Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » 2006

Wednesday, Jan 18, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Governing.com blogger and magazine reporter Christopher Swope writes that he is having a little trouble finding Republican-leaning state-focused blogs.

Help him out in comments.

Also, I should thank Christopher for the kind words in the above entry.

While I’m at it, Small Newspapers had a pretty good story about blogs this week.

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State of the State drinking game

Wednesday, Jan 18, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

The governor’s State of the State address is today. I’ll be doing public television’s pregame show, if you’re interested (and, yeah, I’m totally sunburned - quick weekend in Miami).

Let’s devise a drinking game, although drinking during lunch is NOT a good thing.

The way this goes is, every time the governor says “X” you take a drink. If he says “Y” you take another drink. Fill in the blanks.

UPDATE: Notice that a certain word is missing from this speech? Can you say “keno”?

37 Comments

Question of the day

Wednesday, Jan 18, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

First, read this.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich wouldn’t say Tuesday whether he will agree to debate his opponent in the Democratic primary.

“First of all, I haven’t even formally announced yet, and there’s time for politics,” the first-term governor said. “I am going to keep doing my job every day as governor, and we’ll keep you posted.”

Challenger Edwin Eisendrath said he has accepted several debate invitations and would love to face the governor in a discussion of the issues. […]

Eisendrath burst out laughing at Blagojevich saying there will be time for politics later. “He’s been politicking for a long time,” Eisendrath said.

If you were able to ask one question of each candidate during the debate, what would it be?

Also, as a bonus item, do you think the two will ever face each other in a formal debate setting?

24 Comments

Gun stuff

Wednesday, Jan 18, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

The Tribune gives us the broad picture.

After several failed attempts to pass a statewide ban on assault weapons, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley said Tuesday they will make the initiative a top priority in the current session of the state legislature.

In a joint news conference, the two Chicago Democrats called on the General Assembly to support their proposal to ban the manufacture, sale and possession of semi-automatic and .50-caliber weapons. […]

The governor will make a pitch directly to the General Assembly when it convenes for his annual State of the State Address on Wednesday. That speech comes two years after the expiration of the federal ban on assault weapons, after Congress failed to re-enact it. […]

Gun-rights groups say the legislation is unfair, because the description covers guns commonly used by law-abiding hunters and sport shooters.

“There’s no making these people happy,” said NRA lobbyist Todd Vandermyde. “They just want to ban as much stuff as they can … They will never be happy until they have eradicated firearm ownership.”

The Daily Herald covered the suburban angle.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich put the political bullâ€™s-eye on suburban lawmakers Tuesday, challenging them to support an assault-weapons ban they helped defeat last year.

â€œThe one area where crime is up is in suburban communities around the city,â€ Blagojevich said during a Chicago news conference. â€œAnd we are calling upon particularly those suburban legislators who last time around couldnâ€™t vote for this, but now are in a position to vote for it.â€

But several suburban lawmakers Blagojevich could appeal to said theyâ€™re holding firm in their opposition.

â€œWhen you read the Second Amendment, itâ€™s pretty clear. â€¦ It says the right to bear arms shouldnâ€™t be infringed upon,â€ said state Rep. Michael Tryon, a Crystal Lake Republican.

Your turn.

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The hits keep on coming

Wednesday, Jan 18, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

I’m not sure how long the governor’s keno plan will be sucking wind.

The Tribune’s latest editorial, entitled “Keno and business as usual” certainly didn’t help,

This is getting to be a tired old story with Blagojevich, who campaigned as a swashbuckling reformer dedicated to cleaning up Springfield’s insider dealings.

Yet there has been a long stream of revelations about the governor’s friends’ links to state contracts and jobs–the same kind of insider favoritism and pay-to-play politics that he complained about when he was a candidate.

Blagojevich estimates that keno would net about $80 million annually, with the proceeds used to pay debt service on $500 million in bonds for the school construction portion of a broader public works initiative. Gambling revenues can be notoriously unsteady, though, making them a shaky foundation for a bond debt revenue stream. Adding keno to the mix of legal games of chance also runs the risk of cannibalizing revenue the state already gets from the lottery, casinos and horse racing.

All reasons to think this is a bad bet for everyone, except the governor’s friends.

Ouch. I contend in my column that some of this stuff is overblown, but I fully admit that this is a political nightmare for the governor.

The Tribune’s Rick Pearson made many of the same points in a recent analysis that I did last week.

By introducing keno wagering at thousands of bars and restaurants into the funding mix, Gov. Rod Blagojevich has turned an already fractious legislative discussion about his multibillion-dollar plan to build and repair roads and schools into a debate about more gambling in the state.

“People aren’t calling me saying they heard the governor’s got some capital construction bill and that they hope we can get this and that done,” Sen. Dale Righter (R-Mattoon) said. “They’re saying they don’t want the keno machines in their local restaurants.” […]

But it’s not only Republicans who are balking at Blagojevich’s plan.

Last week, four Democratic Latino state senators from Chicago told the governor in a letter that his proposal was “unacceptable,” in part because “our residents already spend too much of their hard-earned dollars on games of chance.”

Meanwhile, the House Republicans want Attorney General Lisa Madigan to step into the debate.

House Republicans moved Tuesday to draw Attorney General Lisa Madigan into the debate over whether Gov. Blagojevich can authorize keno wagering in bars and restaurants without legislative approval. […]

“This action of trying to unilaterally bring keno to the public is improper,” said Rep. Mark Beaubien (R-Wauconda), who was among those seeking Madigan’s intervention. “This is a matter for the Legislature to debate and not for the governor to do on his own.”

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AFSCME and the governor

Wednesday, Jan 18, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

The Daily Southtown’s Kristen McQueary makes a good point in her latest column.

During a recent endorsement session, the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees voted “present” on Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s re-election campaign, according to Capitol Fax.

AFSCME’s leaders are unhappy with the reduced state workforce in place under the Blagojevich administration. They also didn’t appreciate Blagojevich’s push last year to reduce pension benefits, the Fax reported.

But keep in mind that Blagojevich â€” guided by recommendations from a bipartisan panel of lawmakers â€” introduced several reforms that didn’t even touch the pensions of current state workers.

Blagojevich wanted to trim perks for future workers â€” perks that even union-loving Democrats admit are too generous and which the state can no longer afford.

Furthermore, Blagojevich pulled the plug, agreeing to a wimpy task force to keep studying the problem.

AFSCME got off easy.

She didn’t mention that AFSCME also got one of the sweetest contract deals in the nation last year.

The trouble is, the union’s rank and file mostly despises the guv. It doesn’t matter what he’s done for them (or what he might throw at them during supplemental appropriations negotiations), there’s just no way that the leadership could vote to endorse Blagojevich and retain their positions.

12 Comments

Best wishes

Wednesday, Jan 18, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

I want to personally extend my best wishes to Corinne Wood.

More than 81/2 years after she had a mastectomy, former Lt. Gov. Corinne Wood is undergoing treatment for a recurrence of breast cancer that a former aide called “a little more aggressive than last time.”

But former deputy chief of staff Chris Hensley and Wood’s husband, Paul, said they are optimistic she will recover.

“She’s a pretty tough lady, and she beat the last one for almost nine years,” Paul Wood said. “And we are hopeful she will beat this as well.”

I may not have always written the greatest things about her, but I always greatly admired her tenacity in the face of extreme odds. She is, indeed, one tough woman.

Get well soon.

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