* I’ve avoided posting about Chicago School Board President Michael Scott’s apparent suicide because a very good friend of mine killed himself recently and it’s just been too painful to deal with this story.
I had talked to him less than a week before. Another friend had talked to him two days before. His mother talked to him the night before. Nobody saw any indication about what was going to happen. He was upbeat and, as always, in good spirits. He made breakfast for his children, sent them off to school, walked down to the basement and killed himself. Just like that. No note. No nothing. It’s probably the most shocking thing I’ve ever experienced in my entire life and I haven’t shared that fact publicly because it has been so incredibly painful.
I’m doing it now because of all the horribly uninformed things said and written about how Scott couldn’t possibly have killed himself, or wouldn’t have chosen that particular location, or would’ve left a note or whatever. Take it from me, it can all happen. Just like that.
Others have questioned why Scott would have chosen the forlorn location out back of the Mart Center, nine stories below the Sun-Times offices, to kill himself, as if this doesn’t make sense either.
“Why would somebody take pills and then jump in Lake Michigan?” counters Engle. “Why go to a hotel and jump off the 15th floor? Why would somebody jump in front of a train?”
Brown is absolutely spot on with his conclusion…
(S)uicide defies reason. It runs counter to our most basic instinct, that of self-preservation. It makes sense only to the victims through the distorted prism of their mental illness.
At some point, we might learn some additional detail about the circumstances of Scott’s life that would offer an explanation we can more easily accept for why he would have caused his own death.
It still won’t make any sense.
I gave the eulogy at my friend’s funeral and I went to great lengths to advise all who were present to stop asking themselves that most human of questions: “Why?” It’s in our very nature to ask that question, but we’ll never know why Brian killed himself. Ever.
* The Question: I know this may be very tough, and it may even be inappropriate for some of you or just too personal for others. I understand if you don’t want to answer the question or to even read the comments. That being said, have you ever experienced a suicide among your circle of friends and family?
* GOP gubernatorial candidate Adam Andrzejewski has released the results from a statewide poll of 500 likely Republican primary voters. Wilson Research Strategies conducted the survey November 15-16. It has a margin of error of +/-4.38 percent.
Here are the head to heads, which shows former attorney general Jim Ryan with a commanding lead. The numbers in parentheses are taken from the poll’s topline page and are the “definitely,” “probably” and “lean towards” responses. There is a bit of rounding here…
Jim Ryan 30% (10, 13, 7) Adam Andrzejewski 11% (6, 3, 2) Bill Brady 11% (3, 4, 4) Andy McKenna 10% (3, 3, 3) Kirk Dillard 7% (3, 3, 2) Bob Schillerstrom 3% (1, 1, 1) Dan Proft 2% (*, 1, 1)
Initial favorables/unfavorables…
Adam Andrzejewski 10/2
Bill Brady 33/6
Andy McKenna 29/7
Jim Ryan 58/16
Notice how high Ryan’s favorables are. Huge, even.
The pollster then read a long list of nice things about Andrzejewski and the candidate jumped way up. But since the pollster didn’t read anything positive about the other candidates, that final number doesn’t mean much. It’s also debatable whether Andrzejewski will have the cash to make his positives well-known enough to matter.
* Likely GOP voter ideology…
Very Conservative 45%
Somewhat Conservative 27%
Moderate 23%
Somewhat Liberal 3%
Very Liberal 1%
DK/Refused DNR 2%
* Top issues for Republican primary voters…
Economy – Unemployment/Lack of Jobs 39%
Government spending - Budget deficit 15%
Health care - Cost 8%
Government spending – GM/AIG/Corporate Bailouts 5%
Economy – Inflation/Value of dollar/Cost of goods and services 4%
Health care – Availability/Quality 4%
Political Corruption 3%
International relations - Iraq and Afghanistan Wars 2%
Notice how low corruption is on the scale.
* But here’s an interesting, if loaded and very leading question…
12. Still thinking about next year’s election, I’m going to read you a constitutional amendment that may appear on the ballot:
The Bambenek Put-Back Amendment shall convert the legislature to a unicameral body with three-member districts, establish term limits, reform legislative compensation, decentralize legislative power, establish transparency in the legislative process and other reforms.
Would you support or oppose such an amendment to the state constitution?
TOTAL SUPPORT 59%
TOTAL OPPOSE 13%
Definitely support 20%
Probably support 25%
Lean support 14%
Hard undecided/DK DNR 28%
Lean oppose 2%
Probably oppose 5%
Definitely oppose 6%
* This interpretation of Gov. Pat Quinn’s comment during a debate with Dan Hynes this morning is a bit of a stretch, but it may come back to haunt Quinn…
But it was Quinn’s use of the term “missions accomplished” that was unusual for a Democrat. For years, Democrats nationally used the term to deride former Republican President George W. Bush’s handling of the Iraq War — a reference to the “Mission Accomplished” banner that hung behind a flight-suit wearing Bush as he addressed members of the military from an aircraft carrier.
“You’ve got to have a governor who gets things done. That’s what I’ve done. I took over at the worst time Illinois could ever have in our history, a very dark, dark hour,” Quinn said. “And we’ve, day after day, got missions accomplished whether it’s in ethics or getting things done for ordinary people in the budget or getting jobs.”
Hynes was on the attack this morning at the Union League Club…
“One of the problems with getting something done is you need to have credibility. You can’t be inconsistent. You can’t flip flop. You can’t be changing course every other week,” Hynes said. “When that happens, members of the legislature start charting their own course. We need to have strong leadership and consistency to get things done in Springfield.”
This Gitmo thing is a prime example of Quinn’s serious problems with leadership and governornance. It’s turned into a PR disaster because the governor didn’t bother to lay even a little groundwork. Instead, it’s all blown up in his face. Many have said that Quinn is in over his head, and the prison debacle certainly shows it.
In an interview with television station WREX in Rockford, Ill., Republican Rep. Donald Manzullo said of terrorism suspects: “These are really, really mean people whose job it is to kill people, driven by some savage religion.” An aide said Tuesday that Manzullo, who opposes the possibility of housing detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in the Thomson Correctional Center in northwestern Illinois, received about 20 complaints about the remark. The Obama administration has identified Thomson as a possible site for the detainees.
In a statement, Manzullo said he was not referring generally to Islam, but to terrorists who practice a violent, anti-modern version of Islam. He said Islam is a “religion of peace” and that the vast majority of its adherents are “men and women of goodwill.”
He added: “Nevertheless, I apologize for any misunderstanding of my comments and I will endeavor in the future to clarify my remarks to make it absolutely clear that America is not opposed to Islam, but that we are fighting terrorists who believe in a savage, perverted, and violent form of Islam.”
“I am more concerned about bringing these terrorists onto American soil than about prison safety,” Shimkus said in a news release. “Will radical Islamic elements migrate to the area surrounding the terrorist prison?”
I used to live not far from Thomson. I don’t think “radical Islamic elements” would find living there all that comfortable.
* It’s hard to argue with today’s Daily Herald editorial, which kicks off with a quote by House GOP Leader Tom Cross: “”There ought to be a debate. There ought to be a discussion,” about bringing the Gitmo detainees to Illinois…
But in the simmering atmosphere of a young election campaign, discussion appears to be the last thing Cross or any other political leader really wants. Partisan battle lines were drawn virtually the moment it was proposed to shift more than 100 Guantanamo Bay detainees to the underused prison in tiny Thomson, and the only talk either side appeared to want to engage in was to show how far it could puff out its chest.
In his continuing rush to embrace the rhetoric of the right, U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk, the one-time moderate Republican 10th District congressman from Highland Park, said the proposal would make northern Illinois “the center of jihadi attention in the world” and painted a picture of a steady stream of terrorist family and friends pouring into Thomson for regular visits.
Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, on the other hand, dismissed all criticism as an attempt “to scare people” and portrayed the placement in Illinois of some of the world’s most dangerous terrorist suspects as a virtually worry-free jobs bonanza with the potential impact of $1 billion on the state economy.
Is it any wonder that Illinois citizens have so little faith in their elected officials?
They’re right on all counts. And, as I’ve pointed out several times before, Kirk’s screaming is rapidly turning off his most reliable base: The Chicago-area media. This is the Daily Herald we’re talking about, not the Chicago Reader. It ain’t exactly liberal Democratic turf.
This could have been a debate on the advantages and downsides of the proposal, one that used reasoned arguments, backed up with facts. Alas, blame, mudslinging and fear-mongering are usually easier than leaving politics at the water’s edge, where they belong in foreign affairs and national security.
Terrorists in our neighborhoods? The biggest homeland security question here since 9/11? Illinois singled out for terrorism?
In politics, we expect a certain amount of hyperbole. What we have heard in opposition to using the Thomson Correctional Center to house Guantanamo terror suspects, however, amounts to unadulterated hysteria. […]
We find the fear-mongering about housing Guantanamo terror suspects to be a fairly stunning contrast from the message this country has worked so hard to send after 9/11. Where we once preached that the “terrorists would win” if we deviated from routine out of fear, are we now to be afraid to house them in a prison rated a “supermax” — a security grade from which no inmate has ever escaped?
And the paper makes the same point I’ve been trying to drive home all week…
We do have concerns that the state, at this early point in the talks, does not realize that this is a seller’s market and is giving the federal government a bargain. The figure of $120 million — what it cost to build Thomson — has been bandied about as a selling price. Given the state’s investment and the federal government’s need, that strikes us as an outrageously low asking price.
* Mark Kirk has singled out the Exelon nuclear plant about 30 miles from the Thomson prison as a possible terrorist target, but the company says it’s not worried…
For its part, Exelon doesn’t plan any security changes at the plant, which is guarded 24 hours a day.
“We really don’t believe there would need to be any changes to the security program at all,” Cordova plant spokesman Bill Stoermer said Tuesday.
Here are Americans - who claim to be the roughest, toughest people on the face of the planet - crying that their government can’t be trusted to safely house alleged terrorists in a maximum-security prison in the heartland of the United States.
If that’s true, if that’s really the way Illinois residents think, we ought to surrender right now and beg President Barack Obama for mercy.
I understand the “not in my back yard” mentality.
As a newspaperman, I’ve heard it many times - when group homes were created to house disabled people, when a domestic violence center for women tried to expand and when social workers were seeking a site for a homeless shelter in the Southland.
But this is really different. This is about terrorism, and terrorism is all about fear. If you’re afraid, they win, we lose.
* Republicans seek to block funds for inmate transfer: Illinois House Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock of Peoria, introduced legislation Tuesday that would prohibit federal funding from being used in the transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to an Illinois prison in Thomson.
Tuesday’s 12-5 vote to shave a portion of last year’s unpopular penny-on-the-dollar sales hike isn’t a done deal yet: Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is vowing to veto the giveback.
Commissioners are confident they can beat back Stroger’s veto, thanks to a weeks-old law that lowers the votes needed to override a veto from 14 to 11.[…]
John Daley, the powerful head of the county’s Finance Committee, wrapped his message of “change” around an explanation for originally supporting last year’s sales tax hike. “When I had voted for the sales tax, I thought we would see some changes,” Daley said, saying the biggest chunk of money goes to running the offices of other elected leaders — the state’s attorney’s office to the sheriff.
And he told Stroger: “I urged a [hiring] freeze, and a freeze was not done. That’s your prerogative.”
Peraica, always the provocateur, suggested residents had fled the county after the 2008 sales tax hike, perhaps even one of the Daley clan.
“I read in the paper the mayor’s son, Patrick, has moved to Moscow and is living out there,” Peraica said, drawing the ire of the mayor’s brother and Patrick Daley’s uncle, Commissioner John Daley.
“You aren’t going to attack my nephew,” said Daley, his voice rising above the chatter and the rap of a gavel to restore order to the meeting.
Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica says he should not have posted an internet comment that blurred the line between political and government resources.
A plastics trade group announced Tuesday that it is leaving Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Center for Orlando to save up to $20 million.[…]
It’s the second major trade show in two weeks to say it’s leaving Chicago. The announcement set off a cascade of events. Mayor Daley demanded yet another round of concessions from McCormick Place unions to cut trade-show operating costs.
Hours later, officials of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, also called McPier, which runs McCormick Place, announced a task force will start meeting today to come up with ways to make Chicago a more competitive destination for conventions.
“It’s a very serious loss,” Daley said. “It’s a major show. They were very upset with a lot of the rules and regulations that . . . McCormick Place has. When I met with the [trade show association] president and others, they were very concerned about the cost factor compared to Orlando, Atlanta and Vegas.”
“The total charge for four cases of Pepsi, delivered to our booth, was $345.39. The invoice breaks down to $254 for the four cases of Pepsi, a 21 percent service charge, and a 10.25 percent Illinois state sales tax, a 3 percent Chicago soft drink tax, a tax on the service charge, and a food and beverage tax. Government taxes totaled $38.06, which is more than the legitimate retail price of the soft drinks.
“Now, a nice man in a tuxedo delivered the Pepsi, along with a couple of buckets of ice and a few cups. Good service? Sure, but not worth $345.39.”
– Tim Hanrahan, CEO of a Massachusetts company that makes recycling machinery, on convention costs at McCormick Place.
Chicago has, too, but in a different way now than in days of yore. In the old days — say four or five years ago and going back to its roots — one rented a piece of the city short-term if one wanted to do serious business here.[…]
Much of the old game has been curbed because they removed most of the truly lucrative aldermanic perks, and we now call the tips “campaign contributions.” Today the stakes are huge, the prices much higher, but you can get a very long-term lease — a virtual sale — of much of the city. And it’s all on the legit.
It is called privatization.
It’s not the old Roman way, but the new Chicago way, whose maestro is our beloved mayor hisself — Richard Michael Daley.
The $392.8-million spending plan unveiled Tuesday evening calls for all workers to take 12 unpaid days off next year, up from three this year. If employee unions agree, the district will drop plans to eliminate 11 jobs, though 42 other, now-vacant positions still would go, officials said.
Boaters and those who use district’s day care services would pay 3% and 5% more, respectively. But cultural institutions that receive money from the district, including the Art Institute of Chicago and the Field Museum, would have to eat a 10% cut in public funding, as the district would keep roughly $3 million in tax receipts that ordinarily would go to them.
In a bit of fiscal musical chairs, the district also is reallocating into its operating fund $7.7 million in capital money that was supposed to be spent on physical improvements.
Fee increases for fitness center memberships, children’s summer camps and boat slips are part of a $392 million budget introduced by the Chicago Park District introduced this week.
An average 5 percent increase in fees will generate an estimated $2 million in revenues.[…]
The Park District proposed raising fees and slashing jobs to close a $23 million hole in the budget.
The increase would come as the park district prepares to reduce its subsidy to the city’s museums and aquarium by 10 percent next year, according to the budget. The move would save $3 million and help balance the projected $391.8 million budget, officials said.
“Our revenues are down, our costs are up, our endowment is down, our need for skilled staff is greater than ever,” Museum of Science and Industry spokeswoman Lisa Miner said. “We also anticipate that our share of tax revenue support from the park district will be down approximately $1 million.”
Chicago Park District officials will ask the park board today to greenlight a $4.2 million design of a 25-acre expanse east of Millennium Park to Lake Shore Drive, said Gia Biagi, the district’s planning and development director.
Village officials in Orland Park delayed a vote on it a few months ago, saying they wanted to wait for the Illinois Gaming Board to finish writing rules and regulations for the video poker machines.
But public opposition has been mounting, even though the village could directly receive five percent of any revenue generated from the machines at a time when the village could be facing a period of budget shortfalls.[…]
Officials have scheduled a vote at the Dec. 7 village board meeting.
Since 1997, Chicago has added almost 150,000 condos to its housing stock. The people who bought those units maybe didn’t fully realize it at the time, but they’re taking part in a big experiment in communal living.
Everyone has to pool their money to fix the roof or keep the elevator working. And if your neighbors stop ponying up, you’re on the hook.
Now the foreclosure crisis is pushing many condo buildings to the verge of collapse. And one expert says that here and around the country, the whole grand experiment may be falling to pieces.
About 52 percent of the corn crop had been harvested as of Monday compared to 31 percent a week earlier, but that is still well behind the 87 percent at this time last year and a five-year average of 95 percent.
Manzullo is rightly upset that he wasn’t in the loop on this thing. He found out like everybody else - after the Thomson decision was leaked to the media. But considering his reaction, it’s no wonder nobody talked to him first.
* Congressman Mark Kirk has a new name for the Thomson prison: “Great Lakes Gitmo.”
Huh?
Kirk also claimed that the Obama administration had given $200 million to the island nation of Palau to accept “six terrorists.” Those “terrorists” have actually been deemed no threat by the military. And, as I told subscribers yesterday, that $200 million was really a $50 million increase in Palau’s 15-year $150 million aid package. That’s still a nice little bump. Illinois should be getting more money for this. Period. Watch Kirk…
It’s not like Kirk and the other opponents lack for material here. I mean, the opposition speeches practically write themselves. But why do they feel the need to make stuff up, create silly nicknames and slur entire religions?
“I understand I’m on different pages of music with others in my party. First of all this should not be a partisan issue in anyway. If President Obama brings the detainees on U.S. soil and we sit here with a brand new state-of-the-art, max security prison, sitting vacant for the last eight years, and pass on an opportunity to sell it to the federal government, which we would fill it with 1,500 regular prisoners and 800 detainees, what is the problem? The building was designed to do that.
“The only reason we have rhetoric now is because of the closing of Gitmo,” Sacia concluded. “It makes no sense at all. This is a tremendous opportunity and we would be idiots to waste it.” […]
“I saw Mark Kirk making some comment about potentially a terrorist attacking Chicago,” [Rep. Sacia] said. “For Christ sakes. Chicago is 150 miles from Thomson… I’m very upset about [his rhetoric]. I understand people wanting to take a stand. But before you take a stand get the facts. I didn’t make a comment on this until I sat through a three hour briefing yesterday.”
“It certainly wouldn’t be my position if I were running for [the Senate],” Sacia added.
Sacia is a former FBI agent, by the way.
But the Illinois GOP is not letting up. From a press release…
In a crushing blow to Governor Pat Quinn and Senator Dick Durbin’s plan to move Gitmo to Illinois, Democratic Illinois Congresswoman Melissa Bean today announced she opposed any transfer of terrorists to the United States – including Illinois.
The Lake County News Sun today quotes Congresswoman Bean as saying: “I remain opposed to transferring Guantanamo detainees to Illinois, or anywhere in the United States, without substantial assurances regarding potential security threats.”
Bean’s statement comes on the heels of new survey results showing that only 32% of Illinois voters support the Quinn/Durbin plan while 57% oppose.
“We hope other Democrats like Bill Foster and Debbie Halvorson will have the courage to stand up to Governor Quinn and Senator Durbin and do what’s right for the people of Illinois,” Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady said.
Clever politics, for sure.
* You really gotta wonder just how much thought Pat Quinn put into this idea. Did he even have a clue about the sort of political bomb he was detonating? The last line in this Bob Schillerstrom press release pretty much sums it up…
“I understand and appreciate the deep concerns of families presented with the idea of bringing Gitmo detainees to Illinois. We should all agree that the safety of our communities must be the first consideration of government and not compromised, regardless of perceived economic benefit.
“It is stunning to see some sidestep public safety and address this as a question of job creation. And it is also surprising to see others dismiss those jobs without discussion of the merits of the proposal. More information would assist all parties in separating fact from fiction. That is why I urge the Governor’s Office and White House to detail security safeguards planned for the Thomson Correctional Center and its surrounding communities – as they should have in the first place.
“Without more information, we should expect nothing more than the backlash that has occurred in recent days.”
* The Illinois GOP just sent out a news release about poll results that I shared with subscribers today. Illinoisans oppose bringing those Gitmo prisoners to Thomson, according to the poll. From the release…
Survey Shows Only 32% of Illinois Voters Support Quinn/Durbin Plan to Move Gitmo to Illinois, 57% Oppose
60% of women, 58% of independents and plurality of Democrats call plan a “bad idea”
The automated polling firm We Ask America surveyed 1,791 likely Illinois voters yesterday. The poll had a margin of error of ± 2.32 percent. Here’s the actual question…
“It has been reported that a prison in northwestern Illinois is being considered to house individuals that have been incarcerated at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay. The individuals in question are being held due to suspicion that they have connections to terrorist activities. Do you think that housing these prisoners in an Illinois prison is a good idea or a bad idea?”
This isn’t much of a surprise. National polling by Gallup back in June had this result…
By more than 2-1, those surveyed say Guantanamo shouldn’t be closed. By more than 3-1, they oppose moving some of the accused terrorists housed there to prisons in their own states.
Whatever you think about this particular issue, it’s pretty clear that moving those prisoners to Thomson is a net political negative for Quinn and for those who support the plan.
* Meanwhile, Democratic US Senate candidate David Hoffman’s most recent polling memo is getting some play today. “Hoffman poll suggests hits on Giannoulias are potent,” reports The Hill. “Hoffman camp: Giannoulias nearly unelectable,” says Politico.
At the beginning of the survey, Mark Kirk leads both Alexi Giannoulias and David Hoffman, with Kirk getting an identical 40% of the statewide vote in pairings against each of the Democrats. Given the fact that Giannoulias is substantially better known at this stage than Hoffman (51% name ID for Giannoulias vs. 26% for Hoffman), it is not surprising that Giannoulias begins with a larger share of the vote in his trial heat against Kirk than Hoffman does (37% for Giannoulias vs. 30% for Hoffman).
So, Kirk leads 40-37 over Giannoulias and 40-30 over Hoffman.
Hoffman’s pollster contends that an informed electorate will reject Giannoulias…
Alexi Giannoulias’s own vulnerabilities are so significant, and far more damning than Kirk’s among the electorate, that Giannoulias is deeply flawed as a general election candidate for the Democratic Party. His nomination would put Barack Obama’s former Senate seat in extreme jeopardy for the Democrats. […]
Indeed, after voters hear positives and negatives for Hoffman, Giannoulias, and Kirk, Hoffman has the advantage over Kirk by 42% to 36%, while Giannoulias trails Kirk by a wide margin of 47% to 30%.
The attacks that the Republicans are likely to make against Giannoulias, and in fact already are making1, are powerful in raising deep concerns about him among voters. For example, three-quarters of all voters say they have very (62%) or fairly (13%) serious concerns about Giannoulias when they hear the following:
Alexi Giannoulias’s family bank had close financial ties with Tony Rezko, one of Rod Blagojevich’s top funders who is now in jail, and Alexi Giannoulias met personally with Rezko. Not only did the bank give $11 million in loans to Rezko and his businesses, but the bank also gave Rezko preferential treatment by allowing him to bounce nine checks worth more than $500,000 without closing his account or reporting his actions to the authorities.
Also, according to the memo, just 18 percent agree with the view that “it is unfair to criticize Alexi Giannoulias for problems at the Broadway Bank, including its involvement with Tony Rezko, because Alexi Giannoulias has not been involved with the bank for four years, and many other banks also made loans to Rezko before he was exposed as a criminal.”
The Hill has the Giannouolias campaign’s response…
“Every public poll shows Alexi Giannoulias leading or neck and neck with Mark Kirk, while David Hoffman is trailing badly,” Bowen said. “He is behind, desperate, and now he is running a negative and dishonest campaign, preferring to attack fellow Democrats instead of telling us what he would do in the Senate. Just last week, the Chicago Tribune caught him falsely attacking Alexi Giannoulias and he was forced to apologize.”
* Other campaign stories…
* Cook board votes to cut half of Stroger sales-tax hike: The board voted 12-5 to cut the year-old increase in half. Mr. Stroger earlier had vetoed similar moves, but a new state law cuts the number of votes needed on the board to override the president to 11 from 14… “We had 12. We need 11. It’s always nice to have a little insurance,” she said.
* Zorn: Petition challenge hearings begin: The ‘gotcha’ game is afoot:
“Apparently, for whatever reason, her voter registration didn’t get transferred when she moved” recently, says Deb Mell’s attorney, Michael J. Kasper. “We disagree with the claim that this invalidates her petitions.” I’m no election lawyer, but my reading of an 86-page summary of prior rulings (.pdf) published this month by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners is that Kasper’s right.* As hypertechnical as some of the disqualifications may seem — tossing a candidate for using a professional title on his petitions, failing to number or properly bind petition sheets and so on — there’s a considerable amount of common sense evident in the rulings.
* Kirk Foe Heads To DC: Wealthy atty Patrick Hughes (R) will be the latest to try and capitalize on conservative anger with perceived centrist candidates when he heads to DC this week for meetings with right-leaning organizations.
* Matt Murphy picks up endorsements: The endorsements came from state senators John Millner of Carol Stream, Brad Burzynski of Rochelle and Pam Althoff of McHenry along with state representatives Suzie Bassi of Palatine, Franco Coladipietro of Bloomingdale, Michael Connelly of Lisle, Sid Mathias of Buffalo Grove, Dennis Reboletti of Elmhurst, Randy Ramey of Carol Stream, Sandra Pihos of Glen Ellyn and Ed Sullivan, Jr. of Mundelein.
Tuesday, Nov 17, 2009 - Posted by Capitol Fax Blog Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
People are watching more television than ever. As the audience grows, the percentage watching ad supported cable television grows even more. Cable is no longer a secondary medium; rather it has become an essential marketing medium. Smart political campaigns are realizing that local news alone does not attract all the potential voters. Top entertainment, news and sports programming on Comcast Spotlight bring additional reach to a traditional broadcast political news buy. Spot cable users can pinpoint voters by political party preference, age, gender and voting district. If needed, one can reach the entire state of Illinois via Comcast Spotlight and National Cable Communications.
Now for the first time ever political advertisers can harness the online power of Comcast.net, the #1 internet service provider in the Chicago market. When the right message gets to the right audience, campaigns maximize impact and reduce waste.
A well placed advertising schedule on Comcast Spotlight can add the winning punch to a political campaign. For further information on how Comcast Spotlight can add the winning element to your campaign, please click on the banner ad to the right for Comcast Spotlight. Or contact Richard Brehm at 312-327-5622 or via email: richard_brehm@cable.comcast.com.
* The Illinois Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday over whether former Gov. George Ryan should be able to keep part of his pension benefits. An appellate court has already ruled in Ryan’s favor…
Earlier this year, an appeals court ruled that Ryan could keep part of his state pension, as much as $65,000 a year, even though he was convicted of federal corruption charges from his time holding state office. […]
Ryan’s attorneys argued that Ryan shouldn’t have to give up his pension earned while working as lieutenant governor, a state lawmaker and a Kankakee County official.
The court agreed, saying Ryan only had to give up pension benefits he accrued while secretary of state and governor because those were the offices he held while committing the acts he’d later be convicted of.
* The Question: Should Ryan be allowed to keep the part of his pension from his non secretary of state or gubernatorial service? Explain.
* As I told you a while ago, one of Congressman Mark Kirk’s most important bases of support has been the Chicago-area media, which practically cooed over his reputation as a liberal, independent Republican. But just about every passing week has seen a dramatic erosion in that base. The Sun-Times endorsed Kirk last year, but is growing more and more concerned about his campaign positions. Kirk’s fear-mongering on moving Gitmo prisoners to Thomson prison stirred this angry response in today’s CS-T…
Kirk’s scare talk might do him wonders with the GOP base, but it won’t convince a single terrorist that this nation has a backbone.
Ouch. And, I gotta say, they’re probably right on both points.
* The Tribune editorial board members’ anti-union and anti-everything Springfield positions led them to call today for the sale of Thomson prison to the feds. In the process, they took a big whack at Kirk and other Republicans…
Yet when Republicans heard that the Obama administration is looking at buying the largely vacant Thomson Correctional Facility to house some detainees now held at Guantanamo (as well as ordinary maximum security prisoners), they reacted as though Osama bin Laden had been given the keys to a missile silo.
GOP gubernatorial candidate Andy McKenna howled that Gov. Pat Quinn, who endorsed the move, was scheming to “put terrorists in our neighborhoods.” Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, who is running for the Senate, insisted that “our state and the Chicago metropolitan area will become ground zero for jihadist terrorist plots, recruitment and radicalization.”
Give us a break. A super-maximum security prison, such as Thomson would become, is not what most of us associate with the word “neighborhood.” The critics seem to forget that no one has ever escaped from a supermax. If having a terrorist imprisoned on our soil were an invitation for his confederates to slaughter innocent Chicagoans, it would surely have happened already.
They’re exactly right on that point. The hyper-reaction from the GOP is embarrassing, and in many ways factually incorrect…
Kirk contended visitation rules at a federal penitentiary in Thomson would mean more than 2,000 al-Qaida “followers and family members” would regularly travel to the state-—many through O’Hare International Airport.
“As you raise the profile of your community in the jihadi world, the benefit that they see in attacking your city increases,” said Kirk, who repeatedly referred to his experience as a Naval Reserve intelligence officer.
But Kirk’s assertions over visitation rules were attacked as “totally false” by Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate. Obama administration officials said the Thomson prison would be run by the Department of Defense, which prohibits detainees from receiving visits from anyone other than legal counsel, rather than by the federal Bureau of Prisons, whose visitation rules were cited by Kirk.
So, Congressman National Security doesn’t even have his basic facts straight before he tries to strike fear into the populace? Completely irresponsible.
Fear of international terrorists takes “not in my backyard” to a whole new level.
We presume that’s why Rep. Don Manzullo, normally a rational, deliberative lawmaker, went ballistic over news the Obama administration wants to put terrorism suspects at a nearly vacant prison at Thomson when the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is closed. […]
Despite Rep. Manzullo’s doomsday scenario — that terrorism suspects might “one day be released into our communities” — the Obama official said the United States would never approve the release of Guantanamo detainees into the general population.
So, more factual inaccuracies in an attempt to strike fear in the hearts of the populace. Par for the course.
This isn’t about bringing “terrorists to Illinois” or moving “Gitmo detainees to our neighborhoods” — as it was characterized by Andy McKenna, a Republican candidate for governor, and others who have made similar comments.
It’s about following through on a plan to close the Guantanamo facility.
McKenna’s statement in opposition to the Thomson plan said, “This shows how out of touch Governor (Pat) Quinn really is.”
However, if McKenna doesn’t recognize this economic opportunity for Illinois, he’s the one who is out of touch.
Maybe. But I still think we ought to get a whole lot more for that prison than the governor is asking. We’re in a good bargaining position here and we should take advantage of it. Somebody sent me a text message this morning claiming that accepting this prison was our “duty.” It’s not our “duty.” It’s our option.
Another possibility, although it seems far-fetched outside of the cinema, is a terrorist attack on a federal prison to “free” the inmates. If you consider it for a minute, there are literally thousands of potential terrorist targets in the United States.
While we need to be aware and wise about prevention, retreating into a frightened shell is not the answer.
Exactly. Some people have simply seen too many Hollywood action movies.
Brady is a member of the General Assembly’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, which is charged with holding hearings when governors want to close any state facility employing more than 25 workers.
The minimum-security wing of Thomson — the only part that is operating — has about 80 employees. […]
Dan Long, executive director of the commission, said it’s not yet clear how the process for Thomson will unfold.
“It depends on what they plan to do with it,” Long said Monday. “I think we’re in limbo.”
“I haven’t talked to one person who wants to see us house terrorists,” Brady said.
I don’t want to “house” terrorists here, either. I do want to seem them imprisoned, however. Sheesh.
Brady’s letter to AG Madigan is here. He also asks whether the Thomson prison is surplus property that must be first offered to other units of government in Illinois.
An attorney for Blagojevich’s brother, Robert, said Monday that he would seek a separate trial, citing the prejudice his client could face by sitting next to such a controversial figure. […]
“It was basically his decision, not mine,” attorney Michael Ettinger, who represents Robert Blagojevich, said after court of his client’s desire to be tried separately from his brother.
According to a source familiar with the situation, Blagojevich’s brother may have decided to seek a separate trial after the former governor’s lawyers moved to delay the trial, now scheduled to begin June 3.
Rod and Rob weren’t close as adults until the guv asked the brother to come up and run his campaign fundraising operation. Perhaps the brother is now finding out how weird and off-the-wall (and headed for prison) the former governor really is.
Lawyers for Blagojevich wanted the delay to see how the Supreme Court would rule on three other cases they said will be a key part of their defense against the charges. The judge denied the request and said the trial will begin in June as scheduled.
Judge James Zagel said he may postpone the start of the trial, but not until September.
“Should there be a Supreme Court decision which affects some of the legal theories of this case it certainly would be foolish to begin something and then have to stop it,” said Sheldon Sorosky, Blagojevich’s attorney.
* Prosecutors joined the defense in a motion to sever Bill Cellini from Rod Blagojevich’s trial and the judge granted it yesterday…
Cellini’s attorney, Dan K. Webb, issued a statement saying the decision to severe his client and possibly try him separately “demonstrates what we have said all along — that there was never any justification for including Bill Cellini in any indictment with former Gov. Blagojevich.”
Webb said Cellini doesn’t know Blagojevich, has never spoken on the phone with the former governor and was unaware of the alleged fundraising scheme.
Cellini was charged in three counts along with former Blagojevich chief fundraiser Christopher G. Kelly, was found dead in what police say was a suicide, just days before he was to start serving eight years in prison.
Prosecutors urged Zagel to drop Cellini from the trial, saying that Kelly had been the key figure who linked him to Blagojevich. They said Kelly’s death had erased much of the “overlap” in evidence between Blagojevich and Cellini.
* County Board set to try again today to lower sales tax rate
After months of watching the volley between a majority bloc of county commissioners trying to roll back the tax and Board President Todd Stroger opposed to the giveback, the game may end today.
Commissioners supporting the rollback have called an emergency meeting this morning for the sole purpose, they hope, of slashing the sales tax a half-penny on the dollar.
Revenue collected for parking ticket fines was off on average nearly $1 million a month between May and August 2009, compared with the same time in 2008. This comes as the city is trying to fill a $520 million budget hole.
Earl Dunlap, the head of the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center, is expected to go to federal court on Tuesday to seek approval to dismiss 230 workers at the chronically troubled facility.
All of the workers will be eligible to re-apply for their jobs. The best will be rehired. Those who have a college degree and get rehired will get a bump in pay.
* Judge orders Chicago Public Schools to discuss transfers with Fenger students
