* That’s it for me. We’ve had a decent week at the blog, so take a break or head to Quincy or some other place that needs help during these trying times. If you want to keep talking, stop by Illinoize. They got it going on.
* Our weekend video is from our blog buddy JakeCP, a young man who has literally grown up before our very eyes. The kid can sing. Check him out below and click this for another song….
[Story bumped up and password protection removed because the AP now has a story online.]
* 11:40 am - I wrote about this in today’s Capitol Fax. Here’s a recent letter sent by the governor to a bunch of interest groups threatening doomsday cuts if the Legislature doesn’t pass his revenue generators and the capital plan. See the original by clicking here…
Dear State Leader,
On May 31st, the General Assembly passed a budget for Fiscal Year 2009 that, by their own admission, is more than $2 billion out of balance. As the Illinois Constitution explicitly requires a balanced budget, it is my expectation that in days ahead the leadership of the General Assembly will work with my administration to address this unprecedented and unconstitutional deficit.
I have convened the legislative leaders to address these issues and have provided alternatives, including the passage of the capital proposal provided by Speaker Dennis Hastert and President Glenn Poshard that would provide substantial revenues to support the General Assembly’s proposed appropriations.
Unless the General Assembly acts swiftly to pass revenues necessary to support their proposed budget, I will be compelled to use my constitutional authority to address the deficit. Given the magnitude of the challenge that we face, I write to ask you to take appropriate action now to limit the impact of any necessary reductions or eliminations.
Action necessary to face our budget challenges may include, but should not be limited to:
• Instituting a hiring freeze on all non-critical positions,
• Freezing all non-essential operating spending,
• Unilaterally reducing or imposing reserves to all operating programs that do not address issues of life, safety or health of Illinoisans, and
• Eliminating programs or functions that do not address key priorities of the State.
Instituting these policies will undoubtedly impose significant difficulties on you and the people of Illinois. These consequences can be avoided if the House passes the capital plan supported by three of the four legislative caucuses and that moved out of the Senate in bi-partisan fashion and if the House approves other pending revenue proposals.
Sincerely,
Rod Blagojevich
*** 2:59 pm *** Vendors are apparently being sent copies of the letter as well. Click here to see a memo to vendors from DoC Director Roger Walker.
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is sending a vague warning to state leaders of spending cuts if lawmakers don’t help him fix a $2 billion hole in the state budget.
Blagojevich says he will freeze non-critical hiring and spending, tell agencies to hold budget reserves for an emergency, and eliminate programs that are not essential.
The governor’s letter went to agency heads, colleges and universities, social service agencies and constitutional officers. Spokeswoman Kelley Quinn says it’s intended to help them plan for the coming year.
This was about more than mere “planning.” It’s about freaking out the tax-eaters and the vendors to get them to back Blagojevich in his battle with Speaker Madigan over the revenue streams and the capital bill.
* It’s really slow around here today. Weather got you down or what? Anyway, in an admittedly desperate attempt to spark some comments, let’s have a go at this one…
* I’ve never thought that this was much of an issue, but this development may hinder the Republicans’ efforts to make hay out of it in other districts…
Concrete company president Martin Ozinga III has no plans to relocate from Homer Glen, which lies just inside the 13th Congressional District represented by Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Hinsdale.
Ozinga’s residence has not been raised as an issue by either of his November opponents, state Sen. Debbie Halvorson, D-Crete, and Green Party candidate Jason Wallace of Normal.
Ozinga’s campaign manager, Andy Sere, noted Rep. Melissa Bean, D-Barrington, lives outside her 8th Congressional District. Democratic candidate Dan Seals lives just outside the 10th Congressional District, where he hopes to unseat Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Highland Park.
“The fact that he lives a mile or so outside the district while still living in the district’s biggest county has not come up with any of the voters he has spoken with,” Sere said. Whether Ozinga would move into the district if he won the election has not been discussed. “Frankly, it hasn’t come up,” he said.
* Meanwhile, Congresscritter Melissa Bean is criticized for missing an important House vote…
8th Congressional District challenger Steve Greenberg [sic] is firing away at U.S. Rep Melissa Bean for missing a vote last week on what he calls “the largest tax increase in American history … of at least $683 billion over the next years.”
Bean was absent for House Roll Call 382, a non-binding budget resolution which representatives narrowly adopted 214-210.
The Barrington Democrat later filed a statement with the Congressional record indicating she would have voted against the measure. […]
Bean’s staff did not explain why she was one of only 10 House members to miss the vote.
A pair of lawsuits filed against Greenberg’s family businesses in Cook County Circuit Court allege the companies defaulted on a $1.5 million bank loan and failed to pay a law firm more than $60,000 in legal fees.
Greenberg would not comment on the lawsuits this week except to call them “frivolous.”
“Over 80 percent of companies get sued,” he said. […]
“As if his disastrous candidacy were not telling enough, Steve Greenberg’s business dealings show a deep contempt for following the rules or living up to his commitments,” DCCC spokesman Ryan Rudominer said.
* Scandal Hampers NRCC’s Ability to Get Loans: The committee will need to hire an outside firm to conduct a standard audit of its books for 2007, and until that audit is complete, the NRCC will not be able to take out any bank loans to fund independent expenditure campaigns in late-breaking races.
A major state agency has been accused for the second time in three years of failing to protect sensitive information.
In a report released Thursday, Auditor General William Holland found the Illinois Department of Human Services didn’t properly secure employee and contractor records, potentially allowing easy access to Social Security numbers and other personal information.
The agency, which has more than 14,000 workers, was hit with a similar finding during a previous audit.
“It is abundantly clear that serious deficiencies in security administration have existed for the last two audit periods,” Holland wrote in his report. “While we agree that there are various methods of implementing security administration, it is clear the current approach is not working.”
Auditors found some documents simply by walking through agency offices and looking in or near trash and recycling bins.
* Patterson lists some of the problems on his blog…
The department opened its own bank accounts and, whoops, forgot to tell state officials.
The department didn’t have adequate procedures for disposing of confidential information.
The department didn’t keep adequate records on its vehicles.
But the one that stood out — especially since the department has problems getting rid of confidential information — was that taxpayers spent thousands on 39 “high capacity shredders” and, a year later, 22 of them had not been installed let alone put to use.
The department’s excuse is that some buildings lacked the electrical current needed for the shredders. In other cases, there simply wasn’t space for the shredders.
Those shredders were purchased after newspaper reports of the lax document security. All show, no go?
* I’ve already given you the address to send contributions for victims of the southeastern Illinois flood. But some of you have asked what you can do to help hold back the flooding in the Quincy area. Here’s some info, provided by a friend of the blog and Doug Wilson at the Quincy Herald Whig. Check the Herald Whig’s site throughout the day for more information, but here’s what we have so far…
A - NIOTA, IL
If you’d like to help sandbag in Niota you can call Hancock County emergency services at 217-357-6004 for more information.
B – URSA, IL
Sandbagging efforts are speeding up near Ursa.
Volunteers are still needed; you can just show up to the Shaffer farm, just west of the North Bottoms Road.
Volunteers sandbagging at the Ursa levee aren’t just requesting more help; they’re also requesting cold bottled water for those who are working.
The operation is underway at Shaffer Farm, along the Ursa blacktop road, 1/8 mile west of the North Bottoms Road.
C – QUINCY, IL
Sandbagging operation at the Oakley-Lindsay Center
3rd and Kentucky
ALSO:
Sny Drainage District Asking for Help
The Sny Drainage District needs volunteers to help fill and place sandbags. The Union United Methodist Church, will be running shuttles back and forth to the site starting at 10am Friday until dusk.
There will be food and beverages at the site. Please wear appropriate clothing, and plan to stay for at least 3 hours.
The shuttles will leave from the church at 1101 State Friday morning and run through the day. For more information, call Pastor Bob Morewell at 223-6062.
EVERYONE SHOULD GET A TETANUS SHOT IF THEY ARE WORKING WITH SANDBAGS OR ON THE LEVEE IF THEIR LAST SHOT WAS MORE THAN ONE YEAR AGO, ACCORDING TO THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT.
* And a poll…
*** UPDATE 1 *** Word just came down that Gov. Blagojevich will visit Quincy at about 2:30 this afternoon. No word yet on if he will also visit southeastern Illinois.
*** UPDATE 2 *** The guv is also heading to Lawrenceville. From a pal…
The agenda we got faxed to us a little while ago shows Blago going to Lawrenceville IL at 12:20 before coming to Quincy at about 2:30 .
*** UPDATE 3 *** The times have been moved back. From a press release…
WHO: Governor Rod R. Blagojevich
State emergency officials
Local elected officials
WHAT: Tour of flood impacted areas in Lawrenceville followed by press briefing on State action.
WHEN: Friday, June 13, 2008
1:00 pm
WHERE: Parkside Elementary School
1900 Cedar St.
Lawrenceville, IL
WHO: Governor Rod R. Blagojevich
State emergency officials
Local elected officials
WHAT: Aerial and ground tour of area along the rising Mississippi River in Quincy followed by press briefing on State action.
WHEN: Friday, June 13, 2008
3:00 pm
WHERE: Oakley Lindsay Civic Center
300 Civic Center Place (3rd and York)
Quincy, IL
*** UPDATE 4 *** I just got off the phone with a Herald-Whig reporter who said that he’s just been informed that the governor has canceled the Quincy event. He did make it to Lawrenceville, however. More later.
*** UPDATE 5 *** The governor’s office says he’s on his way to Quincy right now.
MORRISON, Illinois — The Whiteside County Sheriff, Roger Schipper, is advising residents along the Rock River in Whiteside County of possible major flooding in the next 48 to 72 hours.
The Rock is projected to rise another 3 feet during that time.
With a near-record 32-foot Mississippi River flood crest now being forecast for Quincy, U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Barack Obama on Friday urged Gov. Rod Blagojevich to consider pre-emptively declaring disaster areas for some Illinois counties facing potential major damage, including those in the Quincy region.
“If the state can make an early declaration, it’s going to help a lot of smaller communities that don’t have the resources of a city like Quincy,” Durbin said Friday morning during a press conference at Quincy’s city-sponsored sandbagging site in the Oakley-Lindsay Center.
Durbin came to Quincy Friday with several other political leaders — including U.S. Rep. Phil Hare and Illinois Sen. John Sullivan — to assess the situation and see what can be done to aid local communities girding for the worst flooding since the historic disaster of 1993.
Way back in the autumn of 1994, as the national Republican tsunami was just becoming evident, House Speaker Michael Madigan ordered some of his more vulnerable incumbents to run away as fast as they could from their party’s doomed gubernatorial candidate.
Every poll showed that the hapless Dawn Clark Netsch was being pulverized by Republican Gov. Jim Edgar. So, after Madigan issued his edict, several House Democrats sent out campaign mailers with big photos of their new best pal, Jim Edgar.
The ploy didn’t work. Madigan lost 13 seats and his majority that November.
But that bit of history clearly shows how far Madigan will go to win. That’s really what he’s all about.
Winning.
Maintaining control.
Holding onto power.
Maybe now you’ll understand why Madigan’s staff drafted a brutal and ham-handed 14-page memo for some House Democratic candidates outlining how best to call for impeachment proceedings against Gov. Blagojevich. It’s the winning, stupid.
Blagojevich is probably the most unpopular governor this state has ever had. A Glengariff Group poll taken weeks before administration insider and campaign fund-raiser Tony Rezko was convicted on 16 felony corruption counts showed that 59 percent of registered Illinois voters want impeachment proceedings to begin against Blagojevich. A clear plurality want Blagojevich removed from office — 45 percent to 35 percent.
If that’s what voters want, well, then that’s what Madigan’s candidates will give them.
Most of Madigan’s candidates are running against Republican incumbents who represent Republican-leaning, independent-minded districts. According to that Glengariff Group poll, 73.5 percent of Republicans and 63 percent of independents want to start the impeachment process and large majorities of both groups want Blagojevich removed from office.
House Republican Leader Tom Cross has tried to make the memo itself the main issue rather than address impeachment.
Cross has a point. Madigan’s impeachment memo is certainly way over the top. It includes a harsh litany of Blagojevich’s alleged “misdeeds” that have nothing to do with impeachment, like the gross receipts tax and free mass transit rides for senior citizens. The memo encourages Madigan’s candidates to avoid answering the question if asked whether Madigan or his staff helped them prepare their positions.
Cross’ candidates will claim that the Democrats trying to defeat Republican incumbents are just Madigan robots doing what they’re told. But that, itself, is a dodge, because an overwhelming majority of Cross’ own party members clearly want impeachment proceedings to begin. Cross is in serious danger of positioning his own candidates on the wrong side of history in what will likely be a big Democratic year in Illinois. That combination could be politically lethal.
Cross and others also claim that Madigan is using the impeachment issue to divert attention from the fact that he is the lone man opposed to a multibillion-dollar capital construction plan.
“Never mind those 500,000 new jobs! Look over there at that bright, shiny impeachment ball!” Madigan appears to be saying.
His critics are right. Madigan’s venom and hatred for Blagojevich are getting the better of him. But the massive construction plan is loaded with opportunities for corruption, and voters clearly believe this governor is corrupt. In my mind, it’s a toss-up.
There are also those who think that the possible impeachment of a governor is too important an issue to be “politicized” by cynical attempts to win campaigns. But that ignores an important fact: We live in a democracy.
If candidates are elected on vows to begin impeachment proceedings, then that’s a good indication of what the public wants. Election results validate issues as much as individual candidate personalities or partisan strength.
In other words, goofy memo aside, this issue is too important not to be “politicized” by candidates. Let’s get on with it.
* Related…
* Four unions send critical letter over impeachment memo: It was signed by leaders of the Service Employees International Union, Teamsters Joint Council 25, UNITE HERE and the Midwest Region of the Laborers International union.
* WSJ John Fund: All this sounds like an issue voters both inside and outside Illinois would want to hear from Mr. Obama on. Does he side with those Democrats who want to move aggressively against a governor who appears to be corrupt – or with his old Chicago buddies who prefer to wait?
* Southern Illinoisan: Thumbs down to the higher level of dysfunction among our state’s top elected leaders that emerged this week through the public release of a secret, talking points memo compiled on House Speaker Michael Madigan’s behalf.
* Impeachment By Mail? The Committee for Legislative Action is sending out letters to area residents asking for your input in the ongoing impeachment talks.
Police and a joint terrorism task force are investigating letters containing unknown powdery substances that were sent to Chicago elected officials Thursday afternoon, authorities said.
The letters were sent to Ald. Ed Burke (14th), Cook County Commissioner John Daley, state Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago) and state Sen. John Cullerton (D-Chicago), according to NBC 5.
But Police News Affairs Officer David Banks said, “There is no reason to believe there is a credible threat.”
The Chicago Fire Department was called to test the substance, Banks said.
Police also are working with a joint terrorism task force to investigate the origins of the letter, Banks said.
The disparity between workers at the top and bottom of the wage scale was the 10th worst of all 100 metro areas. The top 10% of employees earned 6.3 times more than the bottom 10% of Chicago’s workforce.
In short, manipulating the news-ad ratio is a much trickier business than Michaels probably thinks it is. Has he asked the Tribune’s advertisers if they want to be in a paper with less news?
Corn for July delivery rose 5.75 cents to settle at $7.09 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, after earlier rising to a new all-time high of $7.25 a bushel. It was corn’s sixth straight trading record in as many days. Prices broke past the $7 barrier for the first time Wednesday.
“We’re as guilty as anybody,” admitted Bloomberg. “We ask for money for things that are totally local, and why the federal government does it, I don’t know. They shouldn’t be doing it, although we will continue to ask as long as they are giving it out. Our senators have the obligation to bring home the bacon like everybody else does. … Seems to me the Senate should get together and say together, ’We’re not going to do it anymore.”’
