Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » 2008

Wednesday, Oct 22, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

The Illinois Senate’s top Republican has been released from the hospital after suffering a stroke. […]

Senator Christine Radogno said Wednesday that [Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson] is undergoing rehabilitation and that his speech has been affected somewhat.

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Not so deep thoughts

Wednesday, Oct 22, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I can clearly remember a time when nobody ever asked me if I thought the governor was insane.

* If someone gave me a $150,000 clothing and accessories allowance, I’d buy Krugerrands and claim they were the latest cufflink fashion.

* Thank goodness there’s no refund law in Illinois.

* Planning a Christmas vacation around the US Attorney’s work schedule has turned out to be a daunting task.

* Is Michael just gonna run through every name in the world as possible appointees to Obama’s seat so she can say she had the scoop?

* Anybody wanna buy a newspaper chain? Cheap?

Your turn.

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The fall tour

Wednesday, Oct 22, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* You’ve already seen this, but I’m giving you a friendly reminder. The event is tomorrow…

* Next week, I’ll be at the Union League Club…

Date: Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Start Time: 7:30 AM
End Time: 9:30 AM
Price: $20.00 (Inclusive)
Walk-in Price: $25.00
Sponsored By: Public Affairs
Location: Crystal Room

Description: As voters in Illinois and across the nation prepare to go to the polls on November 4, the Public Affairs Committee invites you to join us for a special “General Election Prognostication.” The program will feature two of our state’s leading political analysts who will provide their insights into key races just before Illinois voters go to the polls. Our panelists include:

• Rich Miller, Editor/Publisher of Illinois’ foremost political newsletter, Capitol Fax

• Paul Green, Director of the Institute for Politics and Professor of Political Science at Roosevelt University

The moderator of the Breakfast@65West series is Chris Robling, a member of the ULCC Public Affairs Committee whose 25-year professional career includes extensive experience in media, government, public relations and politics.

Dress Code: Business Casual

Cancellation due by Monday, October 27, 2008.

To reserve by phone call (312) 435-5946.

I think I run the state’s only political newsletter. Not too difficult, therefore, to be the “foremost” in the bunch.

Also, they enforce that dress code. Take it from me.

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Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Hoffman; Forby; Dunn; Mulligan; Schock; Money; Peterson; Krause; SDems; (Use all caps in password)

Wednesday, Oct 22, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Question of the day

Wednesday, Oct 22, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

“If you ___________ then you might be a hardcore partisan.”

Keep it light, please, and have some fun.

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Congressional roundup

Wednesday, Oct 22, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson has released a new poll…

A poll paid for by Halvorson shows her leading Ozinga 48 percent to 29 percent, with Green Party candidate Jason Wallace at 5 percent. The poll of 400 likely voters was conducted Oct. 10 to Oct. 13. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.9 percentage points. The campaign released only a one-page summary of the results.

That tracks pretty closely with a Progress Illinois poll releaed Monday that had Halvorson ahead 50-29.

* Ozinga response…

Ozinga’s campaign said its polling shows a tighter race for the 11th Congressional District seat but declined to release numbers. Ozinga campaign manager Andy Sere noted Halvorson is still at or under 50 percent in the polls despite major spending on advertising by her campaign and interest groups.

* Ozinga was endorsed by yet another newspaper. This time, it was the Bloomington Pantagraph…

The Pantagraph Editorial Board endorses Marty Ozinga because his businesslike approach to government would best serve this district — and the nation.

* Democratic congressional hopeful Scott Harper, who is up against Republican Rep. Judy Biggert, released part of his own poll, but not the head to heads. Instead, he leaked the Barack Obama numbers…

The poll, done Oct. 9 to 11 by Fako & Associates, showed Obama ahead of McCain in the district 47 percent to 40 percent. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

Fako is a good pollster, and those numbers track fairly with what I’ve been seeing in the region. McCain has tanked.

* Response…

Biggert campaign manager John Noak scoffed at the limited release, saying he is “very confident in the congresswoman’s polling that she is leading by a substantial amount.” The

* Democrat Colleen Callahan has a new ad that blasts GOP state Rep. Aaron Schock in their congressional race. It doesn’t look like a game changer to me, but see for yourself…

Schock has a new TV ad featuring Democratic state Rep. Susana Mendoza, but it’s not online yet.

* The Tribune endorsed Schock, Foster and Judy Biggert today.

* Dem Congresscritter Bill Foster has what appears to be his postive closer up on the air…

* Related…

* Governor replaces 2 election board members

* Candidates to replace Weller bring in big names for fundraising boost

* 14th District candidates offer views on energy issues

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More lousy news

Wednesday, Oct 22, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* More Tribune poll numbers were released today…

A quarter of respondents to a Tribune poll say they or a relative lost a job in the last year, and half fear it could happen to them or a family member in the next 12 months.

Among poll respondents, unemployment is the chief economic concern (36 percent), followed by stock market values and general price increases (each with 20 percent).

* More…

Two in five say they are worse off than a year ago. Half say they will cut back on holiday spending this year—and only 1 in 100 say they will spend more on gifts.

* Drill down and there are some more depressing results. Here are the results for respondents who named the economy as the most or next most thing they were worried about…

* The fear of losing their job or of someone in their immediate family losing a job…

* Family financial situation vs. a year ago…

Check out the response from suburbanites and you can see why the Illinois Republicans are starting to freak out right now.

* Related…

* Early voting smashing records

16 Comments

Message to commenters

Wednesday, Oct 22, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

It’s the height of the election season, so emotions are naturally running high just about everywhere, including, occasionally, in the comment section here.

The vast majority of commenters at this blog are bright, witty and truly interesting people. We have developed the best comment section in the business, bar none.

But elections bring in new readers and commenters and I had to delete about two dozen comments yesterday for being way over the top, harsh, even profane. Many of them were from the same people posting over and over again. Most were new commenters who’ve stopped by for the election coverage. Some of those people are now banned. For life.

You have freedom of speech in public spaces, but I control my blog. It’s my blog and my rules. I try to keep this space as free and open as possible, but in the end this place ain’t a democracy. Also, whining about deletions will not help.

Please, everybody take a deep breath and attempt to be civil. Leave the despicable national campaign talking points out of comments, try to keep an open mind and be decent to each other.

I’m busier than usual because of the frenetic pace of the campaign season, so I freely admit that I’m a bit grumpy as well. Don’t push it.

Remember, we’re all gonna be around long after this campaign is over. Getting yourself banned now means you’ll be locked out of the future here.

Again, I love my readers and my commenters. But please try extra hard to keep a lid on the emotions from here on out.

Thanks.

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Lisa Madigan on the stump

Wednesday, Oct 22, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Attorney General Lisa Madigan was in southern Illinois yesterday. The Southern Illinoisan highlights her work for Paul Simon and his encouragement of her to run for public office. But her father, AG Madigan noted, wasn’t exactly thrilled when she told him of her intentions to run for the Illinois Senate…

After several minutes of sitting with his head in his hands, [Speaker Madigan] finally replied.

“He looked up and simply asked me, ‘Why?’” Madigan said.

* And this is kind of a cute story…

When Mike Madigan entered the life of his would-be stepdaughter, he forgot to bring the ice cream.

Lisa Madigan, then 10 years old, thought Mike seemed like “a nice enough guy” but she didn’t fully understand what it was he did in the state legislature.

All she knew was that her mom’s last boyfriend had owned two ice cream parlors.

“Quite frankly, when I first met him, I was disappointed,” Lisa Madigan said Tuesday evening.

* The Daily Egyptian has this quote high up in its piece…

When asked by an audience member in the packed Hiram H. Lesar Law Building Auditorium whether the audience would see her as a candidate for governor in 2010, Madigan’s response was short but to the point.

“You might,” she said to the audience’s applause.

From the looks of things, she’s already started campaigning.

* Comptroller Dan Hynes is also on a tour…

People from the community listened to Comptroller Dan Hynes who accused Illinois of not paying its share of Medicaid costs. Many of the attendees are on Medicaid and cannot find doctors or dentits in Rockford who will see them. Instead they are having to drive to Chicago or Moline to find a physician who will accept their Medicaid card. Paulette Mattson suspects the state doesn’t realize the extent of the problem.

“Show the state more cause they’re so unaware of really what’s going on cause they don’t need Medicare. Take all your officials, put them on Medicare or Medicaid, see what happens.”

More here.

Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias is also out on the hustings.

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Morning shorts

Wednesday, Oct 22, 2008 - Posted by Kevin Fanning

* More Illinois schools fail to meet No Child goals

However, an analysis of the data finds 39 percent of Illinois public school districts failing to make adequate yearly progress this year, compared with 28 percent in 2007.

Statewide, 31 percent of schools failed to meet NCLB targets on student reading and math tests, compared with 24 percent in 2007.

* More Illinois schools fail to meet No Child Left Behind goals

* Middle School Teachers May Have to Go Back to School

The Chicago Board of Education will vote on a new policy today that would force many middle school teachers to pay for an additional credential.

* CPS Employees Indicted for Engaging in Paycheck Scheme

* Assessor’s tax-relief idea a ’stunt’: Daley

* Mayor reverses on who’s to blame

Two years ago, Mayor Daley accepted his share of responsibility and offered to “apologize to anyone” for the torture of suspects by Jon Burge — even as he argued that the ultimate responsibility rests with the Chicago Police Department.

On Tuesday, the mayor changed his tune.

* Aldermen want Burge to pay back pension

* After decades of accusations, Burge finally faces charges

* Cook County judge still faces claims in torture case

Cook County Judge Dennis Dernbach is the last remaining defendant in the multi-million dollar lawsuits that four alleged torture victims brought against the city and county.

The lawsuits claim murder confessions were coerced by former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge and his officers.

* Fitzgerald Announces Burge Indictment

* Burge indictment was a good day for justice

* Feds catch up with Burge

The perjury and obstruction of justice counts against Burge mark the first criminal charges in the long-running scandal. But a dozen or more officers once under Burge’s command who have denied under oath taking part in the alleged torture could be in legal peril as well.

The indictment of the 60-year-old Burge breathes new life into a scandal that has had a stubborn hold on the Police Department and the city and involves claims of abuse—electric shock, Russian roulette and suffocation with bags and typewriter covers. The allegations continue to figure prominently in the appeals of dozens of inmates.

* Daley stands firm on 2009 budget cuts

“You have to balance your budget. These are difficult times. … I’d like to have more policemen. I’d like to have all of these things. Sure. Everybody would. If you ask any citizen, they’d like to have it. But, next year is gonna be worse than this year. We have to be realistic.”

* Investing in Low-Income Communities

* Salt price hikes worry suburbs

* Governments offered bargains on surplus goods

Local government and non-profit agencies will learn how to purchase state and federal surplus items at deep discounts during an event at Shawnee Community College Friday.

* The Illinois Technology Partnership is giving away iPhones

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

Wednesday, Oct 22, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller

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