* IlliniPundit points to a story today that featured several Republican legislators pushing for the capital construction plan…
The state could gain 18,000 jobs a month if the legislature could pass a capital spending plan, bipartisan advocates said.
IP then goes over a history of the governor promising the world to the University of Illinois and not delivering and concludes…
Rep. Hoffman is the Governor’s buddy, so his motives are transparent, but [Republican] Rep. [Bill] Black and Rep. [Chapin] Rose should know better than to participate in this. Why are they standing with Blagojevich on this when they know he cannot be relied upon to fulfill commitments made more than five years ago?
* And speaking of Democratic Rep. Jay Hoffman, the IP has been slipped a new poll which shows 65.46% of the resident’s of Hoffman’s Democrat-leaning district think it is “appropriate for the Illinois Legislature to form a special impeachment committee.”
65.67% said they want their “local legislators to support the formation of that special impeachment committee.”
56.81% said that based on what they know about Gov. Blagojevich, they think the “legislature should attempt to remove him from office.”
Remember, that’s the Blagojevich floor leader’s own district we’re talking about here.
IP gets the last word…
Can someone please explain to me why the House Republicans are standing with Rod Blagojevich to call for this $34 billion capital plan, when nobody trusts him, even in a Democratic district represented by his staunchest ally?
[AskIllinois poll conducted June 11, 2008 of the 112th House District. 3,772 respondents, with a margin of error of ± 1.57%]
…Adding… IP doesn’t mention it, but his company built Dwight Kay’s website. Kay is Hoffman’s GOP opponent. This shows you how upside-down things are going to get before this is over. Republicans vs. Republicans, Republicans siding with Democrats against other Democrats and Republicans. Fascinating. [Hat tip to a commenter.]
…Adding More… From Gordy…
I built the campaign website for Hoffman’s opponent several months ago, but I don’t have any ongoing involvement with that campaign. I didn’t talk to them about this post, didn’t get any information for it from them, and did not get the poll from Hoffman’s opponent or his campaign.
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Wednesday flood watch
Wednesday, Jun 18, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Oy…
The swollen Mississippi River has flowed over the top of 19 levees in Missouri, Iowa and Illinois, and another 29 levees are at risk, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said on Wednesday
* More levee trouble…
Water spilled over two levees on the Mississippi River on Wednesday, surging into west-central Illinois, covering fertile farmland and pushing residents from their homes, officials said.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Mississippi Valley said water flowed over the top of one levee, but local officials had a different account, reporting that the levee — near Meyer, Illinois — breached in two places about 6:20 a.m., pouring water into Hancock and Adams counties.
“It’s kind of a sad day,” said Sheriff John Jefferson of Hancock County. “People put in a lot of manpower [to build up the levees] and all was lost.”
The floodwaters will cover thousands of acres of farmland from Warsaw to Quincy — about a 25-mile stretch of the river.
* More here
* Further downriver…
As the Mississippi River rises and the crest approaches the St. Louis region, roads, ferries and the river itself are being closed.
The river is expected to crest here on Monday, according to the National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service. The river is not expected to reach 1993 flood levels.
The river was measured at 30.06 feet in Alton on Tuesday afternoon and expected to rise to 33 feet by Monday. The river is considered at a major flood stage when it reaches 34 feet in Alton. It crested there at 42.72 feet in the flood of 1993.
* The governor’s public schedule for today…
**Governor’s Public Schedule**
For Wednesday, June 18, 2008
QUINCY – Governor Rod R. Blagojevich will take an aerial tour and visit ground operations in flood-impacted areas along the Mississippi River in Western Illinois.
WHO: Governor Rod R. Blagojevich
WHAT: **PHOTO OP** Gov. Blagojevich will assist in sandbagging efforts and visit volunteers.
WHEN: 1:00 p.m.
WHERE: Pike County Fairgrounds
Pleasant Hills, IL
WHAT: **PHOTO OP** Gov. Blagojevich will be thanking national guard members and volunteers and surveying damage at the Sny Levee.
WHEN: 2:00 p.m.
WHERE: Sny Levee at Pike Station
WHAT: Gov. Blagojevich will be holding a media briefing on flood recovery efforts in Illinois.
WHEN: 3:30 p.m.
WHERE: Unified Area Command Center at the Oakley Lindsay Center KY and S 3rd St. Quincy, IL
* Lt. Gov. Quinn is also on the move…
Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn’s office says he’s headed to see flood-damaged areas in the Quad Cities and then to he’ll go to Quincy to help fill sandbags.
* More stories…
* USDA mulls all options on Midwest flood aid
* Corn cost up on new flood fears
* Salvation Army responding to historic flooding
* Flood means added security measures
* Bridge decision cause for concern
* Adams County Board targets water contamination
* Lake County floodwaters receding, officials say
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Jun 18, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The setup…
DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett is poised to make a third attempt for statewide office in two years.
Birkett, who ran unsuccessfully for attorney general and lieutenant governor, told the Daily Herald he is exploring a possible run in 2010 for attorney general or governor. […]
“It’s going to be tough for any Republican in 2010, especially if there is a President Obama in the White House,” said Paul Green, director of Roosevelt University’s School of Policy Studies. “So, I would think the best thing he can do is get out there early, pick his spots and start raising money like mad.”
Birkett isn’t expected to make a final decision for several months, but he has hired a political consulting firm, lined up fundraising events that begin next week, and is already touring the state to deliver his message of tough-on-crime and economic reform to potential voters.
* The question: Does Birkett have a chance in either the primary or the general elections? Explain fully, please. Thanks.
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Mud
Wednesday, Jun 18, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* As Carol Marin reports today, Chicago police officer Joseph A. Grillo was arrested by the FBI as he got off a plane from Las Vegas. Grillo was arrested and charged with mail fraud “in connection with an alleged towing scam.” Marin continues…
But the odd part of this June 5 arrest was what an FBI agent was overheard saying to Grillo as he was being led away.
According to a source who has every reason to know, the agent reportedly advised Grillo with words to this effect: “Give Ald. Banks up, and it will go a long way to helping you out.”
* The other side…
Ald. William J.P. Banks is one of the most powerful members of City Council. For almost 20 years, he has chaired the mighty Committee on Zoning, where very big decisions get made on very pricey developments. […]
The alderman is not charged with anything. But people who know him tell me he is fed up and furious with what he considers “guilt by association” questions coming at him lately thanks to a growing number of federal indictments of people with connections to his ward and to his family.
Last month, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald unveiled the second phase of Operation Crooked Code. An undercover mole, working as a bagman and wearing a wire, had been busy in the Zoning and Building departments, passing bribes from developers to city inspectors. Fifteen people were arrested, many of whom had deep connections to Banks and the 36th Ward Democratic Organization.
The most interesting guy picked up in that May sweep was the coolest of customers even when dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit. His name is Beny Garneata, a sleek-looking, silver-haired fortysomething developer from Lincolnwood. Like Joseph Grillo at O’Hare, Garneata got the full court federal press for his arrest, a less than subtle way of hammering him to start talking early and often.
When the G wants you, they do everything they can to get you. That doesn’t mean they do get you, but they have a whole lot of means at their disposal.
* Meanwhile, a commenter pointed out earlier this morning the goofiness behind this allegation of “pinstripe patronage” against Todd Stroger…
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger used a rare tie breaking vote to squeak a multi-million dollar deal through the county board. Turns out the firm [Chapman and Cutler] that drafted the deal has extensive ties to Stroger and his political organization. […]
In the last three years, the firm has given more than $35,000 to either Stroger, or the 8th ward. Commissioner Forrest Claypool, a Stroger critic says the deal is pinstripe-patronage.
Writes “wordslinger“…
Chapman and Cutler is one of the biggest and most respected bond counsel firms in the country. They actually do the work, as opposed to the many hangers-on who get a taste in public finance issues.
Believe me, there’s a lot of pay to play in muni finance, but they’re not the problem. Check out co-bond counsel, advisors and the lineup of bond firms for the pinstripe patronage. Also, there’s no reason any but the most complex bond issues needs to be a “negotiated” deal — put it out to bid to get rid of the pinstripe patronage.
Claypool knows this. Somebody should tell him you lose whatever “reform” credibility you might have when you knowingly make silly remarks.
* And this is pretty interesting…
Lake County [Indian] election officials heard allegations Tuesday a number of Illinois residents attempted to vote in last month’s Indiana primary election.
Raymond Lopez, chairman of the East Chicago and Whiting Republican organization, told the Lake County elections board, busloads of Illinois residents and downstate Indiana students who weren’t registered to vote in East Chicago or Whiting appeared at those communities’ polls, according to Republican election workers to whom he spoke.
“It was quite a few. They showed us Illinois driver’s licenses. We asked them why they were here and they said ‘We were told to vote here.’”
Lopez said none of them was admitted into voting booths. He didn’t indicate whether he was able to ascertain from where the individuals came or whom may have sent them. Elections Supervisor Michelle Fajman asked Lopez to put his complaints and others he made, in writing, so her staff can investigate.
Amazing that they didn’t ask Lopez who was allegedly busing these people into Lake County. You’d think that would be an important question.
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Daley has a few zingers for the guv
Wednesday, Jun 18, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The headline on this Sun-Times story is “Daley defends Blagojevich,” but the only defense offered by hizzoner is about impeachment. Daley is against impeaching someone over political disagreements. Not surprising. He was against recall as well.
* The real meat of the story, however, is a blistering assault on the governor’s capital plan…
Daley accused Blagojevich of trying to sell his stalled, $34 billion capital plan with bogus claims that it’s vital to Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
“They’re not involved. Don’t throw it on the Olympics. . . .I don’t know who’s telling you these stories,” Daley said.
Oh, baby, don’t mess with hizzoner’s pet project.
* Daley also explained why he was against the Chicago casino proposal…
Daley said he nixed plans for a land-based Chicago casino — not because the governor’s demand for an up-front payment was too big, but because the legislation was sprung on the city as the clock was winding down on the spring session.
“No one knew about it. It was the last minute thrown in there with a lot of changes. . . . Our people had no discussion whatseover about the bill. Never heard about it,” Daley said.
“This is a business. You just don’t put something on the table at the last minute and sign an agreement. You just don’t do that — without even reading it or discussing what ramifications that one sentence has or five sentences or 22 paragraphs have? No.”
* Daley again brought up the “trust” issue, or “lack of trust” issue, and was not pleased that the governor’s people had leaked the claim that Daley did not return a phone call from Gov. Blagojevich about the capital bill on the last day of session…
“How ‘bout getting a call at 3 o’clock on the same day? You know what [a set-up] that is,” Daley said.
* The governor’s office probably didn’t help matters with this response to CBS 2…
Sources close to Blagojevich countered that they have, in fact, kept the mayor’s people fully informed in every step of this year’s budget negotiations – on a possible casino in downtown Chicago and everything else.
That’ll go over well.
* Related…
* Bipartisan group rallies for passage of a capital plan
* Hearing on IDOT move set for July 31
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Tuesday flood watch
Tuesday, Jun 17, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Uh-Oh…
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a warning that about two dozen levees in the region, in Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa, could be overtopped by floodwaters this week. The water is expected to continue to rise by several more feet this week as the flood waters from the north move into the region, and 26-27 levees between Davenport Iowa and St Louis may be overtopped if rapid sandbagging is not completed in time. Some of the communites at high risk include Qunicy and Alton Illinois, Hannibal Missouri, and parts of St Louis can expect moderate flooding.
Flood stages at St Louis are expected to reach to a few inches below the top of the Choteau Island levee (40 feet) which protects 2400 acres. Another concern is that some parts of the levee system that protect the Metro East area (Granite City, East St Louis, Cahokia, Wood River) have been determined by the US Army Corps of Engineers to be partly structurally deficient, and prone to underseepage, with a slight risk of liquefaction and failure. Approximately 150,000 people live behind those levees.
* Levee breaks…
A levee gave way early Tuesday near Lomax, Illinois, flooding thousands of acres of farmland and the village of Gulfport, said Deputy Donnie Seitz of the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department.
“It’s been an uphill battle from the start, and the levee just broke loose,” Seitz said.
U.S. 34 “could be under 10 feet of water within 15 to 20 hours,” he said.
* More…
McCloud said there have been more than a half-dozen levee breaches in Illinois in the past week or so, including in the Mercer County community of Keithsburg, where water continued to rise.
* Audio report
* More trouble in Grafton…
“It’s coming up the street,” said Jeneane DeSherlia, who was moving everything on the first floor of a three-story building she and her husband own in the Mississippi River community of Grafton to the higher floors in anticipation of the ground floor being a couple feet underwater within the next few days. “It’s getting closer.”
* Gov. Blagojevich calls out more National Guard troops…
Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich today activated an additional 400 Illinois National Guard troops to assist with flood efforts along the Mississippi River, bringing the total troops engaged in the flood fight to 1,100. A State helicopter and additional rescue personnel are on stand-by for any additional emergency situations such as a levee break. […]
The Governor also applauded conservation police officers from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) for assisting with a rescue operation this morning after a levee failed in Henderson County near Gulfport. More than a dozen people who were sandbagging the levee were stranded there until conservation officers and a Medivac helicopter from Iowa rescued them. People stranded on nearby US 34 and in a house in Carman were also rescued. […]
To date the Governor has declared 17 counties disaster areas.
* More info can be found at this link. Road and bridge closures are listed here.
* Related…
* Bush Vows to Speed Relief for Flood Victims
* Quincy mayor expresses pride in outpouring of help in sandbagging effort
* Wakonda State Park 90 percent flooded after levee gives way; workers not optimistic as water begins to erode South River levee in Marion County
* Seven Things You Can Do Right Now To Help Flood Victims
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Jun 17, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Which team - between the White Sox, Cubs and Cardinals - will have the best record at the end of the season? Explain.
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Congressional roundup *** UPDATED x1 ***
Tuesday, Jun 17, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This is why it’s been so tough to defeat Republican Congresscritter Mark Kirk, even though his district trends more Democratic with each passing year…
Kirk says, without the [assault weapons ban], even police officers in full body armor are in danger.
“They can feel somewhat protected from a normal pistol, but against weapons like these body armor offers no significant protection for a police officer,” said Rep. Mark Kirk, (R) Illinois.
He may vote with his party a lot more than he lets on, but Kirk comes off locally as a moderate or even liberal Republican. That breed is just about gone in this country. The Reagan/Gingrich Repubs took care of many of them, and last year the Democrats swept out most of the rest, particularly in the Northeast.
Illinois is just about the last bastion of moderate/liberal Republicans, and many of them (Mulligan, Coulson, Kirk, etc.) are being heavily targeted for defeat this year.
* Meanwhile, the Tony Rezko slam against Democratic congressional candidate Debbie Halvorson was countered by a local business leader this week…
A top official with the Will County Center for Economic Development is not happy with attempts to link a third airport governance bill to convicted fundraiser Tony Rezko.
Jim Roolf, who chairs the CED’s Business Labor Coalition said “it’s flat out wrong” to connect the bill, sponsored by Democratic congressional challenger Debbie Halvorson, to Rezko.
That link was first made by fellow U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Chicago, but propagated this week by the campaign of Republican challenger Marty Ozinga III.
“I’m going to call Mr. Ozinga myself,” Roolf said, “I think it’s unfair that they’re saying what they have. The legislation was developed by the Business Labor Coalition, and we approached Sen. Halvorson to sponsor it.
So far, Ozinga’s campaign hasn’t budged.
*** UPDATE *** Democratic state Rep. David Miller, a close ally of Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., has just sent out a blistering press release on this subject that goes off on Halvorson…
Halvorson apparently thinks she can fool voters by saying “I won’t let Chicago politicians tell us what to do.” Yet, she regularly meets with Mayor Daley on airport financing; asks Congressman Rahm Emanuel for strategic advice; seeks Gov. Blagojevich’s legislative support; and served as Emil Jones’ majority leader.
In short, Halvorson relies on the Chicago machine for just about everything, yet attempts to bad mouth the same people as “bigwigs from Chicago.”
Halvorson says it’s about “local control.” But ALNAC is locally controlled. ALNAC is chaired by the Mayor of University Park, a Will County home-rule community that borders the airport footprint.
Someone should tell Halvorson that there’s a difference between local control and Rezko control.
This is becoming an all-out intra-party war. I wonder when the DCCC is finally going to take notice?
Read the whole thing.
* Related…
* Weller keeps wife’s finances unknown
* Biggert eyes rail traffic issues
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The old canard
Tuesday, Jun 17, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* There it is again…
Illinois could lose billions of dollars in federal road construction money if the state legislature doesn’t get on the ball and pass a capital bill, said House Minority Leader Tom Cross Monday. […]
“If we happen to lose $9 billion in capital money, that would be criminal,” Rep. Cross said. […]
Federal road funds are set to expire in the next few months and into next year
Nobody has yet been able to prove to me that this “We’re gonna lose $9 billion” statement is a fact. Yet, it is contantly passed along by reporters as if it is true.
* And I’ve heard this before…
Although [Cross] said Republicans have been burned as badly as anyone by the governor’s saying one thing and doing another, “We’re willing to take a chance,” he said. “We’re not picking sides. We’ll do what’s best for Illinois.”
Except when the governor vetoed out the “pork” from last year’s budget, he left House Republican projects intact.
* Meanwhile, my old buddy Steve Huntley has an idea for Illinois voters: Vote Republican…
But voters don’t have to wait until 2010 to voice their dissatisfaction with that. They can vent in the balloting for the seats in the Illinois General Assembly at stake in the November elections.
Their watchword should be: Just say no to one-party rule.
That means voting Republican.
* But his conclusion doesn’t match up with the current debate…
[Electing Republicans] also might boost impeachment prospects.
Maybe in the Senate, but the House GOP has gone out of its way to dismiss and downplay impeachment talk.
Discuss.
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* Freshman Sen. Michael Noland (D-Elgin) has a letter to the editor in today’s Daily Herald…
As state senator for Illinois’ 22nd District, there has not been a single vote I’ve taken without believing I had the support of the people of my district. The “recall” vote, however, is probably the first exception to this general rule and so I now answer for it.
Noland voted against recall, and he lists his reason for doing so. He doesn’t think judges should be recalled, and he believes local political battles in his area are so divisive that recall would be abused.
What he doesn’t mention is that the Senate refused to vote on a recall proposal which didn’t include judges and local officials.
* And then we get to the crux of the matter…
Finally, I understand and even share your frustration regarding the governor. However, this, while in part his own doing, is something hard sought by those who want not so much his head as his job. Again, this is what elections are for.
Emphasis added for obvious reasons. Noland apparently believes that this impeachment stuff is all about Lisa. As if the majority of Illinoisans who favor the beginning of impeachment proceedings just want AG Lisa Madigan to be their governor. Weak.
* Last bit…
If and when he is charged with misconduct we can, under our constitution, impeach him.
I’m not sure what he means about the governor being “charged with misconduct.” Is that via the US Attorney or via a House impeachment proceeding?
Anyway, defend the letter and/or pick it apart.
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Firing squad?
Tuesday, Jun 17, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* There have been those who claim that the media is not overreacting to Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s numerous screw-ups. I’ve disagreed, and this lede from a Daily Herald story about last night’s visit to Palatine by Stroger helps prove my point…
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger faced the firing squad Monday in Palatine.
Yeah, that’ll promote sane debate.
If somebody wrote a comment like that here I might call the cops.
* Now, there is no denying that Stroger is a screw-up. And there’s no denying that his tax hike will cause pain. But some of this rhetoric is just goofy…
“No taxation without representation,” said Nancy Golemba. “I don’t feel Cook County represents me. It represents Chicago.”
Whether you “feel” you’re being represented or not, you are. The handful of partisan leftist Democats who talked about emigrating to Canada after George W. Bush was reelected felt the same way as Ms. Golemba. But they were wrong and so is she.
* They’re also being played…
State Rep. Suzie Bassi and State Sen. Matt Murphy walked away encouraged their proposed bill that would make it easier for municipalities to secede from the county gained momentum after Stroger said he wouldn’t oppose secession because it’s a local issue.
Yeah, that’ll happen. Sen. Murphy, who’s an able freshman legislator, is a Tier One target this year. He’s using this issue to get back to Springfield so he can reintroduce legislation that won’t go anywhere.
* Stroger, for his part, was apparently calm and cool in the face of the local “firing squad”…
Stroger, who remained unflappable, said “people don’t trust politicians . . . and that’s they way this job works.”
He also said people near a county or state line sometimes get pinched by a sales tax increase.
“To be honest with you, that’s part of being in a large government,” he said. “There are going to be areas that are harder hit than others.”
* But, as I’ve said many times before, he brings much of this scorn on himself…
On nepotism in hiring practices:
“It’s simply not true,” he said, taking shots at media coverage criticizing him for giving friends and family members jobs.
His cousin, Donna Dunnings, the county’s chief financial officer, was among those in attendance. And he cited Carmen Triche-Colvin, wife of Stroger’s friend, state Rep. Mario Colvin.
“These are two highly qualified women who I’m proud to have serve in my administration,” Stroger said, adding they look out for his best interests, which coincide with Cook County’s best interests.
But when Stroger introduced Dr. Steven Martin, chief operating officer for the department of public health, he didn’t mention Martin is his brother-in-law.
Good grief.
Anyway, try not to let your anger carry you away in comments. Hostile “drive-by” comments will, as always, be deleted.
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