Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » 2008

Reader comments closed for the holiday weekend

Thursday, Jul 3, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I hope everybody has a safe, fun and happy Independence Day weekend. We’re shutting down until Monday, but Illinoize will still be up and running, and so will the recently revamped InsiderzExchange. Go buy an ad.

* If you want to see some fireworks, click here. Heh.

* And now your patriotic moment of Zen…

As I was walkin’ I saw a sign there
And that sign said No Trespassin’
But on the other side it didn’t say nothin’
Now that side was made for you and me

Comments Off

Must-hear audio

Thursday, Jul 3, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* As noted below, the governor claimed today that he wasn’t under federal investigation and engaged in a contentious back and forth with reporters. Chicago Public Radio has the audio. You must listen to this. Here’s the station’s intro to the raw audio…

Illinois Governor Blagojevich’s press conference on gas pump inspections disintegrated into a contentious confrontation with reporters asking about the on-going federal investigation of state government. The governor denied being a target.

* The fun stuff begins at about the 16 minute mark. The first question out of the box was about how Speaker Madigan’s spokesman suggested the governor was a sociopath.

* It really gets fun at the 21 minute mark. “Your questions are ridiculous!” he said. He called the Tribune “dishonest.”

He was asked if he was a target at least a couple dozen times. “I’m probably a target of Mike Madigan’s desire to keep us from passing a jobs bill and having a budget that’s balanced that helps people. If I’m a target, that’s it.”

“I’m not going to reward dishonest reporters who ask dishonest questions.”

* The same governor who vetoed all CeaseFire funding out of the state budget last year said this to reporters today: “I’m a strong supporter of CeaseFire and I believe in CeaseFire.” Oy.

* The governor claimed that two House members with city jobs told him they were worried they would lose their jobs if they voted for the capital budget.

* Phil Rogers asked: Why is it dishonest to ask you if you have been told you are a target of this investigation?

Gov. Blagojevich: “The answer is I am not, and it’s a ridiculous question and you know it’s a ridiculous question because if you carefully look at the things that have happened and you’re not just interested in sensationalizing something so you can do your big news story you wouldn’t even bother asking a question like that.”

Carlos Hernandez Gomez pointed out right afterwards: “But governor, a subject is different, a subject is anybody that is not a target.”

* Afterwards, I’m told, the governor took a TV reporter aside and berated him for not reporting on the corruption allegations about Mayor Daley and Speaker Madigan. That’ll go over well.

The governor also reportedly poked the reporter’s chest quite often during the exchange. Dignified.

* Quote of the week: “Let me tell you something, I know the truth of things and I have nothing to fear but the truth, OK?” - Rod Blagojevich at the 22:09 mark. [Thanks to a commenter.]

* Chicago Public Radio now has a story up. Go check it out. ABC7 will have raw video on its site after 5 o’clock today. Watch for Ben Bradley’s story on that site as well. He was the one confronted and poked in the chest by Blagojevich after the press bang.

* Carlos Hernandez Gomez has a blog entry on the subject entitled “I’m not a crook.”

47 Comments

This just in… *** Ad firms sign up for anti Con-Con TV blitz *** Guv denies he’s under investigation ***

Thursday, Jul 3, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* 12:13 pm - The House has scheduled a Committee of the Whole for next Wednesday. In other words, another “fair trial before the hanging”…

The Illinois House will schedule a Committee of the Whole on Wednesday, July 9 in order to have a full discussion on all elements of the FY09 budget. The budget is the subject of the two day special session. set to begin at 1 p.m. on Wednesday. The committee will start about 1:30 p. m. The panels could run into Thursday.

A series of panels will be convened to review each issue.
The panels will be:
Capital Appropriations I – Proponents
Capital Appropriations II - Opponents
Gaming I – Proponents
Gaming II – Opponents
Lease of the Lottery I – Proponents
Lease of the Lottery II – Opponents
Pension Obligation Bonds I – Proponents
Pension Obligation Bonds II – Opponents
Fund Sweeps I – Proponents
Fund Sweeps II - Opponents

The list of bills to be reviewed can be found at this link.

* 12:46 pm - Gov. Blagojevich was on the Don & Roma show again this morning. Listen at this link. Kevin worked up a partial transcript…

Don: Governor there was the recent shakedown conviction of Tony Rezko, a friend of yours, and I know that we couldn’t discuss all of those things while the trial was under way. Now what I would like to get from you is some kind of assurance, not only to me, but to the voters of Illinois, that you’re not going to get indicted before the next election.

Governor: Well, I always try to do things the right way, and when you’re the Governor of Illinois or the Mayor of Chicago, there are going to be people who either work for you or people who are supporters of yours that may not always do things the right way.

And when it comes to Tony for example, who has been very helpful to me, he is a friend. He has been helpful to Barack Obama, he has been helpful to Lisa Madigan, he has been helpful to Mike Madigan, he’s been helpful to Pat Quinn.

You know we all assume that, you know, what his activities are when it comes to his own business and personal relationships are honest and legitimate.

In this particular case it was found that he did some things wrong, in his personal activities. Anything related to any fundraising with regard to me were not guilties. And he did send a letter to the judge where he was very specific and clear, and said that he was never involved in any wrong doing with me or with Barack Obama. And I don’t know what more I can say other than I do things right, and I’m very sad for him personally, and that I pray for him and his family and his children. But sometimes people do things that aren’t right, and they have to meet their responsibilities.

But speaking for me, knowing what I do, I do things right and honest. So I just get up every day and keep trying to do the best I can for people, and let the pundits and all theseothers keep trying to spin things and twist things much bigger than they really are.

Notice he didn’t answer the indictment question. More…

Don: Well I want to thank you Governor. Mike Madigan hasn’t had the guts to come on the show and explain what he’s about. We really appreciate you joining us.

Governor: Well let me just say this, if you ever get him on the show, make him pledge to you that he is not going to raise your income taxes after the election or after January 1st.

*** 12:56 pm *** You can bet these people are gonna run some scaaaarrryyyy and memorable TV ads designed to stampede the herd…

A pair of media consultants that helped the Chicago Children’s Museum win City Council permission to move to Grant Park is being hired by a business group to lead its public efforts against a proposed state constitutional convention.

ASK Public Strategies, a firm headed by Obama campaign senior consultant David Axelrod, and the Chicago office of Hill & Knowlton will head a projected $2-million to $3-million media and advertising campaign planned by the Alliance to Protect the Illinois Constitution.

“We haven’t signed the contract, but they’re going to be the choice,” said Gregory W. Baise, a principal in the alliance and the head of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Assn.

Axelrod, apparently, only believes in “Change” when it comes to the Obama slogan. When it comes to Illinois, the motto is: “There will be no change.”

The biz groups don’t raise a huge amount of money in Illinois, so some might be coming from out of state. Not sure if the union dough is included in this total.

…Adding… The unions are involved in this group.

*** 1:17 pm *** The governor who has repeatedly denied that he is Public Official A is now denying that he’s under investigation…

Governor Rod Blagojevich says he is not under federal investigation as part of a probe into political corruption in Illinois.

Blagojevich called it “ridiculous” to ask if he’s a target of the corruption probe that brought down one of his top donors and political supporters.

His comments came during a tense exchange with reporters following an unrelated news conference.

Hopefully, we can get some audio. I’ll check around.

36 Comments

Question of the day

Thursday, Jul 3, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Every now and then, our lovable but supremely pro-Blagojevich commenter known as “Bill” overdoses on the Kool-Aid and goes off message. Like today, for instance…

OK, Rod, its not funny anymore so just knock it off.

Sabotaging House candidates in YOUR OWN PARTY is going too far. Do whatever you want with the budget and talk bad about Madigan all you want but keep your nose out of the House elections, not that you could make any difference anyway.

I called Bill last night and teased him that he should come up with a new screen name for those moments when he leaves the reservation. I suggested, perhaps, a Prince-like “The commenter formerly known as ‘Bill’” name. My intern, Kevin, thought we could even give him a Princeian symbol. Perhaps a backwards “B”?

* The question: What screen name should Bill use on days when he’s fed up with our governor? Any ideas for a symbol? Explain. Have fun. And try to be nice to the guy.

86 Comments

Political roundup

Thursday, Jul 3, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Kristen McQueary talked to former Gov. Jim Edgar about what would happen if AG Lisa Madigan was elected governor and Mike Madigan stayed on as House Speaker…

“There certainly are no legal problems. From a governor’s point of view, it would be nice to have the speaker always on your side,” former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar said Wednesday from his home in Colorado. “It could be a huge advantage. If they disagreed with each other, they could work it out privately, and it might work well. You wouldn’t have a standoff between the speaker and the governor”. […]

Unless the speaker got favorable treatment - such as a state building erected in his district and named for him - the two roles don’t create an inherent conflict, Edgar said. And how would the Madigans’ relationship differ from the pact between Blagojevich and Senate President Emil Jones, whose pet projects have gotten every green light?

That was a question Edgar asked. I didn’t have an answer.

The public may or may not go for it. We had pretty much the same debate in 2002 and none of those horror stories ever materialized. Still, the governor is a much higher office than attorney general, so one family controlling the executive and half the legislative branch will certainly cause consternation.

Even so, if I was speaker and my kid wanted to be governor, I’d never step aside unless I knew for sure that it would cause her to lose the election. Why leave her to the wolves?

* While part of this column is off the mark, the section on a possible Bill Daley gubernatorial bid accurately reflects what the Daley people are saying behind the scenes right now…

At a time when Blagojevich is beset by almost-daily revelations of mendacity, incompetence, and corruption, Bill Daley is the perfect anti-Blagojevich: He doesn’t need the job, as he is making millions in the private sector; he’ll work with his brother, Chicago Mayor Rich Daley, to make sure that city problems get solved; he won’t pick fights with Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan; and he won’t govern by “triangulation,” like Blagojevich, grandstanding and finding a Clintonesque “third way,” so as to differentiate himself from Madigan.

He’s positioning himself as a talented manager with no higher ambitions. It’s not a bad argument.

* And, finally, the death was months ago, but the funeral was this week…

Once the most powerful and feared patronage army in Mayor Richard Daley’s political organization, the scandal-plagued Hispanic Democratic Organization is now officially extinct.

The group, known in political circles as HDO, filed paperwork Tuesday closing its campaign committee, state records show.

27 Comments

All about Madigan

Thursday, Jul 3, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* If you want to know how the rest of the year is going to go, just check out this Gov. Blagojevich quote that John Patterson pulled from yesterday’s press conference…

“I think there’s great cause to be concerned. If Speaker Madigan and the House leadership pick up a veto-proof majority … then they’ll be in a position to easily override a veto.”

As Patterson notes, “That sounds an awful lot like the Democratic governor is urging voters to shun Democrats this fall so his intraparty rival – Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan — doesn’t get any stronger.”

The House GOP has positioned itself much closer to Blagojevich lately, and the governor has returned the favor by bashing Madigan at every opportunity. Yesterday was the first time, however, that Blagojevich openly fretted that House Republican Leader Tom Cross might wind up in a veto-proof minority.

* The Bond Buyer was one of the only “mainstream” media sources which caught this huge budget story, albeit buried down in the piece…

Yesterday, the governor backed off his push for the pension bond issue and did not provide another idea for how to replace the $400 million it would have saved in the fiscal 2009 budget.

Why did he do that? One reason is that the House Republicans don’t want to vote for it.

* Another way the governor has been trying to hurt House Democratic chances this November is by claiming there’s a “secret” plan to raise income taxes after the election…

An after-Halloween trick could be up Mike Madigan’s sleeve. Governor Blagojevich is suggesting the speaker of the Illinois House is secretly pushing for an increase in the income tax, sales tax, or both after the November election.

The problem with this logic, of course, is that Senate President Emil Jones has said openly this year that he, too, supports an income tax hike and a post-election vote on that topic is already planned for the Senate. But this is about Madigan, not the issue. It’s never about the issue.

* Next week’s special session isn’t about the budget. It’s about blaming Madigan…

“The Senate took the hard votes in order to fund the budget,” said Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, in a statement. “The House should follow through and pass these measures. This can all be handled in a day.”

That’s true. The Senate did take some tough votes. But the Senate also refused to pass two other House-approved alternative budgets that didn’t have such gaping holes. And they won’t next week, either. Why? Because this isn’t about the budget. It’s about Madigan. It’s a concept that the State Journal-Register completely fails to grasp in today’s editorial.

* Expect the House’s responses to be more along these lines…

On Wednesday, Madigan spokesman Steve Brown responded to the governor’s call for a special session by suggesting reporters look up the definition of “sociopath.”

Blagojevich spokeswoman Katie Ridgway offered a quick response.

“He’s not a sociopath,” she said of her boss.

Nixon said he wasn’t a crook. Blagojevich says he’s not a sociopath. Wonderful.

…Adding… Just for kicks, take a look at this description of a sociopath. Sound familiar?

* Related…

* Special session called over state budget impasse

* Ill. lawmakers called to special session

* Blagojevich Calls Special Session of Legislature

* Governor calls special session on budget

* It’s going to be close

* Budget Disputes Continue

* Amid funding woes, school leaders look to cut budget

* Illinois Budget Action Alert

* Springfield’s Stalemate A Hostile Environment

* Blago halts construction because of poor wording

52 Comments

Arrogance and incompetence

Thursday, Jul 3, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Rep. Jack Franks’ call for an impeachment investigation yesterday was more than a little breathless and over the top, but the administration had an absolutely ridiculous response…

But the Blagojevich administration responded with a 2003 memo that Franks sent to a personnel official listing a dozen people he’d like to see get state jobs or be appointed to state boards and commissions.

The list includes family and key players within the McHenry County Democratic Party.

“This memo shows, two months into the administration, he (Franks) was playing the politics of insider baseball - the hypocrisy to go out and talk about impeachment,” said Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero.

* The governor’s office was requesting hiring lists from Democrats back then. Franks sent in his list. Pretty simple. And how did it go for him?

Franks said three of the 12 were appointed to posts or got a job, including his father, who was named to an unpaid post on the Illinois Courts Commission. Franks’ father is the former president of the Illinois State Bar Association and Rep. Franks said he’s “eminently qualified.”

* Guerrero was right on top of that Jack Franks investigation. Too bad the administration has such trouble managing non-payback items such as following the law….

The Illinois Department of Corrections missed a deadline Wednesday to outline its plan to close Pontiac Correctional Center.

The agency, which has threatened to close the maximum-security facility and move 1,600 inmates to a new, unused prison in Thomson, asked a legislative panel for a two-week extension to compile the report.

It wasn’t clear Wednesday whether lawmakers would go along with the delay, which the department blamed on the state’s lingering budget impasse.

Let’s see, they have enough staff to pull Franks’ files, but not enough to outline a plan to close a prison that was announced months ago? Priorities, people. Priorities.

* Meanwhile, the press office is confused again…

The Blagojevich administration, not known for straight answers, is at it again.

It seemed like a simple question — if the Illinois Department of Transportation’s division of traffic safety moves to Harrisburg as proposed, how many division employees will still be based in Springfield?

But a couple of people who speak for the state gave what seemed to be less-than-complete answers Wednesday.

Bernie asked whether management would be transferred with the staff. We were told weeks ago that management would stay in Springfield, but now nobody’s all that sure.

Typical.

* Related…

* New Effort To Impeach Blagojevich

* Legislative special session sparks call for study to impeach Blagojevich

* Shimkus opposed to moving IDOT jobs from Springfield

* Commission gets info on IDOT move — won’t release it yet

25 Comments

Morning Shorts

Thursday, Jul 3, 2008 - Posted by Kevin Fanning

* Are there 700,000 more people in poverty in Illinois?

* Chicago’s working poor struggle to get enough to eat, study shows

* Judge tosses suit challenging city cell phone driving ban

* Union League Club of Chicago/ University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs to Sponsor Debate on “Whether an Illinois Constitutional Convention Should Be Called?”

* CTA rail safety questioned in RTA study

* CTA driver gives us an inside look at bus bunching

* CeaseFire Responds to South Shore Murders

But Hardiman says state budget cuts have hurt CeaseFire’s ability to do its work. A spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Human Services says the state is putting $150 million into anti-violence programs. She says the state wants to spread that money out to give other anti-violence groups a chance.

* $40 Million Health Care Campaign to Launch in Illinois and Nationwide

* Media: GateHouse can’t afford to stay open on Monday anymore

* Secrets from the Rezko files

Twice, Rezko violated the home-confinement terms of his bail, formerly sealed court files show, by making “social calls” — including last September to the home of former top Cook County official Orlando Jones after Jones committed suicide.

* Clout Corner: Inside the Halls of Power

* Wacky Wednesdays won’t fly, State suggests

* Where’s Schock?

State Rep. Aaron Schock . . . where are you?

“Schock could not be reached for comment” is becoming a trend in Journal Star stories.

* Kirk, mayors urge continuation of suspended Buffalo Creek reservoir project

* Bean’s record on wiretapping consistent despite donations

4 Comments

Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax

Thursday, Jul 3, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

Comments Off

« NEWER POSTS