Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » 2005

Tuesday, Mar 15, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Former Sen. Denny Jacobs is in the hospital. More details later…

Tuesday, Mar 15, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

What’s your favorite Springfield hotel, and why?

Mine would probably have to be the Statehouse Inn. It’s a bit on the pricey side (for Springfield), but the comfortable rooms, the free high speed Internet and the pleasant staff put it high on my list.

11 Comments

Things that make you go “Hmmm”

Tuesday, Mar 15, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Medical malpractice payouts have fallen 10% at the state’s largest physician insurer, but executives don’t appear ready to cut doctors’ insurance premiums yet.

ISMIE Mutual Insurance Co. paid out $150.4 million to cover medical malpractice claims in 2004, down 10% from 2003. Premiums charged to doctors exceeded that payout by $270.1 million, the insurer’s March 1 annual filing with the Illinois Department of Insurance shows. The surplus set aside to cover unexpected losses also grew 5.3% to $212.5 million.

CEO Alexander Lerner’s 2004 compensation rose to $947,793, up 6.7% from 2003. […]

The hike in premiums and the dip in claims have bolstered ISMIE’s finances. The insurer in 2004 took in $411.4 million in premiums, recorded $40.7 million in investment income and set aside $266.3 million against future claims. ISMIE reported a total bottom-line profit of $11.7 million in 2004. That’s down 41% from 2003, when the insurer posted a profit of $19.8 million on premiums of $341.8 million.

Meanwhile, ISMIE’s chief executive, Mr. Lerner, got an $80,000 bonus in 2004, bringing his total compensation to $947,793, according to insurance department filings.

Mr. Lerner’s 2003 compensation was more than twice that of R. Kevin Clinton, president and CEO of Michigan-based American Physicians Capital Inc., a malpractice insurer of similar size.

There’s too much stuff in this story to post here. If you have any interest in this topic, you should read it all.

12 Comments

Wrangling

Tuesday, Mar 15, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

The Daily Herald updates us today about a stalled plan to create a rental subsidy program.

Jacqui Mullen, one of the thousands of homeless single mothers in Illinois, is “tired of being a statistic.”

The 24-year-old works full time at a minimum-wage job taking care of elderly and disabled people. After paying for food, clothes, child care and diapers for her 21-month-old son, there isn’t money to pay rent. So she and Benji live in a dormitory-style shelter for women and their children.

“My major long-term goal is to have a home in a decent neighborhood and my kids to come up healthy and happy,” Mullen said.

She might get help reaching that goal if state lawmakers approve a plan to subsidize rent for an estimated 5,500 low-income families, but the measure has been sidelined by differences between Cook County officials who want a piece of the money involved.

This has been a weird fight from day one. The county’s own lobbyists, have, at times, lobbied both for it and against it at the same time.

8 Comments

Public not allowed

Tuesday, Mar 15, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Rockford Register-Star columnist Chuck Sweeny is upset that he and other members of the public are being barred from a meeting of an official regional organization funded with taxpayer dollars.

As you read this column, our Rock River Valley leaders are having an important powwow downtown that could affect your future. The group they belong to receives $200,000 a year from Rockford taxpayers. Rockton, Machesney Park and Loves Park also kick in tax dollars.

But you didnâ€™t get to go to the meeting to see how your money is being spent. Neither did I â€” they wouldnâ€™t let me in.

Read the whole thing. It’s about more than public information. The column also provides some keen insights into a proposed Indian casino in Wisconsin, and how the debate has impacted Rockford.

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The Docter is out

Tuesday, Mar 15, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Here is that Southtown editorial I wrote about this morning regarding the governor’s snub of Bert Docter and the Southland:

What does a governor do when one of his advisers gives him advice he doesn’t want to hear?

If the governor is Rod Blagojevich, he gets rid of the adviser. That’s what the governor did last week when he dumped a south suburban business leader from the state’s advisory board on school funding issues.

South Holland businessman Bert Docter in recent years has become one of the Southland’s leading advocates for school funding reform and property tax relief. […]

There’s a clear message to the new board: Don’t give the governor any advice that he doesn’t agree with, or you’ll be replaced, too.

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Welcome to loneliness

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?

27 Comments

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.

7 Comments

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.

1 Comment

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.”

1 Comment

Blast from the past

Friday, Mar 11, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

My mom’s been sending around photos of her sons lately.

This one is of my brother Denny (on the left) and myself from the ’70s. The pic was taken at my grandad’s farm in Iroquois County.

Not sure why I’m posting it other than I’ve always kinda liked this photo and it lifted me out of my crushing fatigue and put a smile on my face. Thanks, Mom.

Denny is now a vintage clothing dealer in California.

All of my brothers have interesting jobs. One is a newspaper owner in southern Illinois. Another is a Texas construction estimator, an investor in some strange but profitable things (like oil wells) and a Republican politico. And another is a Northwest Illinois computer programming wizard and Internet entrepreneur.

5 Comments

Friday Topinka blogging

Friday, Mar 11, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

OK, one more for old time’s sake. I’m too tired to change the Friday blogging subject this week. Completely wiped out. Going to take a nap soon.

7 Comments

Question of the day

Friday, Mar 11, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

What political reform(s) do you most want to see implemented in Illinois?

UPDATE: If you’re having trouble posting comments, just be patient. Blogger is still a little bit buggy today. You might have to press the button and go do something else for a bit while the posting window opens.

20 Comments

Bummer

Thursday, Mar 10, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Sorry for the problems posting comments today. Blogger has been a bad program all day.

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Hyde stuff

Thursday, Mar 10, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

State Sen. Peter Roskam (R-Wheaton) is looking more and more like the far and away frontrunner to replace Congressman Henry Hyde if, as expected, Hyde retires.

Roskam is throwing a party tonight for his volunteers, and former attorney general Jim Ryan is billed as the host. Hundreds of people are expected to attend. The guy has built an amazing organization in DuPage and he is quickly rounding up lots of endorsements. There’s a chance that he may even clear the primary field.

Meanwhile, Democrat Christine Cegelis, who ran a respectable campaign against Hyde last year, has already announced that she’s running again. Cegelis posted a long diary entry on the Democratic website Daily Kos yesterday (hat tip to the So-Called Austin Mayor for the link).

As seasoned political advisor told me, if I wanted to win in 2006 I needed to start in November of 2004. I took that advice to heart and kept as much of my organization in place as possible to gear up for what is now will most likely be an open seat in 2006.

9 Comments

Did they find the guy?

Thursday, Mar 10, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Big break in the Lefkow case.

Investigators early today said a man who shot himself in the head during a traffic stop in Wisconsin had a suicide note claiming responsibility for the slaying of U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow’s husband and mother last week.

Members of the task force of Chicago police and federal agents said a van driven by Bart Ross, whose last known address was in the 4500 block of North Bernard Street in Chicago, was stopped in West Allis, near Milwaukee, about 6 p.m. As officers approached the car, Ross killed himself with a gunshot to the head, officials say.

Investigators said the man had a suicide note that included an admission that he shot the judge’s family.

The note included details in the case that were not released to the public, investigators said. Sources close to the investigation added that there was a list in the van of all the people who had mistreated him, including judges.

1 Comment

Question of the day

Thursday, Mar 10, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

What one piece of legislation would you like to see become law this year?

8 Comments

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