Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » 2007

Obamarama - The announcement approacheth

Thursday, Feb 8, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

Preparations are well under way for Saturday’s big announcement.

Downtown Springfield will be â€œsomewhat closedâ€ for the presidential campaign announcement Saturday of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, Mayor Tim Davlin said Tuesday.

Exact locations of street closures werenâ€™t provided by Davlin, who spoke with reporters at the Old State Capitol, where Obama will make the announcement.

Davlin reiterated that gates will open at Sixth and Adams streets at 9 a.m., and that the Obama campaign has said the program will begin about 10 a.m.

â€œWeâ€™d invite everybody to carpool as much as they possibly can because parking in the street is going to be at a minimum,â€ Davlin said, although several downtown garages will be open, providing more than 1,000 spaces. The parking lot below the Old Capitol, however, will close at 5 a.m. Saturday.

Watch the Davlin video by clicking on the pic…

And…

A film crew is already in town from Norway. The campaign has fielded inquiries from media outlets in Japan, a few counties in Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

“Needless to say, it’s going to be a big day in Springfield,” said Davlin.

I’m supposed to be interviewed this afternoon by a radio reporter from Switzerland, of all places. What a strange thing. Some legislators have been telling me that the interest in the announcement was so intense back in their districts that they’ve organized bus caravans to Springfield.

If you can’t make it to the show, I’ll be doing some live-blogging for The Hotline blog (some of which may wind up at NBC.com) before during and after the event. We’ll probably be cross-posting those here, so check on Saturday. I’m also hoping to have some audio, and we’re working on that today.

My parents are coming down tomorrow sometime (Mom just told me that Dad and his Obamallac were interviewed by a Quad Cities TV station this afternoon), my brother will be here with his daughters and ArchPundit is crashing on a rollaway bed.

It’s gonna be a madhouse, campers. Dress warmly, and be prepared to deal with thousands of spectators.

Are you planning to go?

By the way, the weather forecast for 9 o’clock Saturday morning is a high of 10 and a low of 6. Partly cloudy skies. Brrrr.

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Thursday, Feb 8, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Question of the day

Thursday, Feb 8, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

OK, this is just too good to pass up…

Sure, Illinois lacks the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Pyramids of Giza, or the Colossus of Rhodes.

But it does offer visitors the Garden of the Gods in southern Illinois, the prehistoric archaeological remains of Cahokia Mounds, and a 170-foot-tall water tower shaped like a giant catsup bottle in Collinsville.

Echoing the ancient seven wonders of the world, the Illinois Bureau of Tourism on Thursday plans to launch a “Seven Wonders of Illinois” promotion. It will be announced officially at the Illinois Governor’s Conference on Tourism in Chicago.

Visitors to enjoyillinois.com will be able to make nominations through February, said Jan Kostner, the bureau’s deputy director.

Those nominations can be for anything residents and visitors consider wonderful about Illinois â€” parks and historic sites, statues and museums, cheesy roadside attractions and naturally beautiful scenic spots.

Let’s stipulate up front that “the governor’s hair” should be included in the list to avoid the repetitive submissions. Otherwise, have at it. And, as always in posts like these, snark is heavily encouraged.

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Most underreported story of the month

Thursday, Feb 8, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

The lead story in Capitol Fax yesterday was about widespread rumors that the governor will call for a “gross receipts tax” on Illinois business to pay for all of his ideas. Business lobbyists are gearing up like crazy to fight the idea, which the governor’s office won’t confirm even exists.

I didn’t notice yesterday that Small Newspapers also had a very good story on this topic until the reporter pointed it out to me. So, here it is…

Gov. Rod Blagojevich is reportedly considering a gross receipts tax on Illinois businesses to pay for a plan to provide state-subsidized health insurance to state residents without coverage. […]

Depending on its final form, a gross receipts tax could hit every business in the state, from barbers to manufacturers. The barber, for example, would pay the gross receipts tax on whatever he took in, likely apart from any income tax he might have to pay.

Even if the business was losing money, the gross receipts tax could apply.

Business lobbyists contend a gross receipts would be passed to consumers, and in the case of manufactured products could add significantly to the cost of finished goods.

“You could go from your raw material to your final product and it could get taxed five times in-between.” said Kim Maisch, Illinois director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses. “The concept of a gross-receipts tax is really anti-free enterprise.”

The tax revenue estimate I heard earlier this week was over $9 billion a year.

Thoughts?

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Last gasps

Thursday, Feb 8, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

This may be an overreaction, but at least it’s prompted some movement on the issue.

Chief Illiniwek could be forced to hang up his buckskins and stop dancing within a month — or even sooner, says a group of former students who have performed as the chief.

The former chiefs, in a letter sent to University of Illinois officials Wednesday, said they fear that pressure from Illinois Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago) could spell the demise of the chief before the group can come up with a replacement tradition.

The former chiefs say they need a month to finalize a plan that could appease supporters of the chief as well as the NCAA. […]

Jones spokeswoman Cindy Davidsmeyer said she was unaware of Jones turning up the heat on university officials.

However, James Montgomery, recently named to the board, said Jones told him at a gala 10 days ago, “The chief’s got to go.'’

Meanwhile, GOP state Rep. Chapin Rose is doing a bit of grandstanding, introducing go-nowhere legislation to impose a 10 percent gross-receipts tax on money earned by the NCAA in Illinois, as retaliation for the association’s “interference” on the Chief situation.

Tired of what he sees as NCAA meddling in University of Illinois business, a member of the General Assembly has proposed legislation that would tax the organization.

State Rep. Chapin Rose, a Mahomet Republican, isnâ€™t sure the bill he filed last week will get very far in the legislature, but he hopes it eases NCAA pressure on the university over its disputed mascot, Chief Illiniwek.

â€œSomebody needs to smack the NCAA upside the head,â€ said Rose, a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law. â€œTheyâ€™re sitting up there in their ivory tower looking down at the rest of us.â€

Thoughts? We’ve had the debate over the chief here a couple of times, so let’s please try to focus on the two stories at hand.

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Peterson: No new signs

Thursday, Feb 8, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

This seems like a pretty good idea….

Tollway signs emblazoned with Gov. Rod Blagojevichâ€™s name have again come under fire, this time from a suburban lawmaker who wants to ban them.

The signs, which hang above open-road tolling plazas, would be added to a list of items in state ethics laws that cannot bear the name or image of a state official or lawmaker.

The plan to ban the signs is being pushed by state Sen. Bill Peterson, a Long Grove Republican.

Peterson said he introduced the legislation because he felt the governor was abusing an ethical loophole. […]

The catch is that even if Petersonâ€™s plan becomes law, the existing signs wouldnâ€™t come down. It would only prevent new signs from going up.

The problem is, Peterson is a Senate Republican. The Senate Republicans are irrevelvant at the moment, considering they have just 22 members in a 59-seat chamber. But I’ve seen more stories about bills they’ve introduced than just about anyone else. That may change as reality sinks in.

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Morning shorts

Thursday, Feb 8, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* NEW: Congratulations Ryan!!! Feder: “Ryan Hermes, Springfield bureau chief for Illinois Radio Network, is joining ABC-owned news/talk WLS-AM (890) as news anchor/reporter. He previously worked for stations Downstate and in Jacksonville, Fla.”

* McQueary: “Are you thinking what I’m thinking? That it’s too coincidental a guy with a fine Irish name like Tim Sheehan pops up in the 19th Ward aldermanic race?”

* Registered voters at 60-year low - Rolls drop citywide, surge in contested wards

* Tribune: “As Illinois lawmakers prepare to debate a proposal that would make the state’s teen driver-licensing system one of the nation’s most stringent, top researchers say such laws are saving young lives in states where they have been enacted, but much remains to be done.”

* Ex-Ryan aide resigns from ICC

* Troutman faces feds, campaign foes - 2 opponents say it’s time for a change

* State Police launch Internet Crimes Unit

* SJ-R: The new owner of the name ‘Roman Cultural Society’ is a Chicagoan whose father once headed the organized-crime syndicate there.”

* New views of Lincoln - $340,000 worth of exhibits added to president’s neighborhood

* Obama bypasses public funds for campaign

* Rollback of county smoking ban stalls

* Stroger, Quigley ‘part ways’ over forest preserve cash

* Did Cline turn blind eye to cop corruption?

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