* John “Marmaduke” Dawson passed away this week. Marmaduke was a founding member of the New Riders of the Purple Sage along with a couple of guys named Jerry Garcia and David Nelson. Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart and bassist Phil Lesh were also in the original band.
Marmaduke was a huge fan of country legends Merle Haggard and Buck Owens, and the Riders covered several of their songs. “Mama Tried” and “Truck Drivin’ Man” were both New Riders staples. He also wrote most of the songs on the band’s early albums.
The band was formed in 1969, about the same time that Bob Dylan released his own take on country music, Nashville Skyline, and Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman were wowing the critics with their country stylings on the Flying Burrito Brothers’ The Gilded Palace Of Sin.
* We also have an Illinois connection to Marmaduke and the NRPS. Bill Laymon, who now lives in Springfield and is a buddy of mine, played with the Riders back in the mid 1980s. Laymon started playing with the David Nelson Band in the 1990s.
Marmaduke eventually retired from the Riders and moved to Mexico, but Nelson reconstituted the group and is still touring.
This video is from one of the few Marmaduke performances with the NRPS in the last nine years. Get up and dance to Dawson’s Garden of Eden…
I don’t know why we want to tear
the whole thing to the ground
* Democratic Comptroller and gubernatorial candidate Dan Hynes responds to criticism from Gov. Pat Quinn that Hynes was “a no-show when it counts” on the budget…
Statement from Dan Hynes’ Campaign Spokesman Mike Rendina on Governor Quinn’s Negative Attack
“Governor Quinn is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts. After Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn spent 6 years in silence watching Rod Blagojevich drive our state into a ditch it is puzzling that he describes a 50% income tax increase on Illinois families as leadership. Comptroller Hynes sent Governor Quinn two letters this past year laying out $1.2 billion in cuts along with alternative revenue sources and urged the Governor not to incite panic in order to pass a 50% tax increase on the backs of working families. While Quinn flip-flopped on his own plans for the last six months, he couldn’t find the time to read either letter.”
Responding to news that state Comptroller Dan Hynes plans to run against him in next year’s primary, Gov. Pat Quinn said today his rival was a “no show” during this year’s rocky budget negotiations.
Quinn questioned Hynes’ leadership abilities, saying as governor he chose to take the tough stance of backing a tax hike to help plug the state’s budget hole while Hynes remained silent.
Quinn said while he went to bat against lawmakers who sent him an unbalanced budget, “a lot of financial people in government, I didn’t hear from. I didn’t hear anything.”
“And I think they need to, you know, ask themselves if you want to be a governor, you can’t be somebody who’s a no-show when it counts,” Quinn said.
Hynes did come out with an alternative plan, which included expanding the sales tax to luxury services and expanding gaming. Stay tuned for a response.
* 1:33 pm - Speaking of the budget, this is from a press release…
…available on our Web site is a one-pager from Larry Joseph, who heads the Budget & Tax Policy Initiative at Voices for Illinois Children. This document walks-up our preliminary estimate of a $10.3 billion budget shortfall for FY2011, which begins next July… In other words, absent significant new revenues, Illinois will have to cut $10.3 billion from its budget next year just to keep treading FY2010’s miserable waters.
I’ve been saying $10 billion for some time now, so I’m glad that Voices is backing me up. Here’s the breakdown…
Loss of one-time revenue from FY 2010
Federal ARRA (recovery) funds 1,400
Pension obligation notes 3,466
Fund sweeps 350
New mandated spending
Increase in pension contributions 1,200
Debt service on pension notes 750
Carryover deficit 3,200
Total 10,366
The governor is in an awfully big glass house to be throwing stones on this budget.
* 1:41 pm - Not exactly germane, but Rep. Bob Biggins won’t run again. From a press release…
….State Representative Bob Biggins (R-Elmhurst) announced today that he would not seek another term. Biggins has been a member of the Illinois House of Representatives since 1993.
“It is truly an honor to serve the citizens of the 41st district and a privilege I take very seriously,” said Biggins. “My family is making a change in where we live which has prompted my decision not to run for re-election.”
* Gov. Pat Quinn finally offers up a kinda/sorta straight answer to something, after a bit of prodding…
“So when do you officially announce that you’re running for Governor?” Goldblatt asked.
“Oh, I haven’t thought about that,” Quinn said, adding that he would begin thinking about it.
Goldblatt responded, “Why are you being slightly coy on this?”
“I plan to run,” Quinn said, “there’s no doubt about that. When I announce is another story.”
Watch it…
* Democratic state Rep. Julie Hamos will announce for something next Tuesday. From an e-mail to supporters…
I am pleased to tell you that after a great deal of discussion with you and many other supporters, I have made some decisions about my future and I plan on making a public announcement next Tuesday at noon.
I would like to invite you to the announcement, but if you cannot attend, I will hold a briefing conference call for my statewide exploratory committee at 5:00 pm on Tuesday evening.
She’s widely expected to run for the open 10th Congressional District seat. We’ll see.
* Conservative talk show host Cisco Cotto, of WIND AM, may run for US Senate…
Cotto wrote to his FaceBook friends Thursday, “I’m going to start talking with some people about the Senate to see if it would work. I know many of you think it’s crazy because I’m young and have never been in politics, but someone has to do something…”
Cotto would not be the first radio talk show host to run for U.S. Senate in Illinois. In 2004, 890 WLS liberal talk show host Nancy Skinner ran against five others, including Barack Obama, who eventually won over fellow Democrats Comptroller Dan Hynes, CPS School Board Prez Gery Chico and millionaire Blair Hull.
* Speaking of the Senate, Republican Mark Kirk took a hit from Pace board chairman Richard Kwasneski for a recent letter to the editor…
While hybrid buses are more expensive than diesel buses ($500,000 vs. $320,000), a hybrid bus will use approximately 30,000 gallons less fuel over its lifetime. A new hybrid fleet could save more than 1 million gallons of fuel and eliminate 10,500 tons of greenhouse gases, saving taxpayers at least $2.6 million in diesel costs alone. Those savings will only increase as diesel prices rise.
When asked why it won’t change course, Pace responds it will lose stimulus funds if it doesn’t act quickly. Far from the case — the stimulus only requires 50 percent of the funds designated to each transit agency to be spent within the first 180 days before those funds are lost.
For starters, attacking a transit agency to make a point about fighting fuel usage and improving air quality is incongruous, considering each Pace bus can take 50 cars off the road.
The comparisons Kirk makes relating to the fuel economy of diesel and hybrid buses are an apples-to-oranges comparison, because the figures he cites compare 40-foot hybrid buses with 40-foot diesel buses. However, the buses Pace purchases are 30 feet in length and actually get better fuel mileage than the 40-foot hybrids he heralds. A 30-foot hybrid might achieve fuel savings, but no such model is in production.
Pace approached Congressman Kirk for five straight years requesting federal funding to add hybrid buses to our fleet, and each time the request was ignored. Had he taken action, it’s very likely Pace would not only purchase hybrid buses with federal stimulus money as he’s now asking us to do, but we would already have them out on the road today.
We’ve done the research to prove that buying more of the considerably less expensive diesel buses for the available funding we have will result in a greater net improvement in air quality. Emissions control technology for diesel buses has advanced to the extent that the difference in the amount of particulate matter found in exhaust from buses is essentially negligible between diesels and hybrids.
Kirk’s comments also ignore a fact we have repeatedly conveyed to him: Pace is committed to testing not only hybrid vehicles but other “green” technology.
“Mark Kirk would have a lot more credibility in calling for investments in environmentally friendly technology if he had signed onto the Economic Recovery Act that invested hundreds of millions in green jobs when he had a chance,” said Press Secretary Hari Sevugan.
* Related…
* Suburban lawmakers play key, opposing roles in health care battle
* Would you support a constitutional amendment to require a two-thirds vote after May 31st to pass any bill with an immediate effective date? The current rule is three-fifths. Two-thirds would make it even more difficult to pass anything, including the budget, perhaps adding encouragement to settle things before the end of session deadline.
Explain fully.
* By the way, yesterday’s Sox ticket winner is Phocion for this comment…
Breaking News: Bud Selig announced today that he will ban for life each of the Tampa Bay Rays batters who faced Mark Buehrle today. According to documents provided to the media, House Speaker and White Sox fan Michael Madigan oferred the players University of Illinois scholarships for their children in exchange for throwing the game.
Phocion needs to e-mail me today. If Phocion cannot attend the August 17th Chicago White Sox vs. the Kansas City Royal game, Bill gets the ticket…
It is quite simple, actually. Elect CapitolFax Bill governor of Illinois.
Actually, Bill will probably get a ticket anyway.
* Our Wednesday winner, How Ironic, cannot attend the game, so Jim Rockford needs to contact me right away.
By legalizing video gambling, Illinois is poised to go down a path that led Sioux Falls, S.D., to accumulate mom-and-pop casinos, pawn shops and payday lenders on almost every major street.
The gambling outlets do not have clocks on the walls and curtains are drawn, leaving gamblers no hint of how much time they have spent inside, said De Knudson, a City Council member and wife of a gubernatorial candidate. Money is only a few steps away and snacks are free, so even gamblers’ stomachs don’t rebel.
…Adding… Wordslinger writes in comments: “Poor folks must have pawned their watches and cell phones, too! Or maybe since they’re apparently too stupid to make their own choices, they just don’t know how to tell time.”
Exactly. “No hint” of the time? Did the Tribune lay off all their editors?
* South Dakota has more casinos than Illinois, and their video lottery is somewhat different than what is heading for Illinois. From the South Dakota Lottery website…
…the current levels of approximately 8,900 terminals in 1,470 establishments across the state.
South Dakota’s video lottery terminals offer variations of poker, blackjack, keno, and bingo games, with both quarter and nickel games available. The maximum bet is $2 and the top prize is $1,000.
That top prize is twice what Illinois’ would be. There’s no mention of that fact in the Tribune story, though.
* Also not mentioned anywhere in the Tribune story is that opponents of South Dakota’s video lottery have put a statewide initiative on the ballot four times and failed every time…
“With 795 of 818 precincts reporting [in 2006], Initiated Measure 7 to repeal video lottery lost by a healthy margin: 67 percent were against the measure and 33 percent were in favor.
“In 1992, 63 percent of voters chose to keep video lottery. Two years later, the vote was 52.8 percent. In 2000, 53.7 percent of voters supported video lottery.
So, about two-thirds of South Dakota voters backed video lottery in 2006, but that doesn’t rate a mention in the Tribune, yet the games are a “devastating development” for the state which “bodes ill” for Illinois?
What a horrible piece of slanted journalism.
* Related…
* Lottery sales continue to climb during recession
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger said he would issue a veto Friday opposing a resolution passed Tuesday by county commissioners to partially roll back the 1.75 percent sales tax, a penny of which went into effect last summer.
“I plan to veto this measure because it is no longer feasible for the county to rollback any portion of the sales tax,” Stroger told the Defender. “For example, next year we have $104 million in pension obligations to meet.”
Stroger said that the state’s budget problems have compounded the county’s fiscal challenges.
“About $13 million may be held back from the state due to its budget shortfalls, so now is not the time to be cutting revenue,” he said.
* But he will not veto the marijuana decriminalization ordinance..
.”I’m fine with it. It’s just another tool a law enforcement office can use,” Stroger said. “It’s also like anything else; (officers) can also check and see the background of a person, and if (the person has) been fined twice, (police) can say, ‘OK, you’re going in.’ It doesn’t take their ability away from doing that.” […]
Asked whether he has smoked pot, Stroger said, “No, not my kind of thing.”
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn says he’s open to local efforts to decriminalize marijuana.
The Cook County Board voted Tuesday to decriminalize small amounts of the drug in unincorporated parts of the county. But Quinn stopped short of endorsing the plan.
QUINN: I think it’s important that counties assess what their law enforcement priorities are. Crimes that are not grievous crimes against persons need to be looked at.
The legalization of online horse betting in Illinois could boost a company with ties to former Gov. Jim Edgar.
The two-term Republican is a member of the board of directors of Youbet.com, which could be among the companies vying to provide an online horse betting platform in Illinois.
The proposal was approved by the House and Senate this spring and is awaiting action from Gov. Pat Quinn.
Three-term state Comptroller Dan Hynes has told top Democrats that he intends to seek the party’s nomination for governor, setting up a February primary challenge to Gov. Pat Quinn, sources familiar with Hynes’ conversations said Thursday.
Hynes would become the first major Democratic opponent for Quinn, who has not formally announced an election bid but has said he plans to seek the office. Quinn was elevated to the governor’s office in January following the arrest, impeachment and ouster of his disgraced predecessor, Rod Blagojevich.
The comptroller starts the race with a major fundraising advantage. Hynes has $3.5 million banked after raising more than $905,000 in the first half of the year. Quinn raised more than $860,000 in that time period but had a little more than $700,000 left.
The sources, who asked not to be identified so as to not preempt Hynes’ official announcement, said the comptroller discussed his plans to run with leading Illinois Democrats. No timetable was given for Hynes’ formal entry into the race, but politicians can begin soliciting signatures for their candidacy petitions Aug. 4.
As for Governor Quinn himself, he’s not interested in self assessment at this point. I asked him a week ago what mistakes he’d made in the past six months, and what he’d learned from them.
QUINN: I’d have to take a little bit of time to come up with a laundry list of mistakes.
Quinn asked for a week to think about it. So, Thursday, I asked him again.
QUINN: That’s your favorite question. Well, I thought and thought in the last week. Maybe I need another month or so to come up with that. I’m sure all of us are fallible. Don’t get me wrong, I make mistakes. But I don’t think I spend a lot of time looking at my navel, saying, ‘What mistakes have I made today?’
The big question: What does Gov. Quinn think of Chris Kennedy’s sudden interest in becoming the next governor of Illinois?
• • Quoth Quinn to Sneed, who first tipped Kennedy was preparing a U.S. Senate bid: “I worked for his father [the late U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy], whom I consider a hero; I think highly of Chris personally and his family; I visited with Chris earlier this year about doing some work with us; whatever he decides to do is his decision, and he certainly has every right to make one.”
* Related…
* Pat Quinn Responds to Blagojevich Criticism: When he was doing that, I was visiting with American soldiers who put him to shame in terms of their public service. I mean, talk about a difference. In my opinion, he betrayed the public trust.
* Afghanistan almost ‘medieval,’ Quinn says after trip
It was impossible to concentrate on politics Thursday while White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle pursued a perfect game.
Did I say concentrate? Strike that. I couldn’t even bother to think about politics.
Discouraging unemployment numbers, a nasty state budget deficit requiring big cuts to social services, education and college scholarship programs, a General Assembly that can’t ever seem to get the job done. For a few, glorious moments, all of that faded away while Buehrle successfully chased ultimate perfection.
Thanks, Mark.
And thanks, DeWayne Wise for making that spectacular clutch catch to save Buehrle’s perfect outing.
Thanks, Ozzie Guillen, for, um, wisely putting Wise into the game in the ninth inning.
And thanks, Josh Fields, for that grand slam.
I’m not silly enough to write a column suggesting that politicians should act more like great baseball teams.
Baseball players and politicians come from totally different universes. Players are chosen for individual abilities and how they mesh with a coach’s system and with other players. Politicians are picked individually by voters who often know little about them and are then thrown into a system where they are expected to get along with other politicians with whom they have almost nothing in common except ambition.
Imagine that you could divide a group of 177 Sox fans, Cub fans and Cardinals fans into two rooms. Then, give them the task of agreeing among themselves and then between the two rooms on who was the best first baseman of all time.
It could take a while.
Maybe forever.
The Illinois General Assembly is a little like that. There are 118 House members and 59 senators from two political parties who are elected by vastly divergent regions — Chicago, the suburbs and Downstate. The differences are stark even within those regions. Think Englewood and Lincoln Park. Or Wheaton and Waukegan. Or Galena and Decatur.
Unlike baseball fans, politicians are always supposed to work toward what’s best for their state. But all of those regions and their myriad sub-regions have vastly different ideas of what’s really best for Illinois.
Political parties tend to hold legislators together around a central theme, but that’s not always the case, either. Southern Illinois Democrats are often far more socially conservative than suburban Republicans, for example. There are probably as many pro-life Chicago Democratic legislators as there are pro-choice suburban Republican legislators.
The two chambers also have different ideas about what to do. There is always tension between the House and the Senate, no matter who is running things.
Frankly, it’s a wonder anything ever gets done.
Somehow, though, the General Assembly managed for almost 200 years. Nothing was perfect, but they seemed to at least finish the job.
Then, along came Rod Blagojevich, that notorious Cub fan, and everything went to hell.
Everybody stopped working together and began working against each other — until it came time to rid the state of the corrupt doofus, at which point they all united for one brief, shining moment to banish him to Sunday talk radio.
The extraordinary mess Blagojevich left behind and the concurrent international economic collapse combined to create problems more daunting than our state Legislature has faced since the Great Depression.
But instead of rising to the occasion, legislators bickered, pointed fingers, hid behind their party leaders and bemoaned their horrible political predicament all year, then ran home, tossing billions in new debt, horrible program cuts and an unthinkable (and probably unconstitutional) budget deficit at our overwhelmed mid-season replacement governor, Pat Quinn.
Our politics have become almost perfectly ugly and cowardly.
If it were not for small miracles like Mark Buehrle, I’d probably tear my hair out.
