Even before Sen. Barack Obama won the requisite delegates to become the Democratic presidential nominee and long before a difficult general election contest, Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s office has been discussing a potential successor to the Illinois junior senator if he wins the White House, sources close to Blagojevich said Tuesday.
Though no names have formally surfaced from Blagojevich, sources said a key proviso would be to appoint a successor who would gain Obama’s approval.
Obama will have a huge influence on the choice of his successor if he is elected president. One doesn’t want to upset the president, particularly if one is under federal investigation.
* St. Sabina protests Pfleger’s fate: Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and his advisers said although they were troubled by Pfleger’s remarks, they were saddened by his removal. Obama “just heard that news and obviously events of the last week have been disturbing,” said David Axelrod, Obama’s senior adviser. “I feel sad for him and for the church community. He’s done good work in those neighborhoods. All you have to do is look around to see it.”
* Meet the FOBO’S. Obama takes Chicago pals–and top fund-raisers–on campaign plane Tuesday
* Rahm Chooses: Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel — former Clinton aide and close Obama friend — comes out from under his desk (metaphorically) and endorses Obama.
Jurors took a lunch at about noon, according to court watchers sitting outside the courtroom.
* 2:24 pm - The Sun-Times has posted the official verdict form, which could be useful when the jury finally finishes. Click here to download.
* 3:30 pm - If you’d like to match up the verdict form with an explanation of what each of those counts are about, the Tribune’s Rezko blog laid it out a while back. But, since the Tribsters don’t have direct links to each post, I’ve put them all on a separate page.
* Sen. Debbie Halvorson has a new poll that she claims shows her with an 11 point lead over Republican Martin Ozinga in the 11th Congressional District…
According to results of the poll of 500 likely voters, when asked how they would vote today, she was winning 43 percent to 32 percent for Ozinga with [Green Party candidate[ Wallace winning 6 percent. The margin of error was 4.4 percent.
Undecided voters, who made up the remaining 18 percent, said they generally favored a Democrat over a Republican by 33 percent to 19 percent. A summary of the poll by Halvorson’s firm, Anzalone Liszt Research, said when respondents heard “basic information” about her and Ozinga, her support increased to a 50-39 percent advantage. […]
The poll contended respondents broke Democratic 41 percent to 35 percent Republican in party self-identification, though Sere said that contradicts voting patterns in the district. George W. Bush won the district by 53-46 percent over Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., in 2004 and Weller won by 55-45 percent in 2006 over Democratic candidate John Pavich.
Still, the poll found Bush unpopular, with just 36 percent giving him a favorable rating. Congressional Republicans got a 40 percent unfavorable rating compared to 49 percent favorable for congressional Democrats.
It also found the economy was the top concern of an outright majority, 52 percent of respondents. Among voters who said the economy was their top or second most important issue, Halvorson led by 52 percent to 21 percent for Ozinga.
* Ozinga’s campaign criticized Halvorson for not releasing more numbers, including favorable ratings, and added…
“It’s early in the race. When voters learn Debbie Halvorson has used her position in the state Senate to do little more than be a rubber stamp for (Democratic Gov.) Rod Blagojevich, they will run from her faster than she is running from her own record,” he said.
*** UPDATE *** An e-mail from the Ozinga campaign…
Shouldn’t Senate Majority Leader Halvorson be leading by more than 11 points against someone who was a private citizen two months ago?
She’s been in this race for several months - Marty’s been in it for several weeks.
She’s been an elected official in this district for 15 years.
She’s arguably the most powerful woman in Illinois.
She’s the quasi-incumbent in this race.
So the fact that she’s well under 50 percent with all of those initial advantages - and before our campaign has spent one dime on paid media - makes me question why she released these numbers as if they were good news.
* I’m still listening to it, but Gov. Blagojevich was on the Don & Roma show this morning and was trying to explain what he claims is a $2 billion budget deficit “that the House Democrats really are responsible for. They passed that.”
But then the guv went into kindergarten mode…
“$2 billion, Don and Roma, is two hundred million times ten.”
* As Michael Dobbs wrote about Sen. Hillary Clinton the other day…
She seems to assume that if she says something loudly enough, and repeats it often enough, it will become true.
* It finally hit me a while back that one reason I’ve been so circumspect about Sen. Clinton is that we’ve elected the same sort of person as governor right here in Illinois…
Gov. Rod Blagojevich says he is “filled with enthusiasm” about a reform measure sitting on his desk that would prevent state officials from taking campaign cash from most state contractors.
He’s filled with something, allright, but it ain’t enthusiasm.
* The governor even criticized the General Assembly for dithering on passing the bill…
“My only question is, what took them so long?”
Let that sink in for a minute.
The gall.
The ultimate freaking gall.
But you can bet he’ll keep repeating those lines over and over again, hoping somebody will finally believe him.
It’s a step forward,” Blagojevich told reporters in Chicago Monday, when asked about the bill, which would prohibit campaign contributions from state contractors to the elected officials who hold their contracts. “I think we have an opportunity with that vehicle in my hands to really do sweeping things,” by adding new provisions to the bill.
* Those state contractors are his last real base of financial support…
Earlier this year, a Daily Herald investigation revealed that 73 percent of cash recently raised by Blagojevich came from those doing business with the state, lobbying the state or facing state regulation.
Blagojevich’s desperate need of campaign cash from those state contractors to pay his ever-mounting legal bills is the real reason behind his plan to slap the ethics bill with an amendatory veto.
“He’s trying to stall and delay and keep this from becoming law,” said reform lobbyist David Morrison… “His motives are transparent here.”
* Why does he want to stall? Well, he has a fundraiser coming up in a couple of weeks. Perhaps he can even stall the bill indefinitely. That way the contractor money will keep rolling in so he can continue paying his criminal defense lawyers, at about 20 large a week. As the Tribune wrote of his excuses…
It’s transparently bogus.
Yep.
* But what great reform push by our unreform governor would be complete without an attack on the ethics bill’s House sponsor? Blagojevich took a whack at Rep. John Fritchey for doing some zoning work for a pawn shop. That legal work was translated into this Bosnian sniper fire event…
“[Fritchey] is currently a paid lobbyist for the payday loan industry.”
Yeah, OK. The last person to make that goofy charge was former Sen. Carol Ronen. Shortly afterwards, Ronen retired from state government with a $38,000 annual bump in her pension, courtesy of a two-month stint on the governor’s staff. How’s that for right back atcha, pal?
If you want a point by point refutation, head to Illinoize, where Fritchey cuts the guv a new one.
*** UPDATE *** Clintonian ’til the end. From the AP…
Hillary Rodham Clinton will concede Tuesday night that Barack Obama has the delegates to secure the Democratic nomination, campaign officials said, effectively ending her bid to be the nation’s first female president. […]
The former first lady will stop short of formally suspending or ending her race in her speech in New York City.
From Clinton’s campaign…
The AP story is incorrect. Senator Clinton will not concede the nomination this evening.
Except the AP didn’t report that she would concede the race.
* As you’re probably aware by now, there’s a big argument over whether the appropriations bills passed by the House and Senate violate the state’s Constitution…
The Illinois Constitution prohibits lawmakers from appropriating more spending for a fiscal year than they expect the state to gain in revenue during that year. Madigan said it’s up to Blagojevich, using his veto power, to cut spending if he has a problem with it.
Dawn Clark Netsch, a Northwestern University law professor, said it’s the Legislature’s responsibility to do its “absolute double-best” to approve a budget that’s actually balanced, just as the governor must begin the spring session by introducing a balanced plan for that budget.
“It’s an important moral imperative,” said Netsch, who was vice chair of the committee which drafted the “balanced budget” mandate at the 1970 convention.
* The governor, who claims he got a “C” in consitutional law, agrees…
The governor said the state constitution is “pretty clear and unambiguous” that both chambers must pass a balanced budget.
* The Constitution requires the governor to submit a balanced budget, and it has this language…
The General Assembly by law shall make appropriations for all expenditures of public funds by the State. Appropriations for a fiscal year shall not exceed funds estimated by the General Assembly to be available during that year.
“Certainly there have been many budgets that governors have viewed as exceeding their projected revenue,” said Laurence Msall, president of The Civic Federation, a nonpartisan government research organization based in Chicago. “But I don’t recall the General Assembly majority leadership indicating that as they were passing the budget to the governor.”
Charles Wheeler, director of the Public Affairs Reporting Program at the University of Illinois at Springfield, said he couldn’t recall another instance in which lawmakers deliberately and publicly approved an unbalanced budget, as they did on Saturday.
[House Democratic budgeteer Rep. Gary Hannig] disputed the idea that what was done this year is breaking new ground. Instead, he said, it was a return to his early days in the General Assembly, starting in 1979, when he said it was more usual for the legislature to takethe lead in crafting the budget, knowing that the governor would use line-item veto power to get it in balance.
“If you go back and look at those days,” he said of the era of Gov. Jim Thompson, a Republican often working with a Democratic legislature, “you will see that veto sessions had a lot of budget items … and a lot of override efforts.”
Having a governor work out a detailed budget with legislative leaders became the model most used when the GOP had majorities in the House and Senate for two years starting in 1995, when Republican Jim Edgar was governor, Hannig said.
That’s before my time, and Speaker Madigan has said the same thing as Hannic. Still, Msall and Wheeler were both around during those days and Charlie was the press room’s resident budget expert. There may have been lots of override motions, but if things were that out of balance, you’d think those two guys would remember it. This requires more research. Perhaps the intern can get on it after the Rezko jury finishes its duties and we can unchain him from his laptop.
* Whatever the case, the political feud continues…
Blagojevich accused lawmakers of violating the state constitution by passing an unbalanced budget. The state constitution requires that the state appropriations each year aren’t higher than anticipated revenue.
‘’This would be the first time the guy has ever been concerned about a balanced budget,'’ countered Madigan spokesman Steve Brown.
“But I don’t think you could ever go to court and get a court to say, ‘OK Legislature, you did not appropriate in accordance with the Constitution.’ And do what? Send them all to jail? Hold them in contempt?”
The bottom line is that the lawmakers’ budget as sent to the governor was $150 million to $200 million out of balance. The governor’s Bureau of the Budget put the shortfall at $199 million through a simplified computation. After Thompson was done with the lawmakers’ plan, he had balanced the budget by “cutting” $179 million and by directing agencies to create a 2 percent reserve that would set aside $20 million that could only be spent with the governor’s written approval.
Thompson’s “cuts” amounted to a return to the payment deferrals that he had originally proposed. He lopped $115 million from Medicaid spending, $20 million from circuit breaker payments and $25 million from state employee’s group insurance. “These vetoes in essence return the billing cycle back to the budget levels,” budget director Robert L. Mandeville said. Other major vetoes included $5 million cut in general state aid for public schools and $3.9 million in “new” money for a pre-trial program in Cook County.
* Proposed law targeting Drew Peterson may get another chance - Measure would allow judge to consider hearsay testimony if a witness’ disappearance is caused by illegal means
* Are you addicted to public access television?
“AT&T apparently believes game shows and sitcoms deserve good quality and speedy delivery but not for civic information and emergency alerts, which are being sidelined into an application that is not like the commercial channels,” said Barbara Popovic, of CAN-TV, who met with lawmakers Wednesday to share her concerns.
— The office of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan accused Commonwealth Edison Co. of killing state legislation that would have eased the way for a new generation of coal-fired power plants designed to operate cleanly.
The bill, which would have required utilities to purchase up to 5% of their electricity from clean-coal plants like one proposed for Downstate Taylorville, fell short of the 60 votes needed to pass the House on Saturday.
Five months after getting hit with the largest property tax increase in Chicago history, homeowners and businesses are facing another $40 million increase — this one for the Chicago Public Schools.
Who’s making threats now? We have always known that Madigan wields tremendous power in Springfield. We always thought he tempered that power with good sense and a commitment to public service. Now, he just sounds vindictive.
We have received a note from the jury. The judge will address the note as soon as the lawyers arrive. Thanks.
Not sure if they spilled coffee again or want to go home early or what, but we’ll be watching.
* 2:45 pm - [Kevin Fanning] The jurors are near a verdict, and returned a note to the judge stating:
“we cannot decide on one count.” St. Eve brought in the panel and gave them an instruction required by law, which essentially says that they must go back and keep trying. “Discuss your differences with an open mind,” St. Eve said. “You are impartial judges of the facts.”
The jury has returned to their closed-door deliberations.
* 7:14 am - From a press release received at 7:10 this morning…
**Media Advisory**
For Monday, June 2, 2008
Governor Blagojevich to comment on new Budget passed by the General Assembly
WHO: Governor Rod R. Blagojevich
WHEN: Monday, June 2 at 10:30 a.m.
WHAT: Governor Rod R. Blagojevich will make a statement about the Fiscal Year 2009 Budget passed by the General Assembly.
LOCATION: Governor’s Office
JRTC
100 W. Randolph, 16th Fl.
Chicago, IL
Special session, anyone?
* 8:48 am - The press conference has been delayed until 11 o’clock.
* 10:08 am - Stand down? I have a couple of solid sources [update: make that three] who say that there are no plans to announce a special session or a veto today.
Instead, the governor will say that there’s a need to “work together” to figure out how to fix the budget deficit problem. But, there’s no guarantee that he won’t go off script. Still, at this point, no special session announcement. That’s a relief. After that press release went out this morning, a pal of mine in the administration was already preparing to return to Springfield as early as tomorrow, which helped to set me off. But that’s not gonna happen yet.
* 11:57 am - So far, all I’ve gotten from inside the press conference is that the leaders will meet next week.
* 12:08 pm - Here’s the governor’s press release…
Gov. Blagojevich announces General Assembly’s Fiscal Year 2009 budget unbalanced, unconstitutional
Governor urges all four leaders to join negotiations on operating and capital budgets
Initial review shows House inaction on new revenue leaves FY09 budget $2.1 billion in the red
CHICAGO – Governor Rod R. Blagojevich announced today that after an initial review, his budget experts have found the Fiscal Year 2009 budget passed by the General Assembly on Saturday to contain $2.1 billion more in spending than anticipated revenue will support, making it unconstitutional. The Illinois State Constitution requires the legislature to pass a balanced budget. The Governor said he will call the four legislative leaders together this week to resume work so the people of Illinois will have a budget that fulfills constitutional requirements and meets the state’s needs by July 1.
“As consumer prices go up and wages stay the same, households across Illinois and across the whole country are making tough decisions. Some people may cut back on expenses, or pick up extra shifts at work – whatever it takes to make ends meet. Our lawmakers should take the same responsible approach when it comes to budgeting the public’s resources. Unfortunately, because the House did not pass new revenue as the Senate did, I have a budget on my desk that jeopardizes the State’s ability to meet its core responsibilities like providing healthcare, educating our youth and protecting the public,” said Gov. Blagojevich.
The new budget lawmakers approved for Fiscal Year 2009, which begins on July 1, includes a $1.2 billion increase in spending over the Governor’s FY2009 introduced budget. The General Assembly’s budget does not include $875 million of new revenue contained in the Governor’s proposed FY09 budget, leaving it $2.1 billion in deficit.
The Illinois Constitution states that the General Assembly “by law shall make appropriations for all expenditures of public funds by the State. Appropriations for a fiscal year shall not exceed funds estimated by the General Assembly to be available during that year.”
While the Illinois State Senate passed two new revenue sources, the House failed to adopt them. Those revenue sources included $530 million through transfers from special purpose funds, and $400 million which would have been freed up through a refinancing of the state’s pension debt.
The Governor warned lawmakers that more work will be required to ensure the state can afford to meet its obligations and serve the public in the fiscal year ahead.
“This budget will not be final until it is balanced. Lawmakers, especially those in the House, have more work to do in order to enact an operating budget that’s balanced and a capital bill that will put people to work and fix our aging infrastructure. I will call a meeting with the four legislative leaders this week to resume the work necessary to make sure we have met our responsibility to the people of Illinois before the new fiscal year begins on July 1. It’s imperative that all four leaders take equal responsibility for ensuring we can pay for new spending, and can meet the state’s most pressing needs. To date this year, that responsibility has not been shared evenly,” the Governor added.
After the state Senate approved new revenue mechanisms in conjunction with the increased spending plan, the House pushed through the spending plan without passing the Senate’s proposals to provide revenue necessary to pay for it.
In early March, Gov. Blagojevich appointed former Republican US House Speaker Dennis Hastert and former Democratic US Congressman Glenn Poshard as co-chairs of the Illinois Works Coalition. The duo focused on crafting and passing an infrastructure and jobs bill that would address pressing capital needs that have built up since the last public works plan was passed nine years ago. The co-chairs facilitated regular meetings with the Governor and four legislative caucuses to draft a capital plan that could be acceptable to all participants. Three of the four leaders participated in those negotiations. In the end, the House Democratic leadership used procedural maneuvers to kill the negotiated capital plan before it could be voted on by the full House.
* A couple of thoughts: 1) Passing the revenue generators will now require a three-fifths vote in the House; 2) That’s unlikely to be achieved.
* “My hope is if we can get this done with the leaders and resolve these two important issues then it would be a matter of a day or so when the General Assembly would reconvene and pass a budget that’s balanced as well as a jobs bill.”
* “I’d be delighted to have as many meetings as we can constructively have… What we’d prefer not to have are meetings where some might participate but are more interested in just running place and running out the clock than actually trying to find a way to solve problems.”
* Question: Are you afraid to call a special session? “Of course not.”
* Madigan’s parliamentary maneuver on gaming expansion “Thwarted the will of the people.”
* On Madigan’s statement that the capital plan funding ought to include some “pain” - “I didn’t run for governor or become governor because I was interested in inflicting pain on people… I want to ease their pain.”
Blagojevich was circumspect on the fate of a new ethics bill approved by the Legislature. The bill would prevent those who have state business, or those seeking state contracts, from making campaign donations to the statewide officeholder who doles out the contracts. Blagojevich said that he is working to improve the bill and he will be “deliberate” about the process to ensure that the reforms are sweeping.
He declined to say what these improvements would be, but indicated that he would propose similar restrictions on lawmakers.
Asked if he believes his campaign fund will be indicted as the next step of the federal investigation into his administration after the Antoin “Tony” Rezko corruption trial, Blagojevich said it was “inappropriate” to comment while the Rezko jury is still deliberating.
Unsurprisingly, the IIS audio ends before the Rezko question was asked.
* More thoughts - I figure that Madigan probably won’t show up at the leaders meetings, repeating his oft-stated claim that the governor should just reduce the spending on his own. The governor will say he’s tried to make nice, darnit, and then will take the next step. A total budget veto would not go over well in the Senate, however, so this should be interesting to watch.
* 1:20 pm - Madigan’s spokesperson just asked whether this would be the first time in six years that the governor was interested in a balanced budget.
He also confirmed that if the leaders meeting was about the budget, then Madigan’s budgeteer Rep. Gary Hannig would be sent. If it’s about gaming, then House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie would be dispatched.
For more than 50 years, the Daley family has been shaping Chicago. Now, the next generation of Daleys is making its mark on the city. […]
And if the Daley dynasty does produce a third Chicago mayor, his last name might not be Daley but Thompson — as in Peter Q. Thompson, the eldest son of the late mayor’s eldest daughter.
“Peter is really the prince,'’ said one City Hall insider. “He’s a star.'’
Others point to his younger brother, Patrick Daley Thompson, who owns one of Chicago’s most famous houses — the Bridgeport bungalow of his grandfather, the late mayor. […]
Don’t rule out the current mayor’s eldest daughter, Nora Daley Conroy, says one insider: “She’s the brains of the next generation.'’
* The question: Do you think Chicago will elect another Daley family member as mayor one day soon? Explain.
* Besides the threats of impeachment if the General Assembly had to endure yet another overtime session and the overwhelming desire to just leave town and avoid another summer-fall session, there was something else at play under the dome. My syndicated newspaper column takes a look at a concept I shared with subscribers a few weeks ago…
The Illinois Compensation Review Board submitted its pay increase recommendations April 30. Under state law, both chambers had to vote to reject the proposal within 30 session days or the raises automatically took effect. The House did so almost immediately, but as in the past, Senate Democrats decided the House was a collection of wimps. They wanted their pay raise, and Jones refused numerous entreaties to bring the proposal up for a floor vote.
Jones also quickly canceled session days in May. Jones was, in reality, “banking” session days.
If that clock ticked down to the zero hour during the overtime session, the pay raises would take effect immediately…
…meaning the hugely unpopular (with voters) pay raises would almost undoubtedly take effect before this November’s election. The Senate could have just voted to reject the raises during a summer overtime session, but the chamber’s top Democratic leaders had obviously made the pay hikes a top priority.
They went out of their way to publicly skewer dissident members such as Sen. Susan Garrett, who demanded they forgo the pay bump. The attacks made it crystal clear that the pay raise is one of the most - if not the most - important issues to the leadership.
* And…
If that pay-raise clock had started ticking loudly during yet another spectacularly disastrous summer overtime session, Senate Democrats would have freaked out in a very big way. Barack Obama or no Barack Obama, they’d have been absolutely pummeled by their constituents and the press. The pay raise would probably have to be rejected under that scenario, which wouldn’t make the Senate’s leaders happy at all.
So the best way for the Senate Democrats to make sure they got their money was to forge a quick budget resolution with the House and get out of town.
The proposed state government budget for the coming fiscal year includes funding for pay hikes for top elected officials, including Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Illinois legislators.
The boosts amount to 3.8 percent, state Sen. Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, said Saturday.
“It’s a cost-of-living increase. It’s not a pay raise,” said Sen. Donne Trotter, D-Chicago.
Legislators shook hands, slapped backs and loaded boxes into cars after their spring session was gaveled to a close, but the celebration was clouded by the realization that their liberation from the state capital may only be a temporary reprieve.
After approving a proposed ban on the style of pay-to-play politics alleged to have taken place in Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration, sending him an underfunded state budget and stalling his push for a huge public works program, the legislature’s return to Springfield may be counted in weeks instead of months.
Anyone thinking that the squabbling among the state’s Democratic leaders ran its course with the legislature’s rare on-time adjournment late Saturday night need only to look at the official statement Blagojevich issued after his pet $33 billion public works plan passed the Senate but was quashed by House Speaker Michael Madigan about 10 p.m.
“I want to congratulate three of the four legislative caucuses for their efforts to pass a capital [construction] plan,” the Democratic governor said… “Despite the House Democratic leadership’s effort to kill the jobs bill, this is only the beginning.”
* Only the beginning. Oy. Gov. Blagojevich asked GOP congressional candidate Aaron Schock what Schock would do about the unbalanced state budget if he was the governor. Said Schock…
“I told him I’d veto it. And he looked at me and goes, ‘You know, I just might do that.’”
It assumes tax revenues will grow by $1 billion despite the weakening economy. That’s twice the growth that Blagojevich’s office estimated in his budget proposal. It doesn’t include $500 million the state will have to contribute to government pension systems. It ignores significant red ink in the current budget, which will carry over to next year.
* Gatehouse claims the deficit is $2 billion, while the Sun-Times says it may be as high as $2.5 billion. Speaker Madigan says the guv can just use his line item and reduction veto powers to put the budget into balance, but…
“I always took the view that the General Assembly could not appropriate more than it estimates to be available in funds, and that doesn’t mean after the reduction vetoes, etc.,” said Lousin, who was the House’s chief lawyer in the early 1970s.
I’m pretty sure she’s right.
* And then there’s the promised amendatory veto of the ethics bill…
There’s no telling what sort of amendments the governor has up his sleeve this time.
* If we do come back to session, it may not be for long. Here’s why…
But given the threat of impeachment, even his allies don’t believe Blagojevich will play the special-session card in the coming weeks after last year’s draining summer-long budget impasse when little was achieved but ill will.
“He knows what’s going on,” said Sen. Donne Trotter (D-Chicago) said of the governor. “From what I’ve heard, he certainly doesn’t want to stir up the natives and have them start talking about impeachment and all this other kind of stuff.”
* Madigan was asked Saturday night about impeachment. Patterson summarizes part of the back and forth…
Q: What would it take to impeach Blagojevich?
A: “It’s going to take 60 votes in the Illinois House.”
* If you were reading the blog Saturday night, you saw that Gov. Blagojevich made a rare visit to the House floor. More from Patterson…
Blagojevich: I’ll call you. Will you take it?
Madigan: Ha, ha, ha
* And what about the stalled capital bill? Bethany Jaeger has the lowdown…
(T)he speaker said the biggest problem with recent attempts to approve a capital plan is that legislators don’t want to accept the tough choices. “My position is there should be a construction program, but it’s going to require some people to do something which is going to carry some pain. They’re not going to be applauded when they vote for a fee increase or a tax increase.”
He wouldn’t offer any alternative revenue sources tonight, “but we’re open,” he said.
* Translation: Madigan wants to do this on his timeline and his way, just like the electric rate issue and the mass transit bailout last year. And, like the transit bailout, he wants higher taxes. Here’s a story that Rep. Jim Sacia has been telling lately. The legislative leaders and the governor are on a bus with four flat tires, so…
Gov. Rod Blagojevich blows up a tire. House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego, blows up a tire. Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, R-Greenville, blows up a tire. Senate President Emil Jones Jr., D-Chicago, blows up a tire.
“We’ve got all four tires blown up,” said Sacia, R-Pecatonica. “Now what’s the problem? Madigan has got the keys to the bus.”
- “I’m really distressed about the high price of gasoline. I want to make sure that if gas prices are going up, it’s because of things we have no control over, not that some of these gas companies are out to take advantage of a situation. I want the public to know somebody is riding herd on this situation.”
- U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood on March 5, 2003. Gas rose to a state average $1.72 a gallon, up 53 cents from the previous year.
Rick Winkel was one of a small minority of Senate Republicans to go along with a $10 billion bond sale proposed by the governor in 2003. But he says today that he would not do it again.
The organizations sent a letter to the governor saying negotiations with state government’s major unions provide the opportunity to scale back pension increases and order new employer contributions for health insurance.
On May 8 he was quoted thus: “Frankly, if you don’t want politicians selling jobs and you don’t want politicians carrying plastic bags to the Governor’s Mansion full of cash, then you’ve got to pay them.”
