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Protected: Rep. Reis offers compromise on electric rates

Tuesday, Nov 14, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Protected: URGENT - Syverson for Senate GOP leader?

Tuesday, Nov 14, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Veto Session; Renovation; Minimum wage; Electric rates; Frerichs-Myers; Shadid; Crespo-Parke; Numbers; Target Feed (use all CAPS in password)

Tuesday, Nov 14, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Question of the day

Tuesday, Nov 14, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

First, the setup:

Revenue from the state sales tax on gasoline could help fund bonds for a $4 billion capital improvement program for schools, roads and environmental projects throughout Illinois, according to state Rep. Bill Mitchell.

The Forsyth Republican held a news conference Monday at the Edinburg Village Hall to announce his proposal, which he expects to formally introduce as legislation in January. He said he brought up the idea now to generate discussion.

“We have not had a capital spending bill in three years,” Mitchell said. […]

“Each and every time we go to the pump to buy gasoline, we pay a tax to the state. If we must continue paying that tax, then I would like for the state to dedicate that steady stream of income to paying back bonds for capital improvement projects that are desperately needed,” he said.

The state sales tax rate is 6.25 percent, which includes a 1.25 percent share for local governments.

Could you support a tax hike if the proceeds were used for capital improvement projects? Why or why not?

And, yes, I’m aware that Mitchell is not proposing a tax hike. Here’s the rest of the story:

Mitchell said he is not proposing an increase in that tax, nor is he suggesting that the state use the revenue local municipalities collect. Rather, he said, the state’s share of the gasoline sales tax should go toward infrastructure projects rather than be deposited in the general fund to pay other- state expenses.

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Macy’s chief admits tough row to hoe

Tuesday, Nov 14, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

I think I already told you that back when I lived next to the Loop I would shop at Marshall Field’s or cut through on my way to State Street. It was almost always empty, even around Christmas. But Chicagoans are a proud bunch, even if they had already abandoned the local brand.

Two months after changing Marshall Field’s name to Macy’s and facing the start of the critical holiday shopping season, Federated Department Stores Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Terry Lundgren acknowledged Monday that winning over Chicagoans may be more difficult than originally anticipated.

“I’ve been here a lot because I know we have more work to do,” Lundgren said in a speech Monday evening to the Turnaround Management Association at the Standard Club in downtown Chicago. […]

Lundgren said he looked for ways to keep the Field’s name but decided it couldn’t be done and still accomplish his goal of creating a viable national department store with the economies of scale to save costs on merchandise, TV advertising and even shopping bags.

With the election and other important items on the agenda, we haven’t talked about this in a while, but have you been to Macy’s yet? I haven’t bothered to walk through the store since the name change. What do you think? Can Macy’s survive?

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United tax break looms large

Tuesday, Nov 14, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

This was briefly an issue in the fall elections as Republicans claimed that the Dems should give motorists the same break as United. That talk has died way down, however.

Seeking to make good on political promises that kept United Airlines headquartered in Illinois, state lawmakers on Monday began debating giving millions of dollars worth of gas tax breaks to the airline giant.

On the table is a plan to cap how much United pays in sales tax on jet fuel, the price of which has skyrocketed alongside gasoline. The savings for United over the life of the five-year deal are pegged at $20 million.

Illinois has the countryâ€™s highest jet fuel taxes, and United executive Jake Brace said the airline ferries in cheaper fuel from other states to use at Oâ€™Hare International Airport because even thatâ€™s cheaper than paying Illinoisâ€™ taxes. […]

Not everyoneâ€™s on board. Competing airlines complain about being cut out of the deal, which provides tax breaks only after an airline buys 260 million gallons in Illinois. The only airline doing that is United.

The logic is United buys the most fuel, pays the most taxes, it’s a local company, so they should get the tax break. But whenever you give one company a break, the others ain’t happy.

Top executives at Southwest Airlines and American Airlines argued the threshold is too high for any airlines besides United to qualify for the break.

The incentive is being offered at a time when Democrats â€“ including Gov. Rod Blagojevich â€“ have rejected repeated calls by Republicans to cut the sales tax on gasoline used by motorists to fill up their cars, truck and SUVs.

Thoughts?

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Morning shorts

Tuesday, Nov 14, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

* A longtime television news reporter started Monday as senior adviser to Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

* Editorial: State must close school revenue gap

* Atrios makes a very good point: I think the big issue here is the perpetual confusion of “independent” and “swing voters” with some concept of “centrist” or “moderate” which is generally put out by the press, when in reality these people are often low information voters who are likely to vote for someone “who knows what s/he stands for” instead of someone who has mushy middle distinctions without differences policy positions.

* Editorial: In all the hoopla about Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s re-election and the Democrats’ dominance nationally, many people may have missed another politically significant event: The Green Party’s ascendancy in Illinois.

* Editorial: Another report for the heap?

* Brown: Stroger/Peraica: Race is over, but readers still debating racial issue

* Libel lawsuit of Kane paper goes to jury - State Supreme Court justice seeks damages… More here

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Rezko and Gutierrez in land deal

Tuesday, Nov 14, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller

Is there anyone Rezko hasn’t touched?

Rep. Luis Gutierrez got a deal on a riverfront town house built by Antoin “Tony” Rezko, a developer and prominent political fund-raiser now under indictment for an alleged kickback scheme involving state pension funds.
Gutierrez paid $434,900 three years ago for the town house along the Chicago River just north of Diversey. That’s far less than his neighbors paid for any of the other riverfront town houses in the development, records show.

Gutierrez no longer lives there. In March, he sold the town house for $610,000 — a 40 percent profit.

Only two other original owners have sold their riverfront town houses — one paid $535,000 and sold it for $650,000, a 21 percent profit; the other paid $622,000 and sold it for $662,000, a 6 percent profit. […]

He could not explain why his neighbors all ended up paying much more than he did, even for slightly smaller homes. Some people might have canceled their pre-construction contracts or sold them for a profit as prices escalated in the booming neighborhood, Gutierrez said.

Rezmar’s attorney, Michael Sreenan, said some people do resell their “pre-construction contracts'’ before a project is completed “but not very often.'’ Sreenan said he couldn’t produce records to show if any other buyers got the same pre-construction price.

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