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.
