* The Blagojevich administration is looking more and more like the Bush administration every day…
When the Illinois Gaming Board first proposed checking IDs of patrons to keep problem gamblers out of casinos, the Illinois casino industry objected with high-minded concerns that police might start looking for more than just problem gamblers.
Anti-gambling advocates guffawed at the objection, calling the possibility far-fetched.
Turns out, the gambling industry was right.
The Illinois State Police and gambling board acknowledged this week that in addition to checking gamblers for being on the casino self-exclusion list, they also are “randomly” checking patrons for outstanding criminal warrants and for being unregistered sex offenders.
And they’ve been quietly doing it for some time — unbeknown even to the Illinois Gaming Board chairman himself.
The police won’t say how “random” their search is, but every time you walk into a casino you’re exposing yourself to police scrutiny - without any legal basis.
Nobody wants to be put into the position of defending unregistered sex offenders, but imagine if you forgot to pay a speeding ticket and all of a sudden you find yourself being escorted out of the casino.
This has to stop. If the General Assembly wants to give the police the authority to do this, fine. But until then, citizens shouldn’t be subjected to police background checks just because they want to pump a few bucks into a slot machine.
* This story about yesterday’s special session was a bit misleading…
The state’s capitol was so empty it seemed you could drive a CTA bus through the halls, and not endanger anybody. The legislative chambers were also mostly empty.
A sparsely-attended Senate meeting adjourned after two minutes. Attendance in the House was slightly better, but the session ended there after 13 minutes.
Actually, 14 or 15 Senators showed up (depending on the count), while 70 House members answered the roll call.
* And this piece puts all the onus on the General Assembly, while the governor gets the spin…
CTA, Pace and Metra commuters could all be seeing service cuts and fare increases if the lawmakers do not come up with a solution by January 20. […]
It’s not only a new year, but it’s a new day. And there’s no time to delay in saving the CTA,” said Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
* What’s the connection? They’re both TV stories. As somebody pointed out in comments, the TV reporters tended to give the governor more of a benefit of the doubt than the newspaper reporters did. And, frankly, when it comes to impact on the citizenry, TV swamps newsprint.
What just about everyone missed is that only eight Senate Democrats came to town yesterday. That’s eight out of 37 in a chamber controlled by the governor’s biggest ally.
Most lawmakers skipped the session.
To be more accurate, most Senators skipped the session. A clear majority of House members showed.
* Meanwhile, I couldn’t find any Chicago TV stories about the governor’s pretty disastrous press conference yesterday. Fox Chicago put a Sun-Times piece on its website, but that was it…
Gov. Blagojevich Wednesday afternoon bluntly dismissed federal investigations that have sparked indictments against two of his top political fund-raisers. The governor called the investigation, “tangential, collateral” matters detracting from important issues like mass-transit funding.
As that commenter on yesterday’s item noted, blog writers and blog readers need to pay a whole lot more attention to what actually gets on TV, where the vast majority of people receive their news. We’re all tuned in, but it’s important to know how our info differs from just about everyone else’s.
* I think it’s time somebody finally figures out just what the heck has really been proposed for the Wrigley Field deal. This is one of the stories we’ve been fed…
The Cubs would sell the park to the [state] agency for the nominal sum of $1, and the new owners would sign on to rent the park from the state for at least 30 years. In exchange the Sports Facilities Authority would issue bonds to cover reconstruction costs.
* But this nugget is from today’s Sun-Times. It’s buried in an article about how Mayor Daley has changed his tune and is now keeping an open mind about a potential state buyout of the park…
Since then, sources said the mayor and his staff have been fully briefed on a deal that would guarantee [Tribune Co. owner Sam Zell] a huge up-front payment for Wrigley — tens of millions higher than he might otherwise receive selling the stadium privately — by having the ISFA use its power to issue tax-exempt, longer-term bonds at a reduced interest rate.
The bonds would be retired by 30 years of stadium rent from a new owner who would sign an “ironclad commitment” to remain at Wrigley during that time.
A dollar would not qualify as a “huge up-front payment.”
Selling Wrigley to [the state] could be more profitable for the future employee owners of Tribune Co. because of the tax-exempt status of municipal bonds used to finance the purchase.
In addition, if the state owns Wrigley Field, the new owners won’t have to pay property taxes on it. In 2007 the Tribune Company paid $1,151,487 in property taxes on Wrigley. This year the bill will go up to around $1.43 million. At the rate property taxes are soaring, the new owners are looking to save more than $50 million in property taxes over the course of the 30-year lease.
* And could a TIF district be involved? This is also from the Sun-Times…
[Jim Thompson] acknowledged that “there would have to be neighborhood improvements along with restoration of the stadium.”
But he said, “For the moment, I’m not looking at taxes. I’m looking at non-tax revenue” like the tax increment financing scheme now being used to bankroll a new $1 billion Yankee Stadium on a park across the street from the House that Ruth Built.
TIF Districts are tax revenues by another name, Thompson.
* Steve Chapman: Think positive about negative campaigning
The spot thus passes the only two tests voters should apply to any campaign attack: Is it true, and is it important? Accusing Romney of having devil’s horns would be unacceptable because, though significant, it’s not true. Accusing him of owning too many sweaters, though true, would be over the line because it doesn’t matter…
Thomas Jefferson once said that he would prefer newspapers without a government to a government without newspapers. Given a choice between politics with no negative campaigning and politics with only negative campaigning, I suspect he would prefer the latter.
* Lawsuit in 14th District: Reasonable deadlines sought for canvassing, absentee voting; more here
Election authorities throughout the 14th Congressional District plan to file suit seeking exemptions from state standards so they can hold a special election on March 8.
Because there are only 31 days between the special primary election on Feb. 5 and the March 8 special congressional election, the local election authorities cannot meet standard election law requirements on such things as canvassing the primary vote and certifying the results, getting absentee voting started and other procedures.
* Bernie Schoenburg: Illinois new primary date puts state in spotlight for Giuliani camp
“Illinois is extraordinarily important this year, much more so than in many years in the past,” said MIKE DuHAIME, Giuliani’s national campaign manager, in a telephone interview from New York City this week.
“A lot of campaigns, I don’t think, have recognized just what a big prize Illinois is and how important it is now that it’s moved up so early.”
* Candidate rejects campaign cash criticism in 8th CD
Morris, 49, said Greenberg is “a hypocrite” for keeping Kjellander’s cash while recently demanding the 8th Congressional District’s Democratic incumbent, Melissa Bean of Barrington, return a campaign donation from the liberal MoveOn.org.
Greenberg, 36, said Kjellander hasn’t done anything wrong so there is no reason to return the $1,000 to him. In federal disclosure documents filed in September, Greenberg contends the donation came as part of a legal political funding system that should be improved.
* Laws on wine shipping leave bad taste in N.J., elsewhere
But laws in some states still prohibit wineries from shipping directly to consumers, two years after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling led many to believe that all states would allow vineyards to ship wine directly to consumers across the country….
“There are ways around it,” he said. “If you have relatives who live in Illinois, you can say, “Hey, hold on to it until I see you next year.’ ”
Unlike New Jersey, Illinois allows direct shipping from wineries to consumers.
A 2003 federal lawsuit working its way through the court system in New Jersey also says consumers cannot get the wine they want because of shipping laws.
* Bars finding ways to aid those affected by the ban
* Editorial: School bus law may be common sense, but it is necessary
Known as the “school bus inspection” law, the act mandates that school bus drivers do a post-trip inspection of their vehicle to ensure no child has been left behind. It specifically calls for the driver to “walk to the rear of the bus and check in and under each seat for sleeping children.”
The new Bright Start Futuretrust MasterCard contributes a 1 percent cash rebate on the amount of every purchase to each card member’s Bright Start College Savings Program account, according to a release from state treasurer Alexi Giannoulias’ office.
“This is like a frequent-flyer program geared toward families saving for college,” Giannoulias said. “Families can use the cash rewards they earn from the program as another source of college money without changing their spending habits.”
In many cities, a petition is all it takes for an honorary street sign. You don’t have to be a saint…
In Chicago, nearly a third of the 1,225 honorary street names are for religious figures and institutions. Four are for patriarchs, five for rabbis and nearly 300 for pastors, reverends, evangelists, bishops, fathers and monsignors.
* The governor tried to talk about transit today, but his message was drowned out by questions on the ongoing federal investigations…
Gov. Rod Blagojevich today denied allegations made in a federal court document that he offered to help two political insiders who have been convicted in a corruption investigation of his administration.
But the governor largely avoided questions about the investigation in his first news conference since federal prosecutors indicated they are seeking to tie Blagojevich directly to a scheme to wring campaign donations and kickbacks from companies seeking state business.
Blagojevich was hit with investigation questions during a noon news conference at the James R. Thompson Center in which he called for the General Assembly to quickly pass a bill that funds mass transit. Lawmakers returned to Springfield today in response to the governor’s latest call for a special legislative session to deal with the looming threat of transit service cuts and fare increases.
At one point, in answering a question about why he does not use his bully pulpit as governor more forcefully to solve the transit issue, Blagojevich said he has tried to do that, but implied that his message was not being heard in the media.
Listen to the governor’s remarks about transit below…
* Quite a few of the year-end editorials and columns demanded that legislators finally start getting along in the new year. I wasn’t so positive in my syndicated column…
I was on a TV show the other day and the host asked me what I thought could be done to bring the Democratic leaders of this state back from “the brink of the abyss.”
Too late, I said. We’re already in the abyss, and we’ve been there for a while.
But maybe…
Illinois has forever been a “can-do” state, so it’s difficult for many to believe that all hope is lost. “Something” can always be done. So, why not here?
I was thinking about that very question when former Gov. Jim Thompson phoned.
Thompson had called to bust my chops about something I had written on a proposal that he helped pass in Springfield. We merrily traded insults back and forth, never taking anything personally. I whacked him but good on his goofy idea to have the state buy Wrigley Field and lease it back to whomever buys the Chicago Cubs. He upbraided me for allowing my hatred of all things “Cub” to undermine my judgment. We laughed and had a good ol’ time, hurling insults at each other in the spirit of the holidays.
And then it hit me.
Thompson was one of the most can-do governors we’ve ever had. Love him or hate him, he got things done. During his final re-election campaign, after 10 years in office, he was endorsed by both the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and the Illinois AFL-CIO. He has a knack for bringing people together, and he can charm the fangs off a rattlesnake.
Big Jim’s law firm represents Blagojevich’s campaign fund, so he has a relationship there. Thompson also chats regularly with Speaker Madigan and Senate President Jones. Both men still have respect for the old man.
So, I asked Thompson if he could do something about our immovable object meets irresistible force dilemma.
Apparently, I wasn’t the first to make this suggestion, and Thompson didn’t come out and say he’d do it, but he did seem intrigued.
But I couldn’t possibly end the column on an “up” note…
Then again, I’m not sure that a hundred Jim Thompsons could solve this intractable problem. But, hey, it’s the holiday season. I’m allowed a little hope.
If you live in Springfield and read the Illinois Times, you didn’t see that last graf. That’s unfortunate because it never pays to be an optimist in Springfield these days.
* Meanwhile, House GOP Leader Tom Cross was interviewed by the Daily Herald during the break…
A. It’s got to the point where we can’t get everybody in the room. Nobody’s willing to sit down together or there are certain folks who won’t sit together. And when they do, the animosity quickly appears. The sad thing is we’ve covered a lot of ground on capital and mass transit and the ingredients are there to get it done. But it’s pretty hard to close it when you’re not in a room together … close the deal.
Q. Do you see an end to this?
A. No. I really don’t. I see this going on for the next couple years. I don’t see the will on those who are fighting to stop. And it’s gotten to a point where it doesn’t even seem to be about policy, it’s more about personality. I think that’s unfortunate because I think everyone loses.”
Q. A construction deal, do you not see one in the near future?
A. I’m going to continue to remain the optimist in all of this. But I think the observation is it’s just difficult to have any finality to this. Everybody says they want to do one. We have narrowed the issues to just a few, but it’s a matter of whether people are in a mood to and willing to work out differences that still exist.
* At first when I saw the excerpt, I thought this SouthtownStar editorial was supposed to be ironic…
Twenty-five years from now (heck, five years from now), we will be looking back and wondering how it could have been questioned, not unlike school segregation, women’s right to vote or discrimination based on skin color or religion.
What was the editorial referring to? The statewide smoking ban that took effect yesterday. And the editorial writer was not being ironic.
* This response from a smoker interviewed at Harrah’s casino in Joliet was equally over the top…
“It’s too much government regulation,” said Marlin Raddatz, of New Lenox, while he stood outside Harrah’s. “If I want to kill myself by smoking, let me.”
Mark our words: The day will come — sooner than anyone now would ever guess, we believe — when we look back with curious wonder on the days when smokers were allowed to light up in restaurants, bars and bowling alleys. The idea that we demarcated “no smoking sections” within the same rooms as smoking sections will soon be recognized for the silliness it always was (at least to those who chose the no smoking side of the room).
Even more unbelievable in the near future will be how long the relatively few smokers managed to retain the upper hand in the clean air debate. It took years of battling by health groups and private citizens to get where we are today. This despite the vast majority of Illinoisans being non-smokers.
How was it, we will wonder someday, that smokers consistently prevailed with the argument that if you didn’t want to breathe others’ secondhand smoke, you should stay home?
With so much of society having given up cigarettes in the last few decades of the 20th century, why was it that the convenience of the 20 percent or so who chose to smoke took precedence over the ability of the nonsmoking majority to breathe clean air?
Mostly, though, we think the big question in the near future will be this: What was the big deal about asking smokers to take their habit outside?
OK, that’s not so bold considering that starting today, smokers in Illinois who want to light up in most public places, including restaurants with bars and taverns, will have to do it outside. In the cold. You already know how we feel about this law. We’re enthusiastic supporters. It’s hard to imagine a law that carries so much potential to change lives — to save lives — than this one.
And now it’s your turn…
*** UPDATE 1 *** Is a statewide ban on leaf burning next?
Fresh off urging lawmakers to ban most indoor smoking in Illinois, the American Lung Association might turn its efforts toward pushing for a statewide ban on burning leaves next year.
American Lung Association of Illinois spokeswoman Kathy Drea said a ban on leaf burning is an issue they regularly think about. With a victory on their coveted smoking ban out of the way, she said the group might consider turning some attention to leaves.
Many Illinois communities, including most all of the state’s larger cities, already ban leaf burning. But several attempts to do the same statewide have failed.
Drea said she probably will look for a lawmaker to sponsor a leaf-burning ban soon. If someone agrees, they’re assured a tough fight, Drea said.
When Steve Kahn got a $26,000 tax bill on his airplane, he thought Maine Revenue Services had made a mistake. Kahn lives, works and keeps his plane in Massachusetts.
It turns out the bill was no error. It was part of the agency’s efforts to collect taxes on aircraft owned by out-of-staters, even though they bought their planes elsewhere and brought them to Maine only to visit.
States are in rebellion over Washington’s actions — and inaction — on some of the nation’s most pressing problems.
Disgusted with federal gridlock, states are carving out their own global-warming and immigration laws and are warning they simply may ignore Uncle Sam’s costly plan for tough national standards for driver’s licenses.
* Utilities, state make plans for interim power purchase period
The ad is running on broadcast TV stations, said Jack Quigley, Allen’s media consultant. The campaign bought daytime slots, which cost less, and some newscast slots, where the thinking is news viewers might be more likely to vote.
Quigley said they expect their media buy will exceed $500,000 of what will be a $1 million primary campaign. If that’s spread out over the five weeks left until the Feb. 5 primary, the ads could have a small audience. Blanket coverage on Chicago TV stations can run anywhere from $500,000 to $1 million a week.
The 2007 legislative session won’t be remembered for what lawmakers accomplished for Illinois. A year of overtime infighting and bickering has assured it will be infamous for all that didn’t get done.
Still, legislators can point to some achievements. From a statewide smoking ban and electric rate relief to a bevy of new license plates and protection for horses, more than 700 measures –both significant and obscure–became law.
Here’s a look at what happened under the Statehouse dome that might affect day-to-day life in Illinois.
* Illinoize: New year, new rules, new server–A couple of thoughts on the coming of the new year from ICPR
* Animal Farm: Illinois gridlock quotes of the year
