We are going to be having petition drives for Jill this Saturday and Sunday and next Saturday starting at 9:30am each day originating from our new campaign office (yes we have set up shop)… The address is 190 N. Swift Rd, Unit M in Addison.
* Um, Dan, “the most corruption-laden four years of state government ever” was probably during the 1920s, which is long before Pat Quinn was even born. Let’s refresh your memory…
Len Small was governor throughout the Roaring Twenties — that gilded age of prohibition and lawlessness.
Small was a close political ally of Chicago Mayor “Big” Bill Thompson, who was the Mafia’s chief enabler in this state. Small was also closely affiliated with Johnny Torrio, the guy who united the city’s innumerable rackets and gangsters under one umbrella during the beginning of Prohibition. Al Capone was Torrio’s top lieutenant, and when Torrio split town, Capone further refined his vast organization.
Len Small was known as the “pardoning governor.” He is alleged to have sold hundreds of pardons, mostly to gangsters. He even went so far as to pardon cop killers. In 1922, a group of Torrio’s bootleggers were on their way to Chicago when they shot and killed a motorcycle cop who was in full pursuit. Small pardoned the whole bunch.
Walter Stevens, the “dean of all Chicago’s gunmen,” was Johnny Torrio’s top trigger man. Stevens bumped off many of Torrio’s rivals. The murder of an Aurora policeman landed Stevens in prison, but Governor Small dutifully pardoned him. There were reports at the time that Stevens played a crucial role in helping Small beat an embezzlement charge. Some key evidence was “accidentally” burned by a janitor, who died soon afterwards.
Rod can’t touch that malfeasance.
* Speaking of Kankakee, the Daily Journal lists its top priorities for cleaning up state government…
* A ban on one political campaign contributing to another.
* A time limit on using donations, so they must be either returned or given to charity.
* A ban on all donations from gambling interests.
* Limits to push the system toward more small donations.
* Hey, Tribbies, if you’re gonna have a blog that invites comments, shouldn’t you post ‘em? I tried to comment on this post yesterday to point out an error. My comment’s still not up and the error hasn’t been changed.
* Springfield needs a blogger bash. If not, I may have to drive to Peoria this month.
* While we’re on the blogging subject, Zorn had high praise for your “pledge” entries. Go give him some love.
* 1-800-GOOG-411 is Google’s new, and free, directory assistance number. I gave it a try today and it seems to work well.
* From Pollster.com, Iowa caucus historical turnout. Miserable…
* New report to be released on drop-outs…
Governor Blagojevich’s Task Force on Re-enrolling Students Who Dropped Out is hosting a statewide summit on Monday, Oct. 22, 2007, in Chicago, to focus on building a system to re-enroll Illinois’ students who have dropped out of school. The Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston will release a comprehensive report on the economic, social and health consequences of dropping out.
Caterpillar Inc. set a record for revenue, profits and earnings per share in the latest reporting period as a result of overseas demand, the company announced today.
Caterpillar Inc., the world’s top maker of earth-moving equipment, diesel engines and gas turbines, posted disappointing quarterly earnings on Friday and cut its full-year forecast, sending its shares down about 4 percent.
* I can’t make up my mind about who should win the t-shirt from yesterday’s QOTD, so I’m leaving it up to you. I’m partial to “unclesam’s” entry, but let’s put this up for a vote.
Please, vote only once. I know this is Illinois, but let’s at least try to keep our own election clean…
* “unclesam”
I pledge allegiance to Illinois,
and to the power of the Three.
And we shall not be done,
’til it’s a power of One,
And the only choice is ME!
I thought perhaps that I could include a photo of each of the three leaders under that last line, like maybe these…
* “Austin Mayor”
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of Illinois,
Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor,
And to the Republic, Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor,
For which it stands.
One Nation under God, indivisible,
With Liberty, Justice and Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor for all.
* “train111″
I pledge allegiance to the Illinois flag
and to the politicians that top dollar can buy
To the corruption for which it stands
One cesspool
in the heartland
With favors and payouts for the few.
* “God’s Country”
I pledge allegiance to the Blago,
of the deserted mansion in Springfield,
and to the hairstyle, which never moves,
one mindset, that of Rod’s,
with Elvis impersonators and mammograms for all.
* “Yellow Dog Democrat”
I pledge allegiance
to the flag
of the Land of Lincoln.
And to the system,
in Combine’s hands,
Where something’s really stinkin’.
Plenty of contracts
to go around
For those who have the Clout.
But if you want health care,
or better schools,
You’ll have to go without.
* “Poli-Sci Geek”
I pledge allegiance,
to the flag of the great state of illinois,
cuz some guy sent me,
to work this ward,
for some guy I don’t know,
so I might, someday, get a job.
* “The Curmudgeon”
I pledge allegiance to Illinoize
To the good old girls and the good old boys
Who run this State for a favored few,
And to their family members
Who will succeed them:
I pledge my wallet and my vote,
I pledge my car, I pledge my boat,
I pledge the Cubs’ famed Billy Goat.
I pledge to pay and pay and then
I pledge to pay and pay again.
* First, they came for red light violators, then they came for gangbangers, then they came for speeders in construction zones, now it’s parkers…
Drivers who park in the path of Chicago’s 118 street sweepers may soon find themselves in the same boat as those who run red lights: caught in the act by surveillance cameras.
Three years after Mayor Daley first raised the idea, City Hall has issued a “request for qualifications” from companies interested in providing “high-resolution digital cameras” for street sweepers.
Aldermen reacted coolly to the city’s latest plunge into the brave new world of surveillance cameras. They argued that it’s unfair to hammer motorists for street-sweeping violations when the signs that warn them are predominantly made of paper. […]
“The signs just disappear, and motorists don’t see them,” said Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd).
“The sign hanger goes out, and kids take ‘em all down. Then the guy who parks gets a ticket the next day. It’s not fair,” said Ald. Ed Smith (28th).
* Hey, Daily Herald, you need to find a replacement for departed political reporter Eric Krol, and soon. You’re getting killed on several stories by smaller papers, like this one, for instance…
The possibility looms that a Des Plaines woman who is also a military veteran, will follow in the footsteps of another female veteran to take on U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam (R-6th) in next fall’s congressional election.
Col. Jill Morgenthaler’s name has been mentioned just once in your paper, and that was one tiny line buried down deep in a story about Peter Roskam’s fundraising.
* And what’s with the Daily Herald using an AP story about Denny Hastert’s pending (or not) resignation? [UPDATE: The Daily Herald’s Animal Farm blog is finally back online, so that’s a good thing].
* Anyway, on to the Peoria area, where state Rep. Aaron Schock announced some endorsements yesterday in his race to replace retiring Ray LaHood. The Peoria paper copied and pasted his spin right into the lede…
State Rep. Aaron Schock said his campaign for Congress was boosted Thursday by endorsements from two dozen municipal leaders in Woodford and Tazewell counties.
Fooled me. I thought it was going to be a run-in-the-mill official campaign kickoff.
Turned out Aaron Schock wanted to show off his new acquisitions: Endorsement from some relatively minor Tazewell and Woodford county politicians, including one Democrat. Schock certainly seems to believe racking up a string of endorsements helps his campaign. But why are these guys endorsing him? Probably for the same reason the PACs are pumping money into Schock’s campaign — he’s the perceived front runner, which can be a self-fulfilling prophesy in a primary election.
I can’t help but feel that endorsements all these county party chairs, city council members and county board members mean nothing if Ray LaHood – one of the most electorally popular politicians in central Illinois — decided to, for whatever reason, come out for John Morris or Jim McConoughey.
This is a 2008 congressional campaign open thread.
* Gov. Blagojevich’s annual fundraiser was last night in Chicago. He spoke for 15 minutes and the Tribune has this priceless outtake…
Blagojevich said he was proud of his work in the overtime legislative session that has been marked by his sparring with House Speaker Michael Madigan, a fellow Democrat.
“If you measure success on whether or not you are doing things for people, this is the most successful session in years,” Blagojevich said, citing his push for more money for schools and health care.
* Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn’s demand that Gov. Blagojevich urge Senate President Emil Jones to move the “pay to play” bill to the Senate floor drew these responses yesterday…
It’s narrow,” Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch said. “We should pass campaign-finance reform, and we should do it right.”
“We have an alternative bill,” Jones spokeswoman Cindy Davidsmeyer said. “It deals not only with pay-to-play, but with ethics concerning pensions and procurement.”
So, why not move that “alternative bill”? One reason is that Senators vastly prefer the House bill because they know it’s do-able and have been putting pressure on leadership not to call the other proposal.
Although an overall spending plan has been approved, several companion bills also must pass before all of the money can be spent. Without them, schools can’t get all of the extra money promised them in the budget, and the Illinois State Police could face severe financial shortfalls that could lead to layoffs.
“If nothing else, it would be a show of good faith to say we’ve got to put the personalities aside, we’ve got to put away the personal rancor and really start getting down to business,” Hynes said. “There is a growing sentiment out there among everyday people who normally don’t follow state government that this is ridiculous.”
Those budget implementation bills are being held up by House Speaker Michael Madigan, who wants the Senate to override the governor’s budget vetoes before he’ll release the BIMP bills. More from Hynes…
Hynes also criticized the atmosphere in the Capitol where various leaders hold bills hostage to others. Several lawmakers have said the companion budget bills, a Chicago mass-transit bailout and a capital construction program are all linked and that there must be agreement on all of them before any of them are called for a vote.
“To have this public posturing of ‘We’re not going to pass a [BIMP] bill until this happens,’ or ‘We’re not going to pass a capital bill until that happens’ — everybody gets hurt,” Hynes said.
House GOP Leader Tom Cross, Senate President Emil Jones and Gov. Blagojevich don’t want to act on the mass transit bailout bill until the capital bill is passed.
* Thousands upon thousands of cigarette butts have finally spurred the Chicago Park District to take drastic action….
Smoking is now prohibited at Chicago beaches and playgrounds. The city’s Park District passed the ban yesterday. New Board President Gery Chico says the ban protects people from second-hand smoke and cigarette litter. […]
The ban goes into effect immediately. Smokers must be at least 15 feet away from playgrounds and beaches. Violators could be fined up to $500.
Hundreds of thousands of butts were collected from the beaches and parks in various volunteer cleanups of recent years. Trash from smoking made up 54 percent of litter found on city beaches in September 2006. […]
What’s really going on this time isn’t about secondhand smoke or even litter. It’s about the nonsmoking majority telling the dwindling number of smokers to stop their stinky habit because “we, the majority” don’t like it. Once smoking outdoors is banned, how long before they move to ban it in one’s own car or home, as is happening in some parts of the country? And does anyone think they’ll stop at smoking?
Smokers need to recognize that their smoking is bothersome and dangerous to non-smokers - and to stop throwing their trash everywhere. But government agencies need to put the brakes on efforts targeting smokers. Yes, they should quit, but many can’t, and the rest choose not to - which still is their right.
Chasing them outside may be reasonable. But where do we expect them to go next?
* U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald to get married [corrected hed]
Fitzgerald’s pairing with investment-banker-turned-Head-Start-teacher Jennifer Letzkus was a surprise to many who think of the hard-charging prosecutor as having little time for a personal life.
But the state elected to hold on to the property and set an opening price of $25 million to keep anyone from bidding. With no willing buyers, the state took the title by default.
“We have effectively extinguished the rights of these deadbeat owners and taken a significant step toward ending this costly debacle,” said Scott Burnham, spokesman for Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias.
Rather than let the property go now, state officials want to rehab it.
It found that screeners at O’Hare’s passenger security checkpoints failed to detect 60 percent of simulated explosives that were hidden in carry-on bags or in the clothing of agents working for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration.
The poor performance prompted a Chicago-area congressman, Mark Kirk, to seek a high-level meeting with U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials to see what can be done immediately to shore up checkpoint security at the airport.
Cook County’s health care system, which serves about 1 million people, is facing a financial crisis, but elected leaders seem unable and unwilling to deal with the problem.
According to a new group organized to save the county system, which includes an organization represented by Young, there is a simple first step necessary to solve the problems, and it wouldn’t cost a dime.
Cook County needs to form a board of trustees to oversee the system to assure taxpayers that it is being managed “competently, transparently and without political interference,” Young said.
* Opinion: Firefighters, FOP to work under old contracts
It is a little surprising that a reporter with the experience and stature of Andy Shaw would be so apparently careless with checking his facts. In his Sunday Southtown article (Oct. 14, Insight, “We’re stuck with ‘em”), he states that Chicago Mayor Richard Daley gave “lovely long-term contracts with generous pay hikes to ensure labor peace until after the Olympics” to all unions, including police and firefighters.
A simple phone call to the Chicago Fire Fighters Union or Fraternal Order of Police would have confirmed that no such contract agreements have occurred with either union.
The billboard proposal calls for significantly raising the annual $75 permit fee and forcing sign companies to pay a lease transaction tax that is not being paid on the city’s 4,100 billboards. Daley already wants to raise the tax from 6 percent to 7.5 percent.
“Anything we can do to stop people from getting hit over the head with property taxes,” said Ald. Pat Levar (45th).
Zoning Committee Chairman William Banks (36th) said giant billboards in prime locations rake in “well over $1 million a year.”
But Stroger failed to mention he’s recommending spending 27 percent more on commissioners and their staffs, a move that would cost nearly $1.8 million a year.
* Cook Co. may stop buying bottled water to save money
