* Rep. John Fritchey held a blogger conference call yesterday. Some of them gave him a bit of a rough time, particularly on the claim that he’s a “lobbyist.” (Fritchey is a zoning lawyer, so he has to register as a lobbyist.) Allies of Rep. Sara Feigenholtz are working hard to make this an issue. From Jesse Greenberg’s live-blog of the conference call..
Q: How can you reconcile being a candidate working for people and as a lobbyist for Bank of America, Cash America.
A: Cash America looking to locate a pawn shop, not a pay day loan shop. Those communities needed that development.
Q: Ongoing conversation online making distinction of being a lobbyist for City of Chicago and a legislator…
A: Lobbyists have to disclose clients and how much got paid. Sponsored legislation that would make process more transparent. That’s a good thing.
* Bored Now also filed a report. BN believed all along the Fritchey would run and that his decision to enter came so late was somehow strategic…
Finally, after I pushed back a little (looking for an admission that it was a strategic political decision), Fritchey responded bluntly. “Look,” he said, “who was it going to hurt but me? I knew I was behind 100,000 dollars or 300,000 dollars.” He made it clear that he wanted, maybe even needed, the time to think through this decision (even though some of us — including me — believed it was a foregone conclusion), to consult with his family and get comfortable with the reality of running for Congress.
Actually, most people figured that Fritchey wouldn’t pull the trigger… again.
There’s a whole lot more at both the above links and I highly encourage you to go read all of their respective reports.
* Democrat Tom Geoghegan was endorsed by Teamsters Local 743, which I believe is his first local union endorsement. The union “represents Chicago-are health care, technical, office, and warehouse workers,” according to the press release. More…
As a labor lawyer, Tom has fought for nurses, teachers, machinists, and other union members, as well as workers who lack the protection of a union. He has also represented Teamsters for a Democratic Union and other union rank-and-file groups seeking to root out corruption and strengthen union democracy. His efforts have helped secure health care, pensions, and lost wages for thousands of working Americans.
* Geoghegan was also interviewed the other day by Mark Bazer…
* Another slam on Rep. Feigenholtz that you probably won’t see in the MSM…
A day after state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz skipped another legislative session in Springfield in order to campaign for higher office, Mike Quigley’s campaign is calling today on Feigenholtz to return to the pay raise that she voted to give herself in 2007.
Feigenholtz’s absence from the Illinois General Assembly on Tuesday marked the second time in less than a week that she decided to seek campaign support and campaign dollars instead of carrying out her duty to the people who elected her.
* Received from the Feigenholtz campaign at about 2:30 this afternoon…
Dear Friend,
You did it again - we asked and you responded.
In the little more than 24 hours since we reached out to you to raise $5,000 in the closing hours of our financial reporting period, you have given more than $3,000!
As we stand, we are $1,710 short of our $5,000 goal.
Can you help close the gap in the final 10 hours of our reporting period with a contribution of $170, $127 or $85 right now?
The election is 20 days away and our financial reporting deadline is in just 10 hours! This election has been a sprint and the final days will be a blur. Your continued support drives our momentum and allows Sara to stay one step ahead of her opponents.
This is about all I ever get from that campaign… Solicitations for money. Just about everything I get from Quigley these days is a slam on Feigenholtz.
* Fritchey takes a shot at the Sun-Times during an interview with the Sun-Times…
“I take a mortgage out at Belmont Bank. My brother-in-law is the president of the bank. I took a mortgage out at a publicly advertised rate. Nobody alleged that I got a rate that wasn’t available to the general public,” Fritchey said. He gets static because his father-in-law, criminal defense attorney Sam Banks, defended accused mobsters.
“I think it’s offensive,” Fritchey said of the smears.
The Belmont Bank stuff was first reported by the CS-T.
* Ald. Pat O’Connor will actually show up at a candidates forum next week.
* When reading this press release, keep in mind that Wheelan’s last TV ad had almost no ratings points behind it, so don’t get your hopes up for this one…
Congressional candidate and economics expert Charlie Wheelan, whose “Underwater” TV ad caught the nation’s eye last month, launches his second commercial today; this time, like the nation’s financial future, he’s upside down.
Wheelan, pictured in a suit and tie, dangles by his heels as he personifies how many people’s efforts to pay their mortgage, afford health care and college tuition costs have gone “bottom-up”.
* 2:44 pm - It looks like the Illinois budget won’t get the big help it needed from the federal stimulus plan. From the NY Times…
Despite intense lobbying by governors, the final deal slashed $35 billion from a proposed state fiscal stabilization fund, eliminated $16 billion in aid for school construction and sharply curtailed health care subsidies for the unemployed.
The original stimulus bill included $25 billion to help states with their deficits, which was somewhat similar to the old revenue sharing program that Ronald Reagan eliminated. That program was eliminated in the Senate compromise. I doubt it was put back in, but I’ve asked Sen. Dick Durbin’s office for a list of what is included. I’m still awaiting the reply.
That “revenue sharing” program, by the way, was worth about a billion dollars to Illinois.
* 3:41 pm - The AP had a story earlier that claims some of the school construction money was put back in, between $6 and 9 billion. But that was as of much earlier in the day. Not sure what the final deal is yet, but the NY Times story above is probably a pretty good source appears to be in error [That’s what I get for trusting them]. Still waiting on Durbin’s office, but I’m not holding my breath.
*** 4:01 PM *** OK, now there are reports that the House Democrats are grumbling and that the deal is not a deal just yet. From the NYT…
There were hard feelings by some House members that an agreement on the economic stimulus had been announced before they had seen the details.
At least some of the differences, aides said, appeared to be over construction spending measures. Aides said the situation would be resolved.
Some money was apparently restored for school construction, but it’s unclear how much right now.
* Is anyone except for the most extreme Obama bashers even remotely surprised by this?
Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. attorney in Chicago who brought criminal fraud charges against Rod Blagojevich, will be staying in his job in the Obama administration, even though he was appointed to the position by President George W. Bush.
U.S. attorneys are political appointees. The normal practice, when there’s a change of political parties in the White House, is for the incoming administration to replace all 93 U.S. attorneys with appointees from the new president’s party. For now, the Obama administration has asked the current Republican-appointed U.S. attorneys to remain in their posts while it considers how many to retain.
But Fitzgerald will not be asked to move on. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois has recommended that Eric Holder, the new attorney general, keep Fitzgerald. That suggestion was “positively received,” according to officials at the Justice Department and Sen. Durbin’s office.
The tinfoil hat types who insisted that Obama would can Fitzgerald failed to make any sort of credible case. Axing Fitz would’ve created a gigantic media firestorm, whether it was the president’s perogative or not. Also, keeping Fitzgerald in place makes extra sure that most everybody in Chicago will try to behave themselves. Blagojevich apparently couldn’t contain himself, but that’s because he is totally goofy.
[Bumped up and updated with a partial transcript and more.]
* The former governor had some pretty nasty words for the General Assembly this morning. You can find the audio files by clicking here.
…Adding… Um, wow. Check out the second part. He made some pretty ugly allegations about members, essentially calling them drunken spouse-cheaters.
He also called out Senate President John Cullerton, his own state Senator, whom Blagojevich claimed “drives around” in a Jaguar and works at a law firm that gets state business, and more than implied that Cullerton “pretended to be on the side of the people.”
In his first public comments about former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s arrest two months ago, labor leader Tom Balanoff said he could be “a strong witness” for federal prosecutors who have charged the governor with trying to sell President Barack Obama’s old spot in the U.S. Senate.
Balanoff, the Illinois State Council president for the Service Employees International Union, was involved in secretly recorded conversations with Blagojevich regarding the Obama vacancy.
“We have fully cooperated with the U.S. attorney’s office. I believe I would be a strong witness for the U.S. attorney,” Balanoff said after a news conference Tuesday where his union endorsed state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) to replace Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel in Congress. […]
“I am not a target. I am not a subject. I’m not worried one bit,” he said
[A] bunch of these lawmakers go down to Springfield, nobody even knows who they are, they’re away from their families, it’s a whole different world down there, a bunch of them are cheating on their spouses, a lot of them drink in excess, very few of them know what’s going on. […]
Another legislative leader came to us because one of his members was sleeping with his secretary. And then the wife found out and she wanted that secretary fired. But this guy was in love with his secretary, so he goes to the legislative leader, they come to us, they want us to hire this woman so that we can keep that guy happy and, you know, then hope that they might work with us on some issues.
More…
My state senator here, who is the senate president, John Cullerton, drives around the neighborhood in a Jaguar. He works in a politically-connected law firm that does business, that gets businesses, you know, from state government. They do real estate property tax work They represent big commercial properties downtown. And they get a piece of the savings. Madigan makes millions of dollars doing that that as well. Cullerton and Madigan have been part of an effort to prevent property tax relief for homeowners.
Because they way the property tax system works, is, it’s a zero sum game. If you ease the burden on commercial properties, then you increase the burden on homeowners.
And there was an effort by [James] Houlihan, the [Cook] county assessor, to change the formula and protect homeowners.
The legislative leaders who make money representing these properties downtown simply prevent homeowners from getting relief by not calling the bills. And so, you know, these are the sorts of things that they can get away with. They’re probably legal, but they’re grossly unethical.
And, again, it’s the average guy in the neighborhood who’s getting screwed as they drive around, you know, working neighborhoods in Jaguars pretending to be on the side of the people.
*** UPDATE 1 *** The AP is moving this mostly irrelevant story right now…
Ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich says he and his wife are out of work but don’t plan to file for unemployment.
Blagojevich was removed from office Jan. 29 after an impeachment trial by Illinois lawmakers that was triggered by his arrest on federal corruption charges. And Illinois’ former first lady, Patti Blagojevich, was fired Jan. 20 from her $100,000-a-year job as chief fundraiser for a Chicago homeless agency.
Perhaps it’s time someone told the former governor that governors and other elected officials are not eligible for unemployment based on their public office salaries. Think about it for a moment. If they were, every politician voted out of office would be able to claim unemployment. […]
As for Patti, her eligibility depends on exactly why she got canned. You don’t get unemployment if you’re fired for doing something wrong. We’d also need to know more about the exact nature of her former job as not everyone automatically qualifies for unemployment benefits.
Out of all the things they chose to write about, it was the unemployment check? I don’t get it.
*** UPDATE *** We’re finally getting some hard numbers from DC. The US Senate cut $2.4 billion out of the House-passed stimulus plan that was earmarked for Illinois…
For Illinois, the Senate bill provides $1.3 billion for education instead of $1.7 billion in the House version, said Marcia Howard, executive editor at Federal Funds Information for States, a state-funded budget think tank in Washington.
In addition, the Senate eliminated House-passed spending programs that would have generated another $1.8 billion for Illinois, including $657 million for K-12 school construction, $150 million for higher education construction and $1.1 billion in general aid to state and local governments.
The Senate bill also dropped $4.2 billion in the House version for neighborhood stabilization and $1 billion for community development block grants, which would have provided a total of about $233 million for Illinois, according to the Center for American Progress.
[ *** End of Update *** ]
* A one percent cut to agency operating budgets ain’t a whole lot, but it’s a symbolic start…
In his first major attempt to grapple with a deteriorating budget, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn Tuesday announced a series of cost-saving measures aimed at easing the state’s financial woes.
Key among them is a spending cut of one percent, which comes after his predecessor, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, had already slashed spending by three percent. Spending on schools and universities is exempt from the cuts.
“When you have a big deficit we all have to tighten our belt and that’s the purpose of today’s directive to all the agencies,” Quinn said. “Nobody likes to have to cut back but sometimes that’s what’s necessary.”
* Quinn said the cuts would save “hundreds of millions of dollars” but that’s not even close, according to the Associated Press…
He exempted education spending from the cuts, which come on top of 3 percent cuts that former Gov. Rod Blagojevich ordered earlier in the year. […]
But setting aside education and federal funds over which the state has little control, a 1 percent cut would amount to roughly $165 million.
But lean state agencies could challenge the state’s ability to compete for federal transportation funds, according to the Associated Press. It reported [yesterday] afternoon that the Federal Highway Administration sent a letter to Quinn to warn that the Illinois Department of Transportation may be too understaffed to carry out major road construction projects.
an administration source confirmed one option under consideration is borrowing from various state funds to help secure federal aid to hospitals.
The money would be returned to the special funds, and the plan would bring in about a billion dollars in federal money.
* Economic recessions have a trickle-down effect on governments. If the feds don’t step in to help states, then municipal governments, schools and the rest feel the pinch…
Granite City Mayor Ed Hagnauer said the city was starting to feel the pinch of falling car sales revenue. Cahokia Mayor Frank Bergman said he worries his village won’t be able to fund pensions if revenue drops.
Madison County Board Chairman Alan Dunstan said he expects to lay off county employees this year to cope. Mark Kern, chairman of the St. Clair County Board, said state appropriations for court probation services are dipping dangerously low.
All of them feared the state would cut or withhold payments, to redistribute money to other needs.
* Today’s Tribune poll story is misleading. There’s no other way to put it. For instance…
Only 34 percent of Illinois voters had a favorable impression of Burris, compared with 18 percent who viewed him unfavorably. A total of 43 percent of voters said they had no opinion of the new senator.
Actually, that’s about a two-to-one favorable rating, which isn’t bad at all. And it’s much better than the last statewide poll by a different outfit which showed that Burris had both a 35 percent favorable and unfavorable rating.
The poll found that Chicago residents had the highest favorable impression of Burris at 51 percent while fewer than half of Democrats statewide—46 percent—shared that view.
Notice that the Tribune doesn’t tell you what his unfavorables are with those two demographics. Since they haven’t put the poll online, we’re supposed to just trust them. Don’t.
[O]nly 43 percent of Democratic voters in Illinois said he should make a bid in 2010. Voters who called themselves political independents, a key voting bloc, were split 36 percent to 33 percent on whether he should or shouldn’t run.
Again, they tell you that independents are split about whether he should run again, but don’t tell you what the “shouldn’t run” numbers are for Democrats.
And check this out…
Nearly half of the voters—48 percent—said they would like to see Quinn on next year’s ballot for governor, compared with 15 percent who said they would not like to see him run. More than one-third of the voters—37 percent—said they didn’t know if he should seek election to the post. […]
A Quinn bid for election as governor in 2010 was welcomed by nearly two-thirds of voters in the collar counties—significantly greater than by voters in Chicago and Cook County, where he has previously held city and county government posts.
That second graf is actually pretty astounding. Far more collar county voters want him to run than Chicago and Cook voters? That at least shows you the Republican attacks on Quinn haven’t worked so far and might even backfire. But the last graf was buried at the very end of the story.
…Adding… The Progress Illinois hed is: “Tribune Poll Finds Only 6% View Quinn Unfavorably.” The Tribune buried that result and instead puzzled over why 40 percent of Illinoisans don’t have an opinion about a lieutenant governor.
* Related…
* Carol Marin: It’s official. William M. Daley is no longer a candidate for governor in 2010.
Now that a new governor is in office, some advocates for the developmentally disabled hope that the closure of the William A. Howe Developmental Center in Tinley Park, a Chicago suburb, will happen as soon as possible.
Representatives from several advocacy and disability groups delivered a petition today to Gov. Pat Quinn containing 1,500 signatures and a report detailing recent incidents of abuse and death at Howe. Advocates urged his support and immediate action to close the facility.
The city of Chicago has announced an additional $9 million in cuts to try and balance its budget this year.
Chicago’s finance chief Paul Volpe says the newest cuts are not personnel related. He says the city can save about $9 million by reducing some purchases and renegotiating contracts. But he says the city is more than $50 million in the hole so far this year.
When aldermen recently spared the city’s Jumping Jack program from budget cuts, they declared a great victory for children who love bouncing on the inflatable playgrounds at thousands of fair-weather events across Chicago’s neighborhoods each year.
The last-minute maneuver by a City Council afraid of a voter backlash also represented a big win for the politically connected company the city hired to run the pro- gram.
Cook County commissioners reached a tentative agreement on this year’s $3 billion budget that requires no new taxes or borrowing, commissioners said.
The savings come mainly from a 4 percent across-the-board cut in non-health-related spending and a 2 percent cut in health-related departments, said commissioners Forrest Claypool and Michael Quigley.
Board President Todd Stroger wanted to borrow money to cover a shortfall his administration most recently projected at $84 million. But opposition commissioners said that between last year’s county sales tax increase and expected money from the federal stimulus package, no borrowing was needed.
Three northwest suburban townships are asking residents whether they want to secede from Cook County. The referendum questions in Palatine, Barrington and Hanover Townships on the April 7 ballot won’t be binding. And even if they were, a majority of votes from all of Cook County would be needed to allow the renegade townships to form their own county or join another.
