* I’ve just been reading through Aaron Chambers’ excellent post from earlier this morning. It’s all about the immediate future and what we might expect. Make sure to check it out.
An analysis of reporter output at Tribune papers showed individual productivity ranges from 51 pages a year per writer (at the Los Angeles Times) to more than 300 pages (at the Hartford Courant and the Baltimore Sun), Mr. Michaels said.
“You find out you can eliminate a fair number of people while eliminating not very much content,” he said. […]
“We think that by being able to produce less editorial content . . . we can save a lot of money by producing the right-sized newspaper,” he said.
* 12:41 pm - The leaders meeting ended a few minutes ago. No progress was reported on the budget or the capital plan. Big surprise. Not.
House Majority Leader Barbara Currie reportedly called the governor’s complaints about the budget deficit a “manufactured crisis,” but I haven’t talked to her yet nor heard the audio.
All leaders were apparently asked if Tony Rezko’s conviction had been brought up at the meeting, and they all said “No.”
Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson says little progress was made during a meeting with Governor Rod Blagojevich and top legislative leaders about the state budget.
Watson says there was more ” finger-pointing” and ” dysfunction.”
Currie accused Blagojevich of manufacturing a crisis and says it’s his job to deal with the budget lawmakers sent him last weekend.
* 2:22 pm - The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability’s latest monthly revenue report has some interesting stuff on the statewide smoking ban and riverboat gaming revenues. Click here to download the report…
In the Chicago region, Illinois’ four riverboats’ [adjusted gross receipts] are down a combined 18.8% since the smoking ban went into effect. However, Indiana’s Chicago area riverboats are only down 0.7% thru the first four months of 2008.
The other interesting thing is that admissions are down 6.2 percent for the fiscal year, but adjusted gross receipts are off 17.6 percent. Some are claiming that this is because smokers are taking more breaks from gambling so they can go outside and feed their habits/addictions.
…Adding… Total revenues are running about $300 million higher for the fiscal year than originally projected by the governor’s budget office.
…Adding More… If you go to page 8 of the report, you’ll see that some revenues are expected to tank for the rest of the fiscal year, so CoGFA is figuring about break even with their revised revenue estimate, which was a $915 million increase over last fiscal year. The budget assumed $1.6 billion in new revenues, so we’ll be about $700 million short. Clear as mud? Tell me about it.
* 3:01 pm - Maybe the goofy comments will stop now…
If elected president, Sen. Barack Obama would not pardon convicted political fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko, Obama’s campaign staff confirms.
Campaign finance records show state Senate President Emil Jones Jr., a Chicago Democrat, received a $2,000 donation in April 2006 from a business co-owned by Rezko. Following Rezko’s 2006 indictment, Jones said he had no plans of making any donation and on Thursday brushed aside questions.
“I don’t know whether I took any money,” Jones said as he left a meeting with Blagojevich and other legislative leaders.
The Hill reports an Illinois representative was spotted at the Capitol wearing attire fit for dancing to “Disco Inferno.”
Quoting a “spy,” the newspaper reported Rep. Timothy Johnson (R-Ill.) was walking through the Speaker’s Lobby recently in “a bright ruby-red shirt with large lapels unbuttoned to the chest, a black blazer, black trousers and a thick gold chain with charms. One observer remarked that he resembled an extra in the movie ‘Saturday Night Fever.’”
I remember the congressman from his Statehouse days. He never had a disco look. “Up all night and haven’t changed clothes” look, yes. Disco, no.
[Johnson said] his shirt seemed open, because he probably loosened his tie around his neck upon returning from the airport, the shirt is a dress shirt and the chain is a religious symbol with charms of a cross, fish and WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?).
* Just curious, but did the shirt look anything like this?…
* Jill Stanek’s latest column is about birth control pills and an upcoming protest…
Neanderthals like me think women should know the pill can kill their 5- to 9-day-old children. Informed consent and all that.
So the American Life League is launching Protest the Pill Day ‘08: The Pill Kills Babies this Saturday, June 7, on the 43rd anniversary of the Griswold vs. Connecticut Supreme Court decision.
ALL is calling on pro-lifers nationwide to peacefully protest in front of Planned Parenthoods and other facilities that distribute birth control pills.
The National Organization for Women is planning counter protests. I wonder how much they’re paying picketers, since they only seem to arouse paid personnel to demonstrate against us, particularly on a Saturday. I’m always embarrassed for them.
* Question: Will a protest like this alienate pro-life activists from the “center,” or will it serve a useful purpose for their cause? Explain.
* Michael Sneed has some of the best federal prosecutorial sources in the business, so when she has a lede like this, you should pay close attention…
Sneed hears rumbles the feds have Gov. Blagojevich in their gunsights bigtime. “I’m told he’s next . . . they have the goods on him and they were expecting good things out of [influence peddler] Tony Rezko, if he was convicted,” said a Sneed source.
Federal authorities plan to keep moving up the food chain. And they’ve already been scrutinizing Gov. Blagojevich’s campaign fund, his office’s hiring practices and real-estate deals involving his wife, Patti. The Rezko verdict gives them a green light to further pursue the Blagojevich administration, according to a source who said Wednesday of that probe: “We’re moving at full speed.”
• Looked into real-estate transactions connected to the governor’s wife, Patti Blagojevich.
• Interviewed witnesses in other cases about their conversations with the governor. Among them: Ali Ata, who said in his plea deal that the governor knew he was getting a job after donating $60,000 to his campaign fund.
• Used a “mole” to get information from business people about contributions to the governor’s campaign.
It’s not clear how high in this governor’s domain the criminal behavior around him reached. What is clear is that federal agents and prosecutors are bound—and determined—to find out.
the former federal prosecutor told me the feds are expected to offer a deal to both [Rod and Patti Blagojevich]. The governor will take a plea of an indeterminate lesser nature and resign in return for which his wife shall either not be prosecuted or receive a confinement sentence, allowing her to continue to care for their two daughters.
That’s been speculated for a while now, but rarely spoken in more than hushed tones. It’s something to consider, since the feds love to play extreme hardball.
The verdict also makes it more likely that legislators will continue to talk about impeaching the governor. The state Constitution gives the Illinois House the power to investigate impeachment, which already has started behind the scenes to “be prepared,” said House Speaker Michael Madigan last week “We’ve already done research on impeachment,” he said during a Statehouse news conference. “Our attorney, Mr. [David] Ellis, is chock-full of conclusions.” The Senate would have to approve an impeachment by a two-thirds majority.
Rep. Marlow Colvin (D-Chicago) said he doesn’t support an impeachment committee, but said based on conversations with colleagues, there are enough votes in the House to create such a panel. Still, Colvin said, the motivation goes beyond Rezko to those lawmakers who want Blagojevich to pay for his abrasive dealings with them.
Colvin is absolutely right about there being enough votes at the moment to create an impeachment committee.
* I’ve been saying for some time that nobody should believe a word that the drug-addled admitted criminal Stu Levine said, and the Tony Rezko jurors were apparently of the same mind…
Jurors weighing the fate of political insider Antoin “Tony” Rezko listened to the government’s star witness, Stuart Levine, for more than three weeks, but it didn’t take long for them to decide in deliberations they could not send Rezko to prison based solely on his account.
* But there was more to it than just that. Levine physically repelled some jurors…
“He was an amazing person,” juror Loida Acevedo said of Levine, whom she described as the main character if the trial were a book. “I have never met a person like that, and I hope I never do in my lifetime.” […]
Jurors said they had enough problems with Levine to essentially set his testimony aside.
“We gave it no weight,” juror Andrea Coleman said. “He played with us in the courtroom also.”
* They mostly convicted Rezko of stuff where there was clear evidence besides Stu Levine’s word…
“On those counts where Levine was involved, we put it in consideration with everything else,” juror Mona Lisa Mauricette said. “We weren’t going only on Levine’s testimony . . . We found consistency in the testimony and credibility when we looked at it all together.”.
On some things he was believed because there was other evidence - evidence that Levine surely knew of in advance. Otherwise, nope.
* And Levine’s word was pretty much all they had on the alleged $1.5 million shakedown scheme of Tom Rosenberg. Levine claimed that Rosenberg was pressued to contribute that money to Gov. Blagojevich’s campaign fund. The defense claimed that Levine had lied to people on all sides and there was no shakedown plan other than in Levine’s head.
I told you yesterday that the acquittal on the extortion and aiding and abetting bribery was good news for Gov. Blagojevich. But this scheme was also the only big thing that brought Bill Cellini into play, and as I told subscribers this morning, Rezko’s acquittal on those two counts takes a big load off Cellini’s back, whatever else you might read today.
* I was on Don & Roma’s WLS Radio show this morning and they brought up a point that puzzles me. Why did Tony Rezko give himself up to authorities yesterday when his sentencing isn’t until September?
This is the same guy, remember, who was whining about how he had to share underwear with other prisoners. But yesterday he volunteered to go right back to that undie-sharing lockup and he may never emerge again…
Rezko faces $4 million in fines and as much as 300 years in prison if he gets the maximum when he’s sentenced Sept. 3
Roma thought it meant that Rezko was signaling his cooperation with the feds. I can see that side, but others speculated yesterday that his actions were intended to show the feds that he’s actually a tough guy who will keep his mouth shut, perhaps in an effort to squeeze the best possible deal outta the G.
There is perhaps no more pertinent question on the minds of many in state, city and county governments today after the corruption conviction Wednesday of one of their most influential powerbrokers.
But if Rezko is of a mind to start spilling what he knows about allegations made during his trial against Gov. Rod Blagojevich, he gave no indication of it Wednesday when he immediately surrendered himself to custody.
Whether the move was a demonstration of Rezko’s resolve to do his time without talking, or simply a desire to try to get his prison term behind him as quickly as possible, is impossible to say.
* Mark Brown has some speculation that makes sense, and other ideas that seem a bit far-fetched…
The simplest answer is that Rezko may have felt St. Eve was going to revoke his bond anyway and order that he be detained. Federal prosecutors were asking her to do so when Duffy announced his intentions. […]
it also just may be that Rezko is tired of fighting. He has spent a lot of money — and emotional energy — to go to trial, and in the end, it didn’t get him very far. […]
I know this is going to sound overly dramatic, but it’s not really that far-fetched to think Rezko may well believe he’s in danger if he goes free and that by reporting to jail it’s proof that he’s not cooperating. […]
I don’t see this as a sign that Rezko has already thrown in the towel and decided to cooperate, not to say that he won’t in the future as the prospect of the second trial looms even larger.
I’m curious what you think.
…Adding… A commenter posted what might be the simplest explanation: It was the decent thing to do for his friends and family…
Don’t forget people, that a lot of people put up a lot of money, homes, etc. for his bail. By surrendering himself, they can likely file a motion now to have the assets released, something which definitely could not happen if he was out pending sentencing.
* A few days before Tony Rezko’s conviction, House GOP Leader Tom Cross had this to say about Speaker Madigan’s bitter feud with Gov. Blagojevich over the capital construction plan…
“We all run into people in everyday life who we don’t like and we don’t trust,” said House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego. “The fact that we don’t like somebody is no longer an excuse not to get our work done.”
* The leaders (minus Madigan) are meeting with the governor today to talk about the budget and the capital plan. You gotta wonder whether Cross will change his tune, but at least one top Senate Democrat says the Rezko conviction shouldn’t matter…
“We cannot stop the operation of state government because of something that could possibly happen or some innuendo.” [said state Sen. Terry Link, a Waukegan Democrat]”
“If he has any involvement, he needs to be charged,” [Democratic state Sen. David Koehler said]. “If not, we need to leave it alone. Innuendo is not a fair way to go about this.”
* The “let’s forge ahead anyway” line was also echoed by a Senate Democratic freshman…
“Anyone that would use this as leverage to shut down the system would not be doing this as a service to the public whatsoever,” said state Sen. Mike Noland, an Elgin Democrat. “This is something that’s not going to factor into the legislative process at all, or at least it shouldn’t.”
* And I’m kinda wondering about the last sentence in Democratic state Sen. Deanna Demuzio’s reaction to yesterday’s verdict and its impact on Gov. Blagojevich and the Statehouse…
“We passed an ethics bill, and hopefully what we did is send a message that we don’t want anymore of this. I don’t know if this will be the end or not. All of us will wonder what will come out of it. You have to be careful who you associate with.”
The Senator is right, of course. And the people that Democratic legislators like her “associate with” might also include Rod Blagojevich.
* Rep. Franks, on the other hand was pretty clear about the impact…
“I believe the conviction has probably doomed the capital bill to the dustbin,” said state Rep. Jack Franks, a Woodstock Democrat.
That’s a line you may hear a lot in the coming days.
The state figures more than 87-percent of high schoolers graduated in 2005. But the new report puts that number at about 76-percent. Christopher Swanson is director of the group behind the study.
