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Tuesday, Mar 17, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Tuesday, Mar 17, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Layers of the airport onion

Tuesday, Mar 17, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* NY Times columnist Bob Herbert has written two columns this week about the forever-stalled third Chicago-area airport project…

The U.S. is in a world-class recession, hemorrhaging jobs and spending trillions of dollars trying to extricate itself from the mess. That this ready-to-go project is still sitting on the table, still waiting for state government approval after several long years have already been wasted, is plain nuts.

As is pretty obvious from that above passage, Herbert fully supports Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.’s private airport plan…

The airport proposal has long been the primary focus of Representative Jesse Jackson Jr., a Chicago Democrat. He has spent years mastering its complexities, lining up financing that would keep taxpayer contributions to a minimum and fending off interests that do not want the competition that a third airport would bring, or who would like to carve out a corrupt stake in the project.

And he seems to understand a big part of the resistance…

The major airlines serving Chicago are not interested in seeing low-cost competition flying in and out of a spanking new airport, especially one with enormous growth potential. And many of the big-time politicians in and around Chicago are upset at the very thought of an airport being built in which they would be unable to control the jobs and the contracts. Airports tend to be monstrous patronage mills. This one would not be.

Nobody messes with Mayor Daley’s airports. That’s the Number One rule in Chicago. And a competing airport violates that “sacred” rule.

* But in today’s column, Herbert shows that he doesn’t fully appreciate the hurdles faced by Jackson’s plan

No one that I’ve spoken with has found fault with the plan or its financing, which relies primarily on private capital. But there has been a palpable coolness to the project by some of the major political players in Chicago and in the state capital of Springfield. They have created a long-term behind-the-scenes bottleneck for the project.

Something that almost never gets mentioned is that the proposed airport footprint is not in Jackson’s congressional district, and some of the people who live in or adjacent to that footprint, particulary in Will County, don’t think that Jackson should be dictating to them.

Granted, the Will County folks never really came up with their own plan until Jackson rolled out a doable project. Some of this Will County resistance is just a plain ol’ turf war. But they do bring up legit points, so maybe Herbert could call Will County Executive Larry Walsh and hear him out. It didn’t help Jackson’s cause that the former Illinois Senate Majority Leader, Debbie Halvorson, lived next to the proposed airport and was a major opponent of Jackson’s plan. It also didn’t help that former Senate President Emil Jones didn’t particularly care for the congressman, to say the least.

Also, for years the third airport plan was allegedly used by political insiders in get rich(er) quick schemes. They bought and sold parcels of airport-area land and made a nice buck or two. The plan was mostly a fiction - and most everyone preferred it that way - until Jackson came along with a realistic alternative. For that, he’s to be commended. He does have a decent plan. What’s been lacking is real support from the powers that be in Will County. If Jackson can pull that off, then this thing might eventually fly.

* Peter Fitzgerald used to tell me that politics was like an onion, especially in Illinois. You had to peel layer after layer until you got to the truth. In reality, every one of those layers represents part of the truth, and there are a whole lot of layers here. So when Herbert concludes his column today with this…

The goal from the beginning has been to keep the proposed airport out of the clutches of Chicago’s notorious “pay-to-play” tradition.

That is the most likely reason that this project, with its potential to unleash so many jobs, has taken so long to get off the ground.

…I’d suggest that he has one layer right, but there are several others out there.

  45 Comments      


Question of the day

Tuesday, Mar 17, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The setup

In Chicago, blowing a stoplight might get you a letter, complete with a $100 fine, thanks to a red-light camera.

But that might not be the end of your photo-enforcement woes, because aldermen Monday began talking about using the city’s ever-growing legion of red-light cameras to check for vehicle liability insurance.

The city could net nearly $10 million a year in fines just by citing uninsured vehicles that also get photo ticketed for a red-light violation, said Ald. Ed Burke (14th), who brought the idea to the City Council Traffic Committee.

Citing more vehicles—including those driven safely but uninsured—could net the city more than $100 million a year, added Rowland Day, executive vice president of InsureNet, a Michigan-based company that provides instant insurance verification.

* The Question: Should the red-light camera law be expanded to nail people who don’t have insurance? Explain fully, please. Thanks.

  85 Comments      


I’m a reform agnostic

Tuesday, Mar 17, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I know we talked about this yesterday, but after reading this quote I thought the subject merited more discussion

“The system we have is obviously not working,” [Cindi Canary of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform] said. “How many more indictments, wire taps, grand juries and arrests must the voters be expected to endure before we are willing to try something new?”

Earlier in the day, she and other good-government advocates announced a new push to build public support for capping campaign donations.

Campaign contribution caps are not “new.” They’ve been used in DC for years and years. Yet, congressmen, lobbyists and others are still going to prison.

Simple solutions are usually neither. I’m not necessarily against campaign caps, but how much will this really clean up our system? Does anyone really believe that Rod Blagojevich would’ve avoided arrest if we had campaign caps in Illinois?

* Then again, four former US Attorneys have signed on to the idea

We urge the state legislature—and the governor—to enact the pending legislation modeled after federal law that puts specific and reasonable limits on political contributions by individuals, corporations and unions.

Enactment of the proposed legislation will be a significant and much needed first step to ending the corruption that has for too long been part of our state’s history.

* On the other hand

Laura Renz, research director for the Virginia-based Center for Competitive Politics, called on lawmakers to exercise caution as they consider changes to the campaign finance system.

A system with contribution limits generally hampers challengers who are taking on political incumbents, she said.

Incumbents have greater name recognition, making it easier for them to raise funds, but challengers often rely more heavily on large donations from fewer contributors, she said.

“Thus, by insulating incumbents from challenge, contribution limits can actually make it harder for voters to become aware of and root out corrupt politicians,” she said.

More

Ann Lousin, who helped write the 1970 state Constitution and who teaches law at John Marshall Law School in Chicago, spells out some of the opposition to campaign finance limits for individuals, businesses and political groups. “If I can figure out a way around it in five minutes, you shouldn’t put it into the statute,” she said. “You go back to sunshine, sunshine, sunshine. Sunshine is the best disinfectant.”

She said individuals could disguise their financial support through friends or relatives, while state contractors could hide their donations by funneling money though subcontractors, which aren’t part of the public record. “All you’re doing is putting it underground,” she said.

* When somebody can show me a reform that actually works and has a real track record of success in cleaning up a notoriously bad system, then I’ll be for it. Until then, I’ll remain an agnostic.

Also, would the good government groups pushing this plan agree to cap their own donations? Good for the goose…

  39 Comments      


A strange Dem and the angst-ridden Repubs

Tuesday, Mar 17, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I got this press release via e-mail yesterday and filed it under “Maybe I’ll get back to this later”…

Scott Lee Cohen, local businessman and entrepreneur, opened a campaign account this week with a hefty deposit exceeding over $230,000. Scott is running for Lieutenant Governor in the 2010 election and will take over President Obama’s former field office in downtown Chicago. Scott is hoping that volunteers who are already familiar with the location will continue their commitment to service and volunteer on his behalf.

Scott has always been dedicated to serving his community. After suggestions from many friends, community residents, and members of his citizen group, Rod Must Resign, Scott decided to run for office. Scott will draw on his business and real estate experience to provide solutions to the troubled housing market and create economic opportunity in the state. “The people of Illinois need an honest leader who can run our state government on sound business principles. It’s time to bring the government back to the people,” Scott said.

But Mark Brown got a call from the candidate and wrote about him today

Chicago pawnbroker Scott Lee Cohen has launched a campaign to become Illinois’ next lieutenant governor.

His chances are so slim that I told him he’d be better off donating his money to charity.

Even his own campaign consultant says he tried to talk him out of making the race, but the best he could do was persuade him not to run for governor

I was glad I didn’t do anything about the release, and then came this nugget…

Part of the reason Cohen said he sought me out to write about his candidacy is that he wanted to make a pre-emptive strike about some potentially embarrassing matters before they came up in the campaign.

That got my attention, I must admit, although I advised Cohen it hardly seemed necessary as his candidacy was so unlikely to take hold.

But he insisted on telling me about his 2005 arrest in a domestic battery case involving a girlfriend with whom he was living while his divorce was pending. The charges were dropped when the woman did not appear in court, he said, and he denied he did anything wrong in the first place.

Sheesh.

* And Steve Huntley looks at Republican angst

Given the Rod Blagojevich scandal, 2010 should shape up as a year of opportunity for Illinois’ Republican Party. But GOP insiders, moneymen, heavy hitters and consultants view the lineup of possible gubernatorial candidates as lackluster and have tried, without success so far, to recruit new blood.

Feelers were put out to Illinois Supreme Court Justice and former Chicago Bears kicker Bob Thomas. “I’m happy where I’m at,” he says in declaring he’s not interested. Bush administration HUD Secretary Steve Preston was definitely interested but found out that federal service couldn’t get him around Illinois residency requirements for elective office. Bruce Rauner, the dynamic chairman of a Chicago private equity fund, decided against a run for family reasons.

Preston was dreaming and so was Rauner. More…

North Shore Rep. Mark Kirk is much more inclined toward taking a shot at the U.S. Senate than looking to Springfield. Northwest suburban Rep. Peter Roskam has landed a coveted spot on the important House Ways and Means Committee and has a promising future in Congress. There’s even been talk about U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. He won’t say whether anyone has sounded him out, but he has made it clear he’s not interested in any political race.

The pressure has been heavy on Kirk to reevaluate, but it’s not likely that he will. Fitz did not come to Chicago to become a politician. He came to Chicago to lock up politicians. More…

State Sen. Dan Duffy of Barrington, a Legislative newcomer, impresses many in the party. He acknowledges hearing suggestions he run, but no one in the party leadership has approached him. “The party is now evaluating a lot of people and that’s a good thing,” he says. “If party leaders said, ‘You’re that person,’ I’d have to have a serious conversation with my family and find out if this is the right time for me. But we’re not there yet.” A jump from newly minted legislator to governor in just two years time would be quite a challenge.

What has party insiders looking around is the realization the crop of Republicans announced or considering the race is made up of mostly the same old faces.

Yep. And they have a right to be worried. Go read the whole thing.

  41 Comments      


Tax hike and budget roundup

Tuesday, Mar 17, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* The Sun-Times has more budget details today

Under the proposal, which Quinn is expected to lay out in his Wednesday budget address, the annual $78 registration fee for state license plate stickers will rise $20. The governor intends to raise cigarette taxes up to $1 over two years, which would double the existing 98-cent-a-pack state tax. Twenty-six states have higher cigarette taxes.

Quinn also is looking at increasing the state’s 3 percent income tax to as much as 4.5 percent. A legislative preview of his funding plans indicated Monday that Quinn is considering a new income tax rate of between 3.5 percent and 4.5 percent.

That 3.5 percent rate emerged after public outcry over the prospect of the tax increase. However, it is expected the governor will still push for a rate toward the higher end of the range identified in the legislative budget “blueprint” obtained Monday by the Chicago Sun-Times.

And in an area likely to generate heated opposition from cities, Quinn wants to withhold the 10 percent stake municipalities would expect to see in additional revenues from an income-tax increase. […]

Quinn also is expected to propose increasing the corporate income tax from 4.8 percent to 5.9 percent, saving $100 million by ending corporate tax incentives, dipping into special-purpose funds for $200 million and withdrawing $150 million from the state’s road fund.

* My syndicated newspaper column takes a look at the naysayers

Republican state Sen. Bill Brady kicked off his new gubernatorial campaign the other day by claiming that Illinois’ horrific budget deficit can be “managed.” But a new report by the governor’s office makes that claim even less realistic than it already was.

As you already know, Democratic Comptroller Dan Hynes has estimated the state’s budget deficit could reach $9 billion next fiscal year, not including aid from the federal stimulus package. We can toss those numbers out the window now, but this is all Brady had to go on when he announced his campaign, so let’s look at it anyway.

Brady told WGN-AM (720) the day before his official campaign kickoff that the budget deficit was about $4 billion to $5 billion “on an annual basis.” That’s pretty much exactly what Comptroller Hynes projected. Hynes included $4 billion or so in unpaid bills from this fiscal year in his $9 billion deficit projection for next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

But Brady insisted the budget deficit could be managed. “The first thing we need to do is to deal with that $4 billion to $5 billion deficit. And you can manage that. When you’ve got a $53-plus billion budget, you need to manage it,” he said.

Brady did the math and concluded the state budget broke down to $4,000 for every man, woman and child in Illinois. “If the people who are elected into office can’t balance a budget taking $4,000 from every man, woman and child, then maybe we ought to find someone who can,” Brady said.

What he didn’t say, of course, was that the $53 billion budget figure he cited was for all funds, including federal funds. The state’s operating budget - the part that Illinois government actually controls - is about $28 billion. Health care programs and education spending account for all but $3 billion of that total. So, there’s really no way to “manage” the state out of even a $4 billion deficit without big slashes in spending for schools and Medicaid recipients and providers.

Most importantly, there are about 100 days or so remaining in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. So getting ourselves out of this fiscal year’s deficit crisis with the game almost over would require unimaginable cuts. As I’ve written elsewhere, you’d essentially have to shut the government down.

Brady also claimed Illinois could pay for a capital construction program without raising taxes, such as the motor fuel tax, a proposal made by some legislative Democrats. He’d do this by stopping all transfers from the state’s road fund, which he says is over $1 billion a year.

That’s mostly true. But reversing those road fund transfers means the state would have to either eliminate or slash programs paid for by the road fund, which includes the State Police, or blow a billion dollar hole in the rest of the state budget. The problem, in other words, would be worse.

And here’s where it gets worse.

Much worse.

The governor’s office is now estimating the combined state budget deficit to be $11.5 billion. Income and sales taxes are crashing, to the tune of more than $3 billion. Medicaid costs, employee wages and benefits, including pension costs, are skyrocketing.

In short, it’s a horror show.

But if we can’t cut our way out of this mess, we certainly can’t fully tax our way out of it, either.

Gov. Pat Quinn wants to make the income tax burden as “progressive” as possible, so as of this writing Quinn’s tax hike plan is expected to avoid taxing anyone at all under the federal poverty line. Plus, nobody making less than $57,000 a year would see any income tax hike.

So even though the governor wants to raise the income tax by 1.5 percentage points, which is a 50 percent increase, he won’t get nearly the sort of revenue that an across-the-board hike would give him. That means cuts, and some of them will be painful.

There are other innovative ways to help balance the budget that don’t involve painful cuts or tax increases. But none of those ideas gets you to $11.5 billion. Not even close.

Forget about the political rhetoric and get ready to pay more for less.

* Related…

* Gov. Pat Quinn seeks consensus in break from past: “We’re a team. We’re a family. We have almost 13 million people in our family of Illinois,” Quinn said.

* Illinois Politicians Disagree on Tax Hike Option

* Former Governors Offer Quinn Budget Advice

* House Speaker Madigan Open to Tax Hike

* Quinn wants to make best of worst-case scenario

* Quinn has to be thinking about Ogilvie

* 12 steps before a tax hike

* Tax increases will spark controversy

* State Rep. Smith backs tax hike

* Tax hike plan is excessive

* Will Quinn reopen Frank Lloyd Wright’s Dana-Thomas House and other state historic sites? We’ll know Wednesday

* State to get $8.4 million for foster care, adoption

  40 Comments      


Morning Shorts

Tuesday, Mar 17, 2009 - Posted by Mike Murray

* Zorn: Killings of students provides a grim tally

* Caterpillar institutes rolling layoffs

* Bloomington looking at many job cuts

* After Years of Shrinking, Union Ranks Edge Up

After years of decline, Illinois union ranks in 2008 grew by 97,000 workers. That’s according to a recent federal report.

* The Big Chill: Chicago’s Condo Market Is Now on Ice

* Family refuses to give up home without a fight

* Chicago Tribune names biz editor

* Railway agrees to quiet zones in suburban Chicago

U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski helped broker an agreement with Canadian National Railway to establish quiet zones through Riverside, North Riverside and Berwyn.

A statement Monday from the Illinois Democrat’s office says Montreal-based CN will upgrade crossings so trains won’t blare their horns as they pass. It didn’t provide cost estimates.

* Chicago’s potholes: Lack of funding leaves gaping holes

* Early Voting Begins For House Seat Of Rahm Emanuel

* Quigley’s D.C. trip not a ‘victory lap’

* Durbin Defends Earmarks

* Lake Michigan shoreline: Sen. Dick Durbin, Mayor Richard Daley defend earmarks

* If she hit him, he probably deserved it

Obviously, what Eni Skoien allegedly did wasn’t very smart. Now she will need a skilled lawyer to get the protection order lifted.

That’s why violence is never a solution.

Still, in a situation like this, a few whacks might be the only way a woman can hold onto her dignity.

* Hispanics leaders: We can work with Burris

* Playing race politics as a zero-sum game

* Burris’ son got state job fairly, Quinn says

* Hiring of Sen. Roland Burris’ son: Review by Gov. Patrick Quinn’s office finds no misconduct

* Bensenville village president wins ballot fight:

* Judge says Geils can stay on ballot in Bensenville

* Candidates spending big bucks in Des Plaines mayoral race

* I competed with Sanchez to get city jobs: witness

* Chicago hiring fraud trial: Prosecutors rest their case

* Ill. Supreme Court removes Vrdolyak from attorneys list

* Vrdolyak’s name off Illinois attorneys’ roll

* Cleaning firm sues over loss of Soldier Field contract

* Art Institute pricing itself out of public domain

  10 Comments      


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

Tuesday, Mar 17, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Send in the clown

Tuesday, Mar 17, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* 7:08 am - Rod Blagojevich is on Don & Roma’s show right now. To listen live, if you can stomach such inanity this early in the morning, click here.

The guy still claims that he was forced out of office specifically so that the Democratic legislative leaders could raise taxes. Sheesh.

I wonder if Don & Roma will still have Blagojevich on their show after he’s put into prison.

  18 Comments      


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