AFSCME layoff ruling expected Monday
Wednesday, Sep 23, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller * 5:12 pm - From the union…
So, not much real news to report except the judge refused Gov. Quinn’s request to move the matter to Sangamon County.
|
Question of the day
Wednesday, Sep 23, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller * Do you think Dan Hynes should stay in the Illinois governor’s race? Explain.
|
Today’s quotables
Wednesday, Sep 23, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller * I’m in favor of redistricting reform. In fact, I’ve often said and written what Sen. Kirk Dillard was quoted as saying yesterday…
But one of the problems with the Illinois Reform Commission’s proposal is that it turns the Supreme Court into a legislative body…
That kinda rubs me the wrong way. And two hand-picked experts who testified before the Senate Redistricting Committee also had doubts about the IRC’s proposal…
Former commission chairman Patrick Collins then undermined all those reformers and legislative Republicans who have loudly demanded that the commission’s proposal be approved intact…
That’ll be our quote of the week. Oops. * Meanwhile, I told you yesterday about a man who killed his mother-in-law soon after his parole from state prison. I told the story to point out how dangerous the governor’s new early release plan could be. Turns out, the alleged murdered wouldn’t have qualified for the new early release plan and the governor is not backing down. AFSCME, however, makes a good point…
True, but nobody can predict how almost anybody will behave. * OK, I lied. I could’ve predicted this quote…
Risinger is a conservative Republican, but he has Bradley University in his district. He’s gonna be on the hot seat if a tax hike is proposed to fill that MAP grant gap. A whole lot of conservative Republicans represent university towns, actually so it’ll be interesting to see if they come up with any plans other than general “cut waste” and “eliminate corruption” stuff. * And, finally, kudos to Anita Alvarez for putting the kibosh on Country Club Hills Mayor Dwight Welch last week. Welch. you already know, was way out of line in his first press conference announcing the investigation into Chris Kelly’s death…
…Adding… I had them ready to go, but then forgot about a few other quotables. Here’s the goofiest of the bunch…
This story about Sam Zell’s apparent use of the Cub sale to avoid taxes hits home…
That would fund a lot of college scholarships. And the last word goes to Alexi Giannoulias, who was responding to a report that Mark Kirk was Tweeting about a new website design around the same time he missed a floor vote on extending unemployment insurance…
|
Quinn and Daley vs. Hynes
Wednesday, Sep 23, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller * Gov. Pat Quinn brought out the biggest gun of all yesterday…
You’ll recall that last week Hynes refused to process about $50+ million of state bills, including $16 million for tourism. Mayor Daley expressed his displeasure…
* Hynes wants Quinn to resubmit his funding request…
Quinn says nyet…
The Tribune’s print edition barely covered the ruckus. TV also mostly ignored it. Your thoughts? * Related…
|
White out
Wednesday, Sep 23, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller * The Blagojevich era claims yet another “victim”…
I put quotes around “victim” because White was a willing victim, of course. But it’s hard for me to describe him as corrupt. Seems to me he did what he did to try and get what he needed for his university. Blagojevich still stiffed him, like he did with all the other universities in this state. That could’ve been a motivating factor for White, but whatever, he’s gone now. * More…
Sen. Michael Frerichs expects an interim appointment as early as next week. * And Quinn says he didn’t privately urge the resignation…
|
OK, I’ve held my tongue but somebody’s gotta say it
Wednesday, Sep 23, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller * I haven’t said anything much about the Springfield controversy about running several high-speed trains through the city every day because, frankly, I have a quiet little life in this town and I just want to be left alone. I don’t think I’ve even met my alderman. But this comment from Springfield Ald. Kris Theilen caught my eye…
I think Theilen is probably right that the heart of the debate so far has been about either disrupting downtown or cutting off the East Side even more. For those of you who don’t know much about the town, the East Side is where the poor folk live. Mostly black. This is from a different SJ-R article…
They prefer “permanently dividing” the East Side from everyplace else, apparently. But going around Springfield? Is that alderman nuts? Aren’t the high-speed trains supposed to stop here? They’ll be a huge boon to the local economy. Not to mention that the nine overpasses which’ll have to be built will create quite a few jobs and probably be useful.
|
Brady calls for reforms
Wednesday, Sep 23, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller * Sen. Bill Brady announced some significant government reforms yesterday. As usual with these things, most are unrealistic. Still, it’s good to see a major party candidate pushing cumulative voting. From his press release…
Here’s his quote in the Sun-Times…
He’s exactly right about that. I barely knew who Pat Quinn was when the Cutback Amendment passed, but I grew to despise that thing. * Lots of people claim that if the Cutback Amendment allowed Mike Madigan to increase his power. I don’t deny that, but I also don’t think that the return to those days would do much to clip his wings. So, Brady wants to term limit legislators…
Again, no doubt that Madigan’s power is super-concentrated. I’m not sure that making Mike Madigan an issue will do much for Brady, but it’s still a free country. This is a pretty good line, though…
And this is the sort of rhetoric that is not going down too well with Chicago-area business execs who are lining up behind Andy McKenna and others…
He also tried to make some hay over the new McKenna-Murphy “ticket”…
* Strange…
Thoughts?
|
Protected: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Today’s edition of Capitol Fax
Wednesday, Sep 23, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller
|
« NEWER POSTS | PREVIOUS POSTS » |