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* From a Tribune editorial…
This isn’t the first time a governor envisioned the pollution board as a cushy sinecure: That’s also where Rod Blagojevich infamously tried to find a lucrative state job for his wife, Patti.
Yes, Rod Blagojevich did think about appointing his wife to the Pollution Control Board. However, he was told by his chief of staff that she wasn’t qualified…
Blagojevich proposed that he appoint his wife to the pollution control board, a post that paid $100,000 a year, but Harris said he was able to dissuade the governor after telling him that board members needed specific qualifications that Patti Blagojevich did not have.
So, that’s a truly disingenuous remark by the Trib.
* Republican Congresswoman Judy Biggert on the GOP’s federal lawsuit against the Democrats’ new redistricting map…
Biggert said there’s a legal precedent for success, that Republicans went to court in 1991 and had the Democratic maps overturned and created the first Latino district.
Um, no. The Republicans drew the maps in 1991.
…Adding… Corrected by a reader. Republicans drew the legislative map, but no congressional map passed, so the courts chose the GOP map. The Dem map, however, was not overturned, so the point is still the same.
* Oy…
On December 8, 2010, the City Council voted 46 to nothing to give CME—a multibillion-dollar company run by multimillionaires—$15 million in property tax dollars from the LaSalle/Central TIF district.
Curiously, almost nine months have passed and the city and CME still have not finalized the TIF deal. While CME did not respond to a request for comment, the city’s official explanation is they’re studying the fine print, making sure that all the Is are dotted and Ts crossed. “It’s not unusual for final details to be addressed as an RDA [redevelopment agreement] is completed,” says Susan Massel, a spokeswoman for the city’s department of Housing and Economic Development. “That’s what is happening.”
The scuttlebutt at City Hall is that the Merc is balking at the deal. Why? Because they’d like to get even a better deal—they’re wrangling with the state to get a tax break. The corporate income tax rate in Illinois increased this year from 7.3 percent to 9.5 percent.
If CME were to take the $15 million the city is desperately trying to give them, they’d have a harder time leveraging the state for a tax break.
Let’s take a moment to review this. In short, we, the happy idiots of Chicago, gave the CME $15 million to keep jobs in town. And now CME is threatening to move if they don’t get a better break.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Aug 5, 11 @ 10:47 am
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so can we now say that rahm emanuel wants to give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires too?
Comment by shore Friday, Aug 5, 11 @ 11:10 am
The fact that the owner are successfull is not relevant to me. The question is will the State receieve a benefit that is far greater then the one being extended. If the buiness stays and there is a gurantee that it will employ x number of people who will be payed salaries upon which we will collectc taxes, and those employees will of course be spending money in the state…and that amunt far exceeds the benft given to CMS, then it is in the States best interest to do it.
If there is little ot no benefit to the deal then we deny it. The ownersindividual success is not really part of the equation.
Comment by Ghost Friday, Aug 5, 11 @ 11:33 am
Patti should have used the name, Patti Burke.
Comment by Wumpus Friday, Aug 5, 11 @ 12:14 pm
Actually, there was no map before the court in 1991. The legislature failed to act. So the court had to pick from a variety of options and picked the Republican map. The Dems had passed one through the House, which might have been what Biggert was talking about.
Regardless, the facts in 2011 are very different than 1991.
Comment by QMap Friday, Aug 5, 11 @ 1:10 pm
Why is that a disingenous remark from Trib. Provided the COS is telling the truth, it appears to be right on the money.
Comment by Just Observing Friday, Aug 5, 11 @ 1:45 pm
===Why is that a disingenous remark from Trib.===
Because the facts undermine their point.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Aug 5, 11 @ 1:50 pm
Provided the COS is being truthful, did Blago not “envision” this cushy job for his wife? The answer is yes. He may have ultimately come to terms that she did not meet the qualifications, but he was hoping for the $100,000 pay day.
Comment by Just Observing Friday, Aug 5, 11 @ 2:54 pm
By not explaining the real situation, they were being less than truthful.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Aug 5, 11 @ 3:04 pm