Our server was down while my site hosting company moved to a new office. I forgot about it, so I didn’t warn you. Oops.
As a consolation prize, here’s some of the cast of “Animal House” talking about the 30-year anniversary of the movie on WGN’s morning news program. It’s a hoot…
What one political/legislative reform proposal would you like to see enacted this year? I’m not talking about a bill, here, I’m talking about one specific reform. Explain.
* This story, albeit slightly “comical” (ahem), illustrates again the growing divide between the public and the General Assembly. As before with Gov. Blagojevich’s declaration that senior citizens ride free on all mass transit systems, his new “economic stimulus” plan will likely be viewed with far more favor out there in Voter Land than it will be in Insider Land…
Governor Rod Blagojevich’s budget address has many small businesses hopeful. The governor is proposing a 20 percent tax break. We visited some businesses to see what the tax break could mean. […]
At Acme Comics, owner Jim Schifeling says a 20 percent cut in taxes is great news.
“That’s wonderful, every dollar in my pocket feels wonderful,” said Schifeling.
And he says it could add up to about $500 at the end of the year, meaning he may be able to pass some of those savings on to his customers.
Lawmakers already are expressing skepticism in the idea. Some say the same struggling economy Blagojevich is trying to help could also cripple the state budget, making the $300 tough to come by.
“I think it’s a questionable deal,” said state Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg.
Phelps has been a pretty reliable Blagojevich vote for the past several months, so that statement is very bad news for the governor and strongly indicates just how unpopular the proposal is in the General Assembly.
* It appears that the Chicagoland Chamber may recognize the danger of flat-out opposing the stimulus plan. President and CEO Jerry Roper was quoted yesterday in the governor’s press release…
“We strongly agree with the Governor that stimulating our economy needs to be the top priority for our state because many small businesses are struggling. The business tax cut, household rebates and capital bill will provide an important boost to bolster business investment and job creation as our country lies on the brink of recession. We can replicate the stimulus package being used at a national level to help keep our economy moving forward,”
* But more Republican and Statehouse-oriented business groups were quick to pan the iidea. Doug Whitley, president and chief executive of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, had this to say…
“The governor’s rhetoric was gentler toward business in this speech than in the past, but offering a tax cut that only a handful of businesses would qualify for in exchange for a payroll tax increase that every business would have to pay is not going to create jobs or build prosperity in Illinois,”
A University of Illinois economist figures, even if every dollar of the governor’s proposed $900 million economic stimulus is spent in Illinois, it won’t do much to jump-start the state’s $528 billion economy. […]
Jeffrey Brown, a professor of finance at the U of I’s Champaign-Urbana campus, says $300 per kid for families earning between $3,000 and $75,000 a year ‘’will barely register as a blip,'’ if the plan is ultimately approved as part of the new state budget.
In other words, the plan was likely drafted as a political boost instead of an economic boost. Typical, but what do you expect?
* More budget stories, compiled by myself and Kevin…
* Is Blagojevich Leaving Transit Money on the Table?
* Considering my own experience with unjustly showing up on a “clout list,” I always take these breathless revelations with a grain of salt. People sometimes wind up on these lists without reason. The authors of the lists are not always reliable.
“Clout lists” that tracked politically backed job seekers to Gov. Blagojevich’s administration have surfaced in the case of indicted businessman Tony Rezko, with Rezko’s lawyers arguing the documents shouldn’t be allowed as evidence in his upcoming corruption trial.
The lists, which total 26 pages, offer yet another glimpse into the administration’s hiring practices shortly after the governor took office in 2003. They include dozens of recommendations made by Rezko, other Blagojevich fund-raisers, members of the General Assembly and lobbyists for full-time jobs and seats on unpaid state boards and commissions.
* Political types make recommendations to governors. That practice is as old as the Republic itself. Older…
The appointment list indicates that dozens of Democrats, including presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, Illinois Senate President Emil Jones and even eventual Blagojevich adversaries House Speaker Michael Madigan and Rep. Jack Franks (D- Woodstock), made recommendations for posts.
But powerful Republicans also show up as patrons, including House Minority Leader Tom Cross and former Kendall County GOP Chairman Dallas Ingemunson.
David Blanchette, a spokesman for the capital board, said: “Executive Director Jan Grimes knew nothing of this list and was surprised to find out that she was on it.”
Andrew Sosnowski, an Elgin attorney who worked at the Department of Children and Family Services from 2001 until 2004 said he has had no relationship with Rezko.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” he said. “I have never met him, don’t know him, have never talked to him, haven’t spoken with him. I have never heard of him.”
* And while this may also be misleading, it’s quite interesting [fixed link]…
“They might have put my name down there because I’m a woman who takes in children with disabilities,” Jackson said. “I sold Tony Rezko his first condo, when he moved to Hyde Park. I’ve known him for years and years. He’s known about my work with disabled children.'’
The Wondisfords hired Jackson’s company, MetroPro Realty, to sell their mansion and the adjacent lot [to Barack Obama and Tony Reko’s wife]. Several people wanted to buy the lot without the house, but Jackson said the Wondisfords “insisted these two properties close on the same day.'’
* And, finally, here is an excerpt from that column I wrote years ago after I appeared on one of George Ryan’s clout lists, which were written by Scott Fawell…
I remember another conversation with Fawell, from a year or so before. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley was pushing the Illinois General Assembly to let him build a humungous land-based casino. A huge team of lobbyists was working on the project, and some of them put together a list of legislators with comments about how each legislator could be “convinced” to support the casino. The list was leaked and much embarrassment ensued.
Fawell ridiculed the “idiot” lobbyists for putting their thoughts on paper. ”The first rule in this business is ‘Never write anything down,’”Fawell said at the time.
And the same thing goes for the Blagojevich administration and whomever wrote and kept that clout list. Rules don’t apply to them. They thought they’d never get caught. And the tragic lessons of Ryan’s administration were never learned.
The Republican nominee for retiring Rep. Jerry Weller’s (R-Ill.) seat will be withdrawing from the hotly-contested Congressional campaign Saturday morning, according to two GOP operatives in Illinois.
“It’s pretty much a done deal,” said one Illinois GOP operative.
New Lenox mayor Tim Baldermann, whose campaign was dogged by fundraising woes, never was able to garner much momentum in his campaign to succeed Weller in the GOP-leaning exurban Chicago district.
* The Politico thinks this might be good for the Republicans…
Baldermann’s withdrawal from the race could possibly play to the GOP’s advantage. Since the primary has already taken place, the county GOP committees in the district appear like they will be able to appoint a replacement to take Baldermann’s spot on the November general election ballot.
* But it’s far from clear who the GOPs would go with. There wasn’t exactly a big line of well-known, capable Republicans begging to run in that district. And with the national Dems pushing hard for Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson, recruitment could be pretty darned tough.
Baldermann, 41, said that until the primary was finished, he was unaware of how time consuming his campaign would be.
He said when he ran for mayor he had no trouble fulfilling his duties as police chief, despite critics who said it could not be done. But campaigning in a large congressional district and raising the money to run a legitimate campaign would require all of his time and attention over the next nine months.
“That wouldn’t be fair to the people of Chicago Ridge, New Lenox, or my wife and children,” Baldermann said.
He said he was not withdrawing due to an illness or fearing any threat of a smear campaign during the election.
“This is the best thing for me and the Republican Party right now,” Baldermann said. “The party leaders can select the best person to represent the district in the upcoming election.”
*** UPDATE 4 *** Statement from Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna…
“Running for Congress is a difficult job that requires the full commitment from a candidate and his family.
“I respect Tim’s decision to step aside from this race and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.
“The 11th District is representative of the mainstream values Illinois families share and I’m confident a Republican candidate will emerge who brings the type of change for Illinois we’ve failed to get from Blagojevich Democrats in Springfield.”
*** UPDATE 5 *** One name being floated right now as a possible replacement is Martin Ozinga, III, who owns Ozinga Bros. Inc. in Mokena. Ozinga is reportedly considering a candidacy and would likely be at least a partial self-funder.
* There’s something important missing from this story…
[A]n Illinois House committee mustered just enough votes Thursday to advance a measure that would make the state’s moment of silence law optional for schools.
House Bill 4180 would largely rewrite a law passed last year that requires schools to start the day with a moment of silence. The law is the subject of a lawsuit filed in October by talk show host and atheist Rob Sherman and his teen-age daughter, who say it is an effort to inject religion into public schools. […]
If moments of silence were made optional, “we would certainly get the superintendent’s and the community’s input” before deciding how to proceed, Conley said.
Rep. David Reis, R-Willow Hill, opposed the bill sponsored by Rep. John Fritchey, D-Chicago, saying that 14 states have a mandatory moment of silence in schools.
A bill which would “allow” rather than “mandate” a moment of silence in Illinois public schools passed its first hurdle Thursday in the Illinois House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee.
In each public school classroom the teacher in charge may observe a brief period of silence with the participation of all the pupils therein assembled at the opening of every school day.
* And this is what last year’s change looked like…
In each public school classroom the teacher in charge shall observe a brief period of silence with the participation of all the pupils therein assembled at the opening of every school day.
In each public school classroom, the teacher in charge may conduct a brief period of silence with the participation of all the pupils therein assembled at the opening of every school day.
This bill is clearly a flat-out repeal of last year’s law. I’m not sure why that hasn’t been made more clear in most of the coverage. The only other significant change is that the title of the statute has been altered, from…
But now, the RTA can veto big-ticket capital projects. It’s added a five-step process before new train track gets laid or major bus terminals get built.
To make this work, the RTA can also wield another new power; it can now demand strategic planning budgets from the CTA, Metra and PACE.
That ruling — by the California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, San Diego, in Lexin vs. Superior Court — found that trustees, who often are participants in the retirement systems on whose boards they serve, can be criminally liable if they approve a contract that tangentially provides them a personal benefit.
Last week the Chicago Reporter’s Kimbriell Kelly reported on Chicago’s “gray drain”, a mass exodus of elderly residents who simply cannot beat back the developers any longer. According to the Reporter piece, between 1990 and 2006, the City lost 15% of its elderly residents, a shocking decrease.
* Gov. Blagojevich sends letter to President Bush appealing denial of disaster aid to flooded counties
* Drug-possession charge filed against Cook County prosecutor
Charges have been filed against a Cook County assistant state’s attorney who was arrested while possessing what police say they believe were packets of heroin.
