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Monday, Jan 14, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* 5:47 pm - From the Chicago Board of Elections…

[T]he previous high for first-day balloting during Early Voting in Chicago was 890 ballots cast before the Nov. 2006 election. The daily average for that election was 1,378 ballots during Early Voting.

Today, the first day of Early Voting for the 2008 General Primary, an unofficial total of 3,990 ballots were cast in the City of Chicago. Historically, the lowest counts of ballots have been the very first few days and on weekends.

That sound you heard was incumbents all over the city gulping very hard. Barack Obama’s candidacy may be a blessing to some, but his very powerful “change” message might prove fatal for a few entrenched incumbents who have thought for months that their reelections are in the bag.

* 5:57 pm - The Illinois House will return at eleven o’clock on Thursday. I’m figuring the Senate comes back that day, too, to deal with the governor amendatory veto of the transit bailout bill. CBS-2’s Mike Flannery has this update…

The bill’s chief sponsor, Evanston’s Rep. Julie Hamos, warned CBS 2 that as many as six members who voted for it last week are now saying they may vote no on Blago’s rewrite.

Remember this valuable lesson: Legislators are a lot like soldiers. They grumble very loudly but, in the end, usually do what they’re told.

* 6:04 pm - Jim Oberweis goes way negative on Chris Lauzen in his new radio ad…

*** Click here to listen ***

* 6:11 pm - Larry at ArchPundit criticizes Illinois NOW for their attack on Barack Obama in a post entitled: “Illinois NOW, the Essence of Hypocrisy“. [Note: Profanity alert.]

The essence is that I-NOW is slamming Obama and touting its refusal to endorse him when they endorsed Lisa Madigan for doing the same thing. Larry adds this bit of history…

Illinois NOW also stood by Blair Hull when information came out about domestic violence in his divorce dispute.

Present votes engineered by Planned Parenthood? Very, very bad, except when it’s somebody else making those same votes. Spousal abuse? Why, that’s no problem at all.

*** 8:38 pm *** I just got off the phone with Rep. Julie Hamos. She claimed she never said that six members might flip to “No” on the transit bill. Hamos said that was the number of people she gave to the governor’s office to flip to “Yes” last week.

Hamos said people have been “playing games” with the bill all day, but when asked whether she thought the bill would die when all is said and done, Hamos paused for a bit and said she didn’t think it would perish.

She also said there could be another chapter written this Thursday when the Legislature reconvenes. Asked if that meant the General Assembly might send the bill back to the guv with further changes, Hamos said, “Stay tuned,” and repeated the same answer when asked again.

So, I guess we should “stay tuned.”

* 9:06 pm - From the Tribbies…

“I’d say today that it is not going to get 60 votes,’’ [Rep. Marlow Colvin] said Monday. “But that is before the Speaker has really started working it, and asking people to come on board. And I think he is going to be doing that to avert any kind of shutdown.” […]

Though she said she doesn’t like the way the governor is trying to strong-arm the legislature into approving the free-ride program, state Rep. Rosemary Mulligan (R-Des Plaines) said she still plans to vote for the transit bill this week. But she said it’s not like her older constituents are clamoring for her support of the bill. […]

“I don’t think anybody wants to see this blow up,’’ [Rep. Julie Hamos] said. “It’s too dangerous.”

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Monday, Jan 14, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Question of the day

Monday, Jan 14, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Apparently, the Southtown-Star moved my syndicated column back a day this week. I’m not gonna wait for them to post this excerpt…

I was assured last Wednesday night that Gov. Blagojevich is definitely running for reelection. The governor’s Thursday announcement [about seniors riding free in every mass transit district in Illinois] sure looks like his first step down that road.

* Question: Has your head exploded yet? Explain.

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Schock watch

Monday, Jan 14, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The Peoria Journal-Star takes a closer look at some claims made in the three 18th Congressional District candidate bios. Here’s the first part of Aaron Schock’s biography that’s examined…

Claim #1: Graduated from Bradley University in two years with a finance degree.

Reality: Schock entered college with two years of college-level credits. He completed all his Richwoods High School credits by his junior year. As required, he took physical education his senior year, and classes during the fall semester at Illinois Central College totaling more than 20 hours. He also took more than 20 hours in the spring.

Before entering Bradley University, placement tests garnered Schock an additional 15 hours of credit. Therefore, he entered Bradley as a freshman with junior standing.

* Actually, in Schock’s biographical TV ad, it is claimed that the candidate…

“Earned his finance degree in only two years.

So, since Bradley University isn’t mentioned in the ad, he should change that to three years, not two. It’s still quite an accomplishment, but resume padding is always something to look out for in any candidate.

Go read the whole thing for more claims and counter-claims.

* More from a Peoria political columnist…

“I’m not running for President of the United States, I’m running to be a member of Congress and if our founding fathers would have designed it to be an old men’s club, they wouldn’t have set the constitutional limit at 25,” said state Rep. Aaron Schock, 26, about what to tell his detractors who claim he’s not ready for prime time in Congress.

The U.S. Constitution was adopted in 1787. At that time, the life expectancy was less than 38 years old, putting congressmen then at least above middle age. Today’s life expectancy, however, is approaching 80 years old.

To be fair to Schock, the life expectancy statistic used is a bit skewed because so many people died at birth or shortly thereafter back then. Thomas Jefferson lived to the ripe old age of 83. George Washington lived to see his 69th birthday. Ben Franklin was 84 when he died. And John Adams was 90 when he bought the farm.

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Daley, Blagojevich, seniors and Metra

Monday, Jan 14, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Mayor Daley asks about the governor’s amendatory veto to give free transit rides to senior throughout the state…

“Why is this thrown in at the last minute? That’s all I’m saying. Fine, I understand it; I mean, they wanted to give seniors without, you know, a free pass, fine. But again, why is it thrown in at the last minute? We’ve had all year discussing it.”

* Here’s my answer, from my weekly syndicated newspaper column….

The simple answer is: It’s all about him. It’s always all about him.

The governor loves to ride in on his big white horse and save the day, and that’s just what happened time after time on this months-long mass transit fiasco. He’s implemented two “magic money” extensions to ward off two threatened “doomsday” scenarios of layoffs and route cuts, and afterwards patted himself on the back so hard he almost severed his spine. Meanwhile, he had this trick up his sleeve that could’ve been implemented long ago if he was a “normal” leader. As we all know by now, this man is anything but normal.

* Carol Marin adds…

Blagojevich poked his finger in the Legislature’s eye by announcing the break for seniors out of the blue. Executing it not with a joint agreement, but with the Zorro-like slash of his amendatory veto pen. Take that!

And then came the declaration that he alone had taken lemons and squeezed them into lemonade.

* And the SJ-R riffs on the governor’s drink of choice…

Governor, lemonade is much better in May than in January.

* The governor, meanwhile, took a couple of swings at Daley…

“Mayor Daley just yesterday expressed some concern that maybe the legislators won’t get back down to Springfield to bail out the CTA and give seniors free rides on buses. Well, Mayor Daley shouldn’t be so pessimistic.”

* And…

“It’s hard to be a senior citizen in Chicago these days,” Blagojevich… “Man, it’s tough. Costs are going up. The price of everything is goin’ up. Mayor Daley just raised your property taxes.” The crowd murmured agreement.

Oof. That won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

* Back to Daley…

“The margin is very slim,” Daley said [of the bill in both chamber]. He added it is unknown whether legislators can return to Springfield this week to work through Blagojevich’s demand. “That’s what we’re concerned about.”

* And at least one legislator is talking about jumping off the bill…

State Rep. Sidney Mathias, a Buffalo Grove Republican, said he didn’t know if he’d vote for the deal again, citing both the need to invest in road, bridge and school building and questioning the governor’s last-minute changes.

Here’s the thing: Whether you agree with the governor or not, or whether you’re even a senior citizen and don’t think this AV is fair, the simple truth is that voting against even a little senior freebie is a political risk. And this is a big one. I doubt this AV will kill the bill. Then again, legislators can be strange sometimes.

* As the governor put it yesterday at Rev. Sen. James Meeks’ megachurch…

“How many of you agree with me that the right thing to do is to give your grandmother a free ride on a bus?” Blagojevich asked.

The question brought huge cheers for the governor at the House of Hope on the South Side, especially from the older generation.

“Why not help that senior citizen on a fixed income, who’s struggling to get by? Why not give her a chance to get a break for once?” the governor continued.

* If anything, what could make Rep. Mathias change his mind is the political idiocy of Metra…

A sales tax windfall would spare CTA and Pace riders fare increases, but Metra leaders pledged Friday to forge ahead with a 10 percent ticket hike in February.

* Rep. Mathias, along with several other suburban Republicans (including three in the Senate), stuck their necks out on that transit bill and then Metra had the ultimate gall to do this? Ridiculous…

“I hope the increase doesn’t affect someone’s vote,” [Mathias] said. “Some (lawmakers) felt they were voting for the bill to prevent a fare increase.”

Metra officials have said previously in a House committee that they couldn’t guarantee no fare increases if the bailout bill passed. But they couldn’t have waited six months or a year?

* More transit stories, compiled by Kevin…

* Chicago-area seniors question cost, need for Blagojevich’s free-ride proposal

* Transit bill makes sales taxes even more complicated across Chicago area

* Governor to offer more free rides?

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Madigan interview

Monday, Jan 14, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

[Bumped up and comments opened for obvious reasons.]

* The Fox News Chicago interview of Speaker Madigan is now online and can be watched by clicking here. Part 2 of the interview is here.

Here are some quotes…

* “The Democrats ought to get their act together.” [Um, what?]

* On Tony Rezko and Chris Kelly and their relationship with Blagojevich: “I made a decision very early on in the Blagojevich administration not to be associated with what they were doing.”

* Why? “Take a look at what happened.”

* On possibly selling Wrigley Field to the state: “I’ve simply read in the media that this was the governor’s idea… What I do know is there seems to be a strong market of buyers wanting to buy the Cubs.”

* On the reason for the governor’s flip-flop on tax hikes: “I suspect that his budget director Mr. Filan told him that it would be very bad for the state budget if we were to enact the governor’s choice which would have taken money out of the state treasury for the RTA.”

* On why the transit agreement took so long: “It took so long because of Gov. Blagojevich’s politics, his style of politics… it’s a politics of confrontation, conflict. It could have been resolved nine months ago.”

* “My expectation is that the Legislature will approve the governor’s proposal for free transit rides for millionaires who happen to be over 65.”

* On his crack about the governor abandoning his campaign promise and why he didn’t just call the guv a statesman and move on: “He’s not exactly a statesman. The governor may be a practicing politician, but he’s not a statesman. Had he been a statesman, this issue would have been resolved nine months ago.”

* On animus towards him from Blagojevich and his administration: “I think there are people in the governor’s office who spend the majority of their day thinking how they can one-up Mike Madigan or make Mike Madigan look bad and they’re really wasting their time. They ought to get about the business of good government policy.”

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Morning shorts

Monday, Jan 14, 2008 - Posted by Kevin Fanning

* New 10th Poll from Seals

Shows about the same race as in November with Seals steady at 58% and Footlik up from 6% to 10%.

* Election dates cause worries

* State health plan bothers Medical Society official

* Attorney General: No criminal investigation into Bianchi spending

* Ryan’s prison address would bar trip to accept Nobel Prize

* New ethanol venture may lead to cheaper fuel

* Devine endorses Milan; more here

* No smokes for prisoners; more here

* US Senate candidates differ on economic remedy

* A Q&A with Bill Gentes

* 8th District GOP hopefuls talk taxes, economic issues

* The cost of coal progress

“On Friday, U.S. Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) said he was worried that the Energy Department might scrap the project if its cost concerns weren’t addressed.”

* Republican candidates more likely to visit state

* Clinton, Obama Clash Over Race Issue; more here

* About those endorsements…

* Michelle Obama: Husband No `Fairy Tale’

* Obama’s aircraft clips parked plane

* Women vs. Oprah

* State Presidential Primary and Caucus Dates

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Monday, Jan 14, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

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