Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » 2009

AP: Quinn’s guilt trip too little, too late

Tuesday, Jun 9, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* 2:23 pm - The leaders meeting started at about 2 o’clock. We’re hoping for audio from IIS sometime this afternoon.

Whilst we wait, let’s take a look at a newly moved AP story, which underscores my point earlier today that Quinn just doesn’t have enough credibility to make budget-cutting threats on his own. He needs some outside assistance, and fast…

[Gov. Quinn is] making the rounds of social service agencies to guilt lawmakers into doing what he wants. […]

But skeptics say Quinn’s guilt trip is too little, too late and it’s a tactic former Gov. Rod Blagojevich overused.

Still others argue the debate over a tax increase can’t truly get off the ground in tough economic times until officials cut waste and improve government efficiency.

The AP has apparently abandoned the “straight news” concept.

* 2:58 pm - The entire AP story is now posted and it truly is a farce. Here’s a hint: Rep. Jack Franks will never vote for a tax hike. No how, no way. So, quoting him talking about how more cuts are needed before he can vote for a tax hike means absolutely nothing….

“I have to look my constituents in the eye and say, ‘You know what, I’ve done everything possible and there’s no other way.’ Right now I can’t even come close to saying that,” said Rep. Jack Franks, a Democrat from Marengo.

* 5:18 pm - The leaders meeting ended a few minutes ago, so maybe we’ll know a little something soon.

* 5:46 pm - Audio from IIS is up.

* Leader Cross ..

“I think July 1st is a very aggressive date to get things done.”

78 Comments

Question of the day

Tuesday, Jun 9, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I don’t think we’ve ever had a caption contest which included Senate GOP Leader Christine Radogno. Time for a change…

44 Comments

The “No, We Can’t” tour continues today

Tuesday, Jun 9, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Another round of talks. Don’t expect much…

Gov. Pat Quinn and top lawmakers are headed into another round of budget negotiations amid dire warnings of massive service cuts.

Quinn and the state’s legislative leaders were expected to meet Tuesday afternoon.

* The governor intends to ratchet up the rhetoric…

QUINN: Now, I’m going to be probably more aggressive than ever this week. I don’t think this is the time to run in place and pretend all is well. It’s the exact opposite and we have to have an urgent approach to a crisis that we never encountered — most of us in our lifetime.

The problem for Quinn is that he has so little credibility on this issue. Nobody really believes that a liberal like Quinn will allow a doomsday budget to happen. The governor needs backup, so maybe he should do something like bring in Republicans like Jim Edgar, Steve Schnorf etc. to help him make the case that the budget situation is, indeed, dire and the huge cuts that are coming are all too real.

* Meanwhile, the leaders keep pointing fingers at each other…

CROSS: Everybody in Illinois government knows that when the Speaker wants to pass something he gets it passed. And unfortunately, this time around he didn’t pass it. It certainly begs the question of why he would send an unbalanced budget or a budget that doesn’t take care of certain segments of society, why he would do that to the governor and more importantly to those people in Illinois.

…Adding… Once. Just once, I’d like to see a newspaper stand up and offer to take a hit for the good of the budget…

Quinn said he can’t think of a higher priority than children. Lawmakers’ first responsibility should be fiscal responsibility; spending beyond what the state can afford hurts all residents, children included.

Quinn says a tax increase is needed. If he hopes to convince lawmakers of that, he is first going to have to get serious about cutting programs and services. They made clear they are not going to ask taxpayers to sacrifice anymore than they already do unless state government goes first.

I don’t mean to pick on the BN-D, but how much do newspapers make off of public advertising mandates? And how much do they save because of targeted state sales tax exemptions on everything from newsprint, to ink to printing equipment? They’d be a lot more credible when they scream for cuts if they offered themselves up first.

Just sayin…

* Related…

* Officials: SIUC’s Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders will close without sufficient funding

* Budget cuts could be devastating

* Long-Term vs. Community Care: Illinois Worst in USA in Serving Adults in Community Settings

64 Comments

Dangerous reform, silly logic, incomplete ideas and defensive behavior

Tuesday, Jun 9, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* As most of you know, I’m solidly for redistricting reform, but this is a very dangerous idea…

Both House GOP Leader Tom Cross and Senate Republican chief Christine Radogno brought up remap at a meeting last week with their Democratic counterparts and Gov. Pat Quinn over whether to raise taxes to fill a budget hole.

Mr. Cross even asked the governor if he would consider using his veto pen to rewrite a pending bill and make reapportionment a non-partisan process.

Illinois just impeached and removed a governor for grossly abusing his powers, and using an amendatory veto to drastically rewrite legislation to implement a huge idea that hasn’t even been debated in the General Assembly would be a gigantic abuse of gubernatorial power.

That Cross would even consider this silly idea in the name of “reform” pretty much undercuts his argument that he wants reform.

* Roeper writes about the parking meter uproar and reminds me to make a point about reform notions and political reality…

Yes, the rate hikes were obscene, the city blew a potential $1 billion in revenue by farming out the business, and the pay-and-display boxes have been plagued with mechanical problems.

However. The one silver lining in this cloud is people who live, work and play in the city can sometimes find a spot so they can run into the dry cleaners or drop something off or take a quick meeting, whereas in the past so many spots were taken by “squatters” who would find a spot early and feed the meter every two hours.

This notion, pushed by the city’s inspector general and others, that the city could’ve gotten an extra billion dollars by just jacking up the parking meter rates and keeping the money for itself is patently absurd and ignores reality. Without a private contract in place, those rates would’ve been lowered to their original levels by now because aldermen are under such heavy attack from angry constituents.

Also, Roeper is right about empty meters. But that won’t stop the screaming.

* The Tribune writes yet another editorial about why it doesn’t like the election of judges…

Judges are elected in most states, including Illinois. The main value of Monday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in a West Virginia case is to provide another good reason why judicial elections are a bad idea.

Except, who’s gonna appoint judges? Governors? Bureaucratic “experts”? They don’t say.

* Patrick Collins makes an interesting observation…

When Springfield leaders concluded that the specific reform would not substantially affect their operations, they gave the reform the green light. When they concluded that the reform threatened their status quo, they did not.

For example, in our discussions about procurement reform, we were told repeatedly that the General Assembly doesn’t approve many contracts and leases; on transparency, we were told that the General Assembly doesn’t get many Freedom of Information Act requests. In these two areas, and a related area involving patronage abuses (the General Assembly doesn’t hire either), we received some reform.

A different story line emerged when the General Assembly’s leaders concluded that the commission’s proposed reforms might alter the rules of the game in Springfield: campaign finance, enforcement and government structure. In each of these areas, the commission’s proposals were treated as a grave threat, so the proposals were substantially watered down (campaign finance); rejected in full (enforcement tools for state prosecutors); delayed (redistricting), or outright ignored (legislative leader term limits and legislative rule changes to improve democracy).

By failing to adopt any of these game-changing proposals, the General Assembly spoke clearly about its unwillingness to get to the core of the culture of corruption.

In everything I’ve read by Collins so far, including the reform commission’s report, he never really explains why the concentration of power in the leaders’ hands is at “the core of the culture of corruption.”

I could give you a list. You could probably make up your own. But Collins has never fully justified these proposals, which I find quite odd. We’re just supposed to take his word for it that he’s right.

* Senate President Cullerton lists the reforms passed by the GA and then gets defensive in an op-ed piece…

Critics say that these reforms are “watered down” or do not go far enough. That’s because recognizing the accomplishments of legislators would be inconsistent with the legislative witch hunt that has been promoted by some.

Big words.

* Related…

* Judges with big donations on the books can be removed from cases

* Ruling raises questions about Ill. court races

* ICPR Says Supreme Court Ruling Shows Need for Public Financing

* SJ-R: Make state’s earmark process more transparent

* Boland calls for U of I resignations: In October 2007, it was reported Boland gave the daughter of one of his larger political donors three legislative college scholarships worth a total of $17,536. At the time, Boland said he was not influenced by campaign donations totaling nearly $16,000 from the student’s mother. State Sen. Gary Dahl, R-Granville, said any potential investigation should examine other ways lawmakers exert influence on higher education, such as the legislative scholarship program.

* Quinn must clean up U. of I. clout admissions

* Lift veil on admissions practices at college

32 Comments

Morning shorts

Tuesday, Jun 9, 2009 - Posted by Mike Murray

* First tests of soil come up clean in Crestwood

* Cicero president accused in sex harassment suit

* Third quarter may bring hiring boost: survey

Hiring plans among Chicago-area employers will modestly pick up during the third quarter, according to a survey released Tuesday by employment services provider Manpower Inc

* Peoria-area hiring will be light for summer

* Construction to begin soon on new B-N transit system facility

* More days, money spent by Illinois visitors in 2008

State officials say visitors to Illinois spent more and stayed longer in 2008. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity said Monday that tourists spent $30.8 billion last year. That’s up more than $883 million from 2007.

Over the past five years, tourists spent more than $7.8 billion, helping to create 303,500 jobs in the travel industry.

Illinois remains the sixth most popular state among overseas tourists. About 1.4 million overseas tourists visited Illinois during a time when the dollar was below the Euro. That’s a 21 percent increase from 2007.

Chicago tourists declined to 44.21 million, 2.1 percent less than 2007’s record-breaking numbers. However, those tourists increased the number of days spent in the city by 6 percent.

* Farmers are behind planting soybeans

* Union says city layoffs possible

Service Employees International Union Local 73, which represents city civilian public-safety employees, were recently informed by the Chicago Department of Human Resources that 293 workers will receive layoff notices this week that will be effective July 1st, according to a news release from the union.

The layoffs would include 186 crossing guards, 67 detention aides and 40 traffic control aides, the release said. The jobs will be performed in the future by Chicago police officers, the union said it was told.

* Former USOC leader calls Chicago a ‘leader’ for 2016 Games

* Peter Ueberroth says Chicago leads in game quest

* Supreme Court won’t hear casinos-vs.-tracks dispute

The justices, without comment, turned away an appeal by four Chicago-area riverboat casinos, including two owned by units of Penn National Gaming Inc. and others owned in part by MGM Mirage and Harrah’s Entertainment Inc.

The casinos argued that the law was an unconstitutional taking of private property without compensation. The Illinois Supreme Court upheld the measure, saying the U.S. Constitution’s takings clause doesn’t apply to government-imposed fees.

The law places a 3 percent surcharge on the four casinos’ gross receipts, adjusted to exclude money paid to winning bettors. Under the law, some of the collected money is used to increase horse-racing purses and the rest to subsidize tracks.

The companies said in court papers that they paid more than $75 million during the original two years of the surcharge and may pay $100 million more under a three-year extension enacted last year.

* Windfall expected for Illinois horse tracks

A windfall of more than $7 million may save struggling Fairmount Park — which has faced cuts and possible closure — as a lawsuit blocking the funding crossed the legal finish line Monday.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided to step away from a fight between Illinois casinos and horse tracks, clearing the way for a state plan meant to prop up the struggling horse racing industry.

Officials said the much-needed infusion of cash means Collinsville’s track will be able to continue live thoroughbred racing for the next two or three years — and maybe longer. Without the funding, the track’s future looked bleak, officials said.

‘
* Could cab-sharing work here?

Would you share a taxicab with total strangers headed in the same direction — at any time, day or night — in exchange for a 50 percent fare cut?

Instead of waiting for a rush-hour bus on a congested route, would you pay $3 or $4 to share a “group-ride cab” with three other passengers?

“If it’s workable and could benefit the driver and consumer, absolutely” Chicago will try it, said Reyes, commissioner of the city’s Consumer Protection and Business Affairs Department.

* Chicago police freed of spying limits

A federal judge has dissolved decades-old legal restrictions placed on Chicago police because of their infamous Red Squad.

U.S. District Court Judge Joan Gotschall voided the consent decrees today in response to a joint motion from Mayor Richard Daley’s administration and the American Civil Liberties Union.

* Dart continues to fight prostitution, trim the fat in tough times

* Chicago Ald. Isaac Carothers could change corruption plea as soon as next month, his lawyer says

* Chicago Ald. Ike Carothers pleads ‘not guilty’

* Daleys in turmoil over nephew’s deals: sources

* ‘The jury has stole my life’

He was arrested by a cop who became an alderman and was later convicted of corruption.

He was questioned by a detective later accused of mistreating other murder suspects.

And Mark Clements was sent to prison for life for killing four people in an arson.

Now, after Clements has spent 26 years behind bars, his attorneys say they have evidence that a motorcycle gang was responsible for the deaths.

* Homicide inside the walls of Stateville

The slaying highlights a perilous flaw in how non-violent offenders sent to maximum-security prisons for disciplinary infractions have been locked up in the same cells with predatory inmates who are serving long sentences and have nothing to lose.

* 2009 Murder Rate Down 11 Percent January Through May

There were 156 murders in Chicago between January and the end of May this year. That’s 20 less than the same time period last year and it’s good news for the police department which saw a 5-year high in the murder rate in 2008 when there were a total of five-hundred and 10 killings.

* Don’t blame judge for cop’s tragic murder

* “Big Hurt” to work Cubs-White Sox games for CSN

12 Comments

« NEWER POSTS