The American Red Cross said on Monday that its Disaster Relief Fund is wiped out and it’s being forced to borrow money to help flood victims throughout the Midwest.
Jeff Towers, the organization’s chief development officer, said the balance for domestic disaster relief efforts is zero. He said the American Red Cross would borrow to keep workers and volunteers in the field helping flood victims.
Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich today added Jersey and Winnebago counties to a state disaster declaration to help those areas respond to and recover from recent severe storms and the threat of flooding. Since Wednesday, the Governor has declared 17 counties state disaster areas. The Governor today also activated an additional 200 Illinois National Guard members to be deployed to Quincy by tomorrow, bringing the total to 700 members.
The Soldiers and Airmen are expected to fill 500,000 sandbags today as they help fortify levees along a 15-mile stretch on their side of the swollen Mississippi near Quincy, according to the Associated Press.
Amtrak is temporarily canceling some trains along its St. Louis-to-Chicago corridor and modifying the schedule of others to accommodate track repairs in Central Illinois.
About 100 miles up the Mississippi from Quincy, some levees have already ruptured and water is as much as 5 feet deep. The National Weather Service expects the river to crest there Tuesday, about 11 feet over flood stage.
About 100 miles downriver, evacuations are under way in Grafton, Illinois.
The worst flooding in the U.S. Midwest in 15 years sent fresh shocks to global markets and consumers as corn prices hit record highs on fears of crop losses in the heart of the world’s top grain exporter.
The price of corn at the Chicago Board of Trade soared above $8 a bushel for the first time as relentless rains and overflowing rivers raised fears that Midwest farmers will not be able to grow much of anything on as many as 5 million acres
While corn prices have moved sharply higher as production expectations were scaled back, it is still not clear how much rationing will be required during the 2008-09 marketing year, said a University of Illinois Extension marketing specialist. […]
Good added that a fair amount of crop loss and demand rationing are already priced into the corn market with December 2008 futures approaching $8.
“The worst of the crop stress may have passed and more favorable growing conditions are forecast,” he said. “Corn prices may now moderate somewhat, at least until more is known about crop size.”
* Severe storms force Illinois troops to evacuate Arkansas training site: Eight Illinois National Guard soldiers were injured Sunday night when a severe thunderstorm caused a tent to collapse at a forward operating base at Fort Chaffee, Ark.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich suggested Friday he would sign a new state budget set to take effect July 1 after making substantial cuts to account for an estimated $2 billion hole left by lawmakers in the proposal.
What the governor is really suggesting here is that he will use the threat of reduction and item vetoes to get what he wants: revenue streams.
In a signal that he would sign it, the administration released letters sent to agency directors Friday advising them to prepare for significant cuts in what they expected to receive. Among the items Blagojevich suggested were a hiring freeze, stopping all “non-essential” state spending and ending programs that “do not address key priorities of the state.”
That letter wasn’t an indication that he would sign the bills. It was an indication that he plans to threaten deliberately scary cuts to next year’s budget so he doesn’t have to make the cuts. I’m thinking he’ll have to make the cuts anyway, however.
“I haven’t decided what I’m ultimately going to do with the budget,” Blagojevich said.
What he’s gonna do is threaten huge cuts and hope the interest groups, vendors and contractors put pressure on House Democrats, so that they in turn will force Speaker Michael Madigan to allow floor votes on the pension obligation bond and the special funds skims. Even if Madigan does so, several House GOP votes will be needed to pass the bills, and those votes aren’t yet there.
State Sen. Debbie Halvorson is concerned a new program to help homeless veterans could fall victim to the state budget crisis.
“I’m very worried about the governor cutting that money right out of the budget,” the Democrat from Crete said. “Every day, George W. Bush is creating more and more war veterans. We have an obligation to help these returning veterans.” […]
“We are going to have to make some incredibly difficult decisions in the coming weeks. Any program that is not one of the governor’s key priorities is vulnerable,” said Kelley Quinn, a spokeswoman for the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget.
She added those priorities are health care and education.
Quinn declined to comment on whether the homeless veterans program is vulnerable.
In a letter to a judge publicized last week, political fund-raiser Tony Rezko said “overzealous” prosecutors pressured him to tell them “the wrong things” about presidential hopeful Barack Obama.
But that letter appears to be misleading, given that Rezko never submitted to an interview with federal prosecutors or any federal investigators, sources said.
Rezko’s lawyer, Joseph Duffy, said Rezko never sat down for an interview and was never pressured directly, or indirectly, through Duffy, to talk about Obama, Gov. Blagojevich — or anyone else. […]
“Your honor, the prosecutors have been overzealous in pursuing a crime that never happened,” Rezko said. “They are pressuring me to tell them the wrong things that I supposedly know about Gov. Blagojevich and Senator Barack Obama.”
Sources say Rezko believed he was put in jail just before his trial as a tactic to get him to flip.
Your Honor, the prosecutors have been overzealous in pursuing a crime that never happened. They are pressuring me to tell them the “wrong” things that I supposedly know about Governor Blagojevich and Senator Obama.
Rezko also claimed that the feds had “supoenaed and interviewed hundreds of people in my life.” If Rezko is telling the truth - and that may be a big “if” - then perhaps the pressure was applied to those people.
* Somebody over at DKos posted the other day about potential replacements for US Sen. Barack Obama if he is elected president. It was a pretty good list, but some were more than a little ridiculous (Speaker Madigan?).
Jan Schakowsky “won” the poll included in the post, so I thought we should do our own voting here. I’ve deleted some of the DKos poster’s selections and added a few of my own.
Keep in mind that this poll is about who should replace Obama if he’s elected preznit, not who will be named by the governor.
Use comments to explain your vote and/or add more names to the list that I have overlooked. We’ll hold a runoff election later this week. Also, be honest and only vote once. It’s difficult to get around the poll’s safeguards but not impossible, so have a little integrity…
…Adding… There are lots of write-in votes for Secretary of State Jesse White. Secretary White says he doesn’t want the job and won’t accept it, so that’s why he was left off the list. Move along, please. Thanks.
* The Illinois Republican Party’s new platform has a couple of interesting planks…
We call on the Governor and the General Assembly to balance the state budget and provide for a responsible capital development program without resorting to the expansion of gambling, which harms Illinois’ families and our state’s business climate and presents costly challenges for both law enforcement and social service agencies.
Both Republican legislative leaders, Frank Watson and Tom Cross, support gambling expansion to help fund the capital construction plan.
* And then there’s this…
We call on the Governor and the General Assembly to cease diversion of dedicated funds – such as the road fund – to other purposes.
Skimming dedicated funds (not the Road Fund, but others) is one of the two revenue streams that Gov. Blagojevich wants to use to patch the gaping budget hole. The Senate has already passed it, but the bill stalled in the House. The House Republicans have said they are against the fund skims, but without HGOP votes the skims can’t be approved.
I’m curious to see if you think the most senior Republican leaders in Illinois should follow their own party’s platform.
* This is one of the worst editorials I’ve ever seen in the Tribune, and that’s really saying something…
In a better world, Illinoisans would be deciding on Nov. 4 whether to add a recall provision to their state constitution. There are many reasons to give people the power to fire the public officials they employ. The most urgent reason, of course, is that voters shouldn’t have to wait until 2011 to be rid of an inept governor. But the Illinois Senate this year refused to allow citizens the right to enact or reject a recall provision.
So conversation has turned to impeachment, with some lawmakers plotting the ouster of Gov. Rod Blagojevich—something voters have told pollsters they desire. […]
This page has strongly supported adding a recall provision to the state constitution. If voters had agreed, we then would have urged them to recall Blagojevich.
* The Trib goes on and on about the Madigan memo, then decrees that the ivory-towered editorial board does not advocate for Blagojevich’s impeachment and trial…
Recall is a political tool, an expression of the people’s wish to rescind their own, previous decision. By contrast, legislative impeachment and trial of an official—at the federal level and in many states—usually are devices for weighing accusations of crime. […]
Federal investigators and prosecutors are aggressively exploring whether anyone at the highest level of state government broke corruption laws. We trust that this scrutiny will unearth which crimes, if any, demand consequences in the courts and the Federal Bureau of Prisons—as it already has for Blagojevich fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko.
But what about that “voters shouldn’t have to wait until 2011 to be rid of an inept governor” line? Is that no longer operative? Why even include it in paragraph 1 if you say you don’t want him removed in paragraph 14?
One might even argue that it would be preferable for the state to deal with its own problem via Constitutional means, rather than outsource the ouster of its own governor to federal authorities. What’s so wrong with the people’s elected representatives making the decision?
There is already enough evidence for the House to consider, from the trial records, to the guilty please of those associated with the governor that there would be no need for the House to conducts its own criminal investigation.
Furthermore, besides the criminal problems besetting his administration, the House may want to consider whether or not he has violated his oath of office in promising to uphold the constitution and whether or not he is derelict in his duties and not doing the work required of a governor.
The impeachment process is completely separate from the processes used by the criminal justice system. The impeachment and conviction of a constitutional officer does not preclude the possibility that that individual could be liable for prosecution by state or federal authorities.
* And then the Tribune goes truly weak-kneed…
Illinois legislators are free to disagree with that and launch impeachment proceedings. As that absence of designated reasons for impeachment and trial in our state’s constitution attests, lawmakers can remove a governor for any act or omission on his part.
Awww. Thanks, Mother Tribune. You’re such a kind, benevolent dictator of thought.
“We shouldn’t impeach him because we should let Patrick Fitzgerald do our dirty work for us, but you’re free to do whatever you want.”
So sweet of you to grant permission.
* And that brings us to the most hypocritical section…
Whether they oust Blagojevich or continue his reign, legislators ultimately can be held accountable by their constituents.
“We’re against impeachment, because the people ought to decide via recall not legislators, but elected legislators are free to go ahead and do it if they want. And, oh, by the way, voters may hold it against elected legislators if they don’t impeach the governor, and rightly so.”
What an absolutely cowardly and hypocritical editorial. It’s even worse than the Tribune’s original recall editorial, which didn’t actually take a stand on the issue. It wasn’t until after the Tribune editorial writers saw the reaction to their wimpy little non-statement that they decided to finally take a position in favor of changing the Constitution to oust a lousy governor.
If you’re for impeachment, fine. If you’re against it, fine. If you’re undecided, that’s fine, too. But don’t insist that impeachment not be pursued because the decision ought to be in the hands of voters who would have to change the Constitution instead of elected officials, and then say that if elected officials impeach the governor then that would probably be OK, and if they don’t then voters have the right to take out their anger on them.
It looks to me like the Tribune has a closely divided editorial board. So why half-jump on board now? Bizarre.
* I don’t recall ever hearing about this, but the Republicans now have an avenue to directly connect presidential candidate Barack Obama to our embattled, investigated, unpopular and all but humiliated Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Congresscritter Rahm Emanuel says Obama helped get Blagojevich elected…
“I’ve known [Obama] a long time. We used to sit around helping our governor get elected, help those strategy meetings, stuff like that.”
I’m assuming that since Emanuel said “elected,” he meant 2002, before it was widely known that Blagojevich had some seriously shady pals. Even so, Obama can now be tied to the Blagojevich shipwreck. Not good.
* Emanuel did provide a great insight elsewhere in that article…
I asked him about the phrase “Chicago-style politics,” ubiquitous in profiles of both him and Obama.
Chicago-style politics? Well, first of all, politics is our all-season sport… People always know somebody or someway or somehow to make it into politics, it’s not some distant thing. Look at today, just pick up the paper. The Speaker of the House, who’s a Democrat, is the one encouraging people to file articles of impeachment against the governor, who’s a Democrat. That usually how we do it?” He laughs. “So that’s Chicago-style politics. A lot of elbows, a lot of tackling.”
The annual banquet of Association of Indians in America (AIA) held last week at Meadows Club in Rolling Meadows notched many firsts this time and in no small measure it was reflective of a vibrant and imaginative leadership of its newly elect AIA Executive team headed by Naren Patel.
It was for the first time that one of the most powerful Illinois Politicians who also happens to be the longest serving House Speaker, Mike Madigan decided to attend the event as the Chief Guest.
Madigan so far had never come to any function organized by ethnic Indian organization and his present at AIA Banquet at the behest of Naren Patel was a pleasant surprise to many.
Up until now, Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been the star at these sorts of events. For years, Blagojevich has aggressively pursued Indian-American campaign financial support. This Madigan visit makes me wonder what he’s up to. Lisa?
* One of the biggest problems with Gov. Rod Blagojevich, like George Ryan before him, is that he mixed fundraising with policy and appointments/contracts. This column on Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, however, completely missed that very important point…
And [Giannoulias] has improved the state’s Bright Start college savings program while extracting an additional $3.5 million from the portfolio manager, Oppenheimer Funds, to be devoted to college scholarships. He tapped two financial gurus - Jose Santillan of LaSalle Bank and Albert Grace Jr. of Loop Capital - to advise his office on revamping Bright Start.
But here is where I get nervous. Three years ago, a statewide office-holder working with the private sector to improve state finances might have sounded like an innovative model.
After the Rezko and Kelly indictments, however, when the shade has been lifted on how outsiders landed powerful seats in state government and used them for their personal benefit, I am leery of voluntary advice-givers, charitable as they may be.
Giannoulias assured us his advisers were not compensated in any way and served as a goodwill gesture to the newly-minted treasurer.
Sincere? Yes. Naive? Yes.
* I checked the State Board of Elections’ website and found no contributions from Santillan, Grace and their respective employers. I called Giannoulias about this yesterday and he said that neither man has ever helped him raise money.
“Voluntary advice-givers” are important to politicians. And Giannoulias’ work with people from the financial sector isn’t particularly a new thing. It’s extremely difficult to work with or regulate the private sector if you don’t regularly talk to people in the private sector.
The problem arises when those “advice-givers” are also raising big bucks for politicians’ campaign funds. Lots of trouble arises from that, as Blagojevich and Ryan can most certainly attest.
Since that doesn’t appear to be the case with Santillan and Grace, I don’t see the problem. And if the Rezko fallout means we are now to forbid politicians from seeking advice and help from the private sector, we’re gonna find ourselves in big trouble very soon.
* Related…
* Rich Miller: About that impeachment memo: One of the biggest reasons why Republicans suffered so much in the wake of Gov. George Ryan’s humiliation was they never really abandoned the man. Sticking by him was probably the honorable thing to do, and he was certainly a legislators’ governor. But the public loathed him, and the Republicans have paid a high price for their loyalty.
The same fate is befalling the national Republicans over their refusal to abandon President Bush, the most unpopular president in recorded polling history.
So it makes perfect political sense for the Democratic speaker and state party chairman to dump on the Democratic governor. The more the public believes Blagojevich is an unfortunate abnormality and not the party’s standard-bearer, the less impact his troubles may have on Democratic candidates this fall…
The Democrats’ impeachment talking points memo itself, however, is a bloody mess.
“He was one of those creative figures of the 1960s who broke the mold and paved the way for a younger generation to follow,” said John Zukowsky, former chief architecture curator at the Art Institute of Chicago and now chief curator of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City.
RealtyTrac Inc., a marketplace for foreclosed properties, said Cook County foreclosures rose 57 percent in May compared with the same month a year ago.
“We’re not canceling the project here. We believe this project has a great future,” Durbin said. “We’re hopeful a new administration, which will be in place in just a few months, will keep this ball rolling forward on this project.”
The get back: Sneed hears Ald. Mell is co-hosting a fund-raiser for his fishing buddy and good pal state Rep. Jack Franks on June 23 at Sullivan’s Steakhouse, where Franks is expected to announce plans to run for governor!
“You ought to admit it. It was a political decision, a retribution against the local senator and representatives,” Bedore told David Vaught, deputy director of property management for the Department of Central Management Services, at a meeting last week.
“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.
Obama, who began his day campaigning in Pennsylvania, flew into Quincy Regional Airport a little after 2 p.m. and took a motorcade to the Oakley-Lindsay Center. He was briefed by local and county officials before walking out the southeast door at about 2:40.
Flanked by state Sen. John Sullivan and Quincy Mayor John Spring, Obama strode to the parking lot to greet those working outside. Dressed in blue jeans and a blue shirt, he put on a pair of gloves and began filling sandbags.
Obama filled more than 20 bags with the help of Spring and Sullivan, and then Muldoon, as he talked with workers and members of the local and national media that surrounded him. […]
Obama then headed inside the Oakley-Lindsay Center, where about 500 people were patiently waiting in front of huge piles of sand. A huge roar erupted when he walked through the large garage door and began shaking hands.
The chant “Yes we can” erupted minutes after he walked into the building.[…]
At about 3:15, he posed for several photos and finally was whisked away by motorcade to the airport.
Senator Barack Obama plans on touring the Illinois community of Quincy to see flooded areas along the Mississippi River for himself.
The Democratic presidential candidate is scheduled to visit the area Saturday afternoon to tour the region and help fill sandbags.
* 12:05 pm - Levee breaks in and near the Mississippi River town of Keithsburg, IL…
Illinois emergency authorities said a levee along the Mississippi River in far western Illinois burst Saturday and voluntary evacuations were under way in the small community of Keithsburg.
Officials with the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department said the Pope Creek Levee burst around 8:45 a.m.
Keithsburg, a community of 700 residents, sits along the Mississippi River about 35 miles southwest of Moline. It is located across the river from Iowa, where massive floods have swamped towns and were being blamed for at least two deaths.
“The levee broke in two places,” said Alderman George Askew, 76, who has been in Keithsburg since 1943. “We’re getting under water.”
* This info is from a Gov. Blagojevich press release…
The American Red Cross has established shelters for flood victims at the Keithsburg Christian Church, 2002 Main Street in Keithsburg, Eliza Community Center in Eliza, and the Mediapolis Elementary School, 725 Northfield, Mediapolis, Iowa.
On Friday, the Governor declared seven counties along the Mississippi River as state disaster areas, including Adams, Calhoun, Hancock, Henderson, Mercer, Pike and Rock Island counties allowing the state to expedite assistance to help with the flood fight in those areas along the Mississippi River. The state disaster declaration makes available a wide variety of state resources that can help affected communities respond and recover from flooding.
Gov. Blagojevich also activated 200 troops from the Illinois National Guard to help communities that are threatened by rising floodwaters.
The Governor also sent a letter Friday to President Bush requesting an expedited federal major disaster declaration. If granted, the declaration will make available potable water, generators, technical assistance for debris removal and other resources that may be determined necessary as flooding progresses.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich visited Quincy Friday, praising those filling sandbags and pledging to help them flight the flood.
“You see the best of people” during a disaster, Blagojevich said during a visit to the Oakley-Lindsay Center, where about 600 volunteers had filled more than 60,000 sandbags between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Quincy Mayor John Spring told Blagojevich that river crest predictions have reached 32 feet by the end of next week, which would nearly match the record level of 1993.
As of 10 p.m. Friday, a new report had the river cresting at 32.2 foot –matching the record set in 1993.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich toured portions of Lawrence County on Friday afternoon that were affected by recent flooding before announcing during a press conference, “I’m hopeful and optimistic that we’ll overcome this.”
In Northern Illinois, the Rock River in Winnebago County had reached flood stage at 12.5 feet. It was expected to reach its crest of 15.2 feet on Monday and begin falling back.
“We are working for the worst, planning for the worst, but hoping for the best,” said Dennis Lolli, head of the county’s Emergency Services and Disaster Agency. “We are not anticipating any huge troubles.”
Officials were also preparing for the Fox River to rise further with heavy rain forecast for Thursday afternoon.
With an estimated 100 homes already damaged by floodwaters along the Fox River and Chain O’ Lakes near Antioch—and more flooding forecast for early next week—officials on Friday issued a disaster declaration for northwest Lake County.
* Related…
* Parts of waterlogged Midwest getting a break - but Indiana, southern Illinois and Michigan are next in line for the rains (the bad news). Those areas, too, desperately want dry weather.
* NY Times: “Right now, we can’t see anything as devastating as 1993 along the Mississippi, but we’re gearing up,” said Ron Fournier, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers’ district in the central Midwest, which just ordered three million more sandbags, 25 large pumps and a vast array of extra supplies. “The hard part is as simple as not knowing how much rain we’ll get,” Mr. Fournier said. “Beyond what we saw 24 hours ago, and what we predict in the next 24 hours, we just don’t know what’s coming. We want the rain to stop.”
