Everybody knows about BlackBerry addicts, those twitchy-thumbed compulsives who fascinate researchers and comedians. One recent study reported the exotic locations in which mobile device users get their kicks. Bathroom: 79 percent. During romance: 11 percent. At a funeral or memorial service: 16 percent.
Less is written about the laptop addict, an equally tragic modern figure, the kind of person who, say, during a friendly dinner conversation about voters in Pennsylvania pops up to fetch the MacBook and check the difference between the Mennonites and the Amish. […]
And just as a laptop is different from a BlackBerry, so are its addicts. BlackBerry addicts are all about the Web connection. Laptop addicts like that part too—it’s nice to pull into a Panera Bread parking lot with the laptop riding shotgun to piggyback on the free Wi-Fi—but the laptop addict isn’t all about the data.
The laptop addict is an artiste. He keeps his laptop close because at any moment the muse may descend bearing a novel idea or the mot juste, which he must inscribe pronto on the screen. And right after that, he can Google the name of a good massage therapist who can undo the kinks from all those hours hunched over his addiction.
* The Question: Does any of this apply to you? How so? Explain fully.
* Bonus Question: What’s the rudest thing you or someone you know has done with a handheld/laptop? Try to keep it clean, of course.
* I didn’t think it was possible, but J3’s ambition has reached a new high…
U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-2nd) is favored among a crowded field of possible replacements for President-elect Barack Obama’s vacant U.S. Senate seat, a new poll suggests.
The Zogby International poll conducted after Election Day says 21 percent of likely Illinois voters want Gov. Rod Blagojevich to appoint Jackson to Obama’s seat, which expires in January 2011. His nearest competitor is Tammy Duckworth, director of the Illinois Department of Vet erans Affairs, who was supported by 14 percent of those responding to the poll.
It goes without saying that 21 percent ain’t exactly a mandate.
Here’s the list of tested Democrats, which, by the way, was sent to reporters from an official congressional e-mail address. Click for a larger image…
* “bored now” has this analysis at the newly revamped and freshly energized Illinoize…
The biggest problem with the survey is that none of the names are well known across the state. While Zogby tried to obfuscate this by combining the “Not Familiar” and “No Response” categories in his public release of the poll. The client (Jesse Jackson) undoubtedly got a better breakdown here.
The only thing we can really determine is that the Congressman really wants the job — enough to commission a poll and release the findings.
In two prospective Senate races, Jackson would defeat Republican Congressman Ray LaHood by a 50% to 31% margin, the survey shows. Among the 15% who were not certain about whom they would support, nearly two said they were leaning toward Jackson for every one that was leaning toward supporting LaHood. […]
In a prospective match-up against Republican Congressman Mark Kirk, Jackson wins 48% support, compared to 32% for Kirk. Among the 15% who are leaning toward one candidate or the other, Kirk has a 10% to 7% edge, the survey shows.
* Bill Dennis wonders about the inclusion of LaHood…
Really? I’ve heard LaHood mentioned as a candidate for governor. This is the first mention I’ve heard that he might run for Senate.
* Laura Washington probably said it best this week…
U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. has been furiously pitching for weeks. His fingerprints are all over the incessant speculation about his candidacy. Triple J is probably speaking Senatese in his sleep. Time to cool it, congressman.
* And, for whatever reason, The Hill turned to former director of the NAACP’s Washington bureau, Hilary Shelton, for comment…
Shelton also urged that an African-American be selected to take Obama’s Senate seat.
“We strongly believe the Senate should be much more integrated,” said Shelton. Obama is the only African-American member of the Senate, and only the third since Reconstruction.
“Gov. [Rod] Blagojevich [D] should choose someone who is consistent with the will of the people who elected Obama, someone who represents the values and priorities that Obama ran on when he was elected to the U.S. Senate,” Shelton said.
Gov. Blagojevich is not a fan of Jackson’s either, and, personalities and feuds aside, the argument used against Jackson is that he would “lack appeal downstate” when he had to run for election to the Senate seat in 2010. Lacking appeal downstate is code for, “White people won’t vote for him.”
A Chicago political insider whom I trust says that Jackson is on a list of possible replacements for Obama but that Jackson has only an outside chance.
And continues…
One intriguing name on the shortlist is that of Emil Jones, 73, currently president of the Illinois Senate. He was one of Obama’s political patrons, is close to the governor and is an African-American, yet I got snorts of derision when I ran his name past some other Illinois sources of mine. That’s because Jones is from the old school — he started out as a sewer inspector, which is not bad training for a life in politics — and is not a modern, ready-for-TV candidate, possessing an orator’s tongue. He is a Chicago pol — the ring tone on his cell phone is the theme from “The Godfather” — but he would be a “place holder” only and would not run in 2010. He would fill the seat with an African-American and give the other contenders plenty of time to start their campaigns.
There are many, many reasons not to appoint Jones and Jackson, but all the pundits are getting way ahead of themselves here.
The Blagojevich administration has stopped payment on most state-subsidized health care, asking a judge to clarify his order to shut down an illegal expansion of the FamilyCare program.
Court documents indicate state reimbursement to doctors treating more than 500,000 FamilyCare patients stopped Oct. 15, the day Cook County Circuit Judge James R. Epstein ordered the administration to halt an expansion of the program to people with higher incomes. […]
Although rejected repeatedly by the Legislature, Gov. Rod Blagojevich unilaterally reinstated the coverage and expanded it to 400 percent of the poverty level, or $83,000 for four. Participants are supposed to pay premiums on a sliding scale. […]
Two prominent businessmen and a lawyer sued, and after an appellate court upheld Epstein’s April ruling, the judge ordered the administration Oct. 15 to submit its plan for dismantling the program.
In it, the administration says Epstein’s order could be construed to cover nearly all 537,000 participants in FamilyCare, except those receiving welfare cash assistance. So it stopped submitting vouchers it receives from health care providers to the state comptroller for reimbursement.
In other words, the judge told the administration to stop funding the illegal aspect of the Family Care program, so the administration stopped funding everything.
Either they are so incompetent that they can’t tell the difference between the illegal program and the legal program, or they are deliberately creating a crisis of huge proportions. Or both.
Whatever the case, this could turn out to be a freaking disaster for thousands of innocent people caught in this power grab.
State lawmakers might take up a bill this week that gives autistic children up to $36,000 a year in health care coverage to pay for diagnosis and treatment.
But there’s no guarantee the bill will pass, lawmakers and advocates say.
“I think it’s possible but I don’t think it’s likely,” said state Sen. Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline. “I think we’re going to see a lot of slow, measured movement.”
The reason it’s not likely to pass is that the House Speaker refuses to allow the governor to create implementation rules because the governor believes that the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules has no legal oversight authority, even though the governor himself signed a law giving JCAR more teeth. The Senate is sticking with the governor so far, and Speaker Madigan won’t budge from his position.
In addition to what he said is Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s abuse of the state constitution, Lawrence took to task Speaker of the House Michael Madigan for maintaining “animosity” toward the governor, a fellow Democrat, as well as a continued “distrust” of House Minority Leader Tom Cross.
I generally agree. Madigan has always found a way to deal with everyone else and keep the state moving forward except when it comes to Rod Blagojevich. But if the governor won’t follow the constitution, can’t be trusted to hold up his end of any deal and may be supremely incompetent (see top story), then why should anyone not have “animosity” towards him?
Discuss.
* Somewhat related…
* Scandal city: Merriner’s latest book is the just-published The Man Who Emptied Death Row: Governor George Ryan and the Politics of Crime. And though there’s lots about insider shenanigans in the book — Ryan remains in prison today, convicted of political corruption — Merriner understood there was more to the former Illinois governor’s story.
* SJ-R Opinion: FOIA needs reform — now: How many stories have to be written about Illinois’ broken Freedom of Information Act before Attorney General Lisa Madigan proposes an overhaul?
* My latest syndicated newspaper column takes a look at a couple of abortion-related groups and their influence on the General Assembly…
Two groups, one pro-choice and the other pro-life, are doing their best to bend the Illinois Statehouse to their respective wills. Let’s peek in, shall we?
State Rep. Ruth Munson (R-Elgin) was defeated last week by Democratic challenger Keith Farnham. The House Democrats dumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into Farnham’s campaign, and Farnham himself walked precincts like it was a full-time job.
A pro-choice group called Personal PAC also played a role in the race. Munson, who was considered pro-choice, voted against a compromise parental notification of abortion bill supported by pro-choice groups. Personal PAC vowed to make an example of her.
The political action committee pulls no punches in its aggressive campaigns. One operative running a legislative race in a district where Personal PAC was neutral privately expressed his relief a few weeks ago about not having to deal with the constant brush fires the group creates.
The group spent almost $374,000 between July 1 and Election Day, ranking it ahead of some heavy Statehouse hitters like the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. It’s definitely not a minor player.
Unlike most political action committees, the group does not usually contribute cash. Instead, it runs its own campaigns, and that often drives people a bit crazy. For instance, the group is infamous for putting legislators of different parties into the same mailers. This year, it paired Evanston Democratic Sen. Jeff Schoenberg with Republican Rep. Beth Coulson of Glenview in a mailer supporting Coulson, which didn’t go over too well in some circles. Schoenberg was backing Coulson’s Democratic opponent, Daniel Biss.
As Rep. Munson discovered, keeping Personal PAC off one’s back is not easy. Unlike many organizations, Personal PAC requires purity. Most groups might endorse incumbents with 70 percent voting records (or even lower), but that won’t happen with Personal PAC.
That’s why the group always campaigns hard for what it considers pro-choice incumbents, even when challengers answer surveys indicating that they are also 100 percent pro-choice. This can cause problems, as it did this year when Personal PAC went all-out for Rep. Coulson. A whole lot of Democrats thought the group should’ve taken it easier on Coulson’s pro-choice Democratic opponent, Daniel Biss. Personal PAC was not moved. It’s one thing to say you’re pro-choice, but it’s entirely another to prove you’ll stick with the organization every single time push comes to shove, as Coulson has done over and over again without exception.
Terry Cosgrove, who runs Personal PAC, said months ago that he wanted to defeat Rep. Munson so other legislators could see what happens when they stray too far from their proclaimed pro-choice beliefs.
Actually, he said he wanted to hang Munson’s head on the wall (figuratively, of course). Cosgrove got his trophy.
Meanwhile, some pro-life groups threw down the gauntlet last week. The groups told the Senate Republicans to choose whomever they want to replace retiring Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, just as long as it isn’t Sen. Christine Radogno (R-Lemont).
Family PAC led the charge. The group, run by longtime conservative activist Paul Caprio, sent a letter to Senate Republicans this week expressing dismay that the pro-choice, pro gay rights Radogno was being seriously considered as Watson’s replacement. Radogno, Caprio wrote, was “not in the mainstream of Senate Republican thinking on key family issues.”
Caprio said that while he has degrees of differences with various members of the Senate Republican caucus, he believed that almost any other Senator in the 22-member caucus would be better as the Republican Leader than Radogno.
Caprio wouldn’t discuss the list of possible alternative candidates, but he did say that he could work with another declared candidate, Sen. Kirk Dillard, even though Dillard (R-Hinsdale) had appeared in a television advertisement for Barack Obama. Caprio said it was “stupid” of Dillard to do that, but he believed Dillard would be an honest broker, unlike Radogno.
Sen. Radogno said last week that she has yet to speak with Caprio about his campaign, but she’d like to sit down with him soon. She said as leader she would try to focus on the issues that “bring Republicans together,” and vowed not to impose any of her beliefs on other members.
It’s not certain how much impact this move by Caprio and social conservative groups will have. The Senate Republican caucus as a whole is very conservative and pro-life groups are very influential with them. But they are also some of the most independent-minded people under the Statehouse dome.
Over the next 6 months, Citigroup plans to reach out to a half a million homeowners who are behind on their mortgage payments. Geoff Smith is vice president of the Chicago-based Woodstock Institute, a housing policy group. Smith says the program could really help homeowners but, he still has some concerns.
SMITH: You have a really this really splashy press release with big numbers attached to it in terms of the number of borrowers this is going to help. But then there’s all sorts of fine print that has to be looked at.
A request by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office for an investigation into a lawyer’s bills to a state death penalty defense fund is mired in concerns over conflicts of interest, and a lack of money.
The newspaper found some people charging the fund as much as $300 an hour for merely driving to a trial, expense vouchers labeled only as “out-of-pocket expenses” and inconsistencies in the billing times for meetings. One private investigator was allowed to bill for his support staff’s work at his own professional hourly rate.
“Obviously, there needs to be an investigation,” Duncan said. “The question is who ought to do it.”
The Attorney General’s Office said the appellate prosecutor was involved only in Sutherland’s first case — not the second where the questioned bills were submitted — making it the appropriate investigative arm. “
Waterways engineered more than a century ago to connect the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watersheds should be altered to stop the exchange of invasive species that can cause irreversible damage, an environmental advocacy group says.
But just when you thought it was safe to focus on other things - the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are only weeks away - a new batch of candidates are gearing up for the April 2009 consolidated election.
Stung by roller-coaster gas prices, commuters in record numbers are hopping aboard buses and trains in the Chicago area, but they can shave even more off the cost of getting to work—as much as $500 a year.
By setting aside part of their pre-tax earnings, commuters can help cover transit or van-pooling costs.
The wrinkle is that fewer than 2,000 Chicago-area companies provide such benefits to workers, according to the Regional Transportation Authority.
A judge has ordered a former Chicago alderman who suddenly pleaded guilty in a real estate kickback case to pay nearly $6,000, the cost of bringing dozens of prospective jurors to court.
Vrdolyak pleaded guilty earlier this month for his role in the sale of a $15 million North Side property. Shadur has said Vrdolyak’s last-minute plea came too late to contact jurors and tell them not to come to court. Vrdolyak’s payment is due by Nov. 21. He faces a maximum five years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he’s sentenced Jan. 9.
A nasty germ that wreaks havoc in people’s guts is infecting hospital patients at rates much higher than previously estimated, according to a report released Tuesday.
Two Democratic sources close to President-elect Barack Obama tell CNN that top adviser Valerie Jarrett will not be appointed to replace him in the U.S. Senate.
“While he (Obama) thinks she would be a good senator, he wants her in the White House,” one top Obama advisor told CNN Monday.
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin plans to participate in a ceremony this afternoon at Camp Butler National Cemetery in Springfield. Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs director Tammy Duckworth will be in Chicago, where she is the guest speaker at a ceremony at a local veterans’ medical center.
But, there is no consensus yet on a plan to address the state’s budget woes.
According to the General Assembly’s fiscal forecasting agency, overall state revenues are down $406 million through the first third of the fiscal year.
The administration also released a new set of numbers showing that the state may face an overall $800 million shortfall before the fiscal year ends June 30.
That spells trouble for anyone hoping to stop Blagojevich from closing parks and historic sites later this month. He proposed closing two dozen facilities because of a budget shortfall that’s only gotten worse in recent months
The state’s top revenue sources — taxes on personal income, corporate income and retail sales — are coming in at lower levels than anticipated. The Revenue Department says tax revenue from riverboat casinos could fall $100 million below projections, too.
The shaky fiscal picture is the reason Blagojevich has not acted on legislation to restore $230 million in budget cuts he was forced to make last summer.
Lawmakers, responding to public pressure, voted in September to come up with the money to spare cuts of more than 300 jobs, cuts in substance-abuse treatment and the closing of two dozen state parks and historic sites. But Blagojevich has said he won’t sign it unless he sees an improved revenue outlook.
Revenues continue to plummet, the Blagojevich administration warned Monday, threatening to blow another $1 billion hole in a state budget already strapped for cash.
New projections from the Illinois Department of Revenue warn the state could get $800 million less than it was counting on from three major tax areas by next summer, unless the national and state financial picture turns around.
The lagging numbers could provide cover for Gov. Rod Blagojevich to change or reject a measure that would prevent a round of state budget cuts set for the end of the month.
Individual income taxes are projected to be down 4 percent from budgeted amounts, corporate income taxes could decline 14 percent, and sales taxes could be down 3 percent. Those all were expected to grow by about $300 million from the last budget year.
Over the weekend, Parrillo launched a Web site geared toward drafting Illinois House Minority Leader Tom Cross into running for governor in 2010. The site, called It’s Time for Tom, lists several reasons why the long-serving representative from Oswego would be a good candidate — not the least of which, Parrillo says, is his ability to draw the Republican Party together.
“He appeals to traditional and non-traditional Republicans,” Parrillo said. “It’s clear from the drubbing we took on Tuesday (Nov. 4) that we need to embrace and extend an invitation into the Republican Party.”
Illinois is a coal state. The president-elect is from Illinois.
Reaction to the election of Democrat Barack Obama as next president of the United States - and what it might mean to the future of Illinois coal and the global-warming debate - ranges from cautious at best to outright optimism that the industry is about to turn a corner after decades of decline.
But there was agreement that the first signal one way or the other in an Obama administration would be the fate of two central Illinois coal-gasification plants - the $2.1 billion Taylorville Energy Center in Christian County and FutureGen, a $1.8 billion project promoted by supporters as a near-zero-emissions way to burn high-sulfur coal for energy.
Dozens of voters in Rockford and Winnebago County who thought they had registered to vote at the local secretary of state’s driver’s bureaus found out last Tuesday that they hadn’t
“If you come in for a change of address, they’ll ask you if you want to register under motor voter,” said Dave Druker, spokesman for the Illinois secretary of state’s office. “You have to answer affirmatively, and you also have to fill out the form they give you and turn it in. In some cases, I think, people were thinking that just saying ‘yes’ was enough.”
Milton Sees, secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation, announced Monday during a news conference on winter preparations that salt conservation practices will be instituted.
“This conservation effort will allow us to better utilize the resources available to IDOT and still provide a safe means of travel,” he said in a statement.
* Check out the body language. Caption contest, or too federal?
* The Department of Revenue once again gives the SJ-R a scooplet an hour before it reaches anyone else’s in-box…
New projections from the state Department of Revenue, provided first to The State Journal-Register, show the state could get $800 million less in money it was counting on from three major tax areas by next summer unless the national and state financial picture turns around.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich must continue to use Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office to defend him in a lawsuit over his planned move of the state’s traffic safety division from Springfield to southern Illinois.
Sangamon County Judge Roger Holmes this morning rejected the governor’s bid to get Madigan’s office removed. Holmes said Blagojevich could raise the question later as the case proceeds but right there is no direct conflict in having Madigan defend him.
These people are in court more than an asbestos attorney.
* From a press release…
Continuing Illinois’ efforts to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today announced that he would co-host the international Governors’ Global Climate Summit to be held later this month in California.
The governors’ summit was announced in September. It will be held next week in Beverly Hills. Nothing like waiting until the last minute.
One can’t help but wonder whether another gubernatorial fundraiser at some posh Beverly Hills hotel might be in the offing. They’ll have to do it without Rezko’s help, however. He’s otherwise indisposed.
The good news is that the California summit will be held November 18th and 19th. The General Assembly is scheduled to be in session on the 19th, so the guv will be far, far away.
* The DC press corps is sometimes just too batty for words…
So we obsess about [Michelle Obama’s] clothes, searching for clues to how individualistic she will be, how modern, how typically Washington?
Obsess? Really? Does anyone truly obsess over the first lady elect’s clothes?
Was Barack and Michelle sending a message to the whole world with black and red? Do those colors point back to their core beliefs? Do they point to their religious value system?
Let’s write the color choice off for now to basic social naivete and suggest that the Obamas had no idea that their black and red attire choice would suggest to some a deeper, hidden meaning.
OK, I stand corrected. Some people apparently do obsess about clothes.
* I tried cutting off comments a few years ago, but readers rebelled. Zorn may have better luck for numerous reasons. Since he’s big media, he attracted a broader audience so no real “community” could develop in comments like it has here.
* This post at 538 refers to presidential strategy, but it could just as easily apply to Illinois…
The Bush-Rove team of 2000 and 2004 understood the importance of appealing to suburban voters … that is a viable strategy. Pitching your appeal to rural voters, on the other hand, probably will not work. They’re outnumbered by the city dwellers in the first place, and if your attacks are strident enough that the suburbanites start to side with the urbanites, you’ve given yourself a big problem.
* YDD, posting at the newly revamped Illinoize, wonders about the placement of the constitutional convention question.
* Partnering with Mother Tribune on the Cub sale could be a disaster? So saith the Sun-Times…
Tribune Chairman Sam Zell has been trying to hold firm on his billion-dollar asking price, offering seller financing.
But sources said buyers are reacting coolly to that plan because they think a partnership with Tribune could be a disaster.
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that the Illinois secretary of state’s office does not have to issue specialty license plates bearing the slogan ‘’Choose Life'’ favored by anti-abortion forces.
Officials are within their rights in trying to keep either viewpoint on the emotional issue of abortion off of Illinois license plates, the court said, reversing a 2007 order.
‘’It is undisputed that Illinois has excluded the entire subject of abortion from its specialty plate program,'’ the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said.
‘’It has authorized neither a pro-life plate nor a pro-choice plate,'’ the court said. ‘’It has done so on the reasonable rationale that messages on specialty license plates give the appearance of having the government’s endorsement, and Illinois does not wish to be perceived as endorsing any position on abortion.'’
* The SouthtownStar dumps some much-needed cold water on all the “We’re gonna get us some pork!” cheerleading since Barack Obama’s Tuesday victory…
If we expect a pipeline of cash to flow to the Chicago area from the White House, we’re in for a surprise. […]
Since Election Day went to Barack Obama, locals have been busy dusting off their wish lists for the new president, writing down items such as a new Chicago Transit Authority circle line connecting the North and South Sides, an airport for the south suburbs and some extra dough to rebuild clogged expressways.
In Little Rock, Ark., home to President Bill Clinton, the presidential pork never came.
“That doesn’t happen,” said Skip Rutherford, dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service. […]
Rutherford could not point to one particular project delivered to his area while Clinton was president.
Arkansas politics is dirtier and more self-centered than ours in many ways, so if they didn’t get anything in Little Rock, we may not either.
* The Post-Dispatch’s story doesn’t throw cold water on the idea of an Illinois Obama boom, but does include some reservations…
“There will be some concrete benefits” for Illinois, predicted Leo Ribuffo, a presidential historian at George Washington University in Washington. Among predictions by some is a change to the federal formula for dispersing highway money, which doesn’t currently favor high-population states like Illinois.
“If anybody in Illinois expects a New Deal ‘works’ program like LaGuardia Airport (FDR’s gift to his home state of New York), they’re going to be disappointed,” said Ribuffo. “But undoubtedly, the connections will help somewhat. … It’s going to improve Chicago’s image.”
* The tourism angle is already getting some play, however…
In Chicago and Springfield, tourism officials already are scrambling to capitalize, putting together new advertising strategies built around Obama’s life story and Illinois’ role in it. The Illinois Bureau of Tourism is adding him to its online “Presidential Trail” feature, which already outlines the Illinois legacies of Lincoln and Grant, as well as Ronald Reagan’s birthplace.
It will outline “Obama’s life and journey throughout Illinois,” especially Springfield’s Old State Capitol, where he launched his presidential bid, said bureau spokeswoman Ashley Cross. “We think there will be national and international interest.”
* The question isn’t what’s on the list, but what isn’t…
When you’re governor, people give you all sorts of things. An Al Franken book. An Abe Lincoln Christmas ornament. A sterling silver spoon.
And that’s just from givers who’ve been convicted of federal crimes or are under federal indictment.
Blagojevich has been given hundreds of gifts since taking office in 2003 — from politicians, lobbyists, self-published authors, unknown musicians, foreign dignitaries and since-convicted felons.
His office’s gift log stretches 56 pages, detailing $16,475 worth of goodies — most of which accumulate in his downtown Chicago office at the Thompson Center.
* There are some on the list who probably wish they weren’t because it could impact any future statewide bids…
* Comptroller Dan Hynes — book, Illinois 24/7, $24.95 (2004)
* State Rep. Jack Franks (D-Woodstock) — “Serbian sausage and vegetable spread,” $9.50 (2005)
* State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias — Eli’s Cheesecake, $28 (2007)
Sure, they’re all noted Blagojevich critics. But a couple thousand advertising points can twist a $24.95 book into something totally different. Judy Baar Topinka was one of the most ethical politicians I’ve ever known and kept her distance from President Bush. But by the time Blagojevich’s ad campaign was finished with her in 2006, she was a George H. Ryan hack and a George W. Bush fangirl.
By the way, I’m probably on the guv’s gift list as well. I sent the governor an Elvis DVD this year. I bought the Vegas Comeback show (which has previously unseen footage) for my dad, so I figured I’d just get two of them.
The difference between myself and those three gifters above is I won’t have to explain that DVD during a campaign.
* The Sun-Times editorializes today on behalf of a capital plan, but doesn’t really say how we should fund it and dismisses real concerns over how the money will be distributed by the governor as mere intra-party bickering…
Illinois’ legislators convene in Springfield on Wednesday, likely their last session this year.
It’s easy to anticipate what will be on the agenda: bickering, recriminations and politicking.
It’s also easy to anticipate what won’t be: a desperately needed construction bill that would create jobs and rebuild roads, bridges, schools and mass transit across Illinois.
Sure, we need a capital plan. But does the Sun-Times trust the governor to hand out the projects? That’s the question.
Rumors have circulated for months that House GOP Leader Tom Cross is interested in a 2010 statewide bid. The message was first announced on a former staffer’s blog, which is not working at the moment. There is an admission on the new Cross blog that the website in question was, indeed, set up by Jake Parillo.
It’s Time for Tom is an effort to get Tom Cross, the Illinois House Minority Leader, to grab the mantle of the Illinois Republican Party and run for Governor in 2010. This movement has come out of a desire to drive change in the great state of Illinois. We’ve become fed up with the way things are: Governor Rod Blagojevich is rotten, Cook County Board Chair Todd Stroger is inept, and the Illinois Democratic Party is trying to install their sons and daughters into more leadership roles across the State.
Parillo even compares this effort to the draft Ike movement. A bit much, but whatever.
FYI, Cross’ House Republicans lost four seats last week and picked up one Democratic seat in a race that wasn’t contested by the HDem organization.
A Democratic state senator from the Quad-Cities said he plans to spend the next three months traveling the state to determine whether he will run for governor in 2010.
Key to state Sen. Mike Jacobs’ decision will be whether he can raise enough money to compete against better-known foes.
“I think I will need to start with at least $1 million,” said Jacobs, an East Moline resident who has served in the Senate since 2005.
Bloomington Republican Senator Bill Brady on Thursday told his supporters in an e-mailed newsletter of his intentions to make another run for governor.
State Sen. Christine Radagno is one of the other Republican names being talked about for Governor and State Sen. Dan Rutherford may run again for Secretary of State. DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett may run for Governor or Attorney General.
Those of us hoping for dramatic and immediate change are getting bad news and good news. The new health panel is asking for a $930 million budget for fiscal 2009—an increase of $77 million from 2008—and permission to hire more than 400 new workers, mostly doctors and nurses. But there are also plans to cut 900 positions—more about this in a moment—creating a net downsizing of 500. On Friday, the Cook County Board approved the plan, which will be included in the overall ‘09 county budget that County Board President Todd Stroger will propose.
Stressed Central Illinoisans are experiencing pain, losing sleep, abusing drugs and alcohol, and arguing with their spouse and kids more than several months ago, according to professionals who deal with the aftermath of those problems
It was that second line that intrigued Gierczyk. He’s been working on getting a station for it for five years. The second line will have four New Buffalo stops a day, seven days a week — one in each direction in the morning and one in each direction in the afternoon.
The trip from Chicago to New Buffalo on the Amtrak line will be nonstop. One of the two trips back to Chicago will be nonstop, while the other would have flag stops in Michigan City and Hammond, Ind. The commute takes a little over an hour.
The city of Chicago could save money by transferring its election board’s responsibilties to Cook County. Mayor Richard Daley says he’s open to the idea. But others are skeptical it can be done.
The state of Illinois will make $190,000 in grants to help research, treat and prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
The money comes from donations Illinois taxpayers made on their tax returns to the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Fund. Gov. Rod Blagojevich has proclaimed November Alzheimer’s Awareness Month in Illinois.
You might think Sangamon County Republicans, who have bragged lately about how well they run county government, would have the sense to avoid an outrageous practice that got statewide officials in trouble.
On the eve of the annual meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) on Sunday called for Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George to resign as the organization’s president.
