* The Tribune had this bit today on Hillary Clinton’s latest attack on Barack Obama…
[Clinton] also raised a new front on the issue of Obama’s use of “present” votes — rather than “yes” and “no” votes — on legislation when he was in the Illinois Senate, including on measures that dealt with Republican-led efforts to restrict abortion rights. […]
Obama has defended his “present” votes on abortion-related bills in the Illinois legislature, contending it was part of a strategy fashioned with abortion-rights advocates to help give some Illinois Senate Democrats political cover and to avoid looking harsh by casting “no” votes that would create a re-election risk.
But the Tribune earlier this year found few lawmakers remembered such a strategy and many of those who joined with Obama to vote present were, like him, in politically safe districts.
* Maybe only a few members the Tribune contacted remember this ploy, but I do. It was specifically designed by Planned Parenthood to counter Republican Senate President Pate Philip’s barrage of hot-button abortion bills that he was continually trying to ram through the Senate in 2001 and 2002. The Tribune missed the point - and by not contacting the groups involved, flubbed the story.
Besides passing bills he supported, Pate’s idea was to cause a controversy by splitting “moderate” Democrats away from the abortion rights groups, thereby causing a rift on that side, and, more imporantly, to put some political targets on the hot seat. So, as they also did in the House a few years back, Planned Parenthood was encouraging “Present” votes by some of their more loyal members in order to encourage the moderates to vote that way as well.
* For instance, Senate Bill 1661, introduced in 2002, would have created the “Induced Birth Infant Liability Act.”
Provides that, if a child is born alive after an induced labor abortion or other abortion, a parent of the child or the public guardian may maintain an action on the child’s behalf for damages…
The bill passed with 31 votes, but it received 11 Present votes. Among those voting “P” were Republican Senators Christine Radogno and Adeline Geo-Karis. Moderate Democrats voting “P” were Molaro and Viverito. Sen. Pat Welch, a perennial political target who was finally defeated in 2004, also voted Present.
A companion bill, SB 1662, was also hugely controversial at the time…
Defines “born-alive infant” to include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development.
The roll call on that proposal was pretty much the same as the other one.
* Was the strategy a success? Planned Parenthood claims it was, but the bills still passed the Senate and not all politically vulnerable people stuck to the program. Sen. Debbie Halvorson voted “No” on both of those bills in 2002, when she was up for reelection, but voted “Present” the year before on pretty much the same legislation, SB 1094 and SB 1095
* Pam Sutherland of Planned Parenthood said today that Pate Philip “couldn’t use those votes against the moderates or against pro-choice people.” Sutherland also slammed Clinton. “Having come from Illinois, she doesn’t understand Illinois politics.” And Sutherland had this to say in today’s Sun-Times…
“The poor guy is getting all this heat for a strategy we, the pro-choice community, did,” said Pam Sutherland, president and CEO of the Illinois Planned Parenthood Council.
Also, none of those aforementioned bills made it to a floor vote in the House, a development that surprised and angered some pro-life activists who had believed that Speaker Madigan was an ally, or at least a sympathizer. It shows you just how controversial these bills were, because Madigan had allowed pro-life bills to the floor before that package of legislation was introduced.
* Despite all this, Present votes, particularly repeated Present votes, are almost always fair game in campaigns. I’ve seen them used time and time again. So Clinton’s attack is perfectly understandable and within the bounds of political tradition (unlike that kindergarten nonsense), even if her facts are off on this one. The Tribune’s coverage played right into her hands.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Perhaps the Tribune should have looked at their own paper’s archives. Eric Zorn covered this very same issue well over three years ago…
“To provide cover for other Democrats who were shaky on the issue in an effort to convince them not to vote `yes,’” Sutherland said. “The idea is to recruit a group to vote `present’ that includes legislators who are clearly right with the issue.”
Sutherland said this tactic makes the “present” vote look less like a hedge or a cop-out and more like a constitutional concern or other high-minded qualm.
The irony is that pro-life groups in Illinois attacked him for killing later versions of these bills when he was a Committee Chair by not letting them out of committee.
Last year, however, BAIPA regained prominence when State Senator Barack Obama’s vote against allowing babies born alive to be deemed as “persons” made statewide headlines during his run for U.S. Senate. Republican candidate Alan Keyes repeatedly told the press he accepted the invitation to come from Maryland to run against Obama based primarily on Obama’s vote on the BAIPA while in the State Senate.
Obama recently stated that if the state legislation were to be identical to the federal language, he would vote for passage.
He went on to say, “I believe that position should be the one Democrats should take,” [pro-life activist Jill Stanek] reports Obama said to her in January while on a visit to the Capitol.
*** UPDATE 3 *** Zorn has now reposted his entire column on this issue. It had disappeared from the Intertubes, but you can read it here…
Obama’s “present” vote on that bill is one Hull is attacking him for in a flier decorated with rubber duckies.
Sutherland just laughs. “We also had [Democratic Senate leader] Emil Jones, [current Atty. Gen.] Lisa Madigan, Miguel del Valle, Rickey Hendon and other very strong pro-choice legislators voting `present’ on that one,” she said. “It was all done to pull `present’ votes off the fence.”
Obama confirmed Sutherland’s account of the legislative strategy and said, “No one was more active to beat back those bills than I was.”
“Criticizing Obama on the basis of `present’ votes indicates you don’t have a great understanding of the process,” said Thom Mannard, director of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence.
* 12:20 pm - For the second day in a row Speaker Madigan did not attend the leaders meeting in Chicago. A spokesman said no invitation was offered (the same reason was given yesterday).
Asked if Madigan would meet with House GOP Leader Cross and Senate GOP Leader Watson today, as he did yesterday after the leaders meeting, the spokesman said he believed that staff was still working on answering questions raised by yesterday’s meeting.
* 12:34 pm - It’s always something.
Yesterday, the governor’s office promised a session next week to deal with the transit crisis, gaming, capital bill, etc. Trouble is, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators is holding its annual conference starting next Wednesday in Little Rock, Arkansas.
House Republican leader Tom Cross acknowledges it could take until January to work out a gambling expansion plan that would pay for a statewide construction program and pave the way for a mass-transit bailout.
Cross says he’d like something to happen next week but he can’t promise anything will. He blames the political climate and personalities involved.
House Speaker Michael Madigan didn’t attend a second day of meetings with Governor Rod Blagojevich and the three other legislative leaders to break a logjam that has transit riders facing threatened service cuts and fare increases.
…Adding… After checking around, I think the context of Cross’ statement is a bit different than what was presented in the AP story. Apparently, Cross was asked by a TV reporter what was to prevent Speaker Madigan from dragging the entire process into January, and Cross said he could see that happening. He wasn’t actually predicting a January session.
llinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias was accused today of evading questions and playing a “game” about what he knew about a $1 million bank loan he gave in 2002 to an 86-year-old “feeble-minded” woman.
Giannoulias was a loan officer at his family’s Broadway Bank when he agreed to give the loan to Loren Billings, who once ran the city’s Museum of Holography. She had applied for the loan with co-signers who had a history of fraud.
Her family says that, within 24 hours of Giannoulias cutting Billings a check, more than half of it was made out to a firm associated with the co-signers, GnXpert Neural Technologies.
Under questioning before Cook County Judge Sophia Hall, Giannoulias repeatedly said “I don’t recall” or “I just don’t remember” details of the loan transaction because it was so long ago.
Giannoulias was repeatedly asked whether it was “prudent” to give a loan — with a $9,845 monthly payment due — to a woman with a monthly income reported on loan documents to be around $10,000. Finally, attorney Peter King asked Hall to order Giannoulias to answer.
A coaltion of business groups filed suit in Sangamon County Tuesday to stop Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s planned expansion of health care programs.
The Illinois Coalition of Jobs, Growth and Prosperity said the state’s decision to expand health care programs without the approval fo the General Assembly is unconstitutional. It wants the courts to halt the expansion and to prohibt Comptroller Dan Hynes from paying any bills connected with the expansion.
The home mortgage meltdown isn’t just gutting the poorer parts of town.
It’s beginning to hammer wealthy and middle class Chicago neighborhoods like Lincoln Park, Lincoln Square, Irving Park, Portage Park and Mt. Greenwood — all areas where home mortgage foreclosures have shot up by 100 percent or more from 2006 to 2007.
Data released Monday by the National Training and Information Center shows that in Lincoln Park there were 18 homes in foreclosure during the first six months of 2006 — but that number more than doubled to 37 for the first half of this year.
In terms of sheer numbers, poor neighborhoods still are feeling the worst pain. But percentage increase in mortgage defaults is climbing faster in middle class areas, according to the data.
Poverty stricken West Englewood, for example, had 348 foreclosures, or 111 per square mile — yet that was just a 58 percent increase over the previous year.
But in middle class Portage Park, the heart of the Northwest Side Bungalow Belt, mortgage defaults jumped from 32 homes to 94, a whopping 193.8 percent.
* Now, on to the question: What, if anything, should state government do about this situation? Explain fully.
*** UPDATE *** Finally, a bit of good news on this general topic. Illinois will avoid the immediate meltdown that’s happening in some other states…
Illinois pulled its investment funds out of mortgage-backed securities long before the subprime meltdown, a move that will save the state from a crisis that faces other state governments.
State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias said he has been assuring municipal leaders and representatives of state agencies that the more than $8 billion of the state’s portfolio and the more than $6.5 billion in the government investment pool is safe from rising mortgage default rates.
As a general rule, he said the state avoids investing in derivatives products and decided to pull its money out of certain high-risk products long ago.
“We were well out of (high-risk products) well before the first rumblings (of mortgage market troubles),” Mr. Giannoulias said.
Recent news reports are now emerging about state governments holding investments in mortgage-backed securities that are now in danger of default. Florida, Montana and Connecticut have seen their debt ratings downgraded as a result of their financial holdings.
* Ernest Yelton, the executive director of the Indiana Gaming Commission, worries about how gaming expansion in Kentucky and a casino in Michigan will eat in to his state’s revenues. But he’s not so concerned about Illinois’ proposed expansion plan…
“One of our advantages to Illinois is they, historically, seem to do everything wrong. Everything they seem to do has backfired and it has been to our benefit,” Yelton said.
As an example, Yelton pointed to the passage of Illinois’ statewide smoking ban, which goes into effect Jan. 1. Casinos are not exempted from the law.
“Well, when Don Barden bought the Trump (Casino in Gary) he made one floor smoke-free and within two weeks he had to change it because people wouldn’t go. Gamblers smoke. I don’t like it. I don’t smoke, but they do,” Yelton said.
Yelton pointed out that the disagreements that have dominated Illinois politics come at a time when Democrats control all branches of state government.
“I just see no agreement from those people,” Yelton said.
Capitol Fax, published by Rich Miller and an excellent source of inside information about Springfield, reported Monday that Madigan has agreed to also use casino gambling revenue for public education.
Until last week, Capitol Fax reported, Madigan had insisted that all new casino money be used only for capital projects.
* Kadner also quotes state Rep. Lou Lang about the state’s gaming prospects. Lang is one of two House Democratic point persons on gaming expansion…
Since Lang always has been something of an optimist when it comes to casino expansion, I was reluctant to take his words at face value.
“I’m telling you that I’ve been at this for years, and we’re closer to getting it done than ever before,” Lang said.
The vast expansion of gambling that Blagojevich and the legislative leaders discussed once again Monday is a prospect that outrages some. They’re demanding a voter referendum first.
“They cannot buy the ballot box,” said Rev. Tom Grey, a gambling opponent. “What they can buy are state legislators.” […]
“The massive expansion of public gambling is not what the public wants,” said Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn. “In fact I think the public ought to have a chance by referendum to weigh in on whether all this gambling — enhanced gambling — is a good idea.”
* Meanwhile, the absolutely bungled 10th license might be back in play…
The Illinois Gaming Board is taking preliminary steps to reissue the state’s long-dormant 10th casino license after a recent set of court rulings greatly limited efforts by Emerald Casino officials to open in Rosemont.
Board Chairman Aaron Jaffe said the state will begin soliciting bids from investment bankers to try to find an expert to help sell the license to generate “as much money … as we possibly can.”
“This has been a long time coming,” Jaffe said at Monday’s board meeting. “The 10th license has been dormant since 1997 and cost the state an estimated $1 billion in lost revenue.”
But don’t get your hopes up too high…
While the Gaming Board is moving forward with plans to sell the license, Emerald officials said last week that they will continue to fight in federal Bankruptcy Court.
* More from Paul…
* Editorial: With Gov. Zamboni in charge, state keeps slipping
* Yet another good government study has come up with yet another set of reform proposals for Illinois…
The eight-member, bipartisan Illinois State Board of Elections should be replaced with a nonpartisan elections director, and administration of elections should be more uniform across the state, a new study says.
The study, by researchers at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, found that the biggest problem Illinois has is that the election system, overseen by more than 100 county clerks and other election authorities, “is decentralized with insufficient state-level leadership or guidance,” according to Edward Foley of the election law center at the college in Columbus, Ohio.
Foley said in an interview that the selection of a nonpartisan director of elections could be done with recommendations from legislative leaders to a governor, or by a governor with supermajority support — perhaps 75 percent — from both legislative chambers.
* Yet, when you look at the study’s summary (the full analysis has not been posted yet, even though I received two press releases about this issue yesterday), it goes beyond just recommending ways to reduce fraud, including this idea…
States should work to improve access to voting by relaxing barriers to voter registration. Both Minnesota and Wisconsin allow Election Day Registration and the study found no increased fraud under these systems. Other states reluctant to embrace this reform might consider Michigan’s system of affidavit voting, which protects voters whose names are not on the voter rolls even though they have attempted to register.
This makes me think there’s another agenda at play here.
* The Illinois State Board of Elections was created as a reform in 1970. Elections oversight had been one of the powers of the secretary of state, but that office was considered inappropriate for the office. Yet, there are some reformers who would go back to the old days…
Kent Redfield, professor of political science at the University of Illinois at Springfield and an election-reform advocate, said he thinks a constitutional change to make the secretary of state the top election official would be a way to have someone accountable for fair elections who could also seek adequate funding.
Redfield said the people who get appointed to the eight-member board now “tend to be establishment Democrats or Republicans … vested in the current system.”
With a secretary of state in charge, he said, “If elections are screwed up, then you have somebody who’s accountable” and who could be voted out themselves.
* Increase the trust in the integrity of state elections by making local elections officials more accountable. Illinois is one of a few states that allow local election boards to be dominated by one political party or another, which jeopardizes the credibility of the boards’ work. Audits are also often poorly executed by local boards because of the lack of accountability.
* Create nonpartisan tribunals to resolve election disputes.
For at least a decade, the Chicago Board of Education has maintained secret files on some of the criminals who have slipped into the school district’s teaching ranks. […]
The documents reveal that drug-dealing, prostitution, attempted murder, criminal sexual assault, embezzlement, theft, reckless homicide and stalking are among the crimes committed by those hired to educate children.
The state’s largest school district routinely failed to warn state education officials or other school districts of problem teachers.
For example, the school district conducted an internal investigation that revealed that a Chicago high school teacher twice had had sexual encounters with a 15-year-old girl, a CPS inspector general report said. The teacher was not charged with a crime but did resign from the Chicago school district after an internal investigation. According to the CPS documents, the unidentified teacher remains certified to teach in Illinois and is now teaching in Rockford Public Schools.
No one within Chicago Public Schools warned their counterparts in Rockford. […]
Upon being informed by a reporter on Oct. 30 of information in the secret files, Steve Katz, general counsel for Rockford School District 205, had this to say:
“This is absolutely sinful. Rockford School District would never knowingly hire a teacher who had sex with a 15-year-old. What kind of reference did Chicago give this person? It couldn’t have been a bad one or we wouldn’t have hired him. If one of our principals knew this about someone’s background and hired him anyway, that principal would be fired. Legally, Chicago didn’t have to warn us, but it certainly is immoral for them not to have.”
- Illinois ranks 49th in the nation in the rate at which it suspends or revokes teaching certificates.
- In 2004, Illinois became the 46th state to require FBI background checks for those entering the teaching profession. But the law exempted all teachers hired before 2004 from background checks. […]
Rep. Careen Gordon, D-Morris, introduced legislation to fingerprint all teachers but said lobbyists for the two teachers’ unions objected saying that it “picked on teachers.” Her bill was amended to fingerprint just those entering the profession or moving from one school district to another.
A national database of teacher misconduct constructed by Small Newspaper Group found that Georgia educators were 25 times more likely to have their teaching license suspended or revoked than their counterparts in Illinois.
A Small Newspaper Group analysis of data obtained from licensure regulatory agencies for Illinois physicians, attorneys and teachers found:
-Illinois lawyers were 25 times more likely to lose their professional licenses than Illinois teachers.
-Physicians in Illinois are 43 times more likely to lose their license than teachers are to lose their teaching certificate, the newspaper group found.
The county has more than doubled the number of abortions performed each week since the service was reinstated in 1992 — to a current average of 77 a week from a self-imposed limit of 30 a week.
County officials and abortion advocates say the need has always been there, but the county wasn’t addressing it.
* Editorial: Don’t apply smoking ban to private fraternity houses
Although interesting, it would not be worth the costs of a legal fight that likely would be doomed to failure.
Instead, the department should focus on the original intent of lawmakers who approved the law and on crucial details such as when, if ever, an outdoor “beer garden” would be included in the Clean Indoor Air Act.
Leave the regulation of private fraternity and sorority houses to the organizations themselves and - to a limited extent - to the universities that recognize those organizations.
* Clout heavy contractor got $45K for unauthorized job
“RFD is sitting on top of a gold mine, and we now know where that vein is,” Executive Director Bob O’Brien says. “If we pursue it with aggressiveness, Rockford, the Rock River Valley and this region is going to become very, very wealthy.”
Even if no new routes are added at Chicago Rockford International next year, the airport should still break its single-year passenger record.
But airport officials are aiming higher. They want to see 300,000 to 400,000 passengers next year. They want to see at least a million passengers within five years.
* Illinois Republicans hold Governor for a day contest
* Kirk Dillard: Legislators who are ready for reform
* Daily Herald briefs: Transit vote next week…more support for Illinois FutureGen
* Michigan/West Virginia latest to back Illinois’ FutureGen bid
* 8th and 16th Congressional incumbents not breaking bank on election
Eighth District incumbent Melissa Bean, a Barrington Democrat, held a commanding fundraising lead over her closest challenger, Long Grove businessman Steve Greenberg. Both will battle it out in primaries for the right to represent their parties in the November general election.
Similar trends held in the 16th District, where Rep. Don Manzullo, an Egan Republican, had $455,244 in his campaign coffers, while Democratic challenger and Barrington Hills Village President Robert Abboud reported $77,089.
* 2:52 pm - Lots of positive spin after today’s leaders meeting…
3 of the four legislative leaders met with the governor in his Chicago office this morning. The state’s top two Republicans then left to meet with Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, who skipped the meeting because of a scheduling conflict.
Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff says the plan is for legislative leaders to meet again Tuesday and then head back to Springfield next week to vote on capital and transit.
I’m told that House GOP Leader Tom Cross said it was one of the best meetings they’ve ever had. Senate President Jones’ spokesperson tells me that Jones believes “we are 99.9 percent there.”
* 3:01 pm - Senate President Emil Jones was on Chicago Public Radio’s 848 program last Thursday. He did an excellent job of defining and defending his position. Listen to the entire program at this link, or just listen to the Jones interview below…
Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today announced the date for the Special Primary Election and Special General Election to replace retiring Congressman Dennis Hastert. […]
Governor Blagojevich scheduled the Special Primary election on February 5th, 2008, Illinois’ regularly scheduled primary date, as requested by Rep. Hastert to minimize inconvenience to the voters in the counties in the 14th Congressional District. The Special General Election will be held on March 8th, 2008.
Not a lot of time between those elections.
*** UPDATE *** You can download the official proclamation here.
* 3:35 pm - The Tribbies make a good point about the special primary…
One task [the candidates will] have is explaining to voters exactly how to make sure they punch both ballots on Feb. 5, since the regular primary and special primary will be held simultaneously.
From the same, post, they point out this oddity about the special general election date…
That’s a Saturday. Elections in Illinois typically are held on Tuesdays. We’ve got a call into Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration to find out why.
Today in Iowa, Senator Barack Obama said: “I have not been planning to run for President for however number of years some of the other candidates have been planning for.”
Oh really? […]
In kindergarten, Senator Obama wrote an essay titled ‘I Want to Become President.’ “Iis Darmawan, 63, Senator Obama’s kindergarten teacher, remembers him as an exceptionally tall and curly haired child who quickly picked up the local language and had sharp math skills. He wrote an essay titled, ‘I Want To Become President,’ the teacher said.” [AP, 1/25/07 ]
If this doesn’t get Clinton laughed out of Iowa, I don’t know what will.
* I’ve been telling subscribers about this idea for several days now, and the Tribune buried this nugget at the very end of an article about the gaming expansion negotiations…
One of the sticking points in the gambling package is the involvement of minorities. Rep. Bob Molaro (D-Chicago), one of the leading negotiators, said many House Democrats now like the idea of setting aside up to 25 percent of the ownership in a new riverboat license for minorities and women. Shares would be priced at $5,000 to $10,000 and a lottery could be used to help determine who gets to invest, Molaro said.
This was actually Speaker Madigan’s idea.
* Question: What do you think of this plan to allow middle class minorities and females to buy into new boats, apportioned by a lottery? By comparison, the system used with the defunct Rosemont boat required minority and female investors to demonstrate that they had an extra million dollars lying around. Senate President Emil Jones wants that proposal implemented for any new boats.
* My syndicated newspaper column hasn’t been posted online yet [they posted it sometime this morning - here it is], but, as with most columnists over the past few days, it delves into the governor’s decision to attend a Chicago Blackhawks game while the House voted down his mass transit funding bill…
The decision by Governor Rod Blagojevich to attend a Chicago Blackhawks game last Wednesday night instead of remaining at the Statehouse while the Illinois House defeated his mass transit funding bailout proposal says a lot about the governor on several different levels, none of it positive.
Blagojevich knew that Chicago TV station CBS-2 was planning to air a report that same night about how he is often a no-show at his state office. As the report confirmed, he prefers to hang around his house all day.
The station’s investigative report was pretty hard-hitting, but the governor’s attendance at that hockey game made it a blockbuster piece. The move served to boldly underscore the point that Blagojevich simply isn’t committed to his job, and highlighted his preference for all things Chicago over his duties in Springfield. There he was, gleefully chatting with the team’s president while the hopes of millions of commuters were dashed on the sharp rocks of the Illinois House. Oops.
Frustration with the Springfield mess is at an all-time high in Illinois, and the situation in the Chicago area is the worst I’ve ever seen. After months of turbulence which saw local property tax bills delayed for weeks because of a fight between the governor and the House Democrats and then relentless coverage of never-ending “Doomsday” threats for public transit, voters are hopping mad and they want action.
Blagojevich left Springfield for Chicago around six o’clock last Wednesday evening, knowing that he would likely be at the game during the floor debate. What kind of insane doofus walks right into a trap like that? The station knew he’d be at the game because the Blackhawks promoted the grand “event.” It’s like he wanted to be caught.
The governor reportedly told his aides that he felt he had to uphold his commitment to the Blackhawks because he promised them he’d be there.
Let that point sink in for a bit.
Here’s a guy whose word is completely untrustworthy in Springfield. He’s broken his promises so many times that legislators don’t even believe him when he signs contracts - called “Memoranda of Understanding” in Statehouse lingo. His untrustworthiness is one of the more valid reasons for House Speaker Michael Madigan’s refusal so far to agree to a capital construction plan. Madigan figures that because of their yearlong feud the governor will shaft his Democratic members when it comes time to dole out the project funding, no matter what the governor promises. And considering the governor’s miserable track record at keeping his commitments, who could possibly blame Madigan?
But, hockey. Well, on that topic, Rod Blagojevich’s word is apparently his bond.
The full column is here. I’ll update it with the Southtown’s address when it’s posted.
Is there anyone left in Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s inner circle who’s willing to tell him when he’s being stupid? Or do they tell him and he ignores it, convinced in his own skewed sense of reality that he can do no wrong?
…But Finke ought to know by now that the problem is not his staff. It’s him.
* Press Release: Anti-gambling forces to launch a new fight to keep a casino out of Chicago
* Carol Marin: Blago pits north vs. south in Illinois
*** UPDATE 1 *** We need a soundtrack for this “scandal.” The Blackhawks theme song “Here Come the Hawks” seems appropriate. You can download it here or just listen below…
[audio:herecomethehawks.mp3]
“Here come the Hawks, the mighty BLACKHAWKS!
Take the attack, YEAH! And, we’ll back you Blackhawks!
You’re flying high, now, so, let’s wrap it up!
Let’s go, you Hawks!
Move out!
Now, all look out! Here come the Hawks!”
A team spokesman said given the circumstances, [new Blackhawks president John McDonough] would have understood had Blagojevich canceled.
“Sure. Absolutely. Understandably, everyone’s busy,” said Guy Chipparoni, a team spokesman.
Ouch.
*** UPDATE 3 *** On second thought, maybe the Gear Daddies’ “Zamboni Song” would be a good choice…
“What we really need is a political Zamboni,” said David Dring, spokesman for House Republican leader Tom Cross of Oswego, “to clean up this mess that’s been the 2007 legislative session.”
State Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chicago) told me this morning he’s quite serious about trying to outfit state lawmakers in hockey jerseys for the next “ridiculous special session” Gov. Rod Blagojevich calls.
* For months, Aurora has been an exciting and contentious hotbed in the battle over abortion rights. As you may know, the row began when Planned Parenthood built a clinic in the city. Abortion opponents argued that the group violated city zoning ordinances when it built the clinic by allegedly hiding the facility’s true nature. The clinic was eventually opened, and has since been the target of protests, with the local police threatening to arrest protestors who violated city ordinances.
Anyway, city leaders have been looking for a way to mollify the pro-life activists and voters and try to calm everyone down a bit. They came up with this…
Aurora City Council members passed a resolution [last] week that urges state legislators to enforce a decade-old parental notification law.
The Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act, passed in 1995, requires a physician to tell a parent, grandparent or legal guardian at least two days before someone younger than 18 gets an abortion. […]
The law has been held up in federal litigation since 1996 and never enforced. […]
“Right now children who can’t even drive can come to Aurora and have an abortion performed on them without their parents even knowing,” said Julie Van Domelen, a St. Charles resident. “I don’t see this as an attempt to foster communication between parents and children; rather, parental notification gives parents the chance to do what is expected of them.” […]
Investment and dairy magnate Jim Oberweis, a Republican from Sugar Grove running for Dennis Hastert’s 14th congressional district seat, and state representative candidate Terry Hunt, a Republican from Big Rock, spoke in favor of the law, citing teenagers’ underformed cognitive skills as reason enough not to trust them with major medical decisions.
On the heels of Aurora’s passage of a parental notification resolution this week, Naperville City Council members likely will deal with the same item.
During discussions of the controversial resolution, two Aurora aldermen indicated Naperville could jump into the fray and debate a similar motion. Councilman Richard Furstenau said he has been in touch with elected officials in Aurora and intends to bring forth a similar resolution at Naperville’s second meeting in December.
“There are a number of Naperville councilmen who are concerned about this issue since they put that new venture (a Planned Parenthood clinic on Aurora’s far East Side) over there.”
* I’ve been hearing reports that Dan Lipinksi’s campaign has been calling some ward organizations in his district several times a day. Panic appears to be setting in over his primary race against Democrat Mark Pera and two others.
Larry at ArchPundit ran some results from Pera’s benchmark poll of Democratic voters several days ago which appears to show that Little Lip’s district ain’t nearly as conservative as some people have claimed, particlarly in the primary…
82 percent Less likely to vote for Lipinski on the issue of choice once they learn that he opposes a woman’s right to choose and supports criminalizing abortion even in cases of rape or incest
83 percent Less likely they would vote for Lipinski after they learned that he voted for the Bush energy proposal and voted to allow drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge
76 percent Favor a mandate calling for a pull-out of troops from Iraq beginning immediately with all troops out within a year as well as a cap on war funding to ensure the Bush Administration meets that goal
* Ray Hanania, however, claims that Lipinski is far more liberal than Pera has been portraying him…
Lipinski is 100 percent with the AFL-CIO, Children’s Defense Fund, Breast Cancer Coalition, and Alliance for Retired Senior America. He’s 92 percent with the League of Conservation Voters…
The National Journal analyzed all the voting records and concluded that Lipinski is “more liberal” than 71 percent of other members of Congress, and that puts him in the mainstream of America.
AFSCME endorsed Lipinski on Friday, by the way.
* I’m still skeptical of Pera’s chances. There are two other candidates in the primary race, both with their own bases of support. The general rule of thumb in primaries is “The more, the merrier” for incumbents. Pera won the ballot lottery, so his name will appear first - giving him a slight edge if the race is close.
Lipinski can probably expect an onslought of hostile media coverage for the remainder of the primary. His elevation to his daddy’s seat still rankles the media, and reporters appear eager to pile on.
Remember how Mayor Daley forced his petition circulators sign affidavits swearing that they wouldn’t trade their efforts for government jobs or contracts? Well, Fox Chicago ran this story the other day on how a third of Lipinski’s circulators were government employees - and all of them appear on the infamous Robert Sorich “clout list”…
The bottom line, though, is that those precinct workers will make a big difference come election day.
* More congressional stories, compiled by Paul…
* Shimkus adjusts to his new role in Congress… “I think I’ve been even more outspoken,” Shimkus said. “I get to vote no. We don’t move the agenda. I don’t have (Shimkus’ mentor, the former House Speaker Dennis) Hastert saying, ‘Hey, you may not like 25, 30 or 40 percent of this bill, but this is where we’re at as a conference and we have to move this forward.’ I think you’re a lot freer in the minority, a lot freer.”
* Will Reynolds: Durbin supports McMenamin for Congress against Shimkus
* TeamAmerica: Looks like Dan Seals may be looking for a new day job
* ILGOPNet: YouTube interview with 18th-CD candidate Jim McConoughey
*** UPDATE 1 *** One of Pera’s people took a look at that National Journal study cited by Ray Hanania above.
Hanania claimed that the numbers showed Little Lip was “‘more liberal’ than 71 percent of other members of Congress.”
But Pera’s folks note that if you look at the results for just congressional Democrats, you find that Lipinski’s voting record is “more conservative” than 78.5 percent of his fellow Democrats. Download the spreadsheet here.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Interesting news from Pera’s campaign…
A trio of political mavericks - Chicago Aldermen Manuel “Manny” Flores, 1st Ward; Brendan Reilly, 42nd Ward; and Scott Waguespack, 32nd Ward - are supporting Democrat Mark Pera’s bid for Congress by hosting an upcoming fund-raiser. […]
Joining Flores, Reilly and Waguespack in their efforts are state Rep. John Fritchey, D-11th, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner Debra Shore, Stephen Blandin, Emilia DiMenco, Amy Evans and Gail Morse.
* Purchase tickets here for the December 16th performance of “No-El or How the Blagojegrinch Stole Christmas” - Our Capitol Fax holiday party
* Role of minority-owned firms in Dan Ryan construction project lagged state goal…
Minority- and woman-owned businesses landed 20 percent of the $933 million in construction, design and engineering contracts from the Dan Ryan reconstruction project, falling short of the state’s 22.7 percent goal.
But the shortfall could be larger if Rohar Trucking — awarded roughly $20 million in contracts on the recently completed project and identified as a black-owned company — was a front for a majority-owned business.
* Georgia ruling on sex offenders prompts other states to reexamine laws
The Georgia court struck down its residency restrictions last week, giving opponents of such buffer zones hope that other state laws will be reviewed and possibly overturned.
“It certainly sends a message that creating laws that render people homeless is not in anybody’s best interest,” said Jill Levenson, a professor at Florida’s Lynn University who has done extensive studies on the effect of residency restrictions. “In theory, I believe this could pave the way for a U.S. Supreme Court case.”
* Hilkavitch: Free or fee? Air pump tiff flares on tollway
* An explanation of the smoking ban and who it will affect
* McQueary: Nuns on the stand — that would be a challenge
Too bad a certain political challenge concluded. I would have paid to watch a high-brow election attorney quiz Maria High School nuns about whether they really signed a candidate’s petition or whether the signatures were fraudulent.
That scenario never played out, however, because Cook County state’s attorney candidate Howard Brookins dropped his challenge to opponent Anita Alvarez’s signatures.
* Report: IL ranks near the bottom in screening problem teachers
* Towns await word on FutureGen project
The competition has been fierce.
Illinois offered $80 million in grants, low-interest loans and tax breaks, while Texas has promised $260 million in cash and tax credits. Both have offered developers protection from liability in the event that carbon dioxide leaks from the ground.
Economists say the project is an attractive economic target for small towns, and a big improvement on the kinds of low-wage jobs they tend to chase.
“Everyone talks about kind of the big score of attracting a Honda plant,” University of Illinois economics professor Fred Giertz said in an interview earlier this year. “The way the economy actually works is hundreds of thousands of small gains and small losses.”
* Sun-Times Editorial: Chicago is No. 1 in nation in dangerous subprime loans
* Editorial: Leadership, not insults, needed at county
* Tony Peraica: Enough with politics, lets talk about talk about the taxpayers
The vitriol and personal attacks that have surrounded the Cook County budget discussions are unfortunate, and accomplish little but damage the faith of the taxpayers in our government.
The members of the Cook County board don’t have to love each other.
They don’t have to get along. But we do have to pass a sensible budget that serves the residents and taxpayers of this county.
While they hurl insults, I will continue to discuss the budget.
* Grundy Co. groups hopes to determine what needs people have
