Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » 2007

Friday, Oct 26, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

Another week without session is a week of beauty and peace. They’ll crank it back up next week, but in the meantime have a good weekend and have some fun.

If you wanna keep talking, head to Illinoize, the second best political blog in the state.

And, now, your moment of Zen. The video is entitled “Bulldozers level Wrigley Field”…

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Friday music blogging: The Duct Tape Messiah

Friday, Oct 26, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* You’ve probably never heard of Blaze Foley. A singer-songwriter who died in 1989, Foley was mostly forgotten, although he was barely known to begin with.

Foley lived hard. He didn’t care about what others thought of his life, his appearance, his choices. He alienated many of his friends with his rough and tumble ways, rarely had a home of his own, drank all the time and got in too many fights with friend and foe alike…

My first memories of Blaze Foley date back to emmajoe’s. He was decked out in duct tape and mercurochrome. He was asleep under the pool table. A game of 8-ball was in progress on the green felt above him. Every time someone made a ball and it dropped with a thud Blaze would rouse up, smack his forehead on the bottom of the table and sprawl back out. Several championships were decided over his head as he slumbered on.

Through the haze of alcohol and drugs, and the perils of brawls and homelessness Blaze did his best to remain dedicated to his art…

[H]e told me that he was totally committed to his career as a songwriter and would never have a day job because that might dull his ambition or detour him from his artistic goals. He was uncompromising on that point and I never knew him to hold down a job just so he could pay rent. Blaze preferred the sofa circuit and he rotated among friends and lovers for sleeping quarters. He didn’t even have a car to sleep in in a pinch. And he didn’t care.

* Merle Haggard covered one of Foley’s greatest works, “If I Could Only Fly.” back in 2000, eleven years after Foley’s death. Haggard, a country music god, said the song was “the best country song I’ve heard in 15 years.”

You can listen to Foley’s original version by clicking the RealPlayer button below…

Wrecks Bell hosted Foley on his couch many times over the years and also covered the song. It’s a thing of pure beauty…

If I could only fly
If I could only fly
I’d bid this place goodbye
To come and be with you
But I can hardly stand
Got nowhere to run
Another sinkin’ sun
One more lonely night

* John Prine covered another Foley tune, “Clay Pigeons”…

Prine began researching Foley, and in the process, received a bootleg tape from a friend in Austin, Texas. Foley sang a scruffy version of “If I Could Only Fly,” followed by “Clay Pigeons.” “When I heard ‘Clay Pigeons,’ I thought, ‘Man, that sounds like me,’ ” Prine said. “I couldn’t get the song out of my head. And when I can’t get a song out of my head, I have to learn it.”

Listen below…

[audio:claypigeons.mp3]

I’m tired of running ’round looking for answers to questions that I already know
I could build me a castle of memories just to have somewhere to go
Count the days and the nights that it takes to get back in the saddle again
Feed the pigeons some clay
Turn the night into day
Start talking again when I know what to say

* Foley was shot and killed in 1989 while trying to help a friend fend off an attack. Years later, Lucinda Williams, a country goddess who knew Foley from her Austin days, wrote a song about Foley’s life and death called “Drunken Angel”…

Followers would cling to you
Hang around just to meet you
Some threw roses at your feet
And watch you pass out in the street
Drunken Angel
Feed you and pay off all your debts
Kiss your brow, taste your sweat
Write about your soul your guts
Criticize you and wish you luck
Drunken Angel

* Foley was a running buddy of the legendary Townes Van Zandt. Townes also wrote a song about Foley after his death called Blaze’s Blues. Here are the two friends singing one of my favorite Townes songs, “Snowing on Raton”…

* As with most folk/country songwriters, Foley was also political. He had no love for Ronald Reagan and wrote a stinging song about the president back in the mid-1980s called “Oval Room”…

At the factory, never been so slow
Got a big fourth down, ninety nine to go
And down on the farm, nothing growing there
But the debts they owe and their gray hair
In the desert sand, and the jungle deep
He thinks everything is his to keep
He’s a real cowboy, with his makeup on
Talks to kings and queens on the telephone
He’s the president, but I don’t care

* But he wrote some great, sad country songs about lost love and lost lives. Here’s one called Faded Loves….

Faded loves, and memories
How they take the best of me
This old chain around my shoulder’s
only makin’ me look older
Than I am — I’ll get over you someday

* Foley’s mother was a gospel singer and Blaze played in her band. Here’s a gospel number he wrote called “Let Me Ride in Your Big Cadillac”…

Let me ride in your big Cadillac, Lord Jesus
Let me ride in your big Cadillac
I can see the pearly gates
Where the angels wait
Standin’ all around your big Cadillac
Won’t you take me by the hand
Lead me to the promised land
And let me ride in your big Cadillac

His voice had its moments, but his real value was as a songwriter.

* So, why did they call him the Duct Tape Messiah?

In reaction to the Urban Cowboy craze sweeping across the city, he mocked the make-believe cowboys with their shiny silver boot tips by putting duct tape on the tips of his boots […]

He loved duct tape, the miracle binder that kept his clothes and his life together. Foley slapped the adhesive to shoes, jeans, shirts, hats, jackets. Once he made a whole suit out of duct tape. Friends dubbed him the Duct Tape Messiah.

He was even buried in a coffin covered in duct tape.

* Interest has surged in Blaze’s music in the past few years. Lyle Lovett covered another Foley tune in 2003, “Election Day.” And Foley’s family has released three new CDs.

A documentary is in the works about Blaze’s life, called, fittingly, The Duct Tape Messiah…

* 100 percent of the profits from the movie will be donated to a project for the homeless. Foley was a champion of the homeless. This is what Townes Van Zandt had to say about Foley’s cause…

“He was a friend of the homeless, poor, elder, a real super caring guy. And he would sometimes seem bitter, you know. The only reason for that is he was brimming over with so much genuine love and caring. To see an injustice sometimes it would just put him over to a frenzy, kind of. He couldn’t stand to see a poor bag lady on the street. It threw him into a rage, almost. It just came from love.”

* Here’s one last Foley tune, this one covered by Gurf Morlix. Cold, Cold World…

I can’t get no job and I can’t get no rest
I started out east, but I ended up west
And I’m so glad to be here I’m sure, I would guess
Ain’t it a cold, cold world

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Madigan letter; CTA; Boland; Full IWU poll results and crosstabs; Forby; Tour (Use all caps in password)

Friday, Oct 26, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Question of the day

Friday, Oct 26, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* A commenter posted these thoughts here yesterday…

When people talk about taxing the rich I always wonder what their definition of rich is. I suspect they think of it in terms of some multiple of their income. After all, everything is relative. I am curious as to whether that multiple is consistent across all income levels.

* Question: What annual income would you consider to be “rich” for taxation purposes? Explain, please.

62 Comments

Does the religious right drive up the abortion rate?

Friday, Oct 26, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Terry Cosgrove, who runs the pro-choice Personal PAC group, has written a highly provocative column for the Huffington Post…

The consequences of right-wing reproductive health policies are devastating not only to women, but also to children and families. If you rate every country in the world starting with whether each provides full access to family planning, emergency contraceptives, pays for abortions and provides comprehensive sex education, and compare those to rates for countries where these policies are opposed, you will see that those who provide full access to EC, abortion, family planning and sex education have the LOWEST abortion rates, lowest STD rates, lowest infant mortality rates, lowest teen pregnancy rates, lowest maternal death rates as well as the best indicators for EVERY measurement of women’s health.

On the other side of the spectrum where abortion and family planning are illegal, the worst indicators for women’s health are found including the highest (and most dangerous) abortion rates in the world. Right now, today, as you are reading this, ½ the hospital beds in every large city hospital in Central and South America are taken by women suffering from illegal abortion attempts. And all these countries have the highest abortion rates in the world. […]

The use of contraception reduces the probability of having an abortion by 85%. In states which allowed emergency contraceptives without a prescription prior to the FDA’s move earlier this year, the abortion rate dropped by over 1/3. Some 70% or 42 million American women today of reproductive age are sexually active and do not want to become pregnant. Only 5% of women aged 15-44 in the U.S. use no contraception during sex and they account for 50% of the nation’s abortions. In light of this overwhelming evidence that unfettered access to contraception causes the abortion rate to plunge, it is stunning that NOT A SINGLE anti-abortion group in the United States supports the use of birth control. The best a few do is say nothing about birth control, but many so-called pro-life organizations lobby vigorously against it. The nation’s largest anti-abortion group, American Life League says “A.L.L. denies the moral acceptability of artificial birth control.” These are the very groups that say abortion shouldn’t be used as a form of birth control yet they oppose every type of birth control that would prevent unintended pregnancy. […]

The policies promoted by the pro-choice movement dramatically reduce the abortion rate here in Illinois, across the U.S. and around the world. The policies promoted by those who call themselves “pro-life” or anti-abortion drive up the abortion rate everywhere. The results are devastating to the women, children and families of our great state. Those who are against abortion for whatever reason shouldn’t have one which is why Planned Parenthood has The Cradle adoption agency at its Chicago medical facility.

Discuss.

57 Comments

Stop believing, please

Friday, Oct 26, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I’ll be discussing my latest Sun-Times column on Jerry Agar’s WLS AM show at 10:35 this morning. You can listen at this link if you’re not near a radio.

* The column is about the governor’s awful poll numbers and some of the media coverage he’s been getting…

So, it turns out that Gov. Blagojevich’s “secret plan” to “solve” the CTA’s budget crisis was never a real plan at all and doesn’t solve the problem.

But you probably knew that the moment the TV and radio news shows breathlessly trumpeted the governor’s pronouncement this week.

The people of this state have caught on to the governor’s games. Blagojevich is thoroughly unpopular with Illinois voters. Poll after poll since midsummer has shown his job approval rating to be somewhere in the neighborhood of nothingness.

Just 23 percent of voters said they approve of the way Blagojevich is handling his job, a recent Illinois Wesleyan University poll found. A different survey, from the respected Rasmussen Reports, found that only a tiny fraction of the population — just 5 percent — rate the governor’s job performance as “excellent.”

It’s to the point where Blagojevich probably wishes he could move “up” to Richard Nixon’s ratings. And he’s very close to George Ryan’s job approval ratings as the soon-to-be prison inmate was leaving office under a cloud of federal investigations.

* A few crosstabs…

Only 29 percent of voters in overwhelmingly Democratic Cook County said they approved of Blagojevich’s job performance, according to the Wesleyan poll. By contrast, 67 percent of Cook voters gave the thumbs up to U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin and 67 percent said they will vote for a Democrat for U.S. Congress. The governor’s doing better with county voters than President Bush, but statewide the two are locked in a dead heat.

Not a single demographic in Illinois, whether it’s race, party affiliation, gender, ideology, income or region, gives the governor a majority or even a plurality of support. Only 38 percent of Democrats say they approve of his job performance, but 41 percent disapprove. Thirty-two percent of liberals approve and 54 percent disapprove. Thirty-eight percent of nonwhite minorities approve and 40 percent disapprove, according to Wesleyan.

Rasmussen found this month that 63 percent of African Americans, 75 percent of Democrats and liberals, 77 percent of Cook County voters, 83 percent of women and 85 percent of independents rated Blagojevich’s job performance as fair or poor. If his “friends” think that way, you can imagine how his political enemies rate him. It ain’t pretty.

Go read the whole thing before commenting, please.

* More transit and session stuff, compiled by Paul…

* Huntley: What transit funding crisis looks like to man in seat

* Metra fares may jump 30% by 2010

* Metra warns fares will have to rise

* Metra budget proposal would raise fares

* Phil Kadner: The Larry formula of taxation

* Change of Subject: The low down on Illinois’ ‘low taxes’

* Illinois school funding at risk

* Senate inaction means loss of Rockford area grants

* Editorial: Website helps, but true ethics reform needed in Illinois

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Ryan: “I got screwed”

Friday, Oct 26, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* This is the very sort of thing that makes it so difficult to get all weepy for George Ryan today….

In the southwest suburbs, Ed Hammer, a former Secretary of State inspector demoted by Ryan for investigating corruption in the office, said he was “excited and relieved” that the appellate court left Ryan’s conviction intact.

Earlier this month, Hammer, who is writing a book about his experience, said he went to Ryan’s home.

“I went up and rang his doorbell,” Hammer said. “He answered the door. He actually invited me in. He did not remember who I was even though I testified at his trial.

“I asked him for an apology for myself and my partner Russ Sonneveld. His response real quickly was, ‘Apology for what?’ I told him I felt he hurt us, several Secretary of State employees, the Willis family and others. He said he had nothing to do with that.

“I just wanted to see if at this point in his life, facing federal prison, if he would have a change of heart and apologize to those he had hurt . . .

“But as I was leaving, all he said was, ‘I got screwed.’ “

* But if you still have hope for Ryan, here it is…

The three dissenting judges spent about half of their 15-page opinion slamming the length of the trial and what they consider to be U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer’s failure to rein in the proceedings.

“We agree with the panel majority that the evidence of the defendants’ guilt was overwhelming,” Posner wrote with Judges Ann Claire Williams and Michael Kanne. “But guilt no matter how clearly established cannot cancel a criminal defendant’s right to a trial that meets minimum standards of procedural justice.”

The dissent warned that marathon trials scare off many competent jurors. Those left become overwhelmed by the vast amount of evidence, they wrote.

“The longer the trial, the less likely the jury is to be able to render an intelligent verdict,” the opinion said.

The trials should not have gone anywhere near six months, the dissenting judges said. They said that in a “super-long trial,” jurors are more likely to become “bored, impatient, irritated” and to disobey the judge’s instructions.

In legal papers, neither side had put the issue of trial length front and center, but Thursday’s dissent appears to be written “with an eye toward Supreme Court review,” said Joel Bertocchi, a veteran appellate attorney.

* More…

[Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Collins] pointed out that the trial took as long as it did, in part, because of requests by the defense.

“That’s ridiculous. It was done by (Judge) Pallmeyer because she can’t manage a case,” said [Len Cavise, a DePaul University College of Law professor]. “She just doesn’t know how to say ‘no.’ … There are any number of judges who would have taken those lawyers into chambers and said, ‘Clean up your act.’”

The dissenters seemed to take that view as well.

“Federal trial judges … recognize and discharge a duty of active trial management. … They do not defer abjectly to the lawyers’ preferences regarding length of trial,” they wrote.

* And more stories, compiled by Paul…

* Former Gov. Ryan a step away from prison

* Ryan Jurors generally glad to see conviction upheld

* The three judges who sided with Ryan

* Clout Street: Gov, Mayor react to Ryan decision; other Ryan reactions; more reactions

* Editorial: Jail time for Ryan would end this sad political chapter

* Editorial: For Ryan, no more delay of consequences

Thoughts?

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s Capitol Fax (Use all caps in password)

Friday, Oct 26, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Morning shorts

Friday, Oct 26, 2007 - Posted by Paul Richardson

* Daley defends Bridgeport land deal

* Daley denies sweetheart deal for park site

* Mary Mitchell: Daley ignoring rising toll of rogue cops

* Independent cop watchdog to start over with new name

* ILGOPNetwork: A rundown of the Congressional races

* Peoria Chronicle: Schock to officially announce candidacy

* Newcomer eyes Weller’s seat in the House

* Illinois Review: 8th CD GOP primary heats up over ‘dirty money’

* Press Release: Dan Seals ducks and dodges debates

* Press Release: Lauzen announces health care policy position

* ArchPundit: Why he supports Mark Pera

* Video: Mark Pera’s first TV ad

* Video: John Laesch press conference

* Video: Peraica ad slamming new GOP State’s Attorney candidate [fixed link]

* Press Release: Green Party candidate announces for DuPage Co. Board

* WurfWhile: Congressman Biggert target of pro-SCHIP coalition

* School silence law kicks up a big fuss

Pockets of students, parents and teachers who take issue with the law’s intent have staged walkouts, online protests and letter-writing campaigns to state lawmakers in the hope of reversing the measure, which makes Illinois one of 11 states with requisite periods of reflection. A 14-year-old student is expected to file the first legal challenge to the law Friday, thrusting Illinois even further into the thick of the national school-prayer debate.

* IlliniPundit: 2007 ethics training

* GAO Report: Current status of state and local government retirement benefits; just the highlights

* IL Campaign for Political Reform: Dependents as donors and dependent candidates

But the problem that the Post and WDC found isn’t so much that some parents use their kids to sneak around the limits, it’s that candidates can become too reliant for money from a tiny number of donors. And we have that problem in Illinois in spades.

Here in Illinois, most candidates for statewide office get most of their money from donors who pony up $10,000 or more, and those donors account for a teeny tiny fraction of all Illinoisans — less than one-tenth of one -percent.

* Foreclosures crisis could worsen, officials say

“The number of people getting into trouble is going to grow, and the need for housing counselors is going to grow as well,” said Tammie Grossman, executive director of Housing Action Illinois, a Chicago-based training and advocacy group.

Brenda Grauer, a prosecutor in the office of Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan, said foreclosures caused by fraud are becoming “incredibly prevalent.”

Poor communities on the South Side and in the south suburbs, she said, are prone to illegal mortgage practices — everything from a broker or lender overstating a borrower’s income to inflating property values on a loan application.

* Sun-Times Editorial: Bad loan crisis affects all of us

* Tribune Editorial: Thoughts on Cook Co. health care system

* Daley said he heard the message and will trim the tax increase

* Clinton Landfill opposition group’s leader contends county board violated Open Meetings Act

The leader of a community-based watchdog group opposed to the permitting of chemical wastes at a landfill in Clinton is accusing a DeWitt County official of erasing an audiotape of a county board meeting.

* Friday Beer Blogging: Halloween Costume Edition

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New poll shows horrific numbers for Dem governor even though state has liberal electorate

Thursday, Oct 25, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Illinois Wesleyan University has a new statewide poll. Let’s first look at some of the political results.

Conducted by Illinois Wesleyan University Department of Political Science
October 15 – 18, 2007 Sample Size N = 395 (Confidence Interval +/- 5%)

2. Would you say that you generally approve or generally disapprove of the way that Rod Blagojevich is handling his job as governor of Illinois?

23% approve
60% disapprove
18% Other/undecided/NR

3. Would you say that you generally approve or generally disapprove of the way that Dick Durbin is handling his job as Senator from Illinois?

54% approve
22% disapprove
24% Other/undecided/NR

4. Would you say that you generally approve or generally disapprove of the way George Bush is handling his job as President?

21% approve
69% disapprove
10% Other/undecided/NR

5. If the upcoming elections for the U.S. Congress were being held today, who would you like to see win in your district, the Democratic candidate or the Republican candidate?

49% Democratic candidate
27% Republican candidate
24% Undecided/NR

* The numbers reported yesterday in the Rasmussen poll aren’t the same, but it was a different kind of job approval question…

Blagojevich: 16% good or excellent; 83% fair or poor… Bush: 31% good or excellent; 68% fair or poor

* On to issues. This response was kinda surprising to me, considering how the politicians bloviate on the issue all the time…

7. An emerging national controversy is how to handle the large number of people who have been convicted of non-violent drug-related offenses. If two political candidates held the following views, which would you prefer to win?

25% Candidate ‘A’ says we should increase penalties and incarceration of these offenders
62% Candidate ‘B’ says we should not build more prisons but focus upon drug treatment programs
20% No preference/Undecided/NR
4% Other (specify response)

So, 82 percent either don’t want to build more prisons or have no preference? The vast majority appear to be either ambivalent about our current “lock ‘em up” policy or are against it. Wow.

* Just a third get their info about politics from the Internet…

1. Do you ever get news or information about political candidates and campaigns from the Internet?

33% Yes
66% No
1% Unsure/NR

* A big majority believes global warming is probably happening now…

8. How convinced are you that global warming or the greenhouse effect is actually happening – would you say you are completely convinced, mostly convinced, not so convinced or not at all convinced?

34% completely convinced
32% mostly convinced
16% not so convinced
13% not at all convinced
5% undecided/other/NR

* Pretty big “liberal” majorities on hot-button issues…

13. Would you say that you generally support or generally oppose government funding for medical research using stem cells obtained from human embryos?

63% generally support
27% generally oppose
10% depends/undecided/NR

14. Which comes closest to your view - Gay couples should be allowed to legally marry, or gay couples should be allowed to form civil unions but not legally marry, or there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple’s relationship?

28% Allowed to legally marry
27% civil unions
34% no legal recognition
11% other/undecided/NR

15. The U. S. Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that a woman has right to an abortion if she chooses at any time during the first three months of pregnancy. Would you say that you generally favor or oppose that ruling?

58% favor
34% oppose
8% undecided/other/NR

* Iraq…

9. In view of the developments since we first sent our troops to Iraq, do you think the United States made a mistake in sending troops to Iraq, or not?

59% Yes, a mistake
33% No, not a mistake
8% other/undecided/NR

10. Should the U.S. troops in Iraq stay as long as it takes to make sure Iraq is a stable democracy, or should U.S. troops leave as soon as possible, even if Iraq is not completely stable?

33% stay as long as it takes
52% leave as soon as possible
15% other/undecided/NR

More tomorrow.

Discuss.

37 Comments

Question of the day

Thursday, Oct 25, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Dan Johnson-Weinberger has the setup…

The real reason why our state and local governments are broke is because we’re taxing the wrong things. We have a great tax for the 1950s economy, but in 2007, our taxes need to be modernized.

We use the sales tax to fund a big chunk of state and local government. In Illinois, we only tax goods, not services. That means if you buy a bowling ball you pay a sales tax but if you go bowling you don’t. More and more of our economy is about selling services instead of goods, so the relatively few people still selling or buying goods end up with the bill while the increasing group of people selling or buying services gets a free ride.

The sales tax rate on goods has to keep rising to try to generate the same amount of money, since less and less economic activity flows through the sale of goods and we don’t tax services.

There are 168 possible services that states tax. We tax 17 of them. Iowa taxes 94. Every other state in the Midwest taxes more services than we do. The Federation of Tax Administrators in DC put out that data recently, and you can check it out yourself here.

* The Question: Do you agree with this logic? Explain fully.

46 Comments

This just in… Ryan loses appeal *** Fitzgerald responds *** Appeal posted online ***

Thursday, Oct 25, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* 9:48 am - George Ryan has lost his appeal and will likely be reporting to prison within a week or so…

Former Gov. George Ryan may soon be reporting to federal prison after an appellate court refused today to reconsider a ruling in August that affirmed his sweeping convictions for public corruption and fraud.

The full U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decided not to review the work of a three-judge panel that voted 2-1 to uphold Ryan’s convictions despite a series of juror controversies at the end of his historic six-month trial last year.

Ryan has one possible appeal left—to the U.S. Supreme Court—and the nation’s highest court need not accept the case. Ryan is expected to ask to remain free while the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether to hear his case, but winning an appeal bond at that stage is a long shot, experts said. […]

Absent last-minute intervention by the U.S. Supreme Court or the 7th Circuit, Ryan must report to prison within four business days after the 7th Circuit issues the official paperwork rejecting his request for a rehearing. That paperwork typically would come soon, in no more than seven days.

* 10:58 am - US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald responds…

“We are pleased that the full Court of Appeals has decided to let stand the initial careful opinion of the panel majority, which held that the defendants received a fair trial. Even the three judges voting to rehear the appeal agreed with the majority of judges that ‘the evidence of the defendants’ guilt was overwhelming.’ Ryan and Warner were convicted of serious crimes in awarding state leases and contracts that were steered illegally in return for hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits for Warner and Ryan, including financial support for Ryan’s successful 1998 gubernatorial campaign.”

* 11:13 am - You can read the court’s decision by clicking this link.

44 Comments

Car title fee hike, cigarette tax increase and higher fares proposed for bailout

Thursday, Oct 25, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The “secret plan” to bail out mass transit is no longer a secret, but it could prove even more controversial than the original idea…

Less than two weeks before the latest “doomsday” deadline for the Chicago Transit Authority, a House Republican bailout plan funded by a cigarette tax hike and vehicle title fee increase went nowhere Wednesday.

* I’ve been reporting for a while that Cross wants to divert gasoline sales tax revenue to mass transit and replace the cash with a cigarette tax hike. Gov. Blagojevich appeared to reject using a tax increase on cigarettes for anything other than health care several weeks ago, but the Trib says it’s back on the table. More…

House Speaker Michael J. Madigan (D-Chicago) questioned the political feasibility of asking Downstate lawmakers to raise taxes to save Chicago mass transit, while he also continued to publicly turn thumbs down at House Republican leader Tom Cross’ desire to tie CTA help to gambling expansion for a public works program.

* And a few more details…

Though the transit plan backed by Madigan would rely on small sales tax increases in the metro area, Cross said he would prefer to help the system by diverting $300 million in revenues generated by the sales tax on gasoline. Cross said those funds could be replaced by increasing the fees on automobile titles and fund sweeps of other agencies to eliminate unnecessary spending. Cross also suggested fare increases.

* So, the secret plan that the governor said he had “signed off” on would include slapping motorists with higher title fees and transit riders with increased fares? Could this be true? What about Blagojevich’s oft-stated opposition to any tax hikes on “PEOPLE”? No wonder the guv didn’t divulge any details earlier this week.

* The competing proposals set up an interesting choice…

“I don’t like the fact that we’re looking at a sales tax. I don’t like the fact that every time we turn around, we see another tax proposed or an increase in a tax. I think there’s a way to do it without raising taxes,” Cross said. […]

Madigan contends “regional taxes for a regional problem” are the way to go, and the strategy has fewer political problems than Cross’ idea.

* More stories, compiled by Paul…

* Gov wants to fund mass transit with $350 million from gas tax

* Local schools fear fund cuts amid feuding in Springfield

* Clout Street: Goodbye veto overrides

* GOP hopes to exploit Gov’s weakness in ‘08

I’ll have more on the poll mentioned in that last article later today.

Thoughts?

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - House sets November session dates (Use all caps in password)

Thursday, Oct 25, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Where’s the bloat? Claypool can’t answer

Thursday, Oct 25, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Forrest Claypool, who ran and lost for Cook County Board President last year, has been a constant critic of Todd Stroger and the “bloat” at Cook County Hospital. Dr. Robert Simon, who runs the county’s health system, has been asking for a public debate with Claypool for weeks. Claypool finally complied yesterday, agreeing to a debate on a Chicago Public Radio show hosted by Gabriel Spitzer. He didn’t come off too well…

Three times host Gabriel Spitzer asked Claypool where he would cut spending.

Twice, Claypool declined to give specifics and instead pointed to an alternative budget that he and other opposition commissioners introduced for 2007 that he said “would have slashed patronage jobs” and “transferred those dollars to health care.” […]

On Spitzer’s third pass at Claypool to identify waste in the government, Spitzer asked, “Just one more time, specifically, where is the waste? Can you name positions? Can you name departments?”

Claypool: “We presented an alternative budget that would have given us a year to move forward. Obviously the system needs more money in the long run. But that would have bought us a year of stability.”

Simon said Claypool’s alternative budget would have cut workers needed to help the county fix its finance system. Simon said if Claypool could identify unnecessary workers he would investigate them.

* Stroger is also lashing out at other county officials…

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger made clear Wednesday he’s tired of standing alone in taking the heat over his plan to raise taxes: If other county officials want more jobs and money in 2008, they’d better “stand up” and take the heat with him.

Stroger singled out State’s Attorney Richard Devine for particular criticism, asking why Devine isn’t backing Stroger’s plan to raise the sales, parking and gasoline taxes — especially given the $113 million in raises Stroger and the County Board recently delivered to assistant state’s attorneys and others. […]

A spokesman for Devine said he supports “finding the resources needed to support” salary hikes but questions “the approach of raising more revenue than we need.”

That’s a good point, of course. Stroger wants to raise more taxes than the county has plans to spend. He’s promised to refund any overage, but nobody is buying it.

* Meanwhile, in the city, Mayor Daley is apparently scaling back his massively unpopular tax hike plan…

The mayor’s budget team has cobbled together a revised revenue package that incorporates some of the new ideas tossed out by aldermen while raising some of the non-property taxes in Daley’s original plan even higher. More budget cuts are also in the works, sources said.

* Related stories, compiled by Paul…

* Stroger rips lack of support from officials for tax hikes

* Health care workers back Stroger tax hike

* Stroger Hospital cuts the wait for mammograms

* Money from skyway lease won’t go into budget bailout

* Opinion: Why Toyota over Ford, Mayor Daley?

* Go private to boost minority firm pacts: black aldermen

* Daley has big plans to use casino cash for City Colleges

18 Comments

Morning shorts

Thursday, Oct 25, 2007 - Posted by Paul Richardson

* Another ex-soldier to run against Roskam

Morgenthaler said she believes health care, the war and immigration are the most important issues to voters in the 6th District. And after just one year, voters in the district are dissatisfied with the incumbent, she said.

“He seems to be in lock step with President Bush and out of step with [the] district,” Morgenthaler said.

* Ex-White House staffer to run for Weller’s seat

* McConoughey details Ag plan in Congressional run

* Upstart vies for Cook Co. state’s attorney

* City council panel OKs stiffer rules for late-hour bars

Chicago bars licensed to sell booze until 4 a.m. would pay a price for the noise and crime problems they create: surveillance cameras, exterior lighting and “adequately trained” security guards who attend CAPS meetings, under a crackdown advanced Wednesday by a City Council committee.

* Another city investment deal for Daley’s nephew

* Mark Brown: How did Chicago developer get such a sweet deal…I wonder?

* Tribune Editorial: On ‘luck’ of Chicago development deal

* Editorial: Enough of pay-to-play already

Jones should let the measure come to a vote. Or stun the state of Illinois into delightful disbelief by putting forth his own reform measure that would at last give the corrupt something more to worry about than Patrick Fitzgerald.

* McQueary: State officials’ web sites dig up fundraising stink

* Editorial: Connect the dots between contracts, campaign cash

* Lon Monk’s lobbying business

Gov. Blagojevich’s former chief of staff and campaign manager — Alonzo “Lon'’ Monk — launched a government consulting firm, AM3 Consulting Ltd., on Jan. 2, state lobbying records show. Monk has since built a stable of clients, many of them longtime contributors to Blagojevich’s campaign fund, according to campaign finance records. Monk’s clients have donated more than $480,000 to Blagojevich over the years.

* Tenants want voice on Chicago condominium panel

* Parents say school for the disabled a disgrace

* Oak Brook officials deny ’shadow government’ charges

An Oak Brook community watchdog group accused current and former officials of secretly spending nearly $20,000 on legal fees in a clandestine attempt to fire the village’s top cop.

But the officials named by the group, including former Village President Kevin Quinlan, denied allegations of a plot to terminate Police Chief Thomas Sheahan’s contract and hide the billing statements from members of the village board.

“Nobody set out to fire the chief. That was not the purpose at all,” Quinlan said Wednesday in a phone interview.

* Bethany Jaeger: Video competition, phone vs. cable

* AT&T gets OK for Internet TV service

13 Comments

This just in… Morgenthaler to announce tomorrow

Wednesday, Oct 24, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* 4:18 pm - Col. Jill Morgenthaler just called to say she will announce tomorrow that she’s running for Congress as a Democrat against freshman Republican Peter Roskam. More in a bit…

* 4:45 pm - Morgenthaler is the governor’s deputy chief of staff for homeland security, and is resigning on November 1. She’s been in the military for 30 years and is now retired.

The “Netroots,” which eventually got behind Tammy Duckworth in her campaign versus Roskam last year has been more than a little standoffish so far with Morgenthaler. The biggest reason is that she was a spokesperson for the Army during the Abu Grhaib torture scandal and she authored a blog while in Iraq (much of 2004) that criticizes the media for focusing way too much on the negatives.

She says that things were far better then than they are now. Saddam Hussein was captured, the Iraqi people were allowed to vote an they had a new constitution, etc.

“It has gone downhill,” Morgenthaler said today. “It’s severely deteriorating.”

Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, whose career was essentially ended by the Abu Grhaib scandal, recently had some super-harsh words for the way the war has been handled. Morgenthaler said that Sanchez is a “very private man,” so his highly public criticisms of the administration’s handling of the war should be taken very seriously.

Her own position on the war is that she wants to find a way to “bring the soldiers home safely while not making our nation vulnerable.”

Morgenthaler slammed Congressman Roskam for his vote against the Democrats’ S-CHIP proposal, which was vetoed by President Bush.

Roskam “doesn’t care about 50,000 of our children in Illinois,” Morgenthaler said. “Who is he representing?”

19 Comments

New Rasmussen poll shows governor sinking like a stone *** Transit riders threaten to abandon system *** Voters unhappy with gaming solution *** Happy with their health insurance

Wednesday, Oct 24, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Rasmussen’s latest Illinois poll is out.

Survey of 500 likely Illinois voters taken October 17, 2007. Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence…

1 - How do you rate the way that George W. Bush is performing his role as President?

14% Excellent
17% Good

16% Fair
52% Poor

1% Not Sure

* BUSH TOTALS: 31% good or excellent… 68% fair or poor… (32 and 67 in Rasmussen’s August poll)

2 - How do you rate the way that Rod Blagojevich is performing his role as Governor?

5% Excellent
11% Good

37% Fair
46% Poor

1% Not Sure

* BLAGOJEVICH TOTALS: 16% good or excellent… 83% fair or poor… (22 and 78 in Rasmussen’s August poll)

Oof. Could it get any worse for the governor? Now he’s polling much worse than Bush, and dropping like a stone. Wow.

* Now, on to gaming and mass transit…

5 - How closely have you followed recent news stories about the Chicago Transit Authority’s financial issues?

24% Very closely
29% Somewhat closely
25% Not very closely
21% Not at all
0% Not sure

6 - A proposal has been made to authorize more casinos in Illinois with the money going to help fund public transportation in Chicago. Do you favor or oppose this proposal?

31% Favor
57% Oppose
13% Not sure

7 - Suppose a choice had to be made between authorizing more casinos or having the Chicago Transit Authority cut half its routes. Which would you prefer?

51% Authorizing more casinos
32% Having the Chicago Transit Authority cut half its routes
17% Not sure

9 - [asked only of those who said at least once a week to the question: How often do you ride subways, trains, and buses in and around Chicago?]

Will you continue to ride CTA public transportation if fares go up to $3 or higher?

50% Yes
43% No
7% Not sure

10 - [asked only of those who said at least once a week]

Will you drive more if suburban bus and commuter train fares go up?

35% Yes
55% No
11% Not sure

Folks aren’t happy with gaming expansion for transit, and very big percentages threaten to abandon public transportation if a fare increase is enacted, as House GOP Leader Tom Cross and some Senate Republicans are suggesting. Not surprising.

* Also, according to the poll, 91 percent say they have health insurance, which is a lot more than what’s usually reported. Of those who say they have insurance, 40% rted their coverage as “Excellent,” 35% said it was “Good,” 20% said “Fair” and 4% rated it “Poor,” while 0% were not sure.

Discuss.

…Adding… Oops. I forgot to post the presidential numbers for Illinois. Click the pics for a larger view.

* Favorables…

* Matchups…

* Greg Blankenship of the Illinois Policy Institute makes a good point in comments about the health insurance results…

Likely voters — people who take citizenship seriously are likely to take other things more seriously…Thus the reason for the 7% difference between the 84.2% of the population who has coverage and the 91% coverage level in this poll.

My theory would be that you would see coverage rates drop for mere registered voters and drop further for Illinoisans or non voters.

58 Comments

Question of the day

Wednesday, Oct 24, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

On a scale of one to ten, with ten being the “best,” how would you rate the job performance of your own state legislators and US congresscritters? Identify the names of those people and explain why you rated them the way you did.

83 Comments

Running from the truth

Wednesday, Oct 24, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Carol Marin discloses Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s property tax bills…

Yes, we hate property taxes. Yes, it is time for a Boston Tea Party of outrage at how our elected officials — state, county and city — have hardly inspired our confidence. But Tuesday’s news conference in the Bungalow Belt of the city was simply a stunt to stick a needle in the eye of House Speaker Mike Madigan, the governor’s nemesis. […]

For 2005, the Blagojevich family paid $9,789.40 in property taxes. But this year, the first couple will see a whopping 18 percent reduction. They will pay, according to county records, just $7,996.85 for 2006.

This constant gubernatorial drumbeat on property tax assessments in Cook County is driving me a bit batty. The assessment cap merely shifts tax hikes to people whose assessments have not risen as much as the “hot” neighborhoods like Blagojevich’s. It is not across-the-board relief.

Also, every downstater or suburbanite who pays more than the residents of the governor’s neighborhood ought to be outraged that he has absolutely no sympathy at all for the rest of us. This item particularly irks me to no end. The governor is screaming for property tax relief for Cook County, but his taxes are a pittance compared to mine. As I told subscribers this morning, my Springfield house is worth about half of Blagojevich’s house, yet the governor’s taxes are more than a third lower than mine.

* Meanwhile, over in Indiana, things are starting to move…

Gov. Mitch Daniels’ call Tuesday to permanently cap property tax bills and cut the average Hoosier homeowner’s bill by more than a third was met with open arms from key legislative leaders.

The tax relief, which appears genuine, would be funded by increasing Indiana’s sales tax next year to 7 percent from 6 percent. More on the Daniels’ plan…

• Capping residential property taxes at 1 percent of a home’s assessed value, at 2 percent for rental properties and at 3 percent for businesses, all by 2009.

• Adding a homestead deduction of 35 percent, on top of the current maximum of $45,000, also in ’09.

• Eliminating elected township and county assessors and creating a single appointed assessor in each county.

What do you think of this idea?

* Oh, by the way, Marin had a funny ending to her column today…

As Blagojevich was in mid-press-conference mode, Peg Wilson, who lives in the next house, walked outside and shot the governor a sidelong glance. Mrs. Wilson is 84, has lived on that same block for 70 years and was off to bring communion and some food to a shut-in friend across the way. “Here again?” she said in the direction of the governor, noting that this isn’t the first time he has staged one of his populist press conferences on her street. His own house, after all, is a just a few blocks away, and he regularly jogs through this North Side neighborhood.

“I suppose I should be concerned about property taxes,” she said. “But I also take the CTA. And I don’t know, if I were a young person, how I’d get to work.”

Too bad Mrs. Wilson isn’t one of the governor’s advisers. How, I asked, would she evaluate the governor’s leadership? She sighed.

“Well,” she said, “he’s a good runner.”

He’s running from the truth on this issue.

67 Comments

Mystery meat may not even be meat

Wednesday, Oct 24, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The governor claimed yesterday that he and the other legislative leaders (sans Michael Madigan) have cooked up a secret plan to solve the RTA and CTA’s budget woes…

“We have an idea and a plan,” Governor Rod Blagojevich said during a news conference in Chicago Tuesday.

* The governor would reveal no details, but said there was a deal on the table…

Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Tuesday that he, House GOP leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego) and both Senate leaders have “signed off” on a new proposal to provide additional revenue streams to pay the operating costs of the CTA, Metra and Pace.

Now, they have to sell the idea to Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), who has continued to back a proposal to provide new funding streams through a regional increase in the sales tax and an increase in the Chicago title transfer tax, even though Blagojevich has pledged repeatedly to veto any such bill.

Madigan steadfastly refused to take part in the transit funding discussions that have taken place in recent weeks, involving the other legislative leaders, the governor and his staff.

“I’m optimistic that we will have a very sound, solid, long-term proposal to address the RTA-CTA problem that includes accountability and a sustainable source of revenue that does not raise taxes on people,” Blagojevich said.

* Yep. It’s all Madigan’s fault…

Blagojevich said Cross is supposed to meet Wednesday with Madigan, and he said Cross will explain the plan so Madigan will abandon a proposed regional sales tax increase in the Chicago area to pay for mass transit.

“Hopefully he can get him on board,” Blagojevich said of Cross and Madigan.

* All on Madigan’s head…

“We do know that Mike Madigan wants to call the House back into session to try once again to raise sales taxes on people. On top of the two percent sales tax that Todd Stroger wants to impose on the people of Chicago in Cook County, on top of the record property tax increase that the city of Chicago, Mayor Daley, is asking for, on top of the bottled water tax,” Blagojevich said.

* Curiously enough, however, there are several holes in the governor’s story…

Blagojevich says he wants to announce the mass transit plan with State Senate President Emil Jones. But a spokeswoman for Jones says the president has only heard rumors of the plan.

* Turns out, nobody else knows what the governor is talking about, either…

But David Dring, a spokesman for House Republican leader Tom Cross, said there was “not a set concrete plan.” And Patty Schuh, a spokeswoman for Senate Republican leader Frank Watson, said there have been discussions with the governor but “none of those have produced a plan.”

* And…

The comments by Blagojevich came as a surprise to Metra and Pace, whose spokespersons said they had not been advised that a funding alternative had emerged. Spokespersons for the CTA and RTA had no immediate comment.

Governing by press conference has apparently been taken to an all-time low.

Discuss.

22 Comments

How the big money is made

Wednesday, Oct 24, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Smalltime stuff like patronage hiring and promotions do add up, but this is how the real money is made in Chicago…

Mayor Richard Daley took an hourlong boat ride on the Chicago River in fall 1997 and came back with a vision of improving the riverfront in the city’s neighborhoods.

Just about that time, Thomas DiPiazza, an ally of Daley’s, also took an interest in the riverfront, buying a highly contaminated piece of land that was slated to become a public park under the mayor’s plan. […]

DiPiazza and a partner bought the vacant, odd-shaped property in Daley’s native Bridgeport neighborhood for $50,000 in 1998. Six years later, the city paid them $1.2 million for the land.

As you might imagine, DiPiazza is hooked in but good. According to the article, his father was a prominent Democrat under the old Mayor Daley. DiPiazza and Tim Degnan have reportedly been doing real estate deals for years.

* The two men were recently sued by a developer who claimed that DiPiazza and Degnan shook them down for kickbacks and then shut down his project when he wouldn’t pony up. The suit was dismissed by a judge who claimed the two men “have no authority to make governmental decisions.”

* The way the appraisals worked on the DiPiazza property will make your whole day…

City Hall hired four appraisers to determine how much it should pay for the land. The first, in 1999, turned in an estimate of $220,000. In 2002 another appraisal report put the value at $520,000.

Two other appraisers reviewed and approved the $520,000 estimate, including Francis Lorenz Jr., who told the city in July 2003 that he agreed with the figure. DiPiazza and Ferro said they would sell their land for $520,000 at that time, but the city did not respond to the offer, Kralovec said.

Eight months later, in March 2004, Lorenz submitted another estimate, tripling the value to $1.6 million.

Amazing.

According to the article, the state gave the city a grant to pay for the land, which is still not yet converted to a park.

DiPiazza, a Bridgeport native and former sewer worker, drives a Bentley and a Ferrari, according to the Trib.

* More reform and renewal stories, compiled by Paul…

* Rep. Fritchey: Governor should issue executive order on pay-to-play

* Tribune Editorial: Protecting Illinois sleaze

* Editorial: Now is the time for Illinois to approve ethics reform

16 Comments

Morning shorts

Wednesday, Oct 24, 2007 - Posted by Paul Richardson

* Complaint names McHenry Co. state’s attorney

Bianchi said accusations that he was improperly reimbursed for office expenses were politically motivated.

“Anyone can write a letter to complain,” said Bianchi, who faces opposition in the GOP primary in February. “This is strictly a political move.”

Bianchi said he was outraged.

* Knox Co. board members not surprised Madigan won’t file charges against state’s attorney

* Clout Street: Hynes swipe at governor launches website on pay to play

* Website links campaign donations to contractors

* Contributions, contracts are traced by Comptroller’s website

* Comptroller’s new website highlights contracts, donors

* Bethany Jaeger: Comptroller to follow the money

* Opinion: Personal injury lawyer adopts stealth campaign

* First hearing on Cook Co. tax hikes tonight

* Downtown peak parking rate may increase to $1 an hour

* Chicago Public Radio: Cook Co. health officials talk money

* Daley defends decision to not name accused cops

* Daley rips aldermen who demand names of police

* Kadner: 28 year old woman to run for Cook Co. state’s attorney

* Cook Co. health chief wins praise for progress

Commissioner Joan Murphy even suggested the county spend more for an effective PR effort to spread the word about changes in the system — though the county repeatedly has been ripped for spending too much on PR.

Simon laid out ways he has cracked the whip on what was “the worst situation I personally have ever seen.” Employee overtime is down, he said, and so are waiting times for patients at clinics.

It’s not all rosy, of course. Hospital staff and contractors still aren’t collecting bills at nearly the rate they should. Hospital hires continue to draw scrutiny as being tinged by patronage, while Board President Todd Stroger wants to add hundreds of new jobs.

* Cook Co. weighs co-pay for jails, clinics

He said officials are concerned about a potential public relations backlash.

“It’s a tough one,” Simon said. “If you guys stand in our shoes and in the board’s shoes, the moment we do, say, $20 for a clinic visit … what will end up happening is you’re going to get patients that will say … ‘I can’t afford it,’ and then it will become a newspaper article.”

* Tribune Editorial: Fair trade, work for housing; more here

It has been more than a decade since federal welfare reform pushed the idea that citizens who receive the government’s help should be expected to help themselves through work or education requirements. There were predictions of dire consequences. But welfare reform proved to be a smashing success.

So, we think, will the CHA’s plans for tenants.

* Cabbies beg city to raise fares

* Chicago cabdrivers denied 24% fair hike

During a City Council hearing that dragged on for hours and adjourned without action, Consumer Services Commissioner Norma Reyes slammed the door on the increase on grounds it “does not correspond with the increase in driver expenses.”

“Their lease expenses have remained static. And gas prices have gone up and down, up and down, up and down. Now there’s a downward trend since it increased last summer. Based on that, I’m not supporting a fare increase,” Reyes said.

Reyes said she remains “sympathetic” to the plight of cabbies and vowed to consider innovative “formulas” to address fuel prices.

* Americorps volunteers to march on state capitol in annual parade

* Possible Silver Cross move puts Joliet, county at odds

In July, Silver Cross announced that it planned to build a $400 million, 289-bed hospital on 70 acres along Interstate 355 in New Lenox, about three miles east of the existing hospital.

Officials said the new hospital would be more modern and would better meet the region’s health care needs of the future.

Joliet officials argue the change would hurt the city and the county economies, citing several examples.

* Opinion: FOID rules are way around safety regulation

* Illinois to get high-tech driver’s licenses

* Chicago Public Radio: Sec. of State unveils new ID cards

* New driver’s licenses to have deliberate errors

* Illinois to issue new licenses

* State unveils new card aimed at combating fraud, ID theft

* State unveils new driver’s license and ID cards

“These changes in Illinois’ driver’s licenses and ID cards represent a very important and positive step on the path to improved card security for everyone,” Secretary of State Jesse White said during a Tuesday news conference. “I am confident that the new driver’s license and ID will work to prevent and detect attempts at fraud, protect ID information.”

Despite safeguards against fraud, counterfeiters have been able to reproduce current licenses and ID cards, White said.

* Child support bill becomes law

* Hospital planning board’s fate depends on task force

* Hospital Board review off to slow start

17 Comments

Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s Capitol Fax (Use all caps in password)

Wednesday, Oct 24, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller

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