* 12:40 pm - The House is now debating a proposal to inject some supplemental funding into IDOT’s badly frayed budget. This is a “clean” bill, unlike the Senate’s proposal, which directly tied funding for IDOT (and other stuff) to the passage of the governor’s health care proposals.
IDOT has exhausted its transfer abilities within its Road Fund budget, so this proposal would allow the department to transfer more money to pay for things like gasoline, etc.
* 12:48 pm - The bill passed 108-0. It now goes to the Senate.
…Adding… The bill’s sponsor is Rep. Jay Hoffman, the governor’s House floor leader. It was just common sense to de-link IDOT’s money woes from the governor’s health care agenda. So, I, for one, am happy to see that that at least some semblance of common sense finally prevailed. I kinda doubt the disease will spread, however.
* 1:00 pm - Rising gas prices aren’t the only thing hurting the state’s budget…
Just as Illinoisans are pinching pennies at the grocery store, the fallout from rising food prices is hitting state government.
The cost of providing food to prison inmates, aging veterans and developmentally disabled residents at state institutions is on pace to be up by $7 million this year, according to a review of state payments to vendors.
That’s more than a 10 percent increase over 2006, when the state spent about $64 million on everything from corn flakes to green beans.
* 1:13 pm - I was hoping to get this list by now, but I need to move on to other tasks today, so here’s last night’s CBS 2 story on Todd Stroger that many of you have already heard about…
Stroger critics, who asked not to be identified, gave CBS 2 a printed list of more than 1,300 top county jobs, all of them exempt from laws against patronage. Many are filled by workers with ties to key Stroger allies including House Speaker Michael Madigan; Mayor Richard M. Daley and his brother, County Board Finance Chairman John Daley; County commissioners Jerry Butler, Bill Beavers and Robert Steele; and former 19th Ward Committeeman Thomas Hynes, a longtime Stroger family friend. […]
Laura Lechowicz Felicione, the daughter of a former commissioner is a “special counsel” at $160,000.
Bruce Washington ran Stroger’s father, John Stroger’s, campaign. He’s a capital planner at a $133,000.
Gene Mullins is a Stroger pal from elementary school. He’s a new media liaison at a $120,000.
The logical next step would be “Exposing Daley.” If one is going to go after the governor and the county board president, then “getting” the mayor of Chicago would be the natural completion to the trio of political powerhouses.
Several dozen people registered at our new classfieds/calendar website InsiderzExchange yesterday. That’s very good. Much better than we’d hoped.
But I was talking to some potential users last night and they asked if we’d consider lowering the price, at least temporarily.
Their wish is our command.
We’ve cut the price for classifieds postings in half, at least for now. One week of classified advertising is just 25 bucks. That’s dirt cheap, man. Calendar items are still $25 - but they’ll be displayed at InsiderzExchange even if your event is six months - or even a year - from now.
Unlike CraigsList, there’s no goofy spam at InsiderzExchange. Unlike newspaper classifieds, InsiderzExchange is highly targeted to the people you’re trying to reach.
Assistant U.S. Atty. Christopher Niewoehner ended the trial’s final argument with a flurry, asking the jury for a conviction.
This wasn’t some series of random circumstances that led to Rezko being victimized, said Niewoehner, his voice rising with anger as he spoke to the jury largely without notes.
“This is a crime, ladies and gentlemen,” Niewoehner said. “This is a crime that involves the highest levels of power in Illinois.”
[…]
“He’s a victim of nothing but his own greed,” Niewoehner said of Rezko. “And that is a victim you need not concern yourselves with.”
“Mo matter how much Mr. Duffy wants to make this trial about the secret life of Stuart Levine, that’s not what this trial is about,” he said. “There’s somebody else who’s being exposed – it’s the defendant [Rezko’s] secret life.”
Rezko’s secret life had nothing to do with drugs or the all-night parties Levine had at the Purple Hotel in Lincolnwood. For Rezko, it was all about covering his tracks, telling people “don’t talk” to authorities and “there’s going to be a new U.S. Attorney to come in. The cooperators will be dealt with.”
[…]
Besides Rezko manipulating votes on a state teacher-pension board to enrich himself and his associates with illegal finder’s fees, “this is a crime that involves deciding where hospitals are going to be built . . . based on who’s willing to pay a bribe,” he said.
Rezko was also a victim of Levine’s schemes, Duffy said. When Rezko dealt with him, he did not understand what a con man he was, he told the panel.
“Did he, like anyone else, have a clue about what he really was? Of course not,” Duffy said.
Government agents had 41 interviews with Levine, and they, too, were fooled by him, Duffy said.
“Unlike Mr. Rezko, they are professional law enforcement people,” argued Duffy, telling the jurors that agents and prosecutors always have their antennae up.
[Duffy] spent most of his time dealing with Count 16, a charge that Rezko tried to extort $1.5 million in campaign fundraising help for Gov. Rod Blagojevich out of Tom Rosenberg, a principal in real-estate management firm Capri Capital that was seeking $220 million in investments from the same pension board. Prosecutors say Rezko, Levine and others conspired to hold up the investment as they tried to force Rosenberg to comply.
“Nobody ever asked Rosenberg for any money,” Duffy said. “Nobody, nobody, nobody. I don’t know how you have an attempted extortion where nobody asks the intended victim for anything.”
Duffy said he expected to talk for another hour this afternoon, and then Assistant U.S. Atty. Chris Niewoehner will give a rebuttal argument for the government — the final argument from lawyers on either side in the case. Niewoehner said he expected to take less than two hours.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From the Tribune’s excellent Rezko trial blog (both Chicago papers seem to be doing very good jobs, by the way)…
It is, of course, impossible to read the minds of jurors as they watch the closing arguments, but at least one seems to be doing his best to broadcast his displeasure — or at least his boredom — with Duffy.
The man sitting at the end of the jury box closest to the news media can be seen from the gallery smirking, talking to himself, looking at the clock, leaning forward and staring at the chair in front of him. He then leaned back and thumped his head against a back wall, rubbed his eyes, stretched his arms, scratched his back and shook his head.
All of this while every other juror appears to be paying attention and a few are taking notes.
Defense attorney Duffy also went after Joe Cari’s testimony this morning, suggesting that Cari confused his meeting dates.
Duffy invented a phrase to refer to the government’s theory of the case against Rezko. Duffy called it “the Levine prism.” All the evidence against Rezko, he said, is presented through the eyes and words of Levine. “It’s almost like they were trying to prove the Levine theory of the case and lost track of the big picture,” Duffy said.
And Duffy pulled out another metaphor, comparing the government’s case with the Great Pyramid of Egypt, an engineering marvel that sits perfectly balanced on its cornerstones. The message Duffy was trying to convey was that Levine was the cornerstone of the government’s case and therefore it was unsupportable.
* Going after Stu Levine appears to be a winner with the jury. This passage is from today’s Sun-Times…
At times, jurors smiled, suppressed chuckles or outright laughed. In poking fun at Levine’s memory, Duffy cited an old anti-drug commercial featuring eggs in a frying pan: “This is your brain. This is your brains on drugs. Bingo! They got it right.”
On why Levine is cooperating in the Rezko case: “He needed Rezko for one reason only. To avoid life in prison.”
On Levine’s claims that Levine was being truthful with the jury: “You’re not gonna change the stripes on a zebra.”
On what the government should have done with Levine: “They should have terminated his cooperation agreement and taken the full force of the law against him. The sad reality of it is they made a commitment to him and they needed him.”
On why the government didn’t have Levine attempt to record Rezko after Levine began cooperating: “Why wasn’t there an effort to tape Mr. Rezko? What do you think would have ended up on that tape? Nothing that would have been consistent with the story he told in this trial.”
Duffy showed a chart indicating Levine withdrew $1.3 million in cash from 2000 to early 2004. Duffy attributed the cash to a far more excessive drug use than what Levine admitted. He then showed a chart showing Levine dialed his drug sources 806 times in a 25-month period.
But what if your employer paid for you to ride to work on the CTA or Metra? […]
A recent study by Business Week found that more than half of workers in Chicago said they would take public transportation if their employer paid for it.
So on Monday, three Republican congressmen — Mark Kirk, Judy Biggert and Peter Roskam - announced their plan to make that happen.
Their bill would give tax credits to employers — a 50 percent tax credit for all free transit benefits provided to workers - up to $1,380 a year.
* Question: Is this a good idea? Also, should Illinois offer the same business tax credit? Explain.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 - Posted by Capitol Fax Blog Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement]
People are demanding even better and faster services as communications technology is evolving at a lightning pace. That demand requires a plan.
Bricks and mortal are the heart and soul of any plan to repair or build things.
But there is another capital plan, which is less obvious, yet requires enormous annual investment, creates good jobs and is a lifeline for consumers and the economy. The best news is taxpayers aren’t required to pay this tab.
This “virtual” capital plan is keeping the Internet humming along at faster speeds, expanding broadband, enhancing wireless service, keeping phone lines crystal clear and delivering a cutting-edge television product – U-verse.
While this capital program doesn’t require public investment, it does require public support.
Senator Clayborne and Representative Brosnahan sponsored the Cable and Video Competition Law to help consumers who were craving more choices in the video marketplace, and it was supported by the General Assembly and Attorney General Madigan.
They, along with Senate President Jones and House Speaker Madigan, understood this was a vital vote for our consumers and our economy
Since it was signed by Governor Blagojevich last June 30th, AT&T has created more than 1,400 jobs related to the rollout of its state-of-the-art video service.
AT&T has also started on a more than $1.3 billion Illinois investment plan over the next several years to bring consumers new services, including high-tech television.
Our elected officials made true video competition a reality. They understood all AT&T wants to continue doing is competing for customers.
“Not really, I mean he was a friend, I’m proud of what we did together. He clearly knew going in that I was for John McCain, although that was eighteen-nineteen months ago. You know my guess is he thought John McCain was probably not going to be our nominee. But, I have been a McCain supporter for many years and you know, Barack knew it. I limited what I said to just that [Obama] did work with Republicans in Springfield and nothing else.”
* And, apparently, there is an agreement not to run that ad in the fall if Obama gets the Democratic nomination…
“I have spoken to his staff and said if Barack is the nominee, and it is still not settled as we sit here [April 27], but when it is a head on head race, pull the ad.”
* Asked if he believes that the Obama campaign will honor the agreement, Dillard replies…
“I would hope they honor that because I think Senator McCain will come back…I think the McCain campaign will say look, somebody who knows Senator Obama is for me, John McCain, and many of the reasons that I am for John McCain, Jeff, are the reasons that I actually struck a friendship with Barack: John McCain works well with both political parties; John McCain has worked on ethics reforms at the national level. But, the difference is John McCain has national foreign policy experience and I most importantly believe that America needs a check and balance, whether it is Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee or John McCain, the Republicans are a good balance and we need a check and balance on [Speaker] Nancy Pelosi and a Democrat Congress, so there are many reasons why I am for John McCain.”
* Here’s the script from the Obama TV ad that first aired in Iowa last year. It’s called “Carry“…
Script for “Carry” (30 seconds):
Obama: I’m Barack Obama, and I approve this message.
Obama (from the 2004 Democratic National Convention): There is not a liberal America and a conservative America — there is the United States of America.
Kirk Dillard (Republican Illinois State Senator): Senator Obama worked on some of the deepest issues we had and was successful in a bipartisan way…
Larry Walsh (Democratic Illinois State Senator): The legislation that he carried, he believed in. He was not carrying it for a group. He was not carrying for a lobbyist.
Kirk Dillard: Republicans legislators respected Senator Obama. His negotiation skills and an ability to understand both sides would serve the country very well.
* And here’s the ad, which has been used many times and in many states since Iowa…
On an afternoon conference call, Republican Illinois State Senator Kirk Dillard, who is featured in the ad titled “Carry”, talked about personally working with Obama and seeing firsthand his ability to bring people together to accomplish important goals.
“Senator Obama and I spent hundreds of hours working on issues together in a bipartisan fashion,” said State Senator Kirk Dillard. “I’ve seen firsthand that Senator Obama can take tough problems, reconcile parties and races and explain difficult topics to everyday people. We worked as a tag-team on many complex issues, and I feel privileged to have worked with Senator Obama in the early part of his career.”
* Eric Zorn tees off on the governor today. Zorn blasted Blagojevich for saying last week after the announcement of his $150 million anti-violence program…
“Children are being shot and killed. And for lawmakers to say we can’t do it, that’s exactly the reason why there’s so much violence out there today and so we’re just not gonna take ‘no’ for an answer.”
In fact, last August… “no” was his answer to a remarkable anti-violence program: In cutting the state budget, he removed the entire $6.2 million allocation for CeaseFire.
* More from Zorn…
Friday, Northwestern University released a 229-page report concluding that gun violence dropped 17 percent to 24 percent in six of seven neighborhoods where CeaseFire mediators were in place.
The three-year study, commissioned by the U.S. Department of Justice, offered the most striking proof yet that CeaseFire’s trained peacemakers—”violence interrupters,” who are often former gang members themselves—really do save a significant number of lives.
After Blagojevich cut funding to CeaseFire in August, 96 of the program’s 130 conflict mediators lost their jobs, according to founder and director Dr. Gary Slutkin, a University of Illinois at Chicago epidemiologist. CeaseFire’s analysis of police data suggests this has resulted in 170 additional shootings since September.
* Zorn goes on to point out that Blagojevich was an early backer of CeaseFire and that a House-approved bill to double CeaseFire’s appropriation is still sitting in the Senate Rules Committee, “where Senate President Emil Jones sends legislation to die.”
“Pass that bill and I’ll sign it!” Blagojevich did not say last week.
He should have.
* The State Journal-Register takes another whack at Gov. Blagojevich, this time over prison closings…
If Pontiac closes, 800 inmates would go to the Mississippi River facility, with the rest being shipped all over the state. Had Stateville’s wing closed, 400 prisoners would have moved to Thomson. Meanwhile, [a Department of Corrections spokesman] said 800 would have gone to — you guessed it — Pontiac.
If it strikes you as odd that a prison now in the governor’s cross-hairs was, until last week, part of the solution for another prison’s partial closure, welcome to wacky Illinois. Indeed, shuttering Stateville would produce an advertised first-year savings of $31 million. Boarding up Pontiac would supposedly save $4 million annually. We’ve yet to see an apples-to-apples comparison. […]
Is the governor’s reversal politically inspired, then? Did it happen because the legislator representing Stateville, state Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi, is a Democrat like the governor, while Rutherford is a Republican? Or because Rutherford supported putting a recall measure on the ballot, while Wilhelmi took a pass?
Netsch was quoted in 1980 suggesting that Quinn should be strung feet-first from the third-floor brass rail in the Capitol rotunda. Her opinion hasn’t softened much in the years since.
“The showboating, the press conference every Sunday. … It was always, ‘We’re doing it for the people,’” recalled Netsch, now a law professor at Northwestern University in Evanston. “Put it this way: There are other people I would rather see as governor.”
* Rep. Bill Black had another view…
“Had you been here 25 or 30 years ago, I don’t think people would have said ‘Pat Quinn’ and ‘governor’ in the same sentence,” said longtime state Rep. Bill Black, R-Danville. “They do now.”
Tribune Co. Chairman Sam Zell has rejected former Gov. James Thompson’s secret plan to acquire and renovate Wrigley Field for at least $400 million without raising taxes and now plans to package the Cubs and their landmark stadium in a private transaction, sources said Monday.
* Some of the possible reasons…
Zell, Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney and their advisers have concluded that the equity [seat sales] plan and its tax ramifications would violate both the Internal Revenue Service code and the rules of Major League Baseball, the sources said. […]
[Also] the plan could have driven away potential buyers of the franchise. The next Cubs owner could have been denied revenue from the best seats in the house.
Chicago-based Tribune Company announced it’s selling its Long-Island based-paper Newsday to Cablevision Systems Corporation. With a circulation of close to 400,000, Newsday is one of the country’s largest regional newspapers, serving mainly Long Island and parts of New York City.
The cable television provider bought the paper for $650 million. […]
Tribune needs to offset $8 billion of debt the company took on when it went private last year.
Those debt payments were crushing, and Zell needed cash quickly. That’s a big reason why he was trying to do the Wrigley Field deal with the state this spring. The immediate crisis may have passed, however.
Something tells me, though, that we are not yet out of the danger zone on a taxpayer financed bailout of Sam Zell’s Wrigley Field, or perhaps the new buyer. These things never completely die.
Crane Kenney, the Cubs’ chairman and outgoing general counsel of parent Tribune… says there’s still a chance that Wrigley could be sold separately to the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority.
But Kenney says Tribune’s moving ahead to package the stadium together with the ballclub in a private sale. Outside experts believe the sale could fetch as much as $1 billion for the media conglomerate.
Kenney told the AP that the company’s moving the private sale process forward and expects to get the financial books to buyers within the next two weeks.
Ending years of litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for Chicago to acquire and relocate a cemetery needed for the continued expansion of O’Hare International Airport.
The Metropolitan Planning Council announced Monday that it could not support the proposed move of the Chicago Children’s Museum to Grant Park, citing unanswered questions and a lack of “thoughtful” public discussion about the controversial project.
* Children’s Museum collects another opponent: MPC
An MPC spokeswoman said the organization’s position represents the stance of the entire board, not just President MarySue Barrett, formerly a member of Mr. Daley’s administration. Mr. Daley appointed Ms. Barrett in 1993 to head his policy office.
“There is no comprehensive improvement plan. There is a series of projects and lists,” Msall said. “You owe it to the public — and the General Assembly should demand — that they know what priorities are before they approve the extraordinary borrowing against the future revenue stream, which is what the lottery is.”
“As a citizen and as someone who has been involved in some of the largest public works projects in recent history in this area, I am really disturbed about the timid nature of the current debate about capital,” Reilly said. “We say we’re a world-class city, yet we in transit will be very lucky if we get enough money just to maintain what is basically a late 19th Century and early 20th Century system.”
A City Council committee on Monday signed off on a $50 million settlement — the largest in Chicago history — for survivors of a 2003 Loop high-rise fire and relatives of six victims trapped in smoke-filled stairwells that locked behind them.
“I believe in bipartisanship, and that has gotten me in trouble,” LaHood told about 400 people at the $75-per-plate event at Northfield Inn Suites & Conference Center. “And I know this is a Republican gathering.”
