* Many thanks to all of you who posted best wishes to Carlos Hernandez Gomez. I’m certain that it helped both him and Randi get through a very difficult time. I love you all for that.
* We’ll know Monday morning which office Congressman Danny Davis will seek - reelection or Cook County Board President. From the Davis campaign…
Cong. Davis will announce his election decision at a press conference on Monday, November 9, 2009, at 10:00 a.m., at 3333 W. Arthington, Chicago.
* Democrat Alexi Giannoulias has a new Internet ad blasting Mark Kirk over Sarah Palin. The tagline is pretty good…
* Rep. Julie Hamos begins airing a new cable TV ad tomorrow. I think that makes her the first congressional candidate to go up. Anyway, rate it…
This is an initial cable buy of about $20K. Here are some details from a top source which were confirmed by the campaign…
$14,450 total for Comcast zones of Glenview, Highland Park and Mt Prospect; these zones encompass other towns as well and give good coverage in D10.
Additionally about $6,000 to WOW! Cable for their North zone that also has coverage in D10.
Bought CNN, Food, HGTV, MSNBC, TBS and USA Networks; all dayparts bought Flight is Sat 11/7 thru Mon 11/16
Script…
I’m Julie Hamos. The time has come for every American to have quality, affordable health care.
We finally have a chance to make that happen with a comprehensive package that includes a public option so that everyone has an affordable choice for health insurance, no matter what. We have to let Congress know that real health care reform demands a public option.
Let’s not let this moment in history pass us by.
I’m Julie Hamos and I approve this message because our fight for change is just beginning.
* Most unfortunate Tribune headline of the afternoon: “Quinn gets backing from former Blagojevich allies.” The story…
Gov. Pat Quinn got the endorsement today of several North Side Democratic leaders who once hailed and later feuded with his running mate and predecessor, Rod Blagojevich.
Among those supporting Quinn’s bid for the Democratic nomination in the Feb. 2 primary was Chicago Ald. Richard Mell (33rd), Blagojevich’s estranged father-in-law.
Others endorsing the governor today were Sen. Ira Silverstein and Reps. John Fritchey and Lou Lang. Fritchey is running for county board commissioner against former Ald. Ted Matlak.
*** UPDATE 1 *** And Dan Hynes has pounced. From a press release…
BLAGOJEVICH’S NUMBER 2 EARNS BLESSING OF BLAGOJEVICH’S NUMBER 1 PATRON The political muscle that gave IL Rod Blagojevich lines up behind Pat Quinn as questions persist about top aide’s resignation
CHICAGO – Pat Quinn, once a self-styled reformer, continued his gravitation toward ultimate political insider-dom today by accepting the endorsement of Alderman Dick Mell, the father-in-law and political patron of Rod Blagojevich, and a man synonymous with Chicago Machine politics. This comes on the heels of news that Quinn’s deputy chief of staff resigned abruptly last week, reportedly amid an investigation for doing political work on state time. Quinn has been mum on the affair. Dan Hynes for Governor campaign communications director Matt McGrath issued the following statement:
“Today’s announcement, coupled with the deafening silence surrounding Carolyn Brown Hodge’s abrupt resignation, further cements what has become increasingly clear: Pat Quinn will say or do anything to cling to power, including embracing the Machine he once railed against. It would never even occur to us to seek the endorsement of the single individual most responsible for inflicting this state with Rod Blagojevich, let alone hold a press conference, but for Pat Quinn, it’s all in a day’s work. The rest of us are once again left to wonder about Pat Quinn’s true convictions and commitment to anything beyond his own election.”
Considering Hynes’ family ties, that’s quite a breathless press release, but whatever. At least he didn’t accuse Quinn of actually doing his job and twisting it into something bizarre, a la Quinn’s TV ad.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Quinn spokesperson Elizabeth Austin responds…
“Dan Hynes’ hypocrisy knows no bounds. He is a child of the old-time Chicago Machine and owes his entire career to his ward boss father. Without Machine backing and his father’s political muscle, how could he have won statewide office at the age of 28? Certainly not on the basis of his grassroots advocacy for ethical reform, consumer rights, and tax fairness.
“In September, when Comptroller Hynes appeared at the endorsement session of the Cook County Democrats, he spoke movingly of his pride in seeking — and accepting — their endorsements over the many years he has spent sitting behind the Comptroller’s desk. At that time, he shared his warm recollections of growing up in a ward office, learning about Machine politics at his father’s knee. Yet now, when the Democratic Party is embracing reform and putting state government back on track, he’s now Dan Hynes, the independent maverick?
“Just as they did in 2004, we expect Illinois Democratic voters to understand the difference between a second-generation ward politician and a true reformer who has devoted his entire life to standing up for everyday people against corrupt politicians, greedy utility companies, and corporate polluters. We know that the people of Illinois can tell a poll-driven career politician from someone who is, and has always been, the genuine article. “
[ *** End of Updates *** ]
* Last night, all but one of the Republican gubernatorial candidates said Illinois should opt out of national healthcare if it’s passed by Congress. Unsurprisingly, Gov. Pat Quinn would be against opting out…
Gov. Pat Quinn says Illinois should not try to opt out of a national health care plan if one passes in Washington.
The Chicago Democrat says that would be the wrong way to go. […]
Quinn also said Friday that he disagrees with Republican Jim Ryan’s call to lower the minimum wage in Illinois by 75 cents. Ryan says that would help make Illinois more competitive economically.
* Democratic US Senate candidate David Hoffman has a new banking plan. From a press release…
Hoffman’s plan will protect consumers by creating a separate, independent Federal Consumer Protection Agency, which will enforce consumer protection laws to prevent abuse by lenders; putting a stop to predatory lending practices by establishing a standard national usury rate for consumer credit transactions; using federal stimulus funds to provide affordable small business loans, and allowing judicial modification of home mortgages to protect principle residences during bankruptcy.
You’ve done the research and bought the best direct mail list for your campaign. But do you really know if the receiver has any interest at all in your message? Are they truly engaged in reading your information? Or are you hoping your “targeted” mailer interrupts their busy life just long enough to get their attention and not get tossed into the circular file?
What if there was a way to offer true engagement with your mail piece? Would you be interested in voters actually requesting your information and remembering you once it arrives?
Look no further than this new service from Comcast Spotlight called RFI (Request For Information). The television viewer, already watching your television spot via Comcast, clicks on their remote and requests a direct mail piece be sent to them from your campaign. Comcast then sends you their address. With one click of the remote, they REQUEST your direct mail piece. They ask FOR your mailer. You send the INFORMATION promptly because Comcast Spotlight sends you the database DAILY. This service has already been very successful for Comcast clients in many retail and service categories.
Dramatically increase the effectiveness of your political direct mail with RFI and contact Richard Brehm at 312-327-5622. He’ll even show you how RFI works.
The Illinois comptroller says he hasn’t formed an opinion yet on the governor’s plan to borrow $900 million, because he hasn’t seen the details yet.
Comptroller Dan Hynes says the state does need the cash, because it has a stack of bills worth $3.5 billion that it lacks the money to pay. But he says the governor has not yet communicated with the comptroller’s office regarding specifics of the plan, such as when and how it would be repaid, and what the cost of borrowing would be, so Hynes says he cannot have an opinion or sign off on it.
The comptroller and treasurer must sign off on this type of borrowing; approval from the General Assembly is not needed.
* The Question: Keeping in mind that the borrowed money has to be paid back by the end of the fiscal year, do you think Hynes ought to sign off on this proposal? Explain.
President Obama’s former colleagues in the Illinois state Senate used him as a punching bag Thursday in the first debate among all seven Republicans running for governor.
“Just as I worked to defeat Obamamcare when he was a state senator in Illinois, we will defeat it, hopefully, at the federal level,” said state Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington).
“But if we fail to do that, I will impose the [states’ rights] 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution, and tell the federal government they have no right to take our tax dollars and redirect them to provide a national health care program … It’s time someone slapped the hand of the federal government and said ‘enough is enough.’”
All seven candidates, to varying degrees, competed to be the most conservatove, the biggest “outsider,” the most opposed to tax hikes, and the most opposed to increased government spending on health care.
State Sen. Kirk Dillard, of Hinsdale, a former DuPage County GOP chairman who has been criticized for appearing in a 2007 Iowa caucus ad for Obama, appeared to use the health care issue to try to distance himself from the president.
“If I wanted to be part of socialized medicine, I would have moved to Europe,” Dillard said. “I’ll be damned if I’m going to let a socialistic Washington shove a new mandate down the (Illinois) taxpayers’ throats, especially if it’s health care.”
As the candidates expressed sympathy over the deadly shooting rampage Thursday at Fort Hood in Texas, state Sen. Bill Brady, of Bloomington, vowed to push the legalization of concealed weapons as a potential solution to defending against criminal or terrorist activity.
…an early question about how they would ensure Illinois residents can be safe in light of Thursday’s shootings at Texas’ Fort Hood brought out a range of responses.
Hinsdale businessman Adam Andrzejewski used the question to underscore his plan to keep illegal immigrants out of Illinois.
“One of the security issues we face is our immigration policy in Illinois,” he said. “We can take steps to defend the border right here in Illinois.”
Meanwhile, Brady said that violence, along with last year’s shootings at Northern Illinois University, illustrate the need to allow the concealed carry of guns in the state. He said the law would “help to respond to incidents like this.”
[Jim] Ryan also said the Illinois minimum wage is too high. After the debate, he said the Illinois minimum of $8 an hour should be cut to $7.25, the federal level.
Yet WBBM Radio’s headline is: “Quiet debate for GOP candidates for Ill. governor.”
* By the way, Progress Illinois has video of Sen. Kirk Dillard calling Obama a “Socialist” earlier this week…
Rep. Mark Kirk has long been a voice of reason in Illinois. A moderate Republican with an independent streak, Kirk isn’t known for pandering.
In our endorsement of Kirk for re-election last fall, we noted the North Shore congressman’s efforts at bipartisanship, his knack for doing his homework and his penchant for speaking his mind.
But the edit board is dismayed by this Sarah Palin thing…
Whose endorsement is Kirk seeking in his bid to win a U.S. Senate seat? None other than Sarah Palin.
The same Sarah Palin he dismissed.
The same Sarah Palin who is so fiercely partisan it’s hard to imagine her uttering the phrase bipartisan.
The same Sarah Palin whose history of failing to do her homework has earned her well-deserved ridicule.
And concludes…
For Kirk, courting conservatives may help him solidify a primary win; he is the presumed front-runner. But it also could easily cost him a general election win in Democrat-leaning Illinois.
Kirk built a successful political career by staying true to his values and beliefs.
Republican Rep. Mark Kirk created a stir by asking for help from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in his bid for the party’s U.S. Senate nomination on Feb. 2. Now that quest for help has become fundraising fodder for one of the Democrats seeking the seat.
In an e-mail to supporters sent out today, the campaign manager for Democratic state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias said Kirk’s request for Palin’s help was an example of how “Republicans will do anything to get their hands on President Obama’s former seat in the U.S. Senate.”
Here’s the entire fundraising e-mail, with all emphasis in the original…
We knew from the beginning of this campaign that Republicans will do anything to get their hands on President Obama’s former seat in the U.S. Senate, but now we find out that the GOP wants Sarah Palin’s help to win this race.
Yesterday, news broke that Congressman Mark Kirk, the Republican front-runner, penned a secret memo to Sarah Palin’s camp asking that Palin help out Kirk in a “quick and decisive” way.
Palin has made no secret that she’s willing to help out conservatives in their quest to damage the President. She was the leader in false rumors about the President’s health care proposals, and she’s made it clear she’s willing to throw her support around to get conservatives elected from coast to coast.
Well, not here in Illinois.
We can’t let Mark Kirk and Sarah Palin take us back to the failed, Republican policies that got us into this economic mess.
Donate $10, $20, or $50 today to help us keep the President’s seat.
If Mark Kirk thinks bringing Sarah Palin to town will help distract from his record of consistently voting for big business and against Illinois families, he’s wrong.
Donate $10, $20, or $50 and help us send a message to Mark Kirk and Sarah Palin Republicans that this seat will stay in Democratic hands.
Alexi is a progressive Democrat who will move our state and our nation forward.
And thanks to supporters like you, this campaign will be ready to take on Mark Kirk, Sarah Palin, and whomever else the GOP sends to this fight for the President’s seat.
A new Wilson Research analysis of polling data from the U.S. Senate campaigns of Mark Kirk and Patrick Hughes, respectively, indicates bad news for the Kirk campaign. This comes on the heels of news from Kirk’s Senate campaign that he is seeking the endorsement of former Gov. Sarah Palin. […]
* The ideological background of the primary electorate appears to favor a candidate such as Patrick Hughes. Seven in ten respondents (69%) described themselves as ideologically conservative, compared to only a quarter (25%) of respondents describing themselves as ideologically moderate.
* The findings of the images and ballot of the Market Research Insight survey demonstrate that the race is competitive.
* In the survey, Congressman Kirk has a favorable to unfavorable ratio of 2.7:1. Patrick Hughes’ favorable rating is much higher, at 9:1, but has far less name ID than the Congressman (64% for Kirk versus 24% for Hughes).
“By openly soliciting Sarah Palin’s blessing, Mark Kirk is showing Illinois his true colors,” Jackson said in a statement. “Although he claims to be a moderate, Kirk is pandering to the extreme right wing of his party, and in so doing turning his back on the hard-working Illinois families who hope to change the way our government works and don’t want to go back to the failed policies of the Bush Administration.”
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is trying its best to squeeze every ounce out of the Mark Kirk-Sarah Palin story. […]
Now the DSCC has fired off this “memo” to Palin and Malek, which digs up unfavorable things Kirk had said about Palin:
To: Governor Sarah Palin
Cc: Congressman Mark Kirk
Cc: Fred Malek
From: Kathleen Strand, Senior Advisor to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
Dear Governor Palin,
Yesterday, following the purge of a moderate Republican in upstate New York and the devastating special election in NY-23, it was revealed that Congressman Mark Kirk is actively seeking your endorsement of his candidacy in the U.S. Senate race in Illinois. However, Mark Kirk has not had kind words to say about you in the past. Faced with a difficult re-election race in 2008, Kirk told reporters he “would have picked someone else” for Vice-President and that frankly he “didn’t know whether you are qualified to be President.” Now that Kirk is facing a tough primary challenge from the anti-Washington, anti-establishment candidate Patrick Hughes, he is suddenly racing to embrace you. I’m not sure how familiar you are with Mark Kirk but he is a politician who has a history of putting politics above principals, something you surely look down upon. Whether the issue is cap and trade, extending unemployment benefits, or health care reform, Kirk has either flip-flopped, been AWOL, or motivated purely by politics. On the other hand, Patrick Hughes is comfortable in his own skin as an extreme right-winger. Unlike the pro-abortion Kirk, Hughes is firmly pro-life, anti-gay marriage, and pro-gun…sounds like your type of Republican. I know you are in Milwaukee tomorrow and will be in our great state of Illinois later this month, both would be a perfect setting to give your blessing to one of these two candidates. With so much at stake in the next election, everyone wants to know — who will you endorse in our Senate race?
My good friend Carlos Hernandez Gomez is back in the hospital. Carlos, a top-notch reporter for CLTV, has cancer.
I talked to Carlos last night and he was in a bad place. He had some sort of reaction to his recent treatment and I’d say it was making him miserable, but that word is used so often that it doesn’t even come close to how he sounded on the phone.
As I’ve told you before, Carlos is an avid reader of this blog, so let’s all chip in today and wish him well. He badly needs to be cheered up, so let’s please do our best.
Get well, buddy. I’ll see you tomorrow. Remember, more people love you than you’ll probably ever know. And we’re gonna prove it to you today.
Get to it, people. Thanks.
*** UPDATE *** From Carlos’ wife, Randi…
Your blog post and the comments amaze us. Thanks so much for your friendship. To see how many people are rooting for him certainly gives him strength in a weak hour.
He doesn’t feel much like talking, but it’s certainly drawn a smile and a thumbs-up!
Keep it coming, folks. You’re doing some good here today.
* Naperville businessman charged with bribing ‘city agent’
With both video and audio rolling, the businessman, Wafeek “Wally” Aiyash, allegedly offered Ald. Isaac “Ike” Carothers a $100,000 cash bribe — $10,000 of it up front — if Carothers would secure concessions contracts for him, a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday says.
As many as 40,000 jobless Illinois residents, who would have exhausted their unemployment benefits by the end of the year, will benefit from a bill President Obama is expected to sign today extending those benefits up to 20 weeks.
The extension will help 28,000 unemployed in the state whose benefits already have been exhausted and 12,000 more individuals here whose benefits will run out by the end of the year. That is according to the Illinois Employment Security Department.
Commissioner Mario Moreno is pushing a tax on hospitals that don’t devote at least 4.5 percent of their spending on charity care. If they come up short of that target for free health care, they would pay the difference to the county. (Hospitals that handle a high number of Medicaid patients would have a lower target, but could still be snared by the tax.) […]
The tax would raise about $340 million a year, according to the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, which represents 94 Chicago-area hospitals.
It would impose $105 million in taxes on at least 14 hospitals that already lose money.
Four hospitals that now turn a profit would be plunged into a loss.
A $100,000 no-bid Chicago Police Department contract with Charles Bowen — the former Cook County commissioner who spent more than 15 years as Mayor Daley’s chief liaison to black ministers — is at the center of an unprecedented legal battle between City Hall and the inspector general’s office.
In 2006, Bowen was asked to assist the Police Department with the recruitment and retention of minority officers. He was also charged with reviewing the process of disciplining wayward officers, evaluating community policing and developing “crime-fighting initiatives that involve community participation.”[…]
Earlier this week, the inspector general’s office filed a lawsuit demanding that Corporation Counsel Mara Georges turn over documents and records vital to the inspector general’s investigation of “how a former city employee was awarded a sole-source contract in apparent violation of the city’s ethics and contracting rules.”
The inspector general’s office wants the court to require Georges to reveal who hired that individual and why, saying it “has been unable to determine who bears responsibility for the critical decision to contract with the former employee.”
The once vibrant market is becoming “a dead zone” as vendors take their operations to friendlier operations in the city and suburbs, Fioretti said after the City Council budget hearing for the special events office, which took over running the historic market this year.
McDonald said officials heard from vendors who said they were being harassed by representatives of Jam Productions, which has the contract to manage Maxwell Street.
Spokespeople for Jam could not be reached for comment this evening.
* Overhaul would bring Maxwell Street Market back to glory
Chicago residents are lazy and therefore in need of special treatment. That’s what Ald. Eugene Schulter (47th) seemed to say Wednesday at a Chicago City Council budget hearing. He called for preferential seating of Chicago residents at free concerts in Millennium Park.
“You have people from the suburbs who get there earlier and glom on to all the seats. … They’re putting their blankets across rows and rows of chairs,” the Northwest Side alderman whined, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Are Chicago residents prohibited from arriving early and reserving seats for their friends and family members?
The argument goes that city taxpayers paid for the park, so they should reap the benefit. And as more concerts are held at the park, to save the city money, seats will be at a premium. The only problem is that Schulter’s solution runs counter to the spirit of Millennium Park.
It’s a symbol of the city, one that welcomes folks from down the block or from across the globe.
It says, “Come and share in the beauty of our great city.”
Knuckling under to the Daley administration, the city’s landmarks commission Thursday rejected a recommendation that the former Michael Reese Hospital campus on the Near South Side be designated a historic property.
The Commission on Chicago Landmarks voted 5-3 to withhold support for listing it on the National Register of Historic Places. City Hall has been demolishing buildings on the property, rejecting pleas from preservationists to save some buildings on the 37-acre site. The city bought the property for use in its futile bid for the 2016 Olympics.
* Maine voters overwhelmingly rejected a TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights) referendum this week. Here are some details…
* growth in annual expenditures of the General Fund, the Highway Fund and Other Special Revenue Funds are limited according to increases in population and inflation
* revenues exceeding the expenditure limitation must be distributed by directing 20% of that excess to a budget stabilization fund and 80% of that excess to a tax relief fund […]
* a state tax increase would require a majority vote of each House of the Legislature and majority approval of the voters
This is the third time that Maine voters have turned thumbs-down on TABOR in the past five years.
* The Question: Let’s change the final provision to make a tax hike receive a three-fifths majority in both legislative chambers and no direct voter approval. Could you support this idea? Explain.
* I probably should’ve known better than to believe the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza yesterday when he wrote…
Illinois Rep. Mark Kirk penned a memo to Republican poobah Fred Malek hoping to secure an endorsement from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for his Senate candidacy, according to a copy of the memo obtained by the Fix.
If Cillizza really did see the memo, as he claimed, then he would’ve known that nowhere in that memo does Congressman Kirk explicitly ask for an endorsement. How do I know this? Because I now have the memo…
Memorandum
November 3, 2009
To: Fred Malek
From: Mark Kirk
Re: Gov. Palin Visit to Chicago November 16th
Governor Palin is scheduled to appear on Oprah November 16th in Chicago. The Chicago media will focus on one key issue: does Gov. Palin oppose Congressman Mark Kirk’s bid to take the Obama Senate seat for the Republicans?
We would hope Gov. Palin could say something quick and decisive:
Voters in Illinois have a key opportunity to take Barack Obama’s senate seat. Congressman Kirk is the lead candidate to do that. Kirk, the first member of Congress to deploy into combat since 1942, voted against the Stimulus, Omnibus and Pelosi health care bills. He announced he will oppose Cap & Trade and is the key House national security hawk on Iran. Kirk is a unique Republican candidate who has become the number one pro-Israel fundraiser in America, Republican or Democrat.
The memo then goes on to detail Kirk’s position on specific issues, including his oppositon to the Obama budget, “card check,” the Ledbetter [gender pay equity] bill and the stimulus, as well as his support for President Bush’s tax cuts and his proposal to cut off funding for Alaska’s “Bridge to Nowhere.”
The hazard of blogging is that one often depends on others to get their stories straight. My subscription publication is comprised of my own work, but the blog often riffs on what others do, puts it into context, uses it to relate other insights. I also break my share of news here, of course, but using other peoples’ stories is an important core function.
WaPo’s Cillizza is now on my “always check him out first” list.
* All that being said, the Kirk/Palin memo is still incredibly pandering. And it still points to a very valid question: Does Mark Kirk even know who he is?
That Kirk is courting Palin takes on more significance, however, after Tuesday’s balloting for an open House seat in New York yielded a Democratic win after the moderate Republican was driven out of the race by Palin and others who supported the third party conservative candidate.
Conservatives may be shopping for other moderates to knock off. But the reality in Illinois is very different from New York or other places. Though the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has been trying to pump Kirk’s seven primary rivals as real threats, they are barely known and hardly register in polls.
Sweet is right, but it’s more than that. Why has Kirk consistently overreacted to this mild threat? I’m not just talking about the Palin thing, here. He’s turned into Mr. Flip-Flop lately to placate a Right-wing that barely registers. Is he really concerned that something huge could explode or is he just thin-skinned? Is this about making sure a Constitution Party or independent candidate gains no traction in the general election? Questions, questions, questions, but few answers.
Kirk, a moderate, may also face a third-party challenge from the right, after fellow Republican Eric Wallace made clear in dropping out of contention for the GOP nomination that he may mount a [NY Conservative Party congressional nominee Doug] Hoffman-like run.
Wallace isn’t a threat, unless you figure that the general election race will be close, and it probably will be. Even if the guy skims a point or two from Kirk, that could be a big problem. Wallace is not the guy to look at, though. I’m betting the Kirk folks are more worried that a wealthy self-funder might jump in as a third-party or independent.
But what we know now is that despite a win by a Democrat in NY-23, no GOP candidate believes the conservative activists who backed Hoffman are ready to hang up their tea bags.
True dat. And, they don’t care about winning. They care about making their point, as the aftermath of NY-23 clearly shows.
* Related…
* Mark Kirk and Sarah Palin: Senate candidate’s memo about ex-Alaska governor shows he’s veering to right, critics say
* Kirk looking for support from the right? You betcha
* Illinois Review live-blogged a GOP gubernatorial debate last night. The debate was sponsored by a so-called “tea party” group in Will County. Here are a few of the questions. Keep in mind that live-blogging is a difficult thing to do, so typos are common…
* “Where do our rights come from?”
Schillerstrom said “from the people”
Proft said our rights come from God
Dillard said our rights come from the Lord
Brady –said our rights come from God to the people
Adam: They come not from another man…but from God himself. A responsibility that we all have to take seriously.
* “Question to Dillard: It is widely know you’ve appeared for a ad for barack obama … BOOS … Do you honestly believe his skills are serving America well as you said in the ad?”
Dillard: No I do not.
I warned people he was a a socialist then — his health care plan when he was in the Senate showed that. But he did work on an ethics plan with me … and I acknowledged it…
* “Question to all from panel: Health care. Do you believe it is big government over-reach. As gov. you would opt out for IL. Would you take same health plan that is forced on everyone else?”
Brady …I opposed Barack’s state-health care plan when he was in the senate and I do now
I believe we’re protected by the 10th amendment … applause … I have sponsored a resolution to embrace the 10th amendment .. I would opt out of the health care plan and would sue the federal government for the freedom to not be in the health care plan, but still get our part for Medicare and Medicaid.
Adam A: he would opt out of the program. He would use every legal pwer to sue the government. His plan is…we have best health care in the world…no rationing…his plan is to stop rationing info. Make doctors and hospitals put price online for surgery etc. Do doc and hospital scorecards. So people can choose. he would also eliminate the health insurance board.
Bob S. - I would opt out and I believe an elected official should live by the same rules as everyone else. if it’s anything important, we shouldn’t let the goverment run it., I am the only one up here that lives it. DuPage is the model of how government should be run. I have a record — I don’t just promise. I run a government. On health care — in dupage oounty, we took 400 thousand dollars to work together in Access DuPage to help people to stay out of emergency rooms. We ask the drug companies to provide drugs. We ask doctors to donate and we serve 10,000 that wouldn’t necessarily be cared for without the the program. That’s the way Republicans deal with health care problems.
Proft: He would opt out. The concern is the medicaid matching funds so we would have to sue. He also thinks we should go after the feds on a number of issue.
Proft - Medicaid is largest expenditure in IL yearly. We must restructure the program. The program is broken. Medicaid recipients have better plan than any politician or anyone in the room.
Wednesday November 4, 2009 8:38 IR Editor
Dillard: If i wanted socialized medicine, I’d move to Europe. I fought obama on this when he was in Springfield. I will work to protect 10th amendment . I would opt out and I think we need tort reform — applause — the federal government should get our liability system back in order. Legislators should be on the same system we force on everyone else.
If state “opt out” is included in the federal healthcare bill, you can bet that it’ll be a big issue in next year’s campaign. The GOP candidates are now all locked in on the issue, except McKenna and Jim Ryan, who didn’t show up.
Also, Dillard, Brady and Schillerstrom said they believed that global warming was not man-made.
* I sure hope Gov. Pat Quinn asked for big buckaroos for the state budget when he was kibitzing in the Oval Office…
Quinn, a longtime friend of senior White House advisor David Axelrod, met with him at the White House and after talking about stimulus funding Axelrod walked him into the Oval Office to see Obama. Quinn said he ran into Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett.
Don’t be proud, guv, just ask for the cash. Beg if you have to. Heck, stand on your head and spin around the Oval Office like a top for the preznit’s amusement if that’s what it takes.
* And while you’re at it, you might want to prod your legal team to speed up their review…
Republican Commissioners Tony Peraica and Timothy Schneider on Wednesday delayed plans to push for a rollback in the Cook County sales tax until Gov. Pat Quinn formally signs new legislation reducing the number of votes required to override President Todd Stroger’s inevitable veto.
A spokesman for Schneider said they hoped Quinn would sign it before the next meeting of the Cook County Board Nov. 18. Quinn spokesman Bob Reed said the governor was going to “review the law” and has not made a decision on if or when to sign it.
“If” he’ll sign it? “If”? I was out a bit too late last night with an old friend, so I don’t have the energy or the brain power to look it up, but I could’ve sworn that Quinn said he was in favor of that legislation.
…Adding… The governor’s office notes that the bill has not yet been transmitted to them. Good point, but I’m still a little concerned about the waffling on whether Quinn will sign it.
Democratic Commissioner Larry Suffredin, of Evanston, who supports the reduction in the sales tax, warned that language added to the bill in Springfield during the recent veto session could contain a “poison pill.” Although it says the new law takes effect immediately, it also specifies staying consistent with the state constitution, which could give Stroger an angle to fight the new law in court.
All laws have to be “consistent with the state constitution.” But the Stroger court challenge angle is a real possibility, as I told subscribers last week. Stroger could conceivably hold up any override while he takes the state law to court, if he finds a willing judge, which might not be easy. The Senate Democrats said they believe Stroger has no legal leg to stand on, but this is America, baby. Anybody can sue anybody for anything.
* The state has a new accountability office? Huh. OK, get cracking…
Gov. Patrick Quinn on Wednesday dispatched officials from a new accountability office to investigate errors in a state database detailing stimulus-funded school jobs promoted by the Obama administration, a day after the Tribune raised questions about the job numbers’ accuracy.
The officials have asked the Illinois State Board of Education to verify the number of jobs created and retained in school districts detailed in the report, said Ashley Cross, a spokeswoman for Quinn’s office. Any necessary adjustments will be incorporated into the next quarterly report on the federal stimulus, she said.
Matt Vanover, a spokesman for board of education, said the flawed database actually had been washed of some glaring errors before being included in the official tabulation, which claimed 14,330 school jobs in Illinois had either been saved or created thanks to $1.25 billion in federal funds.
But the Tribune found that the database claimed far more jobs had been saved in some local school districts than actually existed on district payrolls.
More than $4.7 million in federal stimulus aid so far has been funneled to schools in North Chicago, and state and federal officials say that money has saved the jobs of 473 teachers.
Problem is, the district employs only 290 teachers.
The stats were compiled by the Illinois State Board of Education, which should’ve known better.
The union representing CTA bus drivers and mechanics is considering a strike if the agency goes ahead with hundreds of layoffs.
“We’re just exploring every option,” said Darrell Jefferson, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union 241, which represents bus drivers. Nearly 1,800 Local 241 members received notices warning they could be laid off.
“A strike would be the absolutely last resort,” Jefferson said. “These are trying times. It’s not a productive idea to call a strike.” But he said the union has to protect its interests “by any means necessary.”
The CTA has a $300 million budget deficit for 2010 and has proposed steep fare increases and service cuts to plug the hole. The proposed cut of 18 percent of bus service would result in job losses.
* Union head on mom’s CTA story: Why does stroller appear undamaged?
The city watchdog agency charged with rooting out City Hall corruption sued Mayor Richard Daley’s administration on Wednesday, accusing it of thwarting an investigation into possible wrongdoing by current and former employees.
The inspector general’s office wants Daley’s top lawyer, Mara Georges, to hand over documents relating to a 2006 no-bid contract awarded to a former city worker.
The city’s first deputy inspector general, Mary E. Hodge, sued Georges in Cook County Chancery Court, asking a judge to order the full release of the subpoenaed documents.
Employees in the Water Management Department at the center of the Hired Truck and city hiring scandals are being pressured to sell and purchase $50 tickets to the Nov. 19 benefit reception Mayor Daley is hosting on behalf of the United Negro College Fund.
Although the cause is laudable, the tactic is questionable.
The solicitation is being made on city stationery with employees referred to a city telephone number to purchase tickets to the event at the South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 S. Shore Drive.[…]
Andy Shaw, executive director of the Better Government Association, called the memo the “charitable equivalent of pay-to-play.”
Despite a burgeoning financial crisis that has forced a $43 million property tax increase and hundreds of job cuts, the Chicago Board of Education has found a $154,000-a-year job for an all-purpose mayoral troubleshooter.
Barbara Lumpkin, 59, will serve as deputy CEO for external affairs for the Chicago Public Schools forging partnerships with the business community to support school programs. The job has been vacant for nine months — ever since Lumpkin’s predecessor retired.
Despite an economy that has many still feeling none too merry and forecasts for a 1 percent drop in holiday sales, the holiday hiring front news isn’t all gloom and doom.
Although an Aon Consulting survey of more than 100 of the nation’s leading retailers found that 44 percent are hiring fewer holiday workers this year, a majority have no plans to pull back; 19 percent said they plan to boost their hiring, and 37 percent said their levels will remain the same as last year.
* I’ve been hearing that Mark Kirk was about to move sharply to the right, but asking for a Palin endorsement? Really? Wow…
Illinois Rep. Mark Kirk penned a memo to Republican poobah Fred Malek hoping to secure an endorsement from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for his Senate candidacy, according to a copy of the memo obtained by the Fix.
After noting that Palin will be in Chicago later this month to appear on “Oprah”, Kirk writes that “the Chicago media will focus on one key issue: Does Gov[ernor] Palin oppose Congressman Mark Kirk’s bid to take the Obama Senate seat for the Republicans?”
Kirk goes on to write that he is hoping for something “quick and decisive” from Palin about the race, perhaps to the effect of: “Voters in Illinois have a key opportunity to take Barack Obama’s Senate seat. Congressman Kirk is the lead candidate to do that.”
Malek confirmed the authenticity of the memo in an e-mail exchange
Um, I don’t think the Chicago media will be “focusing” on the Kirk-Palin “issue” when she comes to town for her Oprah show. They’re usually mainly focused on ogling Oprah. Somebody is a bit too self-centered, methinks.
Also, the Chicago political media has historically been one of Kirk’s most loyal constituencies. They’ve helped brand him as an independent, liberal Republican. Getting Palin’s nod won’t endear him to those types at all. This looks beyond bizarre to me. Is anybody over there thinking about the general election? Is anyone thinking about how McCain/Palin got stomped here last year?
I’m really stunned by this remarkable display of brazen pandering. I guess I shouldn’t be so suprised, but I am.
*** UPDATE 1 *** I’m now hearing that the Kirk memo was sent yesterday - before the NY congressional results came in. The word I’ve been getting for a few days is if the Conservative Party candidate won the race, Kirk would move hard to the right. This memo fits in with that. And the memo’s date also fits. Kirk simply out-thunk himself because, despite the polls and very high expectations, the Conservative Party candidate lost and the Democrat won. Oops.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From Democratic US Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias….
“Mark Kirk begging for Sarah Palin’s endorsement makes it clear that he’ll seek any endorsement, take up any political or policy position, and attempt any political maneuver that he thinks will get him more votes. At the very best, this is shameless political pandering. At worst, it’s further proof that Mark Kirk lacks the political courage to make the tough decisions to move this state forward.”
With Republicans grappling with the fallout of an intra-party battle that may have cost them a House seat, the head of the Senate Republican campaign effort is making a pledge that may ease some of the anger being directed at the party establishment. “We will not spend money in a contested primary,” Sen. John Cornyn, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told ABC News in a telephone interview today.
*** UPDATE 3 *** The DSCC is sending around Mark Kirk quotes about Palin…
· Kirk Called Palin the “Patrick Fitzgerald of Alaska.” In a release from the Illinois Republican Party praising Senator John McCain’s choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate, Kirk called Palin the “Patrick Fitzgerald Of Alaska” for her grit and determination in taking on the old-line Republican guard in Alaska. [Illinois Republican Party release, 8/29/08]
· Female Voters Criticized Kirk for Supporting Palin. In September 2008, a group of 75 female voters sent Kirk a letter strongly criticizing his support for Alaska Governor and Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin, and accusing him of not “standing up for women in the 10th District.” “There is nothing encouraging about Palin’s extreme political views, including her opposition to a woman’s right to choose even in the cases of incest and rape, equal pay for equal work, and gun control,” they wrote. “Your support for Sarah Palin shows that you are more concerned with supporting the Republican Party and continuing with more of the same disastrous policies of the last 8 years.” [Washington Post, 9/11/08]
· Kirk: Palin Would Not Have Been My Choice for Vice President. Kirk told the Chicago Sun Times editorial board that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin would not have been his choice for John McCain’s running mate. [Chicago Sun Times, 10/13/08]
· Kirk: I Don’t Know If Palin Is Qualified to be President. In October 2009, Kirk was asked by the Chicago Tribune editorial board if he believed Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin had the qualifications to become president. “Quite frankly, I don’t know,” Kirk responded. [Chicago Tribune, 10/1/08]
*** UPDATE 4 *** Dan Hynes cracks a joke on his Twitter page…
While we’re on the topic - http://bit.ly/4F7rQ8 - I will not seek, nor will I accept, Sarah Palin’s endorsement in 2010.
*** UPDATE 5 *** From David Hoffman’s US Senate campaign…
Statement from Hoffman Campaign on Kirk Seeking Palin Endorsement
“What does Mark Kirk really believe? Last year he correctly called the addition of Sarah Palin to the McCain ticket a mistake. This year, when faced with a conservative primary challenge he is seeking her endorsement. Kirk has again revealed his true colors: No principles, no standards, whatever it takes to win. Palin is out of touch with the values of the people of Illinois. Today, Mark Kirk reminds us all that he is too.”
I think “What does Mark Kirk really believe?” is the real issue here. He’s been all over the map since he started this race, jumping from one core belief to another. The history of his position on Palin clearly demonstrates that he has had this problem for quite a while now.
The [Palin] request came a day after Kirk, who has long billed himself as a moderate, dodged questions from reporters about whether he would want Palin, the controversial 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, to raise campaign money for him. […]
At his Monday news conference, Kirk eventually got around to replying about a Palin fundraiser: “We’ll see. We’ll see. Yeah. Yeah. I’ve got a lot of folks coming in. I think I’ve got (Senate Republican Leader) Sen. (Mitch) McConnell coming in shortly.”
Oopsie.
*** UPDATE 7 *** Statement from Republican US Senate candidate Patrick Hughes…
“I believe Mark Kirk, who has consistently supported President Obama’s legislative agenda, including cap and trade legislation, is quickly realizing that Republican Primary voters do not share his extreme views. In a desperate attempt to prove otherwise, he is seeking the endorsement of Sarah Palin, a true Reagan conservative, to help disguise his liberal voting record.”
Brady says the state GOP would clamp down on any negative ads that “cross the line” by Republican candidates in crowded primary fields in both races.
Brady says the party “will call people out” over their ads because he doesn’t want to have a bloody, divided primary.
Yeah, OK. Good luck with that, Pat.
So, what crosses the line? Whacking Kirk Dillard for endorsing Obama? Well, it’s true, but it’s also very damaging. Whacking Jim Ryan over Stu Levine? Also true, very damaging, but over the line?
And who are the candidates gonna listen to - the party chairman or their pollsters/consultants/managers who say this or that ad is the path to victory?
Al Reynolds didn’t collect quite enough signatures to qualify to run for state Senate in the 52nd District, he said Tuesday, but he still hopes to be the Republican candidate to oppose Sen. Mike Frerichs, D-Champaign, next fall.
“When I got ready to file, I decided that I didn’t have enough good signatures that I thought would overcome somebody’s scrutiny,” said the Danville man who was an organizer of local “tea party” tax protests earlier this year. “I found signatures there from people who were out of the district, people from Bloomington and Mahomet who had come to my tea parties. They didn’t realize that you had to live in the 52nd District.” […]
Reynolds said he hopes to be slated as the Republican candidate by GOP officials. But he said he hasn’t met yet with Champaign County chief Jason Barickman or Vermilion County Chairman Craig Golden.
Any candidate who can’t get signatures is a weak candidate. How could he even think that his petition disaster makes him qualified to be appointed to the ballot?
* And, finally, you know it’s campaign season when Dave Syverson starts coming up with political stunts…
State Sen. Dave Syverson, R-Rockford, wrote Friday to Donald Trump, urging the developer/television star not to put Blagojevich on his “Celebrity Apprentice” show.
Syverson, the Senate Republican caucus chair, warned Trump that putting the indicted Blagojevich on his TV show could give the ex-governor yet another forum to claim he was railroaded out of office.
“When I heard he was going on ‘Celebrity Apprentice,’ I thought, we’re making a hero out of this guy who has damaged Illinois. It sends the wrong message that we make celebrities out of disgraced leaders, so I’m urging Trump not to do it,” Syverson told me today.
* Politics Magazine has asked me to create a chart for them describing who the top 100 Democratic and Republican “influencers” are in Illinois (fifty for each party). The magazine’s Florida “influencers” chart is here, the New Hampshire chart is here.
Notice that both charts focus mainly on people who are not elected officials. That wouldn’t be the case here, because a few elected officials run so much in Illinois.
I have a general idea about what I’m going to do, but I thought I’d ask for your input. So…
* The Question: Who do you think are the top ten or so un-elected political “influencers” in each Illinois political party? These would be staffers, lobbyists, consultants, etc., etc., etc. Please, stick to people who are not elected to any public office. Explain if you want. I’m more interested in your lists. Try to be as extensive as possible. List more than ten if you want, but don’t just come up with one name. Put a little thought into this. Thanks.
* The Sun-Times tries to be even-handed today with its criticism of both Democratic gubernatorial candidates’ TV advertising. But the effort fails miserably. Here’s how the editorial begins…
Gov. Quinn and Comptroller Dan Hynes, who are squaring off in the Democratic primary race for governor, are both smart and substantive candidates.
Not that you would know that from their recent campaign ads.
If those ads are setting the tone for what’s to come, we dread turning on the television for the next three months until the primary.
And then the newspaper goes on to chide Hynes for not immediately paying state bills for tourism contracts. Not a single word is ever mentioned in the editorial about any of Hynes’ TV ads. The Sun-Times just said Hynes should’ve paid the bills, which he did after resubmitting them to the governor.
So, the top of the editorial has nothing to do with the bottom, at least in regards to Hynes. The paper did take a whack at Gov. Pat Quinn, however…
The nonsense from Quinn: He has begun running a campaign ad knocking Hynes for vowing to weed out waste in the state’s budget line by line but still signing off on “every single” state check.
Which, to repeat, Hynes must do by law — and Quinn knows it.
That’s a fair critique. And it directly relates to the subject of the editorial. But if the paper is planning to hit both candidates on their TV advertisements, then shouldn’t it at least say what they find objectionable in both candidates’ ads?
You’d think that would be elementary.
* The DSCC has been doing this for weeks, and Pearson has now called them out on it…
In a highly unlikely pairing, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee joined with FOX News [yesterda] to promote criticisms of Republican U.S. Senate contender Mark Kirk made by a GOP candidate who dropped out of the contest.
The DSCC trumpeted a FOX News story that one-time Republican Senate candidate Eric Wallace had dropped from the race to avoid splitting conservative votes in the effort by conservatives to challenge the socially moderate Kirk, a five-term congressman from the North Shore.
The DSCC has been “trumpeting” every tiny right-left split in the Kirk race, even though most of it can’t be taken seriously, like that goofy Fox News story on Wallace, who, as Pearson rightly notes, was barely an also-ran…
Not mentioned by the Democrats or FOX was Wallace’s failed 2006 run for an Illinois Senate seat in which he got 23 percent of the vote against Democratic state Sen. Maggie Crotty of Oak Forest.
Also not mentioned was the financial viability of Wallace’s U.S. Senate candidacy, which reported less than $3,000 in cash on hand to start October, coupled with $11,795 in debts, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Ryan also said he also does not plan to return the hundreds of thousands of dollars Levine once contributed to the former attorney general’s political efforts.
“No, no. The reason I haven’t done that is because, when I had that money, I didn’t know that he had a problem,” Jim Ryan said. “There was never, when I was associating with Stu and he was helping me (with) my campaigns, I mean, there was never a hint of any scandal or problems or impropriety.”
As I told subscribers today, the hole in JRyan’s logic is that Levine was indicted twice for alleged illegalities that occurred in 2002 - while Levine was raising and contributing boatloads of cash for and to JRyan’s gubernatorial campaign. Those contributions are definitely tainted.
Quinn talks about the need to adequately fund the public schools in Illinois, to decrease property taxes and raise the income tax to fund state programs. He said he testified on behalf of a bill sponsored by state Sen. James Meeks (D-Chicago) that would’ve done all of that.
He says that when the bill passed out of the Senate, he called House Speaker Michael Madigan and said “let’s shoot for the moon” and pass it.
“After a long pause on the other end of the phone, Madigan said, ‘No,’” the governor said.
But the truth is Quinn really had a different tax plan he wanted to pass, and he didn’t endorse Meeks’ bill until it had been watered down and passed out of the Senate.
“He did testify in front of a House committee in support but didn’t lobby for it at all,” said a supporter of the Meeks bill.
Tuesday night, Hynes’ campaign fired off a press release accusing Quinn of hypocrisy for releasing an ad criticizing Hynes for taking a trip to D.C. then boarding a plane to D.C. himself for a fund-raiser and a meeting with legislators from Illinois.
On Tuesday, Sen. Dick Durbin’s office released a notice for a Quinn meeting in Washington, D.C., Wednesday regarding federal funding for Illinois projects. It offered reporters an “opportunity for b-roll and spray.” That’s a term used mostly for national press meaning camera footage but no questions.
Hynes’ campaign shortly released a notice that their candidate will be holding an economic roundtable with small business owners in Chicago Wednesday that will offer “B-roll spray” and a press availability afterward.
* More campaign stuff…
* Full text of Jim Ryan’s campaign announcement speech
* Ill. gov. candidate Jim Ryan’s kickoff shadowed by Rezko figure
The University of Illinois has so far seen only $400,000 of $317 million it is owed by the state, leading to a virtual hiring freeze and the possibility of furloughs.
And the state may cut even deeper.
The UI has billed the state for $317 million of its current fiscal year 2010 appropriation as of this week, but has received only $400,000 for all three campuses.
Before the state’s budget woes stole a piece of her freedom, Felice Dworkin indulged herself with a daily trip to the park. The 83-year-old would board her motorized wheelchair and proudly steer it through the front door of her North Side nursing home. “It was getting out,” Dworkin said. […]
Since the wheelchair broke in June, Dworkin has relied on nursing home employees to push her around in a manual chair. […]
A former state employee, Dworkin said she has asked the repair company repeatedly to fix her chair, but the company, Mobility Systems in Hickory Hills, has refused. The reason? Her insurer, the state of Illinois, still owes Mobility Systems $2,291.12 for her previous two repairs — in November 2008 and in March.
Despite some encouraging signs about Illinois’ overall economy, state government is “floundering” and will continue to do so in the coming months, a top budget expert said Monday. […]
“You’re going to see some drastic cuts happening,” predicted state Sen. Donne Trotter, a Democratic point person on the state budget. “At this point, all we can do is keep the lights on.”
But, didn’t Sen. Bill Brady say that the deficit was only $2.5 billion?
Progress on the Illiana Expressway project has reached a bottleneck.
During a breakfast meeting Tuesday, Gov. Pat Quinn told supporters of the road proposed to relieve traffic congestion near the Illinois-Indiana border that competition for transportation dollars is “contentious.”
Among the new appointees is Zaldwaynaka “Z” Scott, a partner at the Mayer Brown law firm. This year Scott was on Quinn’s Admissions Review Commission, which investigated admissions irregularities at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also was the state’s first executive inspector general, appointed by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich to investigate wrongdoing by state employees.
The other appointees are environmentalist Julie Samuels, the Green Party’s candidate for lieutenant governor in 2006 and now vice president of the party, a group Quinn undoubtedly would like to tap as he runs in 2010 for the state’s top job. He also named Gary Rozier, an Ariel Investments vice president, and Lisa Morrison Butler, executive director of City Year Chicago, a youth mentoring group.
“The top priorities should be really looking at the retention and graduation rates and seeing if we can put in place a model to improve upon those systems,” said Scott.
State lawmakers have moved to lift the biggest roadblock keeping video gambling machines out of Illinois bars.
Last week, the General Assembly voted to give the Illinois Gaming Board more than $2.5 million more to spend, money it needed to hire staff to begin regulating video gambling.
[At the building housing the Chicago and Cook County election boards], an ant army of Madigan’s foot soldiers, between 35 and 40 of them, swarmed the place, furiously combing through the candidate petitions of their fellow Democrat and perpetual thorn in the side, state Sen. Rickey Hendon.
Hendon, an 18-year legislative veteran and African American, had his own handful of troops on site returning the favor by combing through the petitions of Madigan’s assistant majority leader, state Rep. Arthur Turner.
Rep. Art Turner and Sen. Rickey Hendon are old enemies, but Hendon may have precipitated this latest fight by combing through the petitions of Turner’s son, who is running for Turner’s House seat. Turner’s son, also named Art, had to refile new petitions Monday because the initial batch may have been insufficient to stay on the ballot. The elder Turner and Hendon are both running for lieutenant governor, and that’s what Madigan’s people were looking at.
More from Marin…
Hendon, not a reformer, certainly sounded like one last night when it came to the power that the real reformers tried but failed to take away from Madigan last week in the form of campaign finance reform.
“Madigan is using Democratic state money against me,” he protested, referring to that part of the ethics bill that failed. “What’s an ethics bill if you don’t change the power of the leader?”
Actually, the reformers did take some of that power away from Madigan by capping leader and party contributions in primaries. But I assume that Marin and Hendon were referring to the original language in the bill Gov. Quinn vetoed…
A State central committee organized under Alternative B of this Section shall not make any contributions, expenditures, or electioneering communications on behalf of a candidate for nomination for any office in that party’s primary election. The State central committee also shall not endorse candidates for nomination in its party’s primary election.
Speaker Madigan more than implied last week that the governor was OK with getting rid of that language once Lisa Madigan dropped out of the governor’s race. Quinn should’ve stuck to his guns.
…ADDING… A point I should have made is that the Democratic Party of Illinois’ central committee - an elected body - “chose” not to slate candidates. Actually, they never voted not to slate. Chairman Mike Madigan made that decision on his own. But, since the party didn’t slate, the chairman shouldn’t be using party resources to kick off a candidate unless it’s some sort of emergency situation. Even then, the central committee could always meet via teleconference to take that up. This is one guy making the decisions for questionable purposes. Not good.
The campaign finance reform bill passed last month is far from perfect, but it’s better than what lawmakers came up with during the spring session and better than what was suggested as the fall veto session started.
Illinois deserves better. But considering we’ve gone from no limits to reasonable limits on everyone but party leaders during the general election, we think Gov. Pat Quinn should sign the legislation.
Chicago aldermen today bemoaned a 20 percent cutback in branch library hours at a time when circulation is surging and neighborhood libraries are needed as safe-havens for young people.
During City Council budget hearings, Ald. Ray Suarez (31st) questioned Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey’s decision to target 76 branch libraries while leaving the showcase Harold Washington Library and two regional libraries untouched.
* $3.7 mil. to study O’Hare terminal airlines don’t want
A perennial consultant at O’Hare Airport has been awarded a $3.7 million contract to plan for a project major airlines are refusing to fund and consider “ill-conceived”: a new western terminal.
Landrum & Brown has dominated the O’Hare planning landscape for decades, raking in nearly $80 million worth of no-bid business during Mayor Daley’s 20-year administration. Now the Ohio company will plan for a range of possibilities for the new western terminal that nobody but the city seems to want.
Funding for the study was secured in February, when the Federal Aviation Administration approved the city’s application to use $182 million in future passenger ticket tax revenue to design Phase 2 of the O’Hare Modernization Project. “The Western Terminal Planning Study is an important and necessary tool for us to coordinate with the state to provide regional and local roadways for western access to O’Hare, including the future Elgin-O’Hare Expressway and O’Hare bypass,” said Aviation Department spokeswoman Eve Rodriguez.
The Daley administration has awarded a $2.1 million contract to replace and maintain console work stations at Chicago’s 911 emergency center — nine months after spending $480,000 to modify the old consoles to accommodate 17-inch monitors.
Blackwell Consulting Services will replace 109 consoles that have been in place since the 911 center opened in 1995 and install 30 additional work-stations on a redesigned operations floor.
They’re taking heat from unions for the planned layoffs of hundreds of workers and the slashing of open positions. County Board President Todd Stroger has condemned the planned layoffs as an “underhanded scheme to slash services.”
We get the feeling that a desperately needed reform — creating an efficient public health care system — is at risk of being smothered.
The owners of a North Side apartment building wanted to add two illegal units to their property in 2007, but they had to find a way to get it past City Hall.
According to a plea deal in federal court, they got the permit papers they needed — by paying off a city inspector.
A zoning investigator for the city admitted Tuesday that for years he pocketed bribes in exchange for pushing through inspections, some of which were falsified.
Two employees of Chicago’s scandal-scarred Department of Buildings have been slapped with 10-day suspensions for refusing to explain why their names appeared on a list of city employees who allegedly accepted gift cards from a permit expediter-turned-government witness.
The unidentified employees have been questioned by federal and city investigators.
They refused to answer questions from Buildings Commissioner Richard Monocchio to avoid contradicting their previous statements in the criminal case, officials said.
My good friend Carlos Hernandez Gomez is back in the hospital. Carlos, a top-notch reporter for CLTV, has cancer.
