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Reader comments closed for the holiday weekend

Thursday, Jul 2, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Barring some big news, we’re done until Monday. Hopefully, this governor won’t screw up our summer holidays like the last governor did. We’ll see. I’m not holding my breath.

Anyway, have a wonderful Independence Day. I hope it’s a great one.

* Following our tradition of posting July 4th Grateful Dead videos, here’s Jerry Garcia and Great Speckled Bird from a July 4, 1970 show…

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*** UPDATED x2 *** Birkett appears in for AG

Thursday, Jul 2, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* 2:21 pm - Republican DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett is calling around this afternoon saying he plans to run for attorney general.

This would be Birkett’s second try at AG. He lost to Lisa Madigan in 2002. He ran for governor four years later, dropped out and became Judy Baar Topinka’s running mate. He had been considering a bid for governor next year, but that race is getting pretty crowded.

Campaign website, YouTube page, Twitter, Facebook.

*** UPDATE 1 *** He just announced on YouTube…

*** UPDATE 2 *** Here’s the announcement via e-mail…

I’ve made the decision to remain a prosecutor and to run for the Office of Illinois Attorney General in 2010.

I invite you to watch the brief video below in which I explain my decision. I will continue to aggressively engage with you online to build a statewide organization that provides each and every citizen a voice in Illinois government, once and for all.

* But the Daily Herald publishes a much more gushing press release…

Never one to back down from a fight, DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett plans to run for Illinois Attorney General in 2010 - even if incumbent Lisa Madigan seeks a third term.

Birkett made the political announcement Thursday during a Daily Herald interview.

As Madigan wavers between a possible run for U.S. Senate, governor or to retain her current office, Birkett said the attorney general post is the best fit for him regardless of whom he faces on Election Day. […]

“You have to be who you are,” the 54-year-old Wheaton man said. “I’m a prosecutor. I’ve come to the conclusion I should remain one. That’s where I belong. It’s my passion.”

I kid you not. That’s the actual Daily Herald story. And it even gets “better,” if you can believe it, but I shouldn’t paste more than four grafs here. Go read it yourself.

…Adding… No wonder. She’s the criminal court reporter. It has always been thus at the DH.

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Question of the day

Thursday, Jul 2, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I’m not sure we’ll be blogging tomorrow because of the holiday, so let’s do a July 4th QOTD now.

What do you cherish most about life in America? Explain.

50 Comments

Mother Blowhard

Thursday, Jul 2, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Ah, the Tribune editorial board. Not blowhardish at all. Today’s editorial blasts Gov. Pat Quinn, House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton…

You evidently have one priority: You want what’s best for the people of this state — provided you don’t have to seriously affront the public employees unions and other interest groups that have such influence with you.

Actually, the General Assembly passed a budget which was opposed by those groups.

The Trib also claimed that the three men have ignored any spending reforms and “relentlessly focused on raising taxes.”

Let’s see, the governor has proposed $2 billion in cuts, including Medicaid reform, employee layoffs, etc. Cullerton already passed a tax hike, and Madigan says he won’t move a tax hike plan until he is sure there are enough votes. Both say a tax hike proposal is fruitless now without GOP votes. Quinn is the only one focusing “relentlessly” on a tax increase. The other two are saying the soup isn’t even on the stove yet.

Mr. Madigan, Mr. Cullerton, enough. Accept the spending and ethics reforms and pass a budget. Republicans will help you.

They will? Is the edit board sure about that? Did the Republican leaders specifically tell the Tribune editorial board “If we get X, Y and Z, and here are our details and specific legislation that we want, then we’ll put enough votes on a tax hike vote to pass it”? That would be big news and those quotes should’ve been reported on the front page. Maybe I just missed that blockbuster.

Then on Tuesday [Quinn] signed into law a sales tax exemption for wind energy projects.

Governor, Illinois is broke. Please stop digging this hole deeper and deeper.

Sales tax exemptions for newsprint, ink, advertising and newspaper printing machinery=Excellent. Sales tax exemptions for an almost brand new business that will create reliable new jobs=Stupid.

* Look, the Democrats have a lot to be blamed for here. A whole lot. They had the majority and they failed to finish the job. No question about it whatsoever. And it’s not like they got their act together in June, either.

But if anybody thinks that the Republican leaders are now really, truly pushing redistricting reform and pension reform in exchange for putting significant numbers of votes on an income tax hike, they need to have their heads examined. Cross was the House floor leader during debate on that goofy congressional map which everybody complains about. His members ain’t exactly thrilled about the reform idea, either. And I have yet to see evidence that a majority of Republicans are excited about voting for a two-tiered pension system.

The spring session is long over. It failed. Badly. But it’s a new day now and GOP votes and specific GOP ideas are crucial, so it would be nice to see a modicum of even-handedness and reality-based reasoning from Mother Tribune.

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Blood on the sidewalk

Thursday, Jul 2, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* In my opinion, Gov. Quinn has crossed the line…

Caught in the crossfire are social-service providers who were previously warned by Quinn that dramatic cuts of 50 percent or more would result if lawmakers didn’t come up with more money. In a statement, Quinn warned that organizations providing services not backed by a court order did so “at the risk of not being paid.” He said nine organizations have sued stemming from the impasse.

Frank Anselmo, chief executive officer of the Community Behavioral Healthcare Association of Illinois, said providers of services to the mentally ill already have laid off staff and stopped taking patients. He said Quinn has not put in place contingency contracts that guarantee eventual payment, something prior administrations have done.

Instead of contingency contracts, Quinn told vendors and providers that they were outta luck…

[Quinn’s] office then released a statement that Illinois “has very limited authority to pay its vendors and grantees.” The state, however, “will continue to operate and provide essential services to protect the health, safety and welfare of Illinois citizens, such as maintaining prisons and providing emergency services and legally-required social services. Other vendors and grantees who currently perform state services do so at the risk of not being paid,” the statement concluded.

And these statements by Comptroller Hynes show a lack of understanding about how providers and state vendors operate…

Hynes says social service agencies wouldn’t miss any payments from the state until later in the summer, because - even when there is a budget - they aren’t paid immediately.

HYNES: If they provided services today, by the time they got their paperwork into the agency and it’s submitted to our office, and with the cashflow delays we’re having, we’re talking several months. So that’s why the day-to-day social services don’t have a real, hard-and-fast deadline like a payroll does.

Hynes does acknowledge that the governor’s letter is going to create some hardships. The reason is that these social service agencies are basically just small to mid-sized businesses. For-profit vendors are almost all traditional businesses. Like all businesses, they occasionally have to borrow money to level out their revenues. Quinn’s letter, however, will scare the devil out of bankers.

More posturing…

Quinn suggested lawmakers shouldn’t dillydally, but they aren’t scheduled to return to the Capitol to deal with the budget situation for two weeks.

And Quinn indicated that he wouldn’t bring them back before then. Another blow to those social service groups and vendors.

* Everybody else, including state workers and Public Aid recipients, are pretty safe…

…the lack of a budget for now may mean very little for most state agencies. Court orders require the state to make public aid payments regardless of the budget status. And the last time the state found itself in a similar position, a court told the state to continue sending out paychecks while the budget remained up in the air.

So you can most likely ignore most of the huffing and puffing about that issue. It’s the vendors and the providers who are in most danger now…

Twelve of the 33 employees at A Woman’s Fund in Urbana already have lost their jobs, said the agency’s executive director, Tami Tunnell.

And 31 of the 210 staffers at the Mental Health Center of Champaign County were told Wednesday that they are being laid off, said Chief Executive Officer Sheila Ferguson.

Blood on the sidewalk…

At the H Group in West Frankfort, administrators cut 33 jobs and 12 employees took pay cuts and demotions, said John Markley, executive director.

“If any legislator was looking for the blood on the sidewalk so to speak, it’s today (Wednesday),” Markley said. “If legislators are wondering if it’s really a crisis or not they can come and sit in our office and watch us tell our clients we can’t serve them; watch us have to tell our staff there is no need for their service because they aren’t funded by the sate anymore.”

Markley estimated the H Group, which provides mental health and addiction services in Williamson and Franklin Counties, will serve 1,000 fewer people this year than the 7,000 served last year. […]

[Fellowship House in Anna’s CEO Mickey Finch] said she has already cut seven jobs at Fellowship House and cut the number of patient beds from 40 to 20. She said the agency can make it until the end of the calendar year before shutting down.

More…

Sabrina’s been laid off. And Keith is on a 14-day unpaid furlough, his job future uncertain. It’s a devastating one-two punch for the couple.

The Georges both work for Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities (TASC), an agency that was used by the courts to divert non-violent convicts with addiction problems away from prison, to probation and treatment. But Tuesday, after Illinois failed to pass a budget, the agency laid off 50 workers and furloughed 150 more for two weeks.

Asked the status of those 150 furloughed employees, TASC Executive VP Peter Palanca said, “We don’t know, given the uncertainty of the budget, given what’s going on. It’s anyone’s guess what’s going to happen.”

As a result, the office is deserted. Rows and rows of empty desks, and boxes piled high with files of clients who aren’t being helped.

* Related…

* Mutual Ground’s domestic violence shelter closes amid budget fight

* Mattoon adult education center forced to shut doors; Lake Land College still owed $5.3 million by state

* People with kids, disabilities to feel the pinch without a state budget

* Adams: Obligation to state’s kids a matter of law

* Groups sue Ill. over budget impasse: Quinn said Wednesday afternoon that nine lawsuits had been filed in the past 24 hours.

* Overtime issue raised by prison union chief

* Quinn to talk budget with women lawmakers

* Lawmakers field calls, speak minds on budget impasse

* Profiles in failure

* New fiscal year, same stalemate

* Quinn vetoes budget; workers will be paid

41 Comments

Madigan vs. Quinn

Thursday, Jul 2, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

* I put together a couple of videos last night that you may want to watch. The first is House Speaker Michael Madigan and Gov. Quinn talking about the governor’s apparent flip-flops. Make sure you watch all the way to the end for the “best” Madigan zinger…

The second video is Madigan answering questions about his poor relationships with Democratic governors in the past and allegations that he has deliberately undercut Gov. Quinn this year…

I’m still learning this video stuff, so be patient, please.

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

Thursday, Jul 2, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller

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Morning Shorts

Thursday, Jul 2, 2009 - Posted by Mike Murray

* Investigators raid home, office of Cook County regional schools superintendent

Investigators raided the home and office of the Cook County regional schools superintendent Wednesday, carting out laptop computers, cell phones and boxes of files, sources said.

* Offices raided of Cook schools superintendent

Law enforcement officials seized computers, hard drives and documents from the agency’s Westchester office, ABC 7 reported.

Cook County Commissioners were due to consider resolutions calling on Flowers to resign and asking the state to abolish the office altogether.

Cook County prosecutors confirm Flowers is under investigation, but said he has not been charged.

* Bank forecloses on home of indicted Blagojevich pal

The man unlucky enough to get indicted three times because of his dealings with Rod Blagojevich just got unluckier.

A bank on Tuesday moved to foreclose on the home of Christopher G. Kelly, a longtime Blagojevich buddy, adviser and fund-raiser.

Old Second National Bank filed a $2.1 million foreclosure notice on Kelly’s Burr Ridge home.

* ‘Runaway greed’ gets doc 18 months

Dr. Robert Weinstein was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in prison. The name means nothing to most of you, I realize, which is a shame, because you sure know a lot about his longtime partner, Stuart Levine, the crook who brought down the Blagojevich administration.

Weinstein was Levine’s partner in business and partner in crime, although there’s nothing to indicate they made a distinction between the two.

At the Tony Rezko trial, Levine testified that he and Weinstein shared the proceeds from everything they did, including his shady deals, and unlike Rezko, there was plenty of tape-recorded evidence with Weinstein’s own voice to prove that was the case.

The wiretapped phone conversations between Levine and Weinstein provided some of the most eye-opening moments of the Rezko trial as Levine bragged about his schemes to arrange secret kickbacks from companies seeking to do business with state boards on which he sat — and secretly controlled.

* ‘Illegal’ high-rise hotels targeted

At this week’s City Council meeting, Reilly introduced an ordinance that would rein in so-called “nightly vacation rentals.”

It would allow condos to be turned into hotel suites only if owners get prior approval from the condo association, secure at least $1 million in liability insurance and obtain a two-year “vacation rental license” for a $500 fee.

The city’s 3.5 percent hotel tax would have to be tacked on to the nightly rental fee. No unit could be rented for fewer than 10 straight hours.

* CPS axes 557, with more layoffs ahead

* 3 city unions holding out on deal to avert layoffs

Three hold-out unions with 650 layoffs hanging in the balance —Teamster 726, Laborers 1001 and AFSMCE Council 31—are standing in the way of a two-year deal on cost-cutting concessions to save the jobs of 1,504 city of Chicago employees targeted for layoffs.

Mayor Daley refused today to say what he would do if the unions don’t get on board by the July 15 deadline.

“The city must take the appropriate action on the 15th,” Daley said at a City Hall news conference. “We think, in the long run, on the 15th, all of ‘em will be there. I firmly believe that. I pray for it. I hope they are…because this will not be good for their membership.”

* Some Chicago Unions Say No More Talk of Furloughs

The deal would require union workers to take unpaid days off. But a few of the unions working with the city say they won’t accept the plan. Ken Brantley is the vice president of Teamsters Local 726. He says his members are done negotiating.

BRANTLEY: Over the years they’ve gave up enough. They’re tired of giving back and nothing is being given to us. The mayor wants everything, it’s not just the furlough days.

Laborers’ Local 1001 and AFSCME are the other two unions that won’t agree to the plan. In a statement, AFSCME says its members are among the lowest-paid city workers. Labor leaders say all the unions working with the city have to accept the terms before the plan is implemented. Mayor Richard Daley says unions have until July 15 to reach an agreement before more than 1500 workers are laid off.

* Chicago pays $915 per body for morgue transport; alderman says that’s too much

* Charters not only way to fix Chicago schools

* 467K jobs cut in June; jobless rate at 9.5 percent

* Recession might be bottoming out, but recovery still likely slow

* Midway sale to Warner Bros. approved by court

The $33-million deal brings to a close the recent financial woes of the Chicago-based video-game maker. Midway Games filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February not long after media mogul Sumner Redstone sold his majority stake in the firm. Midway had warned in November that the change in control would allow bondholders of $150 million in debt the right to call their notes. The company did not have the money to pay the entire debt.

Midway Games has been saddled with annual losses since 2000 as it has been unable to develop a sought-after game following its “Mortal Kombat” blockbuster.

* Average gas price inches down to $2.84

* United computer glitch causing delays at O’Hare

* IDOT to makes holiday travel a bit easier

IDOT says it is suspending some construction-related lane closures around the state starting Thursday at 3 p.m. until midnight on Sunday July 5.

* Facing foreclosure, Curry sues ex-aide

* Mentally disabled in housing fight

* Illinois ranks 10th in nation in rate of overweight and obese children

* Ill. agency begins replenishing Rock River

An Illinois agency has begun recovery efforts at Rock River, where tens of thousands of fish suddenly died on the same weekend as an explosive train derailment in northern Illinois.

* Illinois Supreme Court adopts new rules for lawyers

And court officials say the new rules bring the regulation of lawyers into the 21st century, specifically issuing guidelines for new technology including e-mail, Web sites and cell phones.

Among other things, the new rules also make it easier for lawyers to perform pro bono legal services, and they redefine the standards for client confidentiality.

* Theft of 5,000 pounds of commercial-grade fireworks worries cops

A five-inch mortar shell — one of the most common items taken — is powerful enough to kill someone if it detonates nearby and could even destroy a car if it blows up while being transported, DuPage County Sheriff’s Department officials said Wednesday.

* Crestwood water contamination source remains a mystery

* July/August issue: The environment

Illinois Issues magazine’s annual environment issue came out today.

In it, you’ll find “Wind power,” a story about Illinois being at a turning point in its energy-producing future. It’s written by Michael Hawthorne, the Chicago Tribune reporter who broke the Crestwood water contamination story.

* ‘Ledge’ at Sears Skydeck opens Thursday

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