* What an amazing week, eh? The repercussions are gonna be far and wide in Illinois, so our work is far from done. I realized yesterday that there’s more activity since the election than before it. Whew.
Anyway, head to all new and very cool lookingIllinoize for more. We signed up a couple of new writers, including next year’s Capitol Fax intern Mike Murray and my pal Aviva Gibbs. Also, don’t forget to check out InsiderzExchange. It’s the place to be seen.
* I wonder what Joe Strummer would’ve thought about this week’s big event…
Lord, there goes Martin Luther King
Notice how the door closes when the chimes of freedom ring
I hear what you’re saying.
I hear what he’s saying
Is what was true now no longer so
* This sounds like a good idea, but pulling it off will be much harder than it looks…
Former Gov. Jim Edgar said in Springfield Thursday the viability of the Republican Party nationally might depend on whether the GOP can recover support it has been losing in the Hispanic community.
“We cannot lose the Hispanic vote like we’ve lost the African-American vote, or we’re going to be a minority party forever,” Edgar said.
I don’t think he realized it, but Edgar actually diagnosed the problem…
President George Bush “did a very good job of bringing Hispanics into the Republican column,” Edgar said, but congressional Republicans have “undone all that” by rejecting Bush-proposed reforms of immigration laws that included a path to staying in America for many illegal immigrants.
The conundrum for Republicans is that their coalition is deeply divided on the immigration issue. The business wing loves the cheap labor. The populist wing despises the very idea of all these people streaming into America. Reconciling those two sides, as Bush and John McCain both discovered, is nearly impossible. The Latino vote may be gone for a good long while.
* Edgar also repeated his mantra about nominating centrist Republican candidates…
“If we don’t move to the middle, there will not be a viable Republican Party in the state of Illinois,” Edgar said.
Edgar was a moderate to liberal Republican. Pro-choice, for gun control and open to other social liberal ideas. He wasn’t averse to tax hikes except during his 1994 reelection campaign. He succeeded, the moderate to liberal Jim Thompson succeeded, George Ryan moved to the left and beat Glenn Poshard in a good Democratic year.
But the gulf between the IL GOP’s right and center is so huge and bitter that it’s become almost impossible to win a primary without suffering fatal damage.
* The Republicans have been on the decline in Illinois ever since the GOP took over Congress and tried to move the country to the right. The one-two punch of George Ryan’s corruption and George W. Bush’s massive ideological-driven failures have been poison here.
Rod Blagojevich, whose job approval rating was never above about 45 percent in 2006, essentially ran against both George’s two years ago and beat Judy Baar Topinka by ten points. The governor is massively unpopular now, yet the state is still solidly Democratic and getting more so.
* A long string of flawed, bizarre and hopeless statewide candidates starting with Jack Ryan has made voters look at the GOP like they’re a bunch of freaking aliens. For crying out loud, Jim Oberweis still refuses to get off the stage…
So, while Oberweis said Thursday he has no plans to seek political office “right now”, he’s also not saying he never will again. While the latest wound heals, Oberweis said he’s seeking ways to serve as a consultant and fundraiser for his fellow Republicans, particularly in Kane County.
* Sen. Bill Brady, who is a darned good state legislator, ran as a smiling culture warrior in 2006 and he wants to run again…
Bloomington Republican Senator Bill Brady on Thursday told his supporters in an e-mailed newsletter of his intentions to make another run for governor.
Brady ran in the GOP primary for governor in 2006, garnering about 18 percent of the vote behind winner Judy Baar Topinka and Jim Oberweis.
Cook County went huge for the Democrats this year, and the collars also gave Obama big margins. A strong personality may break through that trend, but righty stances on guns. abortion and the culture war are gonna hurt bad.
But conservatives should note what their current condition demonstrates: Opinion is shiftable sand. It can be shifted, as Goldwater understood, by ideas, and by the other party overreaching, which the heavily Democratic Congress elected in 1964 promptly did.
Basing your future success on the hope your opponent will massively screw everything up is not a plan. It’s desperation.
* The Question: What can Illinois Republicans do to get back in the game? Explain fully.
* I’m getting a real fear deep down that the Sun-Times won’t survive unless something drastic changes very soon…
Sun-Times Media Group Inc. said it lost $168.8 million in its third quarter as revenue sank amid a weak economy.
Ad sales in Chicago dropped 19% in the quarter, and likely won’t begin to increase again until 2010, CEO Cyrus Freidheim said in a letter to investors that was released along with its earnings report Thursday. The company plans to cut $45 million to $55 million in expenses over the next nine months to survive in the meantime.
Newspapers are struggling amid the worst advertising environment in years, and the operator of the Chicago Sun-Times and 70 other community newspapers is no exception. Its latest cost-cutting plan comes on top of a $50 million expense reduction that came in the first half of 2008. All told, the company will have trimmed its costs by 30% by the middle of next year, Mr. Freidheim wrote.
“In view of the worsening market conditions, the company is taking even more aggressive actions to reduce costs,” he wrote. “Our organization understands the severity of the situation and the need for urgent action.”
The latest cost-cutting plan will include “outsourcing, downsizing and the elimination of poorly performing products,” he wrote. No further details were available.
There was a time, not long ago, when I thought about putting together some financing to buy the chain. It wouldn’t cost much. The problems are many, however. The structural deficit is crazy scary. Uncollectable ad revenues are huge. You’d basically have to declare bankruptcy, break the union, strip the pensions, tell the banks to kiss off and try to start all over. But even then, it’s an iffy proposition.
…Adding… To be clear to my fellow union members, the top management would have to be swept out as well, along with their salaries. Everybody just take a breath, OK?
* These may be good intentions, but the moves could spell the death knell of even more newspapers…
President-elect Barack Obama will try to use his office to hinder media concentration and to increase local TV news coverage, objectives that have stirred resistance from industry groups.
The Illinois Democrat, who will succeed George W. Bush on Jan. 20, “is going to push for a more open, more diverse media,'’ Gloria Tristani, a former Democratic member of the Federal Communications Commission, said in an interview.
It’s just not right that the Tribune can own TV and radio stations and yet no TV station can buy the Sun-Times. We may need more consolidation between broadcast and print to save both industries. Print, except for a few papers, won’t last on its own.
Don’t look now, but NBC is rolling out some sharp-looking local news sites for its owned-and-operated stations in New York, Washington, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and elsewhere.
Using URLs like “NBCWashington.com” and the tagline “Locals Only,” these are quantum leaps over the usual crappy local TV news sites for a very simple reason: They’re actually focused on local news, and eschew the usual mindless over-promotion of the local NBC news team and primetime schedule. They’re also not limited to NBC-produced content–the sites promise to aggregate content from other local sources, as well, a la the very smart Examiner.com model.
I love the look of Channel 5’s new site. The parent company even offered me a spot over there, but I politely turned them down for various reasons. Right now, the site is more concept than execution, but it should improve over time.
* Meanwhile, the Tribune Co. needs to sell the Cubs to pay off its ginormous debt, but that’s in trouble now as well…
Tribune Co. may end up holding 50 percent or more of its storied Chicago Cubs baseball franchise as the credit crunch stalled sales talks, the Wall Street Journal said.
In recent weeks, an early plan to sell a 95 percent stake has fallen to about half as suitors’ ability to buy the team and its stadium on Chicago’s North Side waned, the paper said citing two people involved in the negotiations.
On Thursday, bidders were preparing to receive a request to submit new purchase proposals with financing details, those people told the paper.
Tribune is selling assets to help pay down debt, which stood at $12.5 billion at the end of the second quarter. Declines in readership and advertising dollars at such newspapers as the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times have added to the pressure on the company to secure funds to avoid default.
* Related…
* Obama campaign’s text/mobile effort: A model for newsrooms?
U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez said today he would like to be named to fill the U.S. Senate seat that will be vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
[ *** End of Update *** ]
* I really didn’t think this would happen, but I’m starting to think it might…
Chicago Democrat Emil Jones is retiring from being Illinois Senate president but he won’t rule out being Illinois’ new U.S. senator in Washington.
Jones told The Associated Press in a phone interview Thursday that he would consider it a great honor if Gov. Rod Blagojevich chose him to be Barack Obama’s successor.
The 73-year-old Chicago Democrat said he’s too young to retire and has several options to remain active.
* The Sun-Times offers up some Obama replacement ideas…
• • Valerie Jarrett: Obama confidante, former city official, real estate executive and housing expert.
• • Frank Clark, ComEd chief executive, active on more than a dozen civic boards and organizations.
• • Eric Whitaker, former state public health director and University of Chicago Medical Center executive.
• • Miguel del Valle, a thoughtful and committed former state senator and current city clerk.
• • Gery Chico, former chief of staff to Mayor Daley, Chicago Board of Education president and U.S. Senate candidate.
On a well-regarded Illinois political blog recently, anonymous bloggers were asked to give their choices for the appointment should Obama win. They were also asked to give a rationale for the appointment. What followed was a fascinating exercise in how insiders think. The candidates suggested were a rather exclusive group, the rationales pointed, ruthless, Machiavellian, funny, surprising, depressing, and deeply, deeply cynical.
In one sense they were universal: no one suggested competence as a rationale. I don’t think that those hopeful faces in Grant Park were hoping that the deciding factor in the choice of what man or woman fills President Obama’s Senate seat for the next two years be who can best help our embattled Governor.
Whatever. When has competence ever had anything to do with Illinois politics?
Discuss below if you care.
* The Chicago media has always been extremely parochial, along with the rest of the state, so the drumbeat about “what Obama’s win does for us” continues at a feverish pace…
* The national press is all atwitter that choosing mean ol’ Rahm Emanuel as chief of staff is some sort of major shift in tone…
Barack Obama is signaling a shift in tactics and temperament as he moves from candidate to president-elect, picking sharp-elbowed Washington insiders for top posts.
What the national media has never really been able to comprehend is that Obama has from the start been a sharp-elbowed politico as well as a high-minded “reformer.” He challenged all of his competitors off the primary ballot in his very first race for public office, for crying out loud. He’s not a guy who avoids trench warfare.
President-elect Barack Obama’s first personnel decision sends a strong signal that he plans to be a pragmatic, get-it-done leader. You can expect that Rep. Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s choice for chief of staff, won’t let the next White House get bogged down in ideological warfare.
Emanuel helped secure a Democratic majority in the House two years ago by recruiting a broad mix of candidates, including fiscal conservatives and some Democrats who oppose abortion rights and support gun rights. That angered some on the left, but it got the job done.
* This bit from today’s Tribune story was better, however…
Clearly, Obama is sending a no-nonsense message by naming Emanuel and considering Gibbs. While Obama intends to lead the nation as the hopeful, inspirational figure who soared to the pinnacle of American politics, he obviously has no intention of assuming a deferential position in the capital.
DC is a horrid place teaming with snakes and weasels. Show weakness and you’re dead meat. Emanuel may be a lot of things, but he ain’t weak.
* Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham probably said it best…
“This is a wise choice by President-elect Obama.
“Rahm knows Capitol Hill and has great political skills. He can be a tough partisan but also understands the need to work together. He is well-suited for the position of White House Chief of Staff.
“I worked closely with him during the presidential debate negotiations which were completed in record time. When we hit a rough spot, he always looked for a path forward. I consider Rahm to be a friend and colleague. He’s tough but fair. Honest, direct, and candid. These qualities will serve President-elect Obama well.”
* Meanwhile, the line to replace Emanuel in the US House is almost as long as the line for Tuesday night’s Grant Park rally…
Aldermen and County Board members, Democratic loyalists and self-styled reformers—even a newly elected member of Ald. Dick Mell’s (33rd) political dynasty—worked the phones and met with allies to seek support for a potentially crowded special election.
Among those expressing interest in the seat or considered to be potential contenders were: Cook County Board Commissioners Mike Quigley and Forrest Claypool; Alds. Thomas Allen (38th), Gene Schulter (47th), Patrick O’Connor (40th) and Manny Flores (1st); state Rep. John Fritchey and Deborah Mell, the governor’s sister-in-law and daughter of the 33rd Ward alderman.
The federal judge who handled the corruption case of Edward R. Vrdolyak is considering fining the former 10th Ward alderman because of his decision to plead guilty Monday — after potential jurors had arrived at the courthouse.
U.S. District Judge Milton Shadur said fees for potential jurors added up to nearly $6,000. He said Thursday he might make Vrdolyak pay it.
The Illinois Department of Agriculture has expanded its emerald ash borer quarantine area to include all or part of three central Illinois counties.
Woodford and McLean counties and part of Marshall County was added by the agriculture department to the quarantine area because the invasive insect was detected in those areas.
A total of 21 counties now are fully or partly quarantined
Green lanes got a green light during a Thursday hearing sponsored by the state tollway into a plan to introduce carpooling and improve interchanges.
The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority unveiled a $1.8 billion construction program in October that includes creating “green lanes” on highly used tollway segments, which vehicles with two or more occupants could use at no extra cost starting in 2010. Officials promise it will reduce congestion and air pollution and create jobs, but some have argued that after the agency spent years and billions on widening I-355, the Jane Addams, I-88 and the Tri-State tollways, it’s unfair to take away a lane for carpoolers
The ordinance originally called for an outright ban on using a bullhook on an elephant. But that clause was deleted after proponents failed to garner enough support for it, said Ald. Mary Ann Smith (48th), who introduced the measure two years ago.
Smith said some aldermen withheld their votes because they feared they would be scorned for spending time on this issue, as they were after passing—and then rescinding—a ban on serving foie gras in Chicago restaurants.
At this week’s City Council meeting, Reilly proposed crackdowns that target two of Natarus’ pet peeves: billboards put up without permits and construction noise that keeps residents awake.
The billboard ordinance would dramatically increase fines for putting up a sign without a permit — from $6,000 to $10,000.
The long renovation of Chicago’s “incredible hulk,” the old Chicago post office that spans the Eisenhower Expy., should start later next year, with office tenants probably the first new users in the space a couple of years after that, a developer of the project said Thursday.
Obama left his house at 11:27 am, and heading to a security briefing at the FBI building (Chicago division). The motorcade drove along Lakeshore Drive, and past Grant Park…
Some of the drivers here in Chicago do not seem to understand that a) the Chicago police car at the end of the president-elect’s motorcade is serious about having traffic pull over when the officers flash their lights and hit their sirens, and b) it’s not a great idea to jump ahead of traffic by trying to cut around the black SUV filled with five heavily-armed secret service CAT members.
When the motorcade pulled onto Van Buren, an African-American couple driving a tan sedan tried to drive around the motorcade. The SUV cut the car off immediately, and the security team aimed their weapons at the car. The driver and passenger in the sedan stopped, and looked stunned — until the male driver appeared to understand what was happening (your pool reporter could see him mouth “Obama”). The motorcade continued on. The sedan remained stopped, near the side of the road.
*** UPDATE *** Apparently, state Representative-elect Deb Mell has been making several phone calls today. From The Hill…
State Rep.-elect Deborah Mell, the sister-in-law of Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D), told The Hill that she would run just hours after Emanuel officially accepted President-elect Barack Obama’s offer to become his chief of staff on Thursday. […]
She said she “would imagine” that the governor would endorse her.
Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley said he is leaning toward running and even took a quick swipe at Mell.
“I waited until the congressman made his decision, which was today,” Quigley said. “You need at least a day to get some questions answered and make some choices. It’s not who decides first to run; it’s who decides that’s best qualified and is most viable.” […]
State Sen. John Cullerton, who is in the middle of a tight race to become the next state Senate president, said Thursday that he has no interest in the congressional race.
[ *** End of Update *** ]
* The name-floating has begun for Congressman Rahm Emanuel’s seat. Here’s CBS 2’s take…
Among the names that have been mentioned by political analysts as possible candidates are state Reps. John Fritchey (D-Chicago) and John Cullerton (D-Chicago), Cook County Commissioners Mike Quigley (D-10th) and Forrest Claypool (D-12th), Ald. Thomas Allen (38th), and State Representative-elect Deborah Mell.
Cullerton is not running. At least that’s what he told me yesterday. No way, he said. I talked to Deb Mell today, as well as others (they’re coming outta the woodwork, man), but you’ll have to subscribe to see what they said.
Even Wednesday, a long line of Democrats interested in running for the Emanuel seat took only minutes to form, including Ald. Thomas Allen (38th) and state Rep. John Fritchey. Deborah Mell, daughter of Ald. Richard Mell (33rd) and Blagojevich’s sister-in-law, also expressed interest in replacing Emanuel even though she was just elected to the state House on Tuesday and hasn’t been sworn in yet.
Cook County Commissioners Mike Quigley and Forrest Claypool also are being talked about as potential candidates.
[Sigh. Moved too fast and didn’t read all the way down. Nevermind what I wrote about Claypool and is now deleted. He said he “wouldn’t rule it out.” Sorry.]
Gov. Rod Blagojevich must call a special election at least five days after the vacancy occurs. After that, the election must be held within 115 days.
* Meanwhile, before it gets picked up by Drudge or somebody, you should know that this IR post claiming Emanuel doesn’t pay property taxes is just flat-out incorrect. Emanuel pays property taxes. I figured it was a big story if true, so I checked. They apparently didn’t.
If you don’t believe me, here’s a copy of Emanuel’s tax payment record for this year. The pin number is on that copy, so you can look it up yourself at the treasurer’s website.
Somebody at the IR site also deleted a comment posted by the Cook County Assessor’s office which explained IR’s error. Not sure why. Here’s the deleted comment…
Your posting about Rahm Emanuel’s house being tax exempt is wholly inaccurate. Rep. Emanuel’s house is on the tax rolls, and he and Ms. Rule have paid the taxes on it.
The Emanuel house sits on two lots. For tax purposes, the property is listed as 4232 N. Hermitage Ave. The PIN is 14-18-408-035-0000. As you can see, 4232 N. Hermitage came up as one of the addresses when you searched Emanuel’s block on our web site.
4228 N. Hermitage is listed as the mailing address on the tax records. Had you taken the trouble to contact the Assessor’s office, we could have told you that — and told you that it is not at all uncommon for addresses to be merged for properties on two lots.
According to the Cook County Treasurer’s web site, Emanuel and his wife paid $13,022.60 in property taxes this year.
Awaiting a response.
*** UPDATE 2 *** IR has now posted an incomprehensible update. In case you care, I’ve posted the assessor’s office response to IR’s questions at this link.
*** UPDATE 3 *** There are no words to describe the level of denial at that site. A third post is now online. Oy.
Again, I thought the original post might be a huge story, considering Emanuel’s new job, which is why I checked it out. I was gonna give IR full props. What a scoop that would’ve been. But, alas, it was wholly false and they have yet to issue a retraction. Hey, it’s their site, and they can run it the way they want, but to lash out at others for pointing out their multiple mistakes and their refusal to own up to those egregious errors is the height of buffoonery. Larry has more here and another liberal hit man has some good stuff here.
The erroneous story, by the way, has now spread to the front page of RedState as well as to several other blogs.
* While there may or may not be a new lawsuit filed over the constitutional convention referendum…
Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn says he is considering whether to file a new complaint over the handling of the referendum or to continue seeking the Illinois Supreme Court’s clarification on the issue. Quinn says voters in numerous counties did not receive their blue pieces of paper, as mandated by a judge last month. […]
The Chicago Bar Association, meanwhile, does not plan to file another lawsuit over the results of the referendum, says Steve Pflaum. He’s the association’s general counsel and a partner with McDermott Will & Emery in Chicago.
An existing lawsuit is still heading to the Illinois Supreme Court…
However, the [Chicago Bar Association] does plan to ask the Illinois Supreme Court to review a lower court’s opinion to determine whether the ballot was unconstitutional and whether the remedy of a so-called corrective notice was inadequate.
The association, like Quinn, wants to clarify the process. “Our primary objective at this point would be to try to establish the legal principals that govern these Con-Con referenda so that when we do it again 20 years from now that we won’t have this kind of confusion and these kinds of problems,” he says. He adds a big however. “If the court agrees with us that the separate ballot requirement that is expressly contained in the Illinois Constitution was violated here, then it’s quite possible that the court would conclude that it would be necessary to redo this Con-Con referendum.”
Pflaum estimated that the association wouldn’t file the appeal with the Supreme Court for another month. And if the high court ruled that the referendum had to be redone, he says it most likely wouldn’t happen until the 2010 General Election.
I doubt the Supremes will order a do-over, but one never knows.
Most voters in 10 Illinois counties said on Election Day that they think the state should pass a law permitting citizens to carry concealed weapons, but voters in another four counties rejected the idea.
Here are the counties which passed the non-binding concealed carry referendum…
You’ll notice that quite a few of those counties are in or very near to Alan Keyes country. Here’s a county map to make your comparison a little easier.
In other words, those are probably not the best counties to make your case that the entire state is ready for concealed carry.
The referendum failed in these four counties…
Kendall, McDonough, LaSalle and Winnebago
Those counties, except for McDonough, have far higher populations than the areas where it passed.
Rationalization…
Rep. David Reis, a Willow Hill Republican who supports legalizing concealed-carry in Illinois, said Wednesday he thought the referendum questions weren’t worded properly. They failed to explain that concealed-carry permits would be available only to individuals who complete a training course, pass a background check and get certified, he said.
Maybe. The referenda did come somewhat close in Kendall and LaSalle, even though the NRA didn’t spend any money there. And it was defeated 56-44 in Rockford, which isn’t exactly overwhelming.
A gun guy pal of mine said the question should have been phrased something like this…
Should people who pass, FBI backgropund checks, classes on the use of deadley force and demonstrate prficency with a firearm be issued permits to carry a concealed firearm?
OK, maybe, but this round of voting probably won’t change many Statehouse minds…
Reis intends to introduce concealed-carry legislation in the General Assembly soon so lawmakers can consider it next year.
* Chicago’s legendary “Gimme what’s coming to me” politics is on full public display…
Asked what she expected an Obama presidency to mean to her West Side ward, Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) replied, “One word: money. You’re supposed to take care of home first, aren’t you?”
There is no shame in Illinois politics.
Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th) said there should be no shame in a local politician bringing home the proverbial bacon. When a reporter suggested that a sudden flood of federal dollars to Chicago would seem shady, Carothers disagreed, asserting that former Republican U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert of suburban Plano had favored home-state projects.
“I don’t see why it’s suspicious – [Obama] is from Chicago,” Carothers said. “I think that’s expected … He’s from Illinois — he’s certainly not going to forget about Illinois … A lot of projects people call pork projects are actually good projects … A lot of organizations in the city need help as well.”
Obama won’t forget Illinois, but he might want to forget some of our politicians.
…Adding… I forgot to post these two stories which essentially illustrate the same point…
* The Tribune heds this story about Jim Oberweis: “After 5 election defeats, Oberweis ‘currently has no plans to run for office.’” But read the piece and you’ll see it’s far from clear what the perennial loser’s plans really are…
Oberweis didn’t talk Election Night or Wednesday, but a statement issued Tuesday night could be interpreted as a goodbye to the electorate.
“As a private citizen, I will continue to speak out and advocate for an end to the business-as-usual, special-interest-driven system that plagues our political process in Illinois and Washington,” he said, adding that “standing for political office has been difficult at times for my family and me.”
Campaign manager David From said Oberweis “currently has no plans to run for office” but said he could remain active in the community in other ways such as volunteering or charitable giving.
And check out the story’s kicker…
Former campaign manager Bill Kenyon said perhaps a reason Oberweis has been unsuccessful at campaigns is his tendency to ignore his political advisers. Kenyon also said Oberweis lacks the network of friends that often become the foundation for successful political campaigns.
Friendless. Oof.
The man has spent more than $9 million to lose one race after another. He has destroyed whatever reputation he started with, harmed his dairy company’s brand, and damaged his own party along the way.
“This district is pretty independent,” Foster said. “For years, they were voting for Dennis Hastert because they personally liked him. Then it was time for Dennis to step back. Being represented by a man who is a scientist and a businessman was something they were comfortable with.”
“You’re having more and more people voting for the person, not the party, and the Republican Party just hasn’t caught on, thinking they could get the numbers they got 20, 25 years ago,” Green said.
* Mark Kirk is certainly one of those who has “caught on.” His reelection is explained by the NRCC…
The win was “evidence that the Mark Kirk-brand transcends national politics,” said Ken Spain, press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee. An independent record and commitment to the interests of his district contributed to Kirk’s “impressive” victory, he added.
“He was able to successfully distance himself from President Bush in this area,” Allan said.
After he’s seated in the U.S. House in January, Schock said he hopes to get assignments on the agriculture and transportation committees. Those are the same committees on which LaHood served as a freshman legislator in 1994.
Transportation is not an easy “get” in the House. LaHood was already a major DC figure when he got that job, having served as the chief of staff to the former minority leader. If Schock does secure an appointment, his congressional future will be bright.
Once again, Gov. Rod Blagojevich wants to fire Attorney General Lisa Madigan as his lawyer in a lawsuit filed against his administration.
The Blagojevich administration is asking a Sangamon County judge to let it hire its own outside legal counsel in the suit aimed at blocking the move of the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Division of Traffic Safety from Springfield to southern Illinois.
Castle Rock and four other Chicago-area state parks are scheduled to close on Nov. 30 due to budget cuts. Explore their hiking trails, their fishing ponds, their scenic overlooks—quickly. Unless there is a last-minute reprieve from Gov. Rod Blagojevich, you have a little over three weeks.
She plans to push for a state law to require gun owners to report lost or stolen guns within 72 hours of when they go missing, an effort to weed out those illegally selling weapons to gang members.
Alvarez also wants the office to renew the fight against domestic violence, and said she wants to retrain 911 dispatchers on how to handle such calls, which can be used in court when prosecuting offenders. She also would like to find a way to automatically transmit tapes from domestic violence 911 calls to the office to aid prosecutors in building a case.
Mayor Daley on Wednesday proposed a six-week amnesty for 3.5 million overdue parking and red-light tickets to soften political opposition to his $40 million plan to drop the Denver boot threshold from three unpaid tickets to two.
The $12 million joins $42.4 million the city already has committed to Block 37 from its Central Loop tax-increment financing district.
The new money would partially compensate the block’s lead developer, Joseph Freed & Associates LLC, for cost overruns in the construction of a CTA station beneath the property.
Peter Scales, spokesman for the city’s planning department, said the money was needed to make the hotel viable. Without it, Freed would have to pass the cost overruns onto Loews Corp., probably causing the hotel operator to quit the deal, Scales said.
Naperville Township GOP Chairman Rachel M. Ossyra said with Obama’s strong win in DuPage, she thinks new voters cast ballots for those whose names appeared on the top line for board seat choices or split their votes between Democrats and Republicans. The Democrats’ campaigns show Republicans are not in serious trouble in DuPage, she said.
Among the Republican casualties Tuesday night was majority leader Wayne McMillan, a board member since 2000, who lost to Bolingbrook businesswoman Jackie Traynere; 16-year veteran Ron Svara, who lost to Joliet banker Diane Seiler; Nella Piccolin, who was unseated by newcomer Katrina Deutsche; and two-time board member Joe Baltz, who trails Sharon May by 12 votes with absentee and provisional ballots still to be counted.
Democrats beat out GOP rivals in two other hotly contested races as Kevin Duffy Blackburn defeated incumbent Steve Weber for county auditor and Karen Stukel outpolled Laurie McPhillips for recorder of deeds.
* 2:44 PM - That blue ribbon commission the governor was supposedly going to use to pick Obama’s replacement? Turns out it’s a bunch of people in his administration. From a press release…
Governor Rod R. Blagojevich announced today that he will take his time and use a diverse senior staff made up of key members of his administration who will assist him in selecting a suitable replacement for Obama.”
So much for consulting a group of “wise” men and women. These are the same people who have helped build that rock solid 13 percent approval rating.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich said today he’s “not interested” in appointing himself to replace Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate, but did not expressly rule out the option.
* Way down the ballot in Cook County and Chicago was a non-binding referendum question asking whether voters wanted the power to recall elected officials, and which explicitly mentioned the governor…
“Shall the Illinois Constitution be amended to establish a recall process for the office of Governor and other statewide elected officials?”
All eyes are on Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich now that he gets to pick who will replace Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate because the Democrat is headed to the White House.
Blagojevich plans to talk about the newly open Senate seat Wednesday afternoon.
I wonder how that presser is gonna go.
[The section in this post about the constitutional convention referendum was removed because as some commenters rightly pointed out, the AP has mixed up the results. Sorry about that.]
* I think the most surprising thing about most of the state’s congressional races was the victory margins.
I figured Debbie Halvorson would win, but 58-34-7? Wow.
The same goes for Mark Kirk. He looked at the end like he might squeak this one out, but he dominated Democrat Dan Seals 54-46.
Jim Oberweis was obviously a goner. It’s obvious that people are tired of his schtick, but that’s still a pretty strong Republican district so I simply couldn’t fathom a 57-43 loss to Bill Foster.
Congresscritter Peter Roskam, who seemed to be panicking a bit in the home stretch by tying himself to Barack Obama, beat former Blagojevich administration official (which hurt her badly, of course) Jill Morgenthaler 58-42. Obama did well out there, so Roskam apparently knew what he was doing.
Aaron Schock was probably the only candidate who won with about what I privately expected, 59-38-3. With Barack Obama’s ascent, Schock may now be Illinois’ most capable campaigner.
Your thoughts about all this would be appreciated.
* I’m still trying to absorb all of this. There are so many things to contemplate, many of them personal. The fact that I’ve known him for years, even since before he was elected to the Illinois Senate. The private conversation we had long ago when I tried to discourage him from running for the US Senate. Our chance meeting on a public golf course when my then girlfriend swooned and I told her she was nuts. His remarkable primary victory and the whacky season it sparked (Blair, Jack and the Martian). My chuckling at his nickname for my formerly staunch Goldwater Republican and formerly all too white father: “Brother Miller.” My embarrassment at my father’s first words to Obama when I introduced them in January of 2004: “Never change. Never change,” and my concern at how Barack will, eventually change. His call to me during his failed congressional bid wondering why I was being so harsh and his attempt at rapproachment, when I first realized how skillful he could be. The fact that my wife is an Iraqi-American and my concern about what this election will mean for her family and her former nation. On and on. It’s kinda weird “knowing” a president-elect. It makes you think back, as well as look forward.
Obama has proved over and over that he is one of the best candidates of my lifetime. I just hope he’s half as good at being president. Our country desperately needs a capable hand on the wheel of power after years of gross mismanagement and bungling of Shakespearean proportions.
Attorney general spokeswoman Natalie Bauer said Monday it’s too early to determine why salt prices have spiked for some counties and not others. Bauer also wouldn’t speculate on whether the investigation could lead to legal action.
Emergency salt supplies were depleted by last winter’s storms, causing high demand in the Chicago region this season. Salt suppliers say the increased size of orders is behind the price increases.
Many students about to graduate are finding fewer jobs and fewer companies even willing to offer interviews. A survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that about half of all companies were cutting back on the number of 2009 graduates they plan to hire. While many companies surveyed in August planned to increase hiring substantially, the new poll showed things had changed and the new number of expected hires would essentially equal the number hired last year.
Companies in fields including agriculture, construction, utilities, trade, finance, insurance and business services all said they planned to cut back from their August projections, said Marilyn Mackes, executive director of the association.
“Ladies and gentlemen, there’s a new state’s attorney in town, and she’s ready to roll up her sleeves of her power-red suits and get down to business,” Alvarez declared in a victory speech just after Peraica conceded. “I gotta tell you, it feels good to break that so-called glass ceiling here in Cook County.”
Peraica, amid a throng of downcast Republican backers on a strikingly strong night for Democrats, struck a defiant tone.
“We fought hard, and we’re going to continue to fight hard,” he said. “Apparently one-party rule is what this city and county wants.”
