Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » 2005

Monday, Mar 14, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Visits to the site are the same as early last week, but comments are way, way down. Did Wednesday’s accidental hate fest scare everyone off?

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Shirley

Monday, Mar 14, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

[Name blocked by request] over at Makes Me Ralph has a sweet post about Shirley Madigan.

She’s a polar opposite from her husband, Michael Madigan, Speaker of the Illinios House. She’s open and funny. And unlike Madigan, who’s personal presence seems to suck interpersonal banter into some kind of conversational black hole, she loves to tell stories.

Whatever you think of her husband, Shirley is about the nicest woman you’ll ever meet, and long after people have forgotten who Michael J. Madigan was, the projects and programs that Shirley has helped implement will still be going strong.

[Name blocked by request] did get one thing wrong, however. The Speaker is a grand story teller in private, off the record conversations.

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Keyes needs dough, sells videos

Monday, Mar 14, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Alan Keyes is back, and he’s begging for money. (From an e-mail)

Dear friend of Alan Keyes:

We are pleased to announce the launch of KeyesMediaCentral.com This site is designed to provide our fellow Declarationists with Alan Keyes media products and right-thinking conservative resources, while financially benefiting Ambassador Keyes’ ongoing public work. The site is non-commercial - all products are offered as premiums available for minimum suggested, non-deductible donations.

The first project to benefit from your donations at this site will be Keyes 2004, the Keyes for U.S. Senate campaign, to assist in our debt reduction efforts. As you may know, the Keyes campaign raised all its own money for a last-minute grassroots challenge against the otherwise unopposed leftist Barack Obama. Alan received only the nominal mandated Senate Committee financial commitment from the national GOP, and no support whatever from the state GOP. Thanks to loyal supporters like you, a credible challenge was mounted on short notice and a tight budget - but some debt remains.

If you go to his new website, you’ll see that he’s trying to raise money by selling copies of the US Senate debate for 20 bucks a pop.

Could this be legal? Just wondering.

The Keyes folks are also about to launch a new website called Illinois United. Yes, we are united here in Illinois. We proved that last year when we gave that hypocritical hothead an almost unanimous bum’s rush.

3 Comments

Question of the day

Monday, Mar 14, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Old subject, backed up by new polling.

A majority of cell phone users acknowledge they get irritated at other people for using cell phones in public.

The University of Michigan poll found that six in 10 cell users say that using a cell in public can be ‘’a major irritation.'’

About four in 10 said there should be a law that prohibits people from talking on cell phones in public places like museums, movie theaters and restaurants.

Question of the day (sorry it’s so late): Should Illinois ban or restrict cell phone use in public places?

6 Comments

The revolving door

Monday, Mar 14, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Now that the governor has announced that he will unveil a “sweeping” ethics bill, expect everyone to come out of the woodwork with their own pet peeve. The Associated Press points out the number of legislators and staff who have gone through the revolving door into the lobbying field.

In the past few months, four of the more influential people in the Illinois Senate ended long careers of shaping law and public policy. […]

Still, the practice raises eyebrows, and 28 other states have adopted “revolving-door'’ limits on lobbying by former legislators or other public officials.

But the governor’s office isn’t biting yet.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who promises to propose a sweeping campaign-finance reform plan, has not considered a revolving-door ban on lobbyists, Deputy Gov. Bradley Tusk said.

Which means that the AP might make mention of this subject if the governor’s product doesn’t include revolving door language.

The AP also compiled a long list of legislators who became lobbyists. The list can be found here.

7 Comments

Medicaid expansion

Monday, Mar 14, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Say what you want about him, but Governor Rod Blagojevich definitely cares about expanding the Medicaid program.

Illinois [is] one of only two states, along with Maine, that is still actively expanding its Medicaid rolls. […]

Illinois enrollment stood at 1.38 million in 1997 and was exactly the same four years later. Enrollment has skyrocketed since, to 1.74 million last year. It will stand at an estimated 2 million once the expansions in eligibility for children and working parents enacted the past two years are fully in effect.

Republicans (and many Democrats) have argued that the governor’s Medicaid expansion will eventually bust the budget. But the guv argues it’s a priority and, if money is an indicator, has placed Medicaid higher on his list than education funding.

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More sticker shock

Monday, Mar 14, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Aren’t community colleges supposed to be affordable? Guess not.

Many Illinois community colleges are considering significant tuition increases for the next academic year, raising concerns that more students will be shut out of the easiest, most affordable entry point to higher education. […]

The College of DuPage–the state’s largest single-campus community college, with more than 33,000 students–is considering an increase of as much as $12 per credit hour, as well as a 10 percent increase for the following year. If the measure is approved next week, annual tuition would be roughly $2,610 for a full-time student next year.

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Cynicism v. Reality

Monday, Mar 14, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

The Rockford Register-Star’s Aaron Chambers nails it again:

…WHEN GOV. ROD Blagojevich says limits on campaign contributions should apply to everybody from the governor and other statewide officials to lawmakers and lobbyists, he is setting campaign-finance reform on a track to failure.

When another columnist suggested that the governor’s motive might in fact be dooming efforts at reform, Blagojevich told her: “Don’t be cynical.”

Yet it’s officials like Blagojevich who truly drive cynicism among the press and public.

It’s the governor who raked in more than $11 million in campaign contributions since taking office in January 2003. It’s the governor who is primarily responsible for administering state contracts. And it’s the governor whose campaign donations have neatly coincided with contract awards.

I’ve noticed that a few people out there are using the word “cynicism” to describe the coverage of the governor’s recent statements about political reform. I prefer the term “realism.”

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