroke factors in his favor that our research and experience demonstrate will foster a better recovery, including his relative youth, good general health and fitness, strong personal motivation, and high intelligence.”
The office of Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) today released the following statement at the request of Senator Kirk’s family:
“We want to extend our deepest gratitude to the incredible team at Northwestern Memorial for all they have done for Mark. Words will never be good enough to express the love and appreciation we feel. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. As Mark begins the next phase in his recovery, we want to thank the thousands of people around the state, the nation and the world who have called, written notes, sent flowers and offered their thoughts and prayers. Mark’s drive and spirit are stronger than ever and we know he will give 110% in the days ahead.”
* At least two neighboring states, Missouri and Wisconsin, plan to use money from the national foreclosure settlement to help balance their budgets…
The Missouri House Budget Committee chairman said today that he supports Gov. Jay Nixon’s proposal to use $40 million of a multi-state bank settlement to ease higher education budget cuts.
Gov. Scott Walker, who joined Van Hollen for the announcement, says about 18 percent of the settlement – or $25.6 million – will go into the state’s general fund.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett begs to differ. After hearing Walker’s plan, Barrett called a news conference to urge the governor and attorney general to return the funds to the communities, instead of using them to balance the budget.
* Overall, the national settlement will require about a billion dollars to be spent in Illinois compensating mortgage holders who were victims of robo-signing schemes and to lower principal on certain mortgages.
Illinois’ governmental share is about $100-110 million, according to Attorney General Lisa Madigan. AG Madigan told me today that the settlement creates a special trust fund in Illinois, controlled by her office, which she will then use to keep people in their homes.
*** UPDATE *** AG Madigan’s staff just contacted me to further clarify Madigan’s comments on the trust fund. This is actually a federal trust fund and Illinois’ share is $100-110 million. That money, per the settlement, will be overseen by the AG’s office.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* Asked about other states which are using the cash for their budgets, Madigan said that while she understood the states’ financial problems, the settlement was all about the mortgage issue and the money ought to go for that.
“The one sector of our economy that is showing no signs of recovery is the housing market,” Madigan said. “One of the best things you can do is to make resources available to help people pay on their mortgages and stay in their homes. That will help our state economy… That’s what this was all about. That’s what [the money] should be used for.”
* Madigan also pushed back against reports like this one…
The $25 billion settlement with banks over foreclosure abuses may result in a wave of home seizures, inflicting short-term pain on delinquent U.S. borrowers while making a long-term housing recovery more likely.
The deal could help break a logjam that has stalled foreclosures from moving through courts, a scenario that has allowed some delinquent homeowners to stay in their homes more than two years without making any mortgage payments.
According to Madigan, the banks “paused” foreclosures for a couple of months, but she did not believe there was a large backlog that would suddenly create a flood of foreclosure proceedings. She also noted that part of the proceeds from the $100 million will go to some legal aid groups to help homeowners facing foreclosure.
* There is another school of thought, particularly with some liberals, that the $2,000 people can get if their mortgage documents were robo-signed translates into: “They stole my house, I got $2,000.” But the robo-signing doesn’t mean that people necessarily lost their homes when they shouldn’t have. If a home was actually taken without cause, another program, run through the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, will make former homeowners whole, Madigan said. That program has an application deadline of April 30th.
As for other issues involving the mortgage meltdown, Madigan said, “This was not intended to address every issue, it’s purely focused on robo-signing and the complete overhaul of servicing standards.” Her office also released a document entitled “Setting the Record Straight about the Bank Foreclosure Settlement.” Click here to read it.
* Related…
* AG: Homeowners can seek hotline after mortgage settlement
* Quinn: Mortgage settlement will help Illinoisans
* Madigan: Illinois to get $1 billion as part of multi-state mortgage settlement
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn says if he wins the $310 million Powerball jackpot this weekend, he’ll still keep his job.
The Democrat purchased a $2 ticket Thursday for the Illinois Lottery game. […]
When asked if he’d use the winnings to help pay down the state’s massive backlog of unpaid bills, Quinn said he’s got to pay down some of his own bills, but there would be money left over.
* The Question: What do you think Gov. Quinn will do with the money if he wins the Powerball jackpot tomorrow?
* Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s newly unveiled handgun registration proposal has zero chance of passage, but will probably rake in big bucks for the pro-gun lobby. Check out this Illinois State Rifle Association e-mail…
URGENT ALERT:
CHICAGO MAYOR RAHM EMANUEL LAUNCHES NEW ATTACK ON YOUR RIGHTS
On Thursday, February 9th, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel called for the Illinois General Assembly to pass a $65 per handgun fee to be levied against every law-abiding gun owner in Illinois – INCLUDING YOU. Of course, gang bangers, murderers, robbers and rapists are exempt from the fee. This fee would be charged every 5 years on every handgun you own. Additionally, you would have to register with the government in the same manner as sex-offenders.
WHAT THIS MEANS TO YOU
If Rahm Emanuel’s gun tax passes, you will be required to pack up your handguns and take them to the local police station for examination and registration. If you have 10 handguns to bring in, you’ll walk out paying $650 in taxes. If you own 100 handguns, the government will lighten your wallet to the tune of $6,500. And, you’ll have to repeat this process every 5 years – unless Emanuel and his buddies in the legislature bump this up to an ANNUAL FEE.
WHAT IF YOU DON’T HAVE THE MONEY TO PAY THE TAX?
If you cannot pay the $65 tax on EACH of your handguns, you will have to surrender your guns to the local police for destruction.
WHAT IF YOU DECIDE NOT TO PAY THE TAX?
If you decide not to pay the tax, the police will come to your house and take your guns away. They will also arrest you and charge you with a CLASS 2 FELONY.
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP STOP THIS HANDGUN TAX IN ITS TRACKS?
1. Using the link below, contact your State Senator and State Representative and politely tell them that you are a law-abiding Illinois firearm owner who does not want their rights taxed. Tell your Senator and Representative that you expect them to vote AGAINST Rahm Emanuel’s gun tax should it come to the floor of the legislature.
2. Please pass this alert on to all your gun-owning friends and family, tell them to follow the directions contained in the alert.
3. Please post this alert to any and all Internet Blogs or Bulletin Boards to which you belong.
4. Go to the City of Chicago web page and fill out this form. Tell Emanuel that you will NOT LET HIM TAX YOUR GUNS.
http://webapps.cityofchicago.org/eforms/org/cityofchicago/eforms/controller/contactUsForm/preFeedbackForm.do
5. Please use the donation link below to send a generous donation to the ISRA, today. We badly need the money to continue to fight against Emanuel and his gun-grabbing pals. Think about it:
would you rather send your money as taxes to Emanuel, or donate to the ISRA?!
* As I pointed out yesterday, Mayor Emanuel has worked hard to convince Downstate Democrats to help with his agenda. They are not happy campers…
Rep. Brandon Phelps, who has championed efforts to pass a concealed weapons bill in Illinois, said the mayor’s office called him Thursday morning to let him know the registration proposal would be introduced.
“Number 1, my first response was I don’t know why you’re trying to do this statewide because we don’t want your policies on us downstate,” said Phelps, a Southern Illinois Democrat from Harrisburg. “Number. 2, it’s never going to work. They’re trying to go after criminals. They’re never going to register their guns. They won’t pay the fee. “
Phelps called Emanuel’s initiative a “slap in the face of every law-abiding gun owner.”
But metro-east legislators, who have been working in the opposite direction, to allow concealed carrying of handguns, say they’ll fight Emanuel’s proposal hard. One of them called the bill ridiculous, and another, Sen. Bill Haine, said there’s “just no damned way we’re going to let that happen.”
“Why does Chicago think they’re smarter than anybody else in the rest of the United States? I don’t think they are,” says Senator Gary Forby. […]
“The city and the area of the country with the toughest gun laws in the country is also the highest crime rates in the country and I don’t think that’s a simple coincidence,” says Bradley. […]
“People down here I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if they have 25, 50, 100 guns down here. Can you imagine $65 for every gun?,” asks Forby.
“I didn’t go into it because I thought it was a slam dunk. You don’t need me for that. You don’t need my political capital for the easy things. You use your political capital for the tough things that are the right things to do,” the mayor said during a news conference at a Roseland youth center across the street from a memorial to the victims of youth violence.
“This is a tough issue politically. But I want you to measure that against the toughness of that memorial [across] the street.”
Emanuel noted that 56 percent of the guns used in Chicago crimes were purchased in Illinois, but outside the city. That leaves what he called a “gaping hole” that criminals are exploiting.
“We need to close that hole, shut it down, so that the hard work of the law enforcement community, the hard work of our community groups, the hard work of our faith-based community, the hard work of our parents [doesn’t go to waste and] our laws are backing them up and keeping their kids safe, rather than making them more vulnerable,” the mayor said.
“You already buy a title for a car. You already buy a title for a motorcycle. You buy a title for a boat. I’m not asking you to do anything you don’t do already.””
The mayor didn’t get immediate public support from Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn. While the governor campaigned on a statewide ban on assault weapons, he said Thursday that he would reserve his opinion on Emanuel’s gun registry plan. Quinn wants lawmakers to first weigh in and “give their wisdom.”
That’s the smart move. Why alienate a huge bloc of legislative votes over somebody else’s bill that isn’t going anywhere?
* Reminder: Keep your overheated slogans to yourself. Also, the stupid references to Nazi Germany yesterday were blocked before they were even posted, so don’t even try that goofiness here.
* According to the Tribune, 65 percent of collar county voters and almost 60 percent of Republicans favor the “workers pay more” option. More…
[On cutting benefits for current retirees] Opinion was divided along income levels, with 13 percent of those earning less than $50,000 a year supporting benefit cuts for retirees, and 28 percent of voters earning more than $100,000 a year favoring it. […]
30 percent of voters would support cutting other state programs to better fund pensions. Opinion is heavily divided along partisan lines, with just 17 percent of Democrats supporting that idea compared with 50 percent of Republicans.
* The Tribune has released its poll results for Gov. Pat Quinn’s job approval rating. Quinn’s rating is as dismal as always: 30 percent approve and 54 percent disapprove. TPM poll tracker has Quinn’s average job approval rating at 31.9 percent over the past 2 years, while his average disapproval rating is 54 percent.
The poll of 600 registered voters, which has an error margin of 4 percentage points, was conducted Feb. 2-6. The interviews began a day after Quinn delivered an optimistic State of the State speech to lawmakers in Springfield in which he declared that after three years of his leadership, “Illinois is back on course. Illinois is moving forward. And Illinois is a place that we can be proud to claim as our own.”
That’s not the view many Illinoisans hold about the state’s economy. About three-quarters of Illinois voters said they failed to see an improvement in Illinois’ economy or thought that it is getting worse. Of that group, 88 percent disapproved of Quinn. […]
The governor scores best within his own party, though the poll found fewer than half of those who identified themselves as Democrats approve of Quinn’s job performance — 44 percent. But 61 percent of independent voters, always a key political demographic in statewide elections, expressed disapproval with his handling of the job.
Outfit crime boss Michael “The Large Guy” Sarno was sentenced to 25 years in prison this week. Sarno ordered the bombing of a business that was encroaching on his illegal video poker racket.
I’m glad that Sarno’s going to prison. I’m also happy that Illinois finally wised up and legalized video poker machines for taverns, fraternal clubs and truck stops.
A legal, regulated video poker industry means wise guys like Sarno will be put out of business. Illinois’ ridiculous “For Amusement Only” tax stickers on poker machines will finally come to an end once the legal, regulated machines are put into place. Nobody plays video poker at a tavern purely for their own amusement. They play because they’re hoping to win an illegal jackpot.
I have no fundamental problem with people who want to plunk quarters into a poker machine while they sip a beer and watch a game at their corner tap. They’re not criminals.
The problem, you see, isn’t video poker.
The problem is that the Outfit has been able to rake in untold millions of dollars while Illinois turned a mostly blind eye. Yeah, a few guys with bent noses and a handful of tavern owners were busted once in a while, but nothing ever stopped.
Legalization is the only proven way to cut the gangsters out. Illinois quickly killed off the illegal numbers rackets when the state started its own lottery, for instance.
On Friday, Gov. Pat Quinn will hold a press conference to “encourage people to support education and capital construction programs by playing Powerball,” according to his office. Before legalization, the numbers games just lined the pockets of violent criminals. Now, they help fund schools and roads.
Legalization also worked when the United States decided to end Prohibition. The Mafia doesn’t control the liquor industry, multinational corporations do. And whatever else you can say about them, rival corporate CEOs rarely bomb one another.
It’s never easy to legalize a “vice.”
The opponents of legalized video poker are still screaming about the “massive expansion” of sinful gambling it represents, as if the tens of thousands of machines that illegally pay out somehow don’t exist.
While most opponents are quite sincere, all their opposition really ends up doing is helping the mob. People are going to gamble. If a game of chance is illegal, the mob will find a way to make money. Lots of money. And then other people are going to be hurt, or killed, or bombed or bribed or whatever. Bet on it.
Lately, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has been pushing hard to lower the penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana. There’s no reason, she says, to keep locking people in steel cages with violent criminals simply because they’ve decided to put something into their own bodies.
Preckwinkle appears to be making progress with Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy, who said this week that he’s “all in favor” of issuing tickets for possessing small amounts of pot.
And while this is a necessary first step, it doesn’t go nearly far enough. It would be like decriminalizing a can of beer instead of ending Prohibition, or handing out small fines for possessing a numbers ticket in the 1960s. It doesn’t stop the real, festering societal problem of the control of vice by pathologically violent criminals.
If you truly want to hurt the Outfit and the street gangs, the only proven method is to legalize, regulate and tax their vice products.
* Related…
* War against drugs has failed on many fronts, panel says
* Preckwinkle Decries War On Drugs At Palatine Breakfast
