Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » 2008

Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Afternoon Update (use all caps in password)

Friday, Jan 25, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

Enter your password to view comments

Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - This just in… *** UPDATED X2 ***

Friday, Jan 25, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

Enter your password to view comments

Question of the day

Friday, Jan 25, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The setup…

Disabled-rights advocates and Chicago paratransit riders are planning a last-ditch effort to head off a two-fold increase in the cost of the monthly pass set for Feb. 1, saying the increase could put public transportation beyond the reach of many disabled people.

Amid the swirl of controversy and legislative action over giving senior citizens free rides on the CTA, Metra and Pace, some disabled riders say increasing the price of the paratransit pass from $75 to $150 a month will cause greater hardship to people who live on disability checks. […]

Paratransit advocates meeting Thursday questioned why the cost of the monthly pass — only available in Chicago because it is a holdover from when the CTA ran the service — is going up while other fare increases were forestalled. The cost of single-ticket paratransit service will also stay level.

* The Question: Should public transit just be free to all? Explain.

50 Comments

Why this photo matters

Friday, Jan 25, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I posted this photo earlier this morning for a reason…

* In reality, this photo means nothing. Hillary Clinton is absolutely right that she’s taken thousands of photos with people over the decades. She’s also right to point out that, unlike Obama, she never had a longterm relationship with Tony Rezko.

* That being said, however, the leak of this pic is precisely the same thing that Hillary and Bill Clinton have been doing to Obama for weeks.

For instance, here’s a story from the AP…

Asked to name a weakness, Obama mentioned his messy desk and reliance on staff. Clinton faulted him for it, saying she was better prepared to oversee the government bureaucracy.

What a crock.

* The Clintons have flat-out lied about Obama’s “Present” votes on abortion bills to make him somehow look anti-choice. They have twisted his comments on Republicans and Ronald Reagan beyond recognition to make him look like a traitor to his party. They even leaked opposition research to a gullible LA Times reporter about how Obama had changed his vote on a few bills.

* So, I got a big chuckle when I received this e-mail from the Clinton campaign this morning…

Clinton Campaign Holds Conference Call TODAY on Obama Campaign Attacks

WHAT: Conference call TODAY to discuss Obama Campaign attacks
WHEN: TODAY, Friday, January 25, 12:00 p.m. EST
TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CONFERENCE CALL,
PLEASE DIAL: 800-434-1335, CODE: 281-378

* None of those Clinton attacks really mean anything in the grand scheme of things. And neither does the above photo. The only thing it proves is that Rezko was everywhere. He’s like a toxic political Zelig.

* All that being said, I totally agree with Mark Brown that it’s past time for Obama to come completely clean about the one Rezko issue that truly does matter, at least as far as I’m concerned.

Who set up the deal with Rezko on the house and land purchase? Obama and Rezko were both the top bidders on those properties, but that, to me is not the issue. What I want to know is how - exactly - did this thing come about? Did Obama call Rezko and ask for help? We know that the property owner wanted to sell both pieces at the same time. Obama didn’t have the money to buy both. What was the deal?

And, frankly, what was he thinking?

* I was looking for a new place to live about the same time Obama was. I remember seeing an ad for Rezmar townhomes on the Chicago River. I checked the website and thought, “Wow, these are perfect.”

Then, a little voice inside my head said, “Miller, you’re gonna wind up on the front page of a newspaper if you buy one of those, no matter how much you pay. Don’t be an idiot.”

So, the idea was immediately flushed from my brain.

I knew better than to do any kind of deal, no matter how above-board it might be, with Tony Rezko.. Obama didn’t. I can’t get past that problem, and no pimpy little photo of Rezko with Hillary and Bill are gonna make up for that.

Come clean, Barack.

52 Comments

Quinn takes on Blagojevich… again

Friday, Jan 25, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I had a bit about this yesterday in “This just in…” but I think it deserves its own post today. Lt. Governor Pat Quinn told reporters yesterday that strong ethics legislation needs to be approved before a statewide capital construction plan is passed…

“We can’t be giving out highway contracts and then having the governor the next day say, ‘Hey, how about contributing to my fundraiser?’” Quinn told reporters at the Statehouse. “That’s trouble with a capital T.”

Quinn also said Gov. Rod Blagojevich should disclose exactly what services his campaign has been buying from the Chicago law firm of Winston & Strawn. Campaign reports filed this week brought billings by that firm, where former Gov. Jim Thompson works, to more than $2 million. “This should not be some kind of mystery,” Quinn said. “This is not healthy.”

* The LT was also asked when he had last spoken with the governor…

“I don’t think he’s talked to too many people, other than his very close palace guard,” Quinn said.

Thoughts?

25 Comments

Brookins slammed on all sides, issues buried in contest

Friday, Jan 25, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Slightly slanted lede?

Democratic Cook County state’s attorney candidate Anita Alvarez accused opponent Howard Brookins Jr. on Thursday of dragging his feet on child-support obligations, but he called the attack “disgraceful” and said the dispute stemmed from bills involving a doctor not fully covered by his insurance.

* Way down in the article…

Brookins fired back later in the day with documents appearing to back up his claim that he’s fully paid up on child-support payments.

* More from the Daily Herald…

Brookins, in a prepared statement, said “I have made every required child support payment from the time of separation with my ex-wife through today. In addition I have consistently provided health insurance for my son. This dispute stemmed from the fact that I provided health coverage … through an HMO, and my wife took him to an out-of-network physician. As a result, we needed the judge to determine who was responsible for the out-of-network payments.”

* Meanwhile, on the issues…

In one of the clearest dividing lines in the Cook County state’s attorney race, the one Republican and six Democratic candidates are sharply divided on whether to allow police officers to give out warnings instead of filing formal charges for possession of drugs in small amounts.

Four Democrats said they had problems with the concept while two Democrats and the Republican endorsed it Thursday.

* The Sun-Times looks at the horse race…

Allen had raised the most money by the end of 2007, with $351,774 on hand. Since Jan. 1, Allen has taken in at least $125,590 more. But Suffredin could be beating him in the money race, with $271,436 at the end of the year and an additional $391,883 raised since Jan 1.

And no one knows how the presidential primary will affect the race. Women turning out in force for HIllary Clinton could help Alvarez, the only woman running. And “if there is a huge [Barack] Obama vote, on the surface it helps Brookins,” the better-known of the two black candidates, Green said.

* The Sun-Times also looks at some business as usual. Brookins helped get money for a bigtime subdivision in his ward, and then apparently got his girlfriend (now his wife) a job selling the houses…

Brookins takes credit for scoring $87.1 million in public cash for the project developers, including $11.6 million from the city to entice developers to build. […]

After the deal was done, Brookins, who’s running for Cook County state’s attorney, says he remembers “asking these guys if we can refer people to them for work.”

So, he did. One of the alderman’s recommendations was his girlfriend, Ebonie Taylor, during his bitter divorce from his first wife, Nanette Brookins. Ebonie Taylor, who married Ald. Brookins after his divorce was final, got hired to sell the Beverly Ridge homes — which go for between $285,000 and $560,000 — for straight commission.

31 Comments

Trouble ahead?

Friday, Jan 25, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Yesterday, Champaign County Clerk Mark Shelden, a former House GOP staffer and an old pal of mine, worried aloud about Steve Sauerberg’s Republican primary race…

Having a good ballot name can go a long way to winning an election. This isn’t just cynicism on my part. It’s been borne out in recent Illinois political history. […]

More famous, and with far more impact, was the 1986 Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor. George Sangmeister, a State Senator from Will County faced off against Lyndon LaRouche supporter Mark Fairchild. There probably wasn’t a single Democratic elected official in the state that didn’t support Sangmeister, to the point that the party organization never really worked the election. On election night, the wacko with the nice name, Mark Fairchild, beat Sangmeister. Adlai Stevenson, faced with the choice of being on the ticket with Fairchild or running as a third party, decided on the latter. It killed the Democrats that year as Jim Thompson crushed Stevenson.

After receiving yet another question today from a Republican about who to vote for in the race for U.S. Senator, I’m very concerned that we might end up with another Fairchild on our ticket.

* Shelden went on to describe Sauerberg’s opponents, one of whom has a much better ballot name, and asks…

Are we setting ourselves up for the nice sounding Andy Martin to be our candidate against Dick Durbin?

* Sauerberg hasn’t filed a campaign finance statement yet, so we don’t know how much he’s raised. I checked around yesterday and was told that he has done a couple of mailers and will probably do some radio.

One of the things that helped Fairchild back in 1986 was the complete lack of news coverage about his candidacy and the race in general. There hasn’t been a whole lot written about Sauerberg lately.

The combination of a lack of spending and a lack of media attention is definitely giving some Republicans heartburn.

Discuss.

21 Comments

Morning shorts

Friday, Jan 25, 2008 - Posted by Kevin Fanning

* Channel 2 anchor Randy Salerno dies in snowmobiling accident. More here.

* Sun-Times columnist Cepeda, TV critic Elfman among job casualties. More here.

* WTVP, creditors closer to accord

* Absentee ballots absent in some counties

* Blagojevich tries to rally governors for FutureGen

* Auditor: Government lags on measurements for Great Lakes toxins

* Madigan writes letter to EPA on greenhouse gases

* Is the Wrigley family finally gonna pay big bucks to keep their name affixed to Wrigley Field??

Sources tell Sneed William Wrigley Jr. placed a phone call to Cubs management wondering why his family was bushwhacked by comments made by Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney at the recent Cubs Convention.

* Daley looking for other mayors to support Olympics bid

* Pate was right — nothing wrong with registration deadlines

* All candidates must follow rules — even newcomers

* CTA renovating Howard station, boarding platform changes

* Illinois 14th CD Thursday mailer fest - Lauzen

* Congressman Mark Kirk Again Crushes Competition in Fundraising; Still at the Top Nationally

* Personality mixes with platforms

* Laesch’s fundraising improves; but not enough to compete with Foster

* Democrats underwhelm the audience

* Democrats offer their Rx for health care problems

* Former Peoria reporter seeks Democratic candidacy

* Schock wants 20% ethanol blends