This just in… Part 2… Obama calls Jones
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* 4:26 pm - From Justin Dejong at the Obama campaign…
“Senator Obama called Senator Jones today to offer his strong support for the ethics reforms pending before the Illinois Senate and urged him to pass them at the earliest possible opportunity.”
* From Senate President Jones’ office.
“They did speak.”
Um, OK.
Background here.
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* 12:00 Noon - Senate GOP Leader Frank Watson calls for Attorney General Lisa Madigan to get off the sidelines and provide some guidance. From a press release…
Illinois Democrats need to take responsibility for jeopardizing the enactment of “pay-to-play” reforms, according to Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson, and join Republicans in getting the anti-corruption laws on the books. Watson is seeking a formal opinion from Attorney General Lisa Madigan to speed the constitutional questions that now surround the issue. […]
Just another week remains in what many legal and constitutional experts consider the deadline for action by the Illinois Senate. Democrat Senate President Emil Jones has refused to convene the Senate within 15 calendar days of the House of Representatives’ vote to enact House Bill 824, as required by the Constitution.
“A formal opinion from the state’s top legal officer should carry some weight with Senator Jones and Democrat Senators,” Sen. Watson said. The Attorney General has indicated in media reports that failing to act with 15 days “invites lawsuits” that put the ethics reforms at risk.
“We’d like to see that in a formal opinion, that makes the record clear,” Watson said. In his letter to the Attorney General, Watson included specific instances where the Senate has in the last month received the necessary paperwork from the House of Representatives and acted upon it promptly, in accordance with the Constitution and past practices of the chamber. “The record has already been established,” Watson said.
* In other breaking news, AFSCME won a similar lawsuit before, so it is trying again today. From a press release…
AFSCME, PRISON WORKERS, ELECTED OFFICIALS FILE SUIT TO STOP PONTIAC CLOSURE
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 31 filed suit this morning in Livingston County, seeking a court order to prevent Governor Rod Blagojevich from carrying out his threat to close the maximum-security Pontiac Correctional Center. […]
In its filing, AFSCME argues that the governor and his Department of Corrections have no authority to close the Pontiac prison, which is fully funded in the current state budget passed by the Illinois General Assembly and signed into law by Blagojevich.
“The General Assembly passed a budget and the governor signed it into law. We’re asking the court to ensure the governor follows that law, which directs the state to operate Pontiac,” AFSCME director Bayer said. […]
The complaint notes that closing the facility would result in the loss of some 600 jobs—causing irreparable harm to employees and their families—while making the dangerously overcrowded Illinois prison system even less safe. […]
AFSCME prevailed with a similar complaint in 2002 when it won a court order barring then-Governor George Ryan’s planned closure of the Vienna Correctional Center.
“AFSCME took legal action to make certain that George Ryan respected the budget process, followed the will of the General Assembly, and couldn’t just close a facility on a whim,” Bayer said. “We’re going to hold Rod Blagojevich to the same standard. He’s not above the law.”
Today’s action by the union comes a day after the state legislature’s bipartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability voted 9-0 to reject the Pontiac closure plan. COGFA will release a full written report detailing its recommendation by Sept. 24.
The governor’s office hadn’t yet seen the lawsuit so couldn’t comment.
* Meanwhile, I told subscribers a bit about this yesterday…
Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn is calling on Secretary of State Jesse White to redraft the language of this year’s Con-Con ballot question because it is “biased” and therefore “illegal,” his legal adviser said yesterday.
Quinn, a vocal proponent of convening a constitutional convention in 2010, filed an administrative petition with White yesterday, requesting that he strike a sentence from the ballot that recounts the outcome of the 1988 election (the last time the electorate had the opportunity to call for a Con-Con).
The bolded sentences in the SoS’s language is what Quinn wants removed…
This proposal deals with a call for a state constitutional convention. The last such convention was held in 1969-70, and a new Constitution was adopted in 1970. The 1970 Illinois Constitution requires that the question of calling a convention be placed before the voters every 20 years. In 1988 the electors rejected the call for a constitutional convention, with 75% voting against calling a convention and 25% voting in favor of calling a convention. If you believe that the 1970 Illinois Constitution needs to be revised through the convention process, vote “YES” on the question of calling a constitutional convention. If you believe that calling a constitutional convention is not necessary, or that change can be accomplished through other means, vote “NO” on the calling of a constitutional convention.
From Quinn’s office…
“We think that that statement there is … a subtle way of suggesting that supporting Con-Con is a fringe position,” said Sean Vinck, Quinn’s legislative counsel. “We just want a real simple question: ‘Are you for or against Con-Con.’”
*** UPDATE 4:41 pm *** From Quinn’s spokesman…
(T)he entire “explanation of proposed call” paragraph is illegal because the election code does not authorize it. My concern is that our argument is being unfairly caricatured as simply an attempt to remove “one sentence”. We think the issue is much more profound.
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* How about making predictions in these three congressional races…
* 10th District - Mark Kirk (R-Incumbent) vs. Dan Seals (D)
* 13th District - Judy Biggert (R-Incumbent) vs. Scott Harper (D)
* 18th District - Aaron Schock (R) vs. Colleen Callahan (D)
Please explain as fully as possible.
Also, will Green Party candidates be a factor this year?
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Doomsday delayed
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The governor blinked. Well, OK, just one eye has blinked so far…
More than a dozen state parks slated to close Nov. 1 will remain open through the end of that month, state officials announced Tuesday. […]
In addition, 11 state historic sites slated to close Oct. 1 will remain open until Oct. 15.
For the parks, the delay pushes the politically sensitive closings past the Nov. 4 elections. Petition drives and local meetings have brought out hundreds who object to the closings, which the governor ordered to balance the budget after lawmakers sent him a spending plan nearly $2 billion out of whack.
It also would mean the Illinois Senate would have the chance to restore funding for the parks and other cuts when it convenes the week after the elections. The Illinois House recently voted to tap special state bank accounts to come up with nearly $220 million to offset the cuts. But the Senate has said it won’t rush back to consider the move.
* But not everybody was happy…
But advocates putting up a strong fight against the closings see it as more political maneuvering.
“It begins to look like the governor’s beginning to play games and he’s just stringing us all along. It’s not funny,” said Jonathan Goldman, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council.
* And this is a very important point…
The announcement comes less than a week after the Illinois House voted overwhelmingly to put money back into the budget to keep the parks and sites open, along with restoring other cuts Blagojevich made to deal with a large budget hole.
Senate leaders have said they’re not coming back to Springfield until the November veto session — after the fall election. This announcement could ease some pressure on them to rethink that stance.
Anything that eases the pressure to return to Springfield is welcome news for those who want to continue playing games with the ethics bill override vote.
* Somewhat related…
* Lawmakers vote down closure of Pontiac prison
* Officials plan rally to support capital bill
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Phone home, Barack
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Good work Sun-Times. Now, more like this, please…
Barack Obama needs to phone home. Illinois voters could use Obama’s considerable influence in swaying his so-called political godfather, Senate President Emil Jones, to call a vote on a sorely needed state political ethics bill.
The Democratic presidential nominee is no casual observer. As state Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-24th) reminds us, Obama has his fingerprints all over ethics reform in Illinois, having been a leader in pushing for reform when he was a state senator.
Frankly, we can’t see a downside for Obama here. With one phone call — “Hey, Emil, let’s talk . . .” — he would remind voters nationwide of his reform credentials, and that call just might help — Jones might get off the dime. […]
Call home, Senator. You’ve got Jones’ number.
* Meanwhile, Phil Kadner takes a somewhat contrarian viewpoint in a column entitled “Stop me before I take another bribe”…
I’m not a believer in ethics legislation. No matter how many laws you pass, crooks are always going to be crooks.
An honest person doesn’t need to look at a law to do the right thing.
So I’ve found it difficult to work up much enthusiasm for a proposed state law that would prohibit companies that do at least $50,000 in business with the state from making campaign contributions to elected officials. ]…]
You can’t make [Senate President Emil Jones] do the right thing by saying it’s wrong for politicians to take money from contractors doing business with the state.
That’s why Jones was elected Senate president by his fellow Democrats.
They knew what he stood for when they made him their leader.
Maybe they should think hard on that when picking his replacement.
You can’t make people act ethically by passing a law.
But you can try to elect people who are ethical.
Thoughts?
* Related…
* Marin: Is dysfunctional Springfield a cuckoo clique?
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“They should knock Wrigley down”
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This was no surprise…
Fresh off the first Cubs no hitter since 1972, Gov. Rod Blagojevich declared Tuesday “Carlos Zambrano Day in Illinois.”
“Carlos Zambrano is the leader of the Cubs’ pitching staff, and his leadership was never more evident than it was on Sunday,” Blagojevich said in a news release. “I am pleased to honor ‘Big Z’ for this spectacular accomplishment by proclaiming today Carlos Zambrano Day in Illinois. He truly has made Cubs fans proud.”
* But on his big day, Zambrano touched the Third Rail of Cubdom…
There’s no doubt the Cubs enjoyed their two-day stay in the Brewers’ home clubhouse at Miller Park, and not just because they allowed only one hit in two victories over Houston.
After his no-hitter Sunday, Carlos Zambrano went as far as to say: “This is a beautiful ballpark. Gosh, I wish we could have a new ballpark.”
Is Zambrano crazy, or should the Cubs abandon Wrigley Field and build a modern facility like Miller Park?
* Jason Marquis was more explicit…
“If I had a personal choice, I think they should knock Wrigley down and build a replica in the exact same spot to give it that same feel. The same colored seats, same ivy, same wall, and throw up a Jumbotron, but have it look like a replica of the scoreboard that’s up there now, try to give it the same feel, in the same spot. I wouldn’t be opposed to that.”
Knock it down? What say you?
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Morning Shorts
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2008 - Posted by Kevin Fanning
* Attorney who defended county is new watchdog
The way attorney Michael Shakman sees it, picking Assistant State’s Attorney Patrick Blanchard to be the watchdog over county political hiring and other illegal activity “makes a joke out of the concept of independent oversight.”
* Questions raised over new Cook County inspector general
* New inspector general, borrowing on tap at Cook County Board meeting
* County ‘watchdogs’ vote to incur costs with Inspector General vote
* GOP ‘politician’ vs. Dem ‘insider’
* Candidates Trade Barbs in Race for Cook County State’s Attorney
* State’s Attorney Candidates Debate Over Corruption
* State’s attorney’s candidates drop the gloves in debate
* Prosecutor candidates debate patronage, budget cuts
* Stroger to call for suspension of foreclosures
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger plans to show he’s sticking up for his financially struggling constituents today by proposing a one-year statewide moratorium on home foreclosures and a halt to county business with “unfair lenders.”
* National Dems fire up Illinois races
* EJ&E study blasted as ‘inadequate’
* Ozinga to soften stance on EJ&E sale
* GOP Press release: Debbie’s Double-Talk - Ethics Reform #2
* Lawmaker: Ameren doesn’t deserve rate hike
“I believe the request should be zero,” Bradley told the commission.
Bradley also urged the commission to disregard a recommendation from three administrative law judges who for months have been reviewing the cases filed by the three Ameren Illinois companies.
* Anger, anxiety linger for flood victims
* Lake Michigan water safe after flood, officials say
* Reinforcing our resolve for flood control
It goes without saying that Gov. Blagojevich and the Illinois legislature absolutely must act on a bill to update and maintain our infrastructure - including the bridges that withstood the full force of the raging rivers this weekend and the dams and levees that held back a greater deluge.
* German firm to revive FutureGen project
The so-called FutureGen project will resume “after the change in government,” E.ON Management Board Chairman Johannes Teyssen said today at the Financial Times/World Energy Council Energy Leaders Summit in London. E.ON is a member of FutureGen Industrial Alliance Inc., which was working with the U.S. Energy Department on a plant to capture and bury carbon dioxide.
* ‘State of the University Address,’ ISU President Al Bowman
* Goldman: SIUC wants 2,000 more students by 2011
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An offer you can’t refuse
Tuesday, Sep 16, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I hope to see some of you at this evening’s forum. I’ll buy the first couple of rounds afterwards for all Capitol Fax subscribers and Capitol Fax Blog readers who attend…
Phil Ponce, host of WTTW’s “Chicago Tonight,” and a journalism professor at Loyola University Chicago, will examine the role of political bloggers at a forum starting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, September 16, at the university’s Water Tower Campus.
Ponce will moderate a panel of bloggers featuring: Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune, Rich Miller of capitolfax, Georgia Logothetis of dailykos, Fran Eaton of illinoisreview, and Blake Dvorak of realclearpolitics.
Please join us for this event at Kasbeer Hall, 15th Floor at 25 E. Pearson Street, at the corner of Pearson Street and Wabash Avenue.
Blogging will be light the rest of the day.
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Sep 16, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
Before we begin, I just want to warn you not to float any names on this question. Today’s question isn’t specifically about this or that candidate who may be on your mind, but it is a question I’ve wondered about for a while. Clear? Good, because you wouldn’t want to be banned for life, would you? I didn’t think so.
When is it acceptable to discuss or even question a political candidate’s “sexual orientation”? Or is it never appropriate? Explain.
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It’s the next governor’s problem
Tuesday, Sep 16, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Scott Reeder’s latest column makes an excellent point about the new contract that was just agreed to by Gov. Blagojevich and AFSCME….
The 37,000 state employees who belong to the AFSCME will take $175 million in health care benefit concessions – for just the first two years of the four-year contract. […]
The governor also agreed to give workers pay raises — with the largest raises coming in the second two years of the contract. The pay raises will cost Illinois taxpayers $83 million during the first two years, but almost twice as much during the second two years — $162 million […]
AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall would only say, “It was very important to the administration that all of the concessions be in the first two years of the contract.”
In other words, he’s taking all the financial benefits in the first two years and putting off much of the financial pain in the second two years.
Much of the burden for those second two years will be the next governor’s problem.
* And this isn’t the first time he’s done this…
In 2003, Blagojevich sold $10 billion in pension bonds — with a repayment schedule that included interest-only payments for the first five years. There is a term for many homeowners who took out loans like this — foreclosed.
The governor used $7.3 billion of the bond sale to “refinance” pension debt and the remainder — $2.7 billion — to pay for ongoing programs.
That’s the equivalent of an 85-year-old man getting his kids and grandkids to co-sign a $200,000 mortgage for a $150,000 house. The foolish octogenarian could take the remaining $50,000 to Las Vegas.
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Yesterday wasn’t all about the cuckoo…
Tuesday, Sep 16, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The governor stuck to his guns yesterday regarding his proclaimed reasoning behind his ethics bill amendatory veto…
The governor also was unapologetic about his ethics bill re-write, which already has been overridden by the Illinois House. State Comptroller Dan Hynes, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn — all potential rivals to Blagojevich during the 2010 Democratic primary — joined a bi-partisan group of Illinois senators and good-government activists in calling on the Senate to do the same.
Blagojevich said he rewrote the ethics bill to strengthen it, but lawmakers questioned his motives during a Thompson Center press conference.
“The governor amendatorily vetoed this bill in an attempt, I believe, to scuttle the legislation and undermine three years of hard work,” said Hynes, who organized the event about the ethics bill, which runs the risk of dying if Blagojevich’s ally, Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago), doesn’t call his chamber back into session by month’s end for an override vote.
Madigan, the state’s chief law enforcement officer, said Jones’ refusal to bring the Senate back before Nov. 12 imperils the legislation.
“There is a real chance that a lawsuit will be filed that potentially will further delay this very important legislation. There is a clear way to avoid any risk, to avoid a lawsuit … and that is for President Jones to call the Senate back into session and to vote on the override,” she said.
* I asked Obama’s Senate office to comment on recent calls for our freshman US Senator to intervene in this mess and pressure Senate President Jones to call the Senate back into session, but I’m still waiting on a response. I don’t ever expect one, either.
* Gov. Blagojevich had kind of a busy day yesterday. First, he toured flooded areas in the Chicago region. The governor was asked whether the state could have done anything more to help. Here’s his priceless response…
“I can’t imagine - nothing short of pass a joint resolution by two chambers praying to God that it doesn’t rain.”
* He also met with a group of ministers and Sen. James Meeks on school funding reform…
The meeting came after pressure from State Sen. James Meeks to talk about education funding, improvements and accountability. Meeks recently staged a two-day walkout of Chicago Public Schools to protest a school funding formula that relies on property taxes and gives the money advantage to well-to-do districts.
Ministers and the governor are expected to meet again in a couple of weeks to further discuss education funding.
But how to fix the school funding formula is likely to be a prickly issue. Blagojevich has been resistant to raising the income tax to do it, something Meeks said the General Assembly might want to do anyway.
“If the governor doesn’t put any other ideas on the table that can fix this problem without raising the income taxes, then the General Assembly will have to go to raising the income taxes,” Meeks said.
* More…
But the two Chicago Democrats seemed to reach at least a temporary political truce after Monday’s meeting with dozens of ministers, even if they didn’t agree on what to do next.
Blagojevich said they talked about ways to fund Meeks’ proposal to test a comprehensive approach for fixing underperforming schools. More discussions are needed, Blagojevich said, before deciding “if this is the sort of thing we can all get behind.”
Meeks said he will continue to seek legislative support for his plan in coming weeks while also pushing for long-elusive changes to how the state funds education. He sidestepped his past comments about challenging the governor.
* More…
MEEKS: It’s our community that’s bearing the scars. It’s our community that’s that’s paying the price. It’s our community that for 25 to 30 years now has waited on broken promises from Springfield and we can’t wait anymore.
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Do ya think I’m cuckoo?
Tuesday, Sep 16, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* If you want to hear how Mayor Daley said “cuckoo” yesterday when asked about Gov. Blagojevich’s contention that his free rides for seniors program was not primarily responsible for the CTA’s budget woes, just click here. The video is here.
I’ve trimmed the audio file and converted it to a ringtone which you can download by clicking here.
* More of the story…
The mayor’s one-word dismissal of Blagojevich’s allegations set the tone for what would be a rough day for the governor, who also was publicly attacked for his recent rewrite of a state ethics bill and his failure to come up with a long-term solution for funding public education.
But, late Monday afternoon, the governor came back swinging on the CTA and ethics questions. And he seemed to soothe state Sen. James Meeks (D-Chicago), a South Side pastor who earlier in the day railed at Blagojevich for failing to deliver on education-funding promises.
“I don’t think I’m cuckoo, but I will tell you what drives me crazy,” Blagojevich said after a school-funding meeting with Meeks and other ministers. “And what drives me crazy is the CTA blaming years of mismanagement on senior citizens taking the bus for free.”
Daley’s “cuckoo” comment came earlier in the day when a reporter asked the mayor about remarks Blagojevich made last week charging that the mayor and CTA chief Ron Huberman were overstating the CTA’s financial problems, caused in part by the governor’s free rides for seniors initiative.
After the meeting with Meeks, Blagojevich reiterated his disbelief that the CTA is threatening fare increases less than a year after the General Assembly approved a sales-tax increase to bail out mass transit. “The CTA got the Legislature to raise taxes on people, and, as a result of that, the CTA was able to get another $250 million they didn’t have before that,” the governor said. “When I decided to write in free rides for seniors, the net result for the CTA is still $220 million.”
“I don’t think I’m cuckoo” has forced a song into my head which has the same “beat” as the refrain to this little gem.
Ha! Now you have the same awful problem that I do. I haven’t been able to get that tune outta my head since last night. Maybe now I can just pass it along and it will somehow disappear.
* But we also heard this yesterday…
Soaring diesel fuel prices will cost the transit agencies $50 million more next year than expected, while increased maintenance costs resulting from the lack of a statewide public works measure will drain another $50 million, officials said.
The transit agencies have not speculated on the amount of any fare increase.
Providing free rides to senior citizens—Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s surprise add-on to the mass-transit sales-tax increase approved in January—will cost the CTA, Metra and Pace $30 million next year, officials estimated.
Um, weren’t we told before that the cost of free rides to just the CTA would be $34.5 million next year? Now it’s $30 mil for everyone?
Whatever. When the mayor of the state’s largest city essentially calls the governor “cuckoo” you know we’ve crossed into entirely new territory no matter what the merits of the arguments happen to be.
* Related…
* A Cuckoo Catch 22
* Blagojevich: ‘I don’t think I’m cuckoo’
* Picture To Get Clearer On Possible CTA, Metra, Pace Fare Hikes
* Suburban bus fare hikes might be on the horizon, money would make up for lower sales tax, free rides for seniors
* RTA has the money, if you know how to spend it
* Poor economy hasn’t hurt Illinois Lottery’s profits
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Will he or won’t he?
Tuesday, Sep 16, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Kurt Erickson takes us down memory lane…
In 2004, the governor announced he wanted to close Vandalia Correctional Center. He ended his quest amidst heavy political pressure from lawmakers.
Also in 2004, the Chicago Democrat said he wanted to close the maximum-security prison in Pontiac, but again dropped that plan. Earlier this year, he said Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet should close, but then backed off that plan and set his sites on Pontiac again.
In April, the governor also threatened to cut funding for 4-H programs, but relented as lawmakers worked to revamp the state budget.
Blagojevich also said he would cut funding for Amtrak service in Illinois, but put the brakes on that plan too.
Now, in addition to his plan [to close the Pontiac state prison], the governor says 14 state historic sites will be closed Oct. 1 because of the impasse between himself and the Legislature. He’s targeted 11 state parks for closure on Nov. 1.
I just don’t think he’ll follow through with these threats, for various reasons, including history and the impact on the November elections. What do you think?
* Meanwhile, the governor’s budget cuts are putting pressure on the secretary of state’s office…
Nearly 4,000 Illinois government employees will lose four days of pay because of state budget cuts, Secretary of State Jesse White announced Monday.
Facing $26 million in cuts, White ordered all 3,900 of his employees to take four unpaid days off. […]
White is not the only statewide official forced to take action by the governor’s cuts.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan asked older employees to retire and made nonunion workers pay an additional 1 percent to their pensions. Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias cut six of his office’s 190 jobs and ordered others to take one or two furlough days, depending on their salary, GateHouse News Service reported.
Something’s gotta give soon.
* Related…
* Pressure builds
* SOS workers must take 4 unpaid days off
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Replacing Jones will take a while
Tuesday, Sep 16, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…
Senate President Emil Jones began a meeting of his Democratic members not long ago with a playful announcement that despite what everyone had read and heard, he had no intention of retiring from office.
He was joking, of course, but while the joke may have temporarily relieved a bit of tension in the room, there’s still plenty of infighting ahead.
Forget about getting the required majority of 30 votes in January to replace Jones as president. The big problem now is just finding 19 votes - a majority of the Democratic caucus. There are almost that many Democratic senators floating their names right now, whether they are really serious or not, so this will take some time.
To give you an example, Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago), who flirted with John McCain’s Republican campaign not that long ago, told reporters recently that colleagues had urged him to consider running. It’s doubtful that Sandoval would receive more than one or two votes, but this gives you a good idea of how many people are holding back their votes from the alleged “frontrunners” right now because they have their own dreams of grandeur.
This is probably going to take a while. There is no shortage of egos in the General Assembly, and the Senate Democratic caucus has an overabundance. It will be some time before many are ready to set aside their own fantasies and start actively engaging in the process.
Those egos were at least partly on display during a recent, sometimes stormy meeting of the Senate Black Caucus.
In the end, all caucus members vowed to vote together when it comes time to select a new Senate president, but it took a bit of doing.
On its face, that decision might seem to benefit Sen. James Clayborne (D-East St. Louis), who is supported at the moment by most downstate Democrats and several Black Caucus members. But there is quite a bit of animosity in the Black Caucus towards Clayborne, so this thing isn’t over yet.
Some Black Caucus members refused to talk on or off the record about the meeting, but enough spoke on the condition they not be identified to get a general idea of how things went. And it was apparently pretty rough going for a while.
There are those in the caucus who are reaching out to others in the hopes that a deal can be made which precludes Clayborne, but the Metro East legislator’s fundraising record and the fact that he has totally locked up a significant number of Black Caucus votes, not to mention a likely push to keep the Senate presidency in the hands of an African-American, means that he is in a strong position.
Some members have mentioned the possibility of a deal with Sen. Don Harmon, a white legislator from Oak Park whose district is half Republican and half African-American. Harmon also apparently has at least some support from some suburban legislators. But there are also reports that at least a couple of Black Caucus members have recently reached out to Sen. John Cullerton, a white Chicagoan with decades of experience who has always been considered one of the frontrunners for the top job. Harmon’s original strategy had him laying back until later rounds of voting and emerging as a compromise candidate. Cullerton, one of the early frontrunners, is hoping to wrap things up much sooner than that, as are other candidates, including Sen. Terry Link, of Lake County.
But, if the Black Caucus can somehow stay united, and if Clayborne can tie down unanimous support of downstate members (not guaranteed by any means as of yet), he’ll have 18 votes, which is pretty darned close to a majority of the Democratic Caucus’ 37 seats, unless, of course, the Democrats gain or lose seats in the coming election.
Something else to keep in mind is that Gov. Rod Blagojevich will hold the gavel when the official Senate election is held next year. Jim Thompson used that power many years ago to temporarily steer the president’s election to a Republican, even though the Democrats held the majority. Whether our current governor is above those sorts of shenanigans is anyone’s guess at the moment, but it probably has to be taken into account if a potential deadlock continues into the fall and winter.
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Morning Shorts
Tuesday, Sep 16, 2008 - Posted by Kevin Fanning
* Seven Illinois counties named disaster areas
* 7 Ill. counties declared disaster areas
The governor’s office says the state disaster declaration means more state assets and personnel will be available to flooded communities. So far, the state has already provided 130,000 sandbags, along with several water pumps and boats to help with evacuations.
* Suburbs begin flood cleanup as governor declares disaster area
* ‘This has been devastating‘
* General Flood tips
* Illinois Division of Insurance: Flood info
* What now? here are some answers to flooding questions
* Madigan warns of scam artists offering flood repairs
Attorney General Lisa Madigan says residents affected by flooding should be wary of people offering home repair services.
Such contractors may be con artists looking to take advantage of flood victims in need of emergency repairs.
* Group: Longtime inmates suffer under prisoner review panel
* Watchdog group criticizes parole board
Young said a new report from the association found that since 1984, the parole rate for long-serving inmates has averaged 3.5 percent. The report focuses on inmates sentenced before 1978, because they weren’t given specific prison terms. Under laws then in effect, they were sentence in ranges, for instance 25 to 40 years.
* Cook County State’s Attorney Candidates Face Off Today
* Don’t delay NIU’s proton center
Over the past few weeks there has been some unfortunate misconceptions reported regarding the state-of-the-art Northern Illinois Proton Treatment and Research Center. In order to shed some light on this important project, which will bring cutting-edge medical treatment not only DuPage County but the region as a whole, we felt it was important to set the record straight.
* Mothers Against Drunk Driving forms Southern Illinois chapter
* District 158 teachers strike, disputes continue
* Teachers’ pay demands unreasonable
The board’s rejection of the union’s proposal can’t be written off as an effort to retain their seats during the election next spring. The school board employs teachers, but is answerable to taxpayers as a whole for prudent use of their money.
* Huntley Teachers Walking Picket Lines Today
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