Photo of the day
Wednesday, May 31, 2006 ![]()
- Posted by Rich Miller
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Question of the day
Wednesday, May 31, 2006 I know that we already had a Barack Obama question just last week, but I had a thought last night and wanted to see what you think. I’m wondering whether the latest hype over a possible Obama run for president is just a ruse to promote his new book. After all, publicly mulling a presidential bid would get him a lot more publicity than just talking about some book that he had written. Or, is that all backwards? Is the book a jumping off point for a possible presidential run? Or is it something else?
- Posted by Rich Miller
29 Comments |
Something’s not right here
Wednesday, May 31, 2006 Why was this Corrections official allowed to lobby for a couple of big Corrections vendors? Illinois prison officials said Tuesday they are conducting an internal investigation into a Downstate deputy warden whose relationship with New Mexico’s prison chief led to his suspension and an investigation in that state. There’s more. Read it all.
- Posted by Rich Miller
35 Comments |
More bad news for the guv’s plan
Wednesday, May 31, 2006 Have there been any positive editorials or columns about this turkey? From today’s Daily Southtown: While there may be some financial benefit to privatizing some segments of government, the public shouldn’t be fooled into thinking this plan offers anything more than temporary cash relief. Blagojevich doesn’t have to worry because he probably won’t be governor when this lottery plan runs its course. Maybe the pawn shops will still be open. Meanwhile, the governor won’t release details about how he arrived at that $10 billion figure. The Blagojevich administration said Tuesday it won’t release a consultant’s work on how much money the state could make by selling or leasing the state lottery. The administration compared such a move to sharing playbooks with rival sports teams. He is not inspiring confidence in his plan.
- Posted by Rich Miller
37 Comments |
Question of the day
Tuesday, May 30, 2006 Yeah, it’s late, but I’ve been kinda busy with other stuff. Did you watch the debate yet? What did you think? Did either candidate win? Should more debates be like this, instead of the glorified press conferences that are currently the norm? Here it is in case you haven’t seen it yet.
- Posted by Rich Miller
56 Comments |
Late morning shorts
Tuesday, May 30, 2006 · My syndicated column which uses your comments about Obama has finally been posted online. · UPDATE: Funeral services scheduled for George Dunne · Guv won’t release Goldman Sachs report on lottery sale. · Durbin says Obama should run for prez · SJ-R editorial: Billion-dollar lottery question · Debate tidbits. · “You can’t hide your Ryan ties” · Governor ran a poll on Meeks, lottery… Survey casts doubt on `no politics’ claim · Erickson/Adrian: “We wondered: Is there more to the plan out there, like a big binder titled ‘Details of the governor’s school funding plan?’ Or, is it just a news release, a one-page financial breakdown and the fancy PowerPoint slideshow? Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch told us there wasn’t anything else. ‘That’s it,’ she said.” · Southtown editorial: State Senate takes sneaky route to avoid pay raise issue · McQueary to guv’s people: “If that’s your story, at least wear the clown nose while saying it.”
- Posted by Rich Miller
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Fun with Google
Tuesday, May 30, 2006 This story leads to a little fun with Google. Six months after buying the largest parcel of vacant land near the Loop, an Iraqi-born billionaire is putting up for sale a key piece of the property, which has defied development despite the torrid downtown residential real estate market. […] Rumman also worked for Blagojevich as the embattled director of CMS. Blagojevich knows Auchi as well. Rod Blagojevich, Illinois’ governor, said that his state “welcomes General Mediterranean Holding’s (GMH) investments, and is ready to provide the necessary means for them to succeed. ![]()
- Posted by Rich Miller
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Downstate Dems running away from guv’s plan
Tuesday, May 30, 2006 This is probably the most important story written so far about the political impact of the governor’s lottery/education plan. After hinting about big problems with downstate Democrats last week, I had hoped to write a story just like this in a day or two, but the Post-Dispatch beat me to it. Downstate Democrats, fearful that Chicago schools will get most of the jackpot in a proposed $10 billion privatization of the state lottery, are quietly organizing a possible rebellion against their party’s own governor over the controversial plan. Read the whole thing. It’s amazing to me that the AP hasn’t picked up on this piece yet.
- Posted by Rich Miller
30 Comments |
Trib blasts plan with two-part editorial
Tuesday, May 30, 2006 Not a good day for the governor’s lottery/education plan. First, the Trib slams the funding source: Don’t embrace open-ended obligations. Back in 2003, the Blagojevich administration spoke of selling the state-owned James R. Thompson Center in Chicago’s Loop to cover state operating expenses–a bad idea on its face. To make matters worse, the state almost certainly would have wound up renting much of the building indefinitely from a new owner. There’s a reason most people would rather own a home than pay rent. At the end of the day, they own the valuable asset. […] Etc., etc., etc. The Trib made five distinct and criticial points about the guv’s lottery idea, then moved on to the education plan itself in another editorial. Was Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s latest plan to boost education devised on the back of a cocktail napkin? That’s what it looks like. […] And on and on and on.
- Posted by Rich Miller
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