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Wednesday, Aug 30, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Aug 30, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller Are you planning to work on any campaigns this fall? If so, which one(s) and what will you be doing?
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Budget debate - Rauschenberger responds to Filan
Wednesday, Aug 30, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller Within hours of Judy Baar Topinka releasing her budget plan last week, Gov. Blagojevich’s budget director, John Filan, was claiming that Topinka’s proposal would produce $5.7 billion annual deficits. So, I offered Topinka’s budget point person, Sen. Steve Rauschenberger, an opportunity to respond to Filan’s claims. This is Rauschenberger’s full response. All emphasis is in the original. Topinka’s original proposal is here, and Filan’s response is here. Both are pdf files. Thank you for the opportunity to respond to John Filan’s release on Judy Baar Topinka’s Financial plan. Director Filan’s office was e-mailed a copy of Rauschenberger’s statement yesterday afternoon and will be allowed an opportunity to respond here as early as tomorrow. I reserve the right to allow further responses.
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Immigrant boom in suburbs
Wednesday, Aug 30, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller These are amazing numbers. The number of foreign-born U.S. citizens jumped by nearly 38 percent in the suburbs over the last five years — leaping almost 50 percent in DuPage County alone and doubling in Will and Grundy counties, according to an analysis of Census information by a pro-immigrant group. Read the full report here, and read the full press release here.
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Ace in the hole
Wednesday, Aug 30, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller As I’ve said before, the governor desperately needs to win the Civil Service Commission case against Dawn DeFraties so he can claim that he’s been vindicated of allegations of patronage abuse and pin the whole blame on the whistleblower. Apparently, the guv had an ace in the hole. Gov. Rod Blagojevich appointed his children’s baby sitter to a $21,507-a-year post on a panel that resolves state hiring disputes. […] I think I read about this first in a comment posted here several days ago. I kinda sped by it and, stupid me, didn’t follow up.
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Divide and conquer
Wednesday, Aug 30, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller This leak… Dorothy Brown, the clerk of the Cook County Circuit Court, intends to announce plans to run for mayor next year, according to a person close to her campaign committee. …may have been caused by this… As for Dorothy Brown, Axelrod says she may be jumping in now because the word on the street is that Jesse Jackson Jr. is contemplating some type of announcement of his own in the next few days, and she wants to beat him to the punch. …which undoubtedly triggered this leak… Chicago Housing Authority Chief Terry Peterson is taking a leave of absence to run Mayor Daley’s re-election campaign in the first concrete sign that Daley intends to shake off recent corruption scandals and seek a sixth term, sources said Tuesday. Meanwhile, there’s more division in the African-American community. In an exclusive CBS 2 News report, CBS 2’s Mike Parker has learned that some leaders among the Democrats want Todd Stroger off the ballot for November and replaced by a stronger candidate to face Peraica.
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Guv turns down tollway sale again, but it’s a whole lot of cash
Wednesday, Aug 30, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller The governor said once again that he doesn’t want to sell or lease the tollway. “We’re not going to sell the tollway. I’m not interested in that, for several reasons. We’ve done a lot of great things at the tollway to help commuters get to where they want to go faster. One of the problems with privatizing the tollway is the private companies whose motivation is to raise profits. They’re apt to raise tolls, and they may be less interested in maintaining the infrastructure,†said Blagojevich, a Democrat in his first term. But some legislators who were briefed yesterday came away drooling at the possible $24 billion windfall. Supporters of leasing out the tollway downplayed Tuesday the potential impact of related toll hikes as several suburban leaders appeared increasingly skeptical of the idea. Steve Rauschenberger wasn’t impressed. “You buy four or six years of political peace with that,†he said. And some of the tax-eaters have already said what they want if the tollway is ever sold. Schoenberg got an earful a week ago from AFSCME Illinois Council 31, Business Leaders for Transportation in the Chicago area, the Mid-West Truckers Association, the Transportation for Illinois Coalition, and the Laborers International Union of North America Midwest Region. Each offered wish lists for safeguarding wages, benefits, retirement and training of current tollway employees. They also urged caution in deciding how the extra state revenue would be spent.
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Morning shorts
Wednesday, Aug 30, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller · Illinois students improve in math, fall in verbal scores · Poverty rises in Illinois, holds steady nationwide · “[T]he handsome and flamboyant Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich proved that he could outshine any Bollywood star with his crowd catching demeanor and easy mingling with the people. He won everybody’s heart and induced other Parade Marshals like Dorothy Brown to emulate his example and mix with the crowd. ” · Editorial: Slow down search for state school chief · Topinka discusses funding for reading during daycare stop · Topinka’s new robocall · State retirees work to keep taxes at bay · Editorial: The imperfections of man · I pre-ordered the new Dylan album, and I agree with most everything in this review.
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