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*** 12:36 pm *** After a very long House Democratic caucus, it appears that there are now enough votes to accept the governor’s amendatory veto of the mass transit bailout bill. Expect much gnashing of teeth during debate, however.
* 12:43 pm - OK, this I gotta see. From a press release…
The Northwestern University and Evanston communities are invited to attend the LEGISLATIVE LEADERS FORUM: January 23, 2008, 7:00 pm, in Ryan Auditorium, in Northwestern University’s Technological Institute, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston.
Participating will be:
EMIL JONES, President of the Illinois Senate;
FRANK WATSON, Senate Republican Leader;
MICHAEL J. MADIGAN, Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives;
TOM CROSS, House Republican Leader.
HENRY S. BIENEN, Northwestern University President, will moderate.
The four legislative leaders of the State of Illinois will meet to discuss top issues of today and the importance of civic participation, followed by written questions from the audience.
…Adding… I’m told that the contact person for this event is Andrew Madigan, son of the Speaker. A peacemaker in the family? Good for him.
*** 12:46 pm *** The House is starting now. Listen here.
*** 2:02 *** The House has accepted the governor’s amendatory veto. Slightly narrower margin. (One vote less than before.) The bill now goes to the Senate.
*** 2:05 *** The trailer bill is now being debated. SB 1409. The bill will take effect if and only if the mass transit bailout becomes law. The proposal applies the Circuit Breaker program to the free mass transit rides.
*** 2:12 *** Rep. Fritchey just said he’s drafting a Constitutional amendment to do away with the governor’s amendatory veto power. “We’re going to take his toys away from him,” the governor’s own state Rep. said.
Fritchey promsed to file his proposal by the end of the day today.
…Adding… Just in case you’re wondering…
Amendments approved by the vote of three-fifths of the members elected to each house shall be submitted to the electors at the general election next occurring at least six months after such legislative approval
I highly doubt the Senate will go along with this, to say the least.
*** 2:32 *** Just so you know what’s going on. The trailer bill being debated in the House would use Circuit Breaker eligibility to determine who gets free rides in mass transit districts, rather than give the freebies to everyone. Circuit Breaker also includes the disabled, so the freebie would be expanded as well as constricted.
Also, a Senate Democratic spokesperson said a few minutes ago that she didn’t know yet whether the trailer bill would be called in that chamber.
*** 2:42 *** The trailer bill has passed the House with 86 votes. It now goes to the Senate, where it’s fate is uncertain, as they say.
The House may have just made a bit of lemonade themselves. By expanding the eligibility for free rides to relatively low-income disabled and excluding wealthy seniors, they might’ve “found a pony in a pile of manure,” to coin a phrase. lol
…Then again, a commenter makes this point…
I can’t wait to tell my mother who makes $23k a year in retirement how lucky she is – she now is apparently “Wealthy”
*** 3:06 *** It looks like there will be no trailer bill in the Senate. No suprise about that. “We do everything the governor tells us around here,” said one Senate Democrat a few minutes ago - sarcastically, of course.
The lack of a trailer bill is causing one Senate Democrat to switch to “No.” The original bill only passed with 30 votes, but other downstaters have said they’ll vote to accept the governor’s AV.
* 3:20 pm - Sen. Sandoval just compared the governor’s amendatory veto to Fidel Castro’s dictatorship. He also just blasted the media for focusing on the senior freebie and ignoring the tax hike.
* 3:39 pm - The Republicans are now claiming that Senate Rules don’t allow for two “co-sponsors” of a motion. The objection here is that Sen. Rickey Hendon, who is involved in a spirited primary race, was belatedly given lead sponsorship of the transit bailout bill and then allowed to co-sponsor the motion with Sen. Cullerton (who did most of the Senate work on the bill) to accept the amendatory veto.
*** 3:47 pm *** Sen. Terry Link is complaining bitterly in debate about Metra’s incredibly stupid decision to announce a ten percent rate increase before the bailout was finalized. Link said Metra ought to reconsider the increase or it could cost them in the future. “What the General Assembly giveth, the General Assembly can take away,” Link said.
*** 4:06 pm *** Senate President Emil Jones said just before the Senate began voting on the AV motion, “I want to do a trailer bill,” but said he wanted to “do it right.” Jones pointed out that several senior discounts (property taxes, Chicago car stickers, etc.) aren’t based on income. Sen. Hendon promised a few minutes later that he would work with “all of you” on the trailer legislation.
*** 4:07 pm *** The Senate just voted to accept the governor’s amendatory veto with 32 votes.. It now goes back to the governor, who must certify that the language in the legislative motion matches his AV.
* 4:13 pm - The Chicago Federation of Labor just issued a press release about today’s events. There were hearty congratulations all around, but not one mention was made of Gov. Blagojevich.
* 4:32 pm - The governor will be speaking to reporters soon, so we’ll have tape in a while.
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Question of the day
Thursday, Jan 17, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
Now that the governor has agreed to raise the sales tax for the mass transit bailout, do you think the “seal is broken” and he’ll do it again on other taxes? Or, do you think this is a one-time thing? Explain fully, please. Thanks.
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Through the looking glass
Thursday, Jan 17, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
The obsession that some have for keeping all politics hermetically sealed from government is getting way out of hand.
We all know and probably agree that state offices, phones, etc. shouldn’t be used to brazenly campaign for office. But that was taken to an illogical extreme during Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias’ press conference…
Near the end of his news conference, reporters asked him about his campaigning for Barack Obama, the U.S. senator from Illinois and presidential candidate who was instrumental in helping Giannoulias win the treasurer’s office in 2006.
Giannoulias began answering the questions when his general counsel, who joined him at the news conference, approached him and whispered: “We prefer that you not, during state time, talk about politics.”
“Oh,” Giannoulias remarked aloud, “we’re not allowed to talk about politics on state time.”
Reporters weren’t having it. My colleague Bernie Schoenburg, the SJ-R’s political columnist, informed the treasurer: “This is the Blue Room. People do come in here and discuss campaigns.” At least one other reporter backed him up on that.
I can’t help but wonder what might have happened if Giannoulias had just answered the question without hesitation. My guess is somebody might have pimped him in a column somewhere about electioneering on the state dime.
Gov. Blagojevich uses this same excuse whenever a reporter asks a political question at the Statehouse.
Last year, Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson took reporters outside the building to hold a media availability because reporters wanted to ask her about her congressional bid. She originally wanted to walk down to the sidewalk until somebody (I think it was me) made a wisecrack about how the sidewalk was government property, too, as was the parking lot across the street.
It used to be the accepted standard that a politician could answer a reporter’s question about campaigns no matter where they were or what time of day it was. But Patrick Fitzgerald and some overzealous types in the media have put “The Fear” into a whole lot of people and it’s really getting ridiculous.
Without politics, there is no government. Without campaigns, there are no elected officials. Everybody, including Fitzgerald, needs to take a deep breath, step back and look at where we’re going. This is not healthy.
Your thoughts?
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Will it be a boom or a thud?
Thursday, Jan 17, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Mark Brown puts legislators on notice…
Gov. Blagojevich’s out-of-the-blue maneuver to hold up the mass transit funding legislation until he gets his free rides for senior citizens was sneaky, brazen, silly, selfish, reckless, manipulative, disingenuous and downright cynical. […]
What you may not have considered is that if the Illinois Legislature fails today to give its final go-ahead to the transit bill by approving the governor’s proposed changes, it won’t necessarily be Blagojevich’s fault. […]
After voting for the measure last week, there is no good excuse why any legislator would take a powder when it comes back before them today.
I say that with the hope of putting them all on notice. Legislators are often made to feel like anonymous fish in the sea while toiling under the Capitol dome, but if anybody from the Chicago area pulls back from this bill now, I can pretty much guarantee they will be identified and made famous for their foolishness. It’s not so difficult to study a roll call and find the rats.
He’s mostly right. Legislators just need to put away their Rod hate, hold their noses, and keep the system running.
* But silly and unnecessary stunts like trucking in a crowd of ringers to yesterday’s House Transit Committee hearing just underscores what sort of a game-player the governor is and will always be…
Angry transit advocates turned out in full throat for the two-hour hearing in a hot meeting room at the James R. Thompson Center. They carried signs that read “Vote yes for seniors and mass transit” and “No Service Cuts!”
They loudly booed any legislator who expressed disapproval of the measure
* Even so, some Downstate Senators in both parties are reconsidering their votes from last week, not wanting to alienate seniors in their districts…
Some central Illinois lawmakers who voted against a Chicago-area mass transit funding bill last week may have changed their minds now that free bus rides for seniors have been added. […]
“I probably would vote for it,” said Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield, who voted against House Bill 656 last week. […]
“I was conflicted the last time we voted. The bill is a good bill for downstate,” [Sen. Dave Koehler, D-Peoria] said. “My inclination is to support it (now). I won’t make a firm commitment until I’ve talked to other Democrats.” […]
“I think our opportunity to do capital was last week,” [Sen. John Sullivan, D-Rushville] said. “To me, this is a different issue. Everybody is going to have to make their own decision on it.”
* The House is where the real problem is right now. And a trailer bill could help ease its way through…
But members of the House committee also discussed plans to introduce a separate trailer bill today that would only provide free rides to low-income seniors and people with disabilities.
The trailer bill, if it passes, would allow the General Assembly to put caps on the governor’s plan to give seniors free rides without jeopardizing a transit funding bill that would avert Jan. 20 service cuts and fare hikes at the CTA and Pace by raising the sales tax in Cook and the collar counties.
* But the 2nd Floor has problems with the idea…
Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said the governor supports giving free rides to people with disabilities, but said the Circuit Breaker proposal adds unnecessary hurdles.
“It seems to make more sense to use the existing reduced fare card system that the RTA has in place,” Ottenhoff said. “It’s less complicated, it helps more people and that’s why the governor included that language in the amendatory veto.”
If they don’t come up with an alternative, there will be a huge uproar today. Should be fun to watch. The show starts at 11 o’clock.
* Here are a couple more stories…
* Rod Blagojevich: This time we can get what we need — with compromise
* Analysts disagree on effect of governor’s recent support of increase
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Boiled lobster
Thursday, Jan 17, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Larry Suffredin’s lobbying gig was the main source of contention at last night’s debate among Cook County State’s Attorney hopefuls…
County commissioner Suffredin called himself a proven reformer who can fix an office that’s broken. And, he said, he resents the status quo under Bob Milan, Dick Devine’s top deputy, and Anita Alvarez, Devine’s number three lieutenant. But they’re firing back at Suffredin for making big bucks as a corporate lobbyist.
“How can someone stand up here and say he is a reformer, say he is progressive, when he has spent the last 30 years of his career making money off special interest groups,” said Milan.
* Ouch…
[Ald. Tom Allen (38th)] also took a shot at Suffredin, saying, “I agree with Mr. Suffredin that he fights for justice — as long as somebody pays him to do it.”
* And the attacks weren’t all about lobbying…
Devine’s top two aides, Robert Milan and Anita Alvarez, emphasized the need for a prosecutor to hold the office as they criticized Suffredin’s suggestion that he wouldn’t plea bargain gun cases that resulted in great bodily harm.
“It’s an empty promise. A real prosecutor could never run an office like that,” said Milan, 46, stressing the need for flexibility in prosecutions.
* And he wasn’t the only target. Howard Brookins also got some grief…
Brookins was criticized by Allen for problems he had in paying rent on his office and city violations for a building he owned. Brookins has said the building was effectively in someone else’s possession and his in name only.
* You can read extensive notes from the candidates’ Daily Herald editorial board interviews at this link.
I’ve lately kept articles about this race in Morning Shorts, but I’ve noticed an increase in comments about it, so have at it…
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Morning shorts
Thursday, Jan 17, 2008 - Posted by Kevin Fanning
* Federal Eyes on Suburban Elections
The number of naturalized citizens in suburbs ringing Chicago is growing fast. But some still face barriers when they try to vote. In a lawsuit last fall, the U.S. Department of Justice charged that Kane County had violated parts of the federal Voting Rights Act. County officials quickly agreed to remedy the situation. And the first big test of whether Kane County is living up to the agreement is February 5. That’s when the Latino vote might make the difference in several hotly contested primaries.
* Tribune endorses Sauerberg, Schock
* Daley ‘confident’ of new Olympic projections
In a city where cost overruns have vexed big projects from Millennium Park to O’Hare International Airport expansion, Mayor Richard Daley expressed confidence Wednesday that new financial projections by Chicago Olympic planners are on target.
* Oberweis negative mailer
* Lawmaker wants ‘reasonable’ toll enforcement
“I don’t have special sympathy for scofflaws,” said state Rep. Paul Froehlich, a Schaumburg Democrat, on Wednesday. “But you have to have some fairness built into the system.”
* Development Group picks a winner
“Finally, the governor did something right for the Quad-Cities. His fit left Mulcahey available for the development group’s top job.”
* Attorney General has ’serious questions’ about Corn Belt
* Illinois: War, economy issues dominate debate
* From the Democratic front … Stein outlines his plan for economy
* 14th District trio talks health care
* Do state tests make the grade?
* The state will pay for all students to take pre-ACT
* Time to reconsider process of picking candidates
* Obama drug use raised
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*** 3:34 pm *** The governor has dropped three of his counts in his four-count lawsuit against House Speaker Michael Madigan. The only remaining count asks the courts to declare that the governor has a Constitutional and statutory authority to schedule the time and date of special sessions.
Of the remaining counts, one asked that the courts compel Madigan to produce a quorum whenever the guv calls a special session. According to the guv’s office…
The remaining counts, which address the Speaker’s duty to assemble a quorum for special sessions, may no longer be an issue once the Court confirms the Governor’s constitutional authority to set the date and time of special sessions. If it becomes necessary, we could always re-file them later.
*** 3:38 pm *** Reporters tried to get Mayor Daley to whack Gov. Blagojevich again today. Instead, he did his best to dodge the questions…
“Let’s just get it passed.”
And…
“The only thing I objected to was the way the governor did this at the last minute,” [Daley] said. “He could have told the legislators who were already down there last week to add it to the bill. This is just drama.”
* Meanwhile Treasurer Giannoulias wasn’t impressed with the governor’s amendatory veto of the transit bill…
“I love my grandma. I love senior citizens. But I don’t think this was done in the best way possible,’’ Giannoulias said.
He said it seemed a little “disingenuous” for Blagojevich to drop this new program into the transit bill at the last minute when “they have been talking about this for six months or a year.”
* And Rep. Sid Mathias, who said he might not vote to accept the AV, said today that he will vote to accept…
“I’m angry, and even though I’m angry, I am still going to vote for this tomorrow,” said Rep. Sid Mathias (R-Buffalo Grove), one of 62 House members to vote for the plan as it passed by a slim margin last week.
*** 3:42 pm *** According to exit polls, black primary voters in Michigan picked “uncommitted” this week over Hillary Clinton 68 to 30. Ouch.
*** 4:50 pm *** The House Mass Transit Committee just voted to accept the governor’s amendatory veto by a lopsided margine of 16-5, according to a reporter who is there.
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A note to readers about MidwestPolitics.com
Wednesday, Jan 16, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
You may have noticed the new image ad for “Midwest Politics” on the right side of the page.
Here’s the official spin on what we’re doing…
MidwestPolitics.com is a cooperative venture between six independent political and government news sites based in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
Its goal is to provide readers with background and coverage of the crucial Midwest battleground in the months leading up to the 2008 presidential election.
Actually, the real goal is to sell advertising, but I digress. 
The idea here was to bring together the best political websites in the Midwest in one spot. It’s a sort of one-stop shopping for those interested in our region’s political and governmental scene. Right now, the site is still pretty basic, but there is a lot of content with more to come.
So if you’re interested in states beyond Illinois, then you should make MidwestPolitics.com a regular visit on your daily (hourly… minutely?) trek through the Intertubes.
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Jan 16, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Sneed today…
Sneed hears rumbles Jim Oberweis, the Oberweis Dairy owner being backed by former U.S. Rep. J. Dennis Hastert to fill Hastert’s vacant House seat, has plans if he wins.
Translation: Oberweis is telling pals privately he’ll probably only be a one-termer because . . . he would use the congressional seat as a launching pad to run for Illinois governor again.
* And from yesterday’s Moline Dispatch…
Mike Boland isn’t waiting for opportunity to knock. Instead, he plans to march door-to-door, looking for it himself.
After dabbling with plans to run for higher political office for several years, state Rep. Boland, D-East Moline, said he is considering running for governor or lieutenant governor come 2010.
“It would probably depend on what my good friend Pat Quinn, the lieutenant governor, does,” he said Monday.
Rep. Boland originally jockeyed for the lieutenant governor’s seat in 2001, but ultimately did not run. In 2005 he eyed the state Senate and in 2006 he tried to feel out the 17th Congressional District seat. He also has expressed interest in running for state treasurer.
The difference between Oberweis and Boland is that Oberweis actually runs for the offices he covets, while Boland never pulls the trigger.
* Anway, on to the question: Of all the people currently in Illinois politics (both parties), which one (or more) would make you vote for Rod Blagojevich? Explain.
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Over the top reaction slammed
Wednesday, Jan 16, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Ben Joravsky makes a very good point about the governor’s proposal to let seniors ride free on mass transit…
Mayor Daley was among those who promptly blasted Blagojevich’s plan. “Any politician can give things for free, but there’s no such thing as a free lunch,” Daley lectured reporters over the weekend. “Someone has to pay for it.”
Amen, brother. Though I have to say the mayor’s fiscal restraint caught me by surprise. By coincidence, I’d attended the party-down scene at the January 8 meeting of his Community Development Commission, where city officials were throwing around property tax dollars like confetti: $75 million to Rush University Medical Center, $8.5 million to Grossinger Auto, and a to-be-announced TIF handout to a consortium of developers led by former First Ward alderman Ted Mazola to build a bunch of town houses in a swamp down by Wolf Lake, on the city’s southeast side. And that’s just one CDC get-together — they meet once a month.
So on the city pushes with its massive transformation, tearing down public housing, closing schools, selling off property on the south and west sides, moving out the poor people, and driving up the cost of living with higher fines, fees, and taxes. Then free rides for seniors get condemned as a waste.
It’s a great day to be a zoning lawyer, or a lawyer working on commercial property tax appeals, or a developer, or an alderman-turned-developer, or a Daley-administration-aide-turned-lobbyist, all merrily riding the gravy train. But it’s not such a great day for old ladies riding the bus.
“Process” arguments about a super-unpopular governor’s pandering publicity stunt are just that. Process. The bottom line is that Democrats and Republicans pander to oldsters all the time, and bigtime corporate handouts are the acceptable way of the political world. So now letting Grandma ride the bus for free is somehow unconscionable? Please.
* And then there’s this, from Sneed…
Sneed hears Ald. Isaac Carothers and Ald. Ed Burke are preparing an amendment keeping senior citizens exempt from the new real estate transfer tax proposal hidden in the transit bailout package.
The buckshot: “It’s a burden they shouldn’t have to shoulder,” said a Sneed source . . . referring to the proposed tax increase on the sale of a home from $7.50 to $10 per $1,000.
* Meanwhile, the Tribune gives us a helpful bullet-point list of what’s coming this week…
* The House committee will hold a public hearing on free rides for seniors idea Wednesday at the Thompson Center in Chicago.
* The General Assembly is likely to vote on legislation Thursday.
* Transit officials say they remain hopeful that the legislature will act before the weekend.
* More transit stuff, compiled by Kevin…
* Capital bill could be on the horizon…or not
* How drastic cuts redraw transit map
* Transit bailout could cost village of Beecher
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Giannoulias scores again
Wednesday, Jan 16, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Another win for Treasurer Giannoulias…
Owners have dropped their effort to retain possession of the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel and Conference Center, which owes more than $29.5 million on its state-backed loan.
Their decision should pave the way for the state to obtain title to the hotel, which is at Seventh and Adams streets, and sell it to a new owner later this year. Proceeds from the sale will be used to pay off at least part of the debt. […]
“Going forward, the days of sweetheart deals and cronyism at taxpayer expense are over,” Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias said in an interview Tuesday.
Giannoulias’ office began foreclosure proceedings on the hotel shortly after he took office in January 2007. The owners, who include influential Springfield Republican Bill Cellini, were fighting to block foreclosure.
* As everyone knows, this has been a long-festering problem…
In 1991, in the final days of former Gov. James R. Thompson’s last term, Cellini secured a controversial sweetheart deal in which his investment consortium didn’t have to make payments on the loan so long as the hotel didn’t turn a profit.
* More…
The saga began in 1982 when the state gave a $15.5 million loan to the hotel, which is owned by 80 investors, including William Cellini, a politically connected Springfield Republican. Since then, the hotel has made only intermittent payments, with the last one coming in August 2002, state officials said.
Thus, the hotel owes nearly $30 million in principal and interest, according to Giannoulias, who put the cost to taxpayers at more than $2,300 a day.
The kid’s alright.
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* If you missed the live CBS 2 debate between Jim Oberweis and Chris Lauzen last night, you can watch the whole thing at this link.
* Here’s the station’s coverage…
After a brief handshake dairy magnate Jim Oberweis came out swinging — talking about Lauzen’s biggest single donor in his political career and his decision to return almost $100,000.
“It’s easy to see why you would give the money back, the donor was convicted of patronizing a 16-year-old prostitute,” Oberweis said.
But it took about forty minutes before state senator Chris Lauzen responded.
Oof.
* More from the Daily Herald…
In his opening statement, Oberweis brought up Lauzen’s decision last month to return a $100,000 campaign contribution from a convicted felon whose company was under investigation by the Illinois attorney general. Oberweis said he doubted Lauzen’s claim that he didn’t know about the issues surrounding donor John Burgess and his company, International Profit Associates, until recently despite numerous media reports over the past few years. […]
“In my entire career, I have never asked for nor taken anything that doesn’t belong to me,” said Lauzen, a state senator from Aurora. “My desire is to serve you well. When I’ve been confronted with a problem with a campaign contributor, I’ve sent the money back without being told or even asked. … For my opponent to say otherwise is cruel and a politically motivated lie and conduct unbecoming someone who wants to represent us in any public office.”
The problem for Lauzen is that he waited so long to respond. The Tribune wrote that the state Senator “appeared taken aback,” by the assault…
“It’s not about your character or even your integrity, it’s about your judgment,” said Oberweis, who devoted his entire opening statement to the topic at an Aurora University debate. “Chris, you can’t fix the problem if you can’t see the problem.”
* The two candidates agree on most actual “issues,” so all they have left is personalities and he-said-she-said’s…
Greg Buchner, who has voted for both candidates in the past, came to the forum Tuesday night to hear more about the issues. He left feeling he saw more venom than viewpoints.
“Unfortunately, I saw a lot more of that,” Buchner said. “They traded punches pretty evenly.”
* More punches…
…Oberweis responded to Lauzen’s “dead cow” mailer, in which he stated that a previous Oberweis campaign had been fined by the FEC for using funds from Oberweis Dairy for political advertising. Essentially, the issue was whether Oberweis himself could appear in ads for his dairy while running for political office.
Oberweis said that the $21,000 was a “civil penalty” agreed upon by all parties to avoid litigation, and noted that the campaign never paid a cent — the penalty was paid by the dairy.
* Meanwhile, in another race, Carol Marin writes about Lipinski family ethics…
Dan Lipinski loves his father, Bill Lipinski, and said so forcefully Tuesday at a meeting of the Sun-Times editorial board. But the question at hand is whether the family patriarch is both blessing and curse.
* More congressional stuff, compiled by Kevin…
* 3 GOP candidates debate again - Congressional hopefuls address world security
* Two vie on 13th District GOP ballot
* Lauzen mailer on immigration
* Quinn makes endorsement in Dem race to succeed Hastert
*** UPDATE *** Larry at ArchPundit has more on the Quinn endorsement of Laesch
*** UPDATE 2 *** The Tribune didn’t list this endorsement editorial on their “Opinion” web page, so I missed it. Here are more of the Trib’s nods for congressional candidates…
* Oberweis…
This page has been critical of Oberweis’ campaign tactics, particularly his vitriolic anti-immigration message. He has acknowledged that he made mistakes in past campaigns. He has a much better grounding on national issues than Lauzen, and to our knowledge, has never tried to change his name to Jim Oberweis, Dairy King.
* Foster…
Local Democratic leaders, though, seem to be coalescing around Bill Foster of Geneva, a particle physicist at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Here’s a first for an Illinois campaign: Foster is endorsed by 22 Nobel Prize winners. Foster is a strong candidate, and he has our support.
* Seals…
They’re both smart, well-prepared candidates. Voters, though, might have reason to question either candidate’s long-term commitment to them. Seals still lives a couple of blocks outside the district — he says he can’t afford to move into the 10th. Footlik just recently returned to the area, renting a home in Buffalo Grove. Seals gets the edge, based on a better grasp of local issues and concerns. He is endorsed.
Looks like the Tribune folks are telegraphing they’re intentions for the fall contest.
* Baldermann…
Baldermann has an impressive civic record, substantial local support and sensible positions on issues. He is endorsed.
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Reform and Renewal - Good news for a change
Wednesday, Jan 16, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* First up, some good news about a long-overdue strengthening of this state’s whistleblower laws…
Until last week, the law only applied to whistleblowers in state government and a handful of Illinois municipalities. Now, the Whistleblower Reward and Protection Act offers protections and rewards for people who identify fraud in all forms of government — from counties to the CTA and the local Water Reclamation District. […]
The law, pushed by Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, offers incentives for whistleblowers and also can serve as a powerful deterrent. If the government proves fraud, the contractor must repay the government three times the damages plus fines. The contractor must also pay legal fees both for the whistleblower and the government.
And we’re not talking about petty cash. In a recent case initiated in Illinois by the Goldberg Kohn law firm, the Illinois attorney general’s office and federal authorities, the insurance company Amerigroup was found liable for $334 million for discriminating against pregnant women. The Vietnam veteran who identified the fraud is eligible for between 15 percent and 30 percent of that money.
* And then there’s this…
Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan’s office asked a Cook County judge Tuesday to remove a law firm with close ties to Gov. Rod Blagojevich from the criminal case of a one-time Blagojevich friend charged with stealing $2 million from the state.
Blagojevich’s office and Madigan have repeatedly clashed over the governor’s use of private law firms to represent state agencies or his administration. Madigan’s office argues that only the attorney general has the authority to represent state agencies in court or hire outside firms for that work.
The development is the latest twist in the case of Anita Mahajan, who is facing fraud charges that her firm, K.K. Bio-Science, billed the Department of Children and Family Services for drug tests it did not perform. […]
Bruce Meckler said lawyers for his firm were in court Tuesday only because Mahajan’s lawyer was demanding records from the firm related to its work for DCFS in the Mahajan case last fall.
“We were there representing our law firm, which had been subpoenaed,” Meckler said.
Kinda tangled, if you ask me.
You can find lots of background on the Mahajan case here.
* And let’s wrap things up with a pithy metaphor: “Leaky plumbing damages governor’s Springfield mansion”…
According to documents filed with the Illinois Auditor General, there was a water leak in the governor’s private quarters on the upper floors of the mansion in November.
The leak damaged the ceiling of the mansion ballroom and threatened a walnut-paneled library next to the ballroom. Because of the leak and the resulting repairs, mansion director David Bourland shut off the water in the governor’s private apartment. […]
The cost to fix the problem: $20,986.
That’s not nearly as expensive as his legal bills.
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