* We’ll have some video from the Springfield interviews of lt. governor candidates tomorrow, but other than that I’m done.
* This one’s for Daddio. The embedding on this song has been disabled, but it’s by far the best version on YouTube, so click here or on the pic for the tune…
Mama cookin’ chicken fried in bacon grease
Come on along, boys, it’s just down the road apiece
*** UPDATE *** This is turning into a pretty raucous debate. The governor and Brady are going at it and the crowd is also getting into the spirit. This is a must-watch event, so click the play button if you can.
[ *** End of Update *** ]
* Starting at about 2 o’clock today, Gov. Pat Quinn and state Sen. Bill Brady will address the Illinois Education Association [UPDATE: they are actually debating, which is pretty cool]. Both will take questions from the audience. Watch it and live-blog in comments if you want…
[As of 2:17 pm, the sound isn’t working. Hopefully, they’ll fix this problem soon.]
[Sound is back on as of 2:23 pm.]
[End. Feed conked out during the governor’s closing statement.]
[OK, not the end. Feed’s back on.]
[Now it’s over. They should be posting the recorded video soon and I’ll put it up when it’s available.]
* One of the goofier campaign items I’ve seen this week was in the Weekly Standard…
[Democratic US Senate nominee Alexi Giannoulias] owns stock in his family’s Giannoulias Enterprises, a limited partnership that owns several properties in Chicago. Giannoulias’s brother, Demetris, serves as the president.
In April 2007, Giannoulias Enterprises refinanced its real estate portfolio, taking out a $21.5 million, 10-year loan on six properties – four of them being the locations of the family’s Broadway Bank. With all the banks in the world to choose from, Giannoulias Enterprises selected the French investment bank Natixis – an institution with a long and public history of doing business in Iran.
A Kirk campaign press release was issued soon after…
“Once again, Alexi Giannoulias demonstrates a pattern of reckless decisions and questionable relationships,” campaign spokesman Richard Goldberg said. “Alexi Giannoulias pushed risky ‘hot money’ lending schemes at Broadway Bank and loaned millions of dollars to organized crime figures like Michael ‘Jaws’ Giorango. Now it appears Mr. Giannoulias’ family real estate portfolio is financed by a French bank known for its investments in Iran’s energy sector and connections to Iran’s Central Bank. As a Senate candidate, Alexi Giannoulias says he supports divestment from companies doing business with Iran’s energy sector; the State Treasurer should do the same with his personal finances.”
Asked about the loan refinancing, the Giannoulias campaign replied…
The loan referenced in the Weekly Standard
article was originated after Alexi became Treasurer.
As with any loan of this type, the borrower uses a broker to secure the loan. The borrower usually doesn’t know where the loan originates, and in many cases the loan is quickly split up and sold off to various investors. The borrower is not involved in this process.
The campaign added that the family did not know where the loan originated.
What a silly oppo dump that was by the Kirk campaign.
* Kirk is having yet another unannounced event today. This time it’s a fundraiser with RudyGiuliani.
…Adding… The Kirk campaign says the congressman is in DC, not at the event.
* From what I’ve been getting, one of Gov. Quinn’s plans is to use Sen. Susan Garrett to attack Sen. Bill Brady on social issues while he focuses on economic issues.
That makes plenty of sense. Quinn has had huge problems with women voters for months. It’s not just the early prisoner release scandal, either. “They just don’t connect with him,” sighed one Quinnster this week. Garrett might help him win their confidence while he cuts capital project ribbons and talks about jobs.
* One thing that went through my mind yesterday about picking Garrett as Quinn’s running mate is that I don’t ever recall her ever voting for a tax hike. The Daily Herald has a story up about Garrett this afternoon and takes a look at the issue…
Should she be selected, Garrett would offer somewhat of a contrarian view to Quinn’s on taxes. While Quinn has made an income tax increase the cornerstone of his campaign, Garrett voted against the income and sales tax increase the Senate passed last year that had Quinn’s backing.
She was noncommittal regarding Quinn’s latest push for a 1 percentage point increase in the state income tax to fund education and prevent more than $1 billion in cuts and pay down millions more in unpaid payments to school districts, colleges and universities.
“I’m a step-by-step person,” Garrett said when asked whether she’d vote for Quinn’s income tax increase.
She said she wanted to see pension reform and other efforts before considering tax increases.
While her public position is understandable, that’s the usual line legislators use when they are actually planning to vote “No.” And, at least as far as I can remember, she’s pretty much always a “No” on this stuff. She started legislative life in the House, where she was constantly targeted for defeat. So, she (and staff) watched her voting record pretty closely. That habit continued when she moved to the Senate, much to the chagrin of some of her colleagues.
The Republicans could use the tax issue to ridicule the governor, of course. “Your own running mate won’t even back your tax hike.” Then again, having someone on the ticket who isn’t supporting a tax hike can’t be all bad.
* My dad had a minor stroke this week. He’s been in the hospital for a couple of days. There aren’t any outward appearances of damage - no paralysis, no sight loss, no nothing. They’re still running tests, but he will hopefully be released today.
I bring this up because many longtime blog readers will remember the Obamallac. That’s Dad’s 1963 Cadillac convertible which he altered by attaching gigantic “Obama ‘08″ stickers. He then drove it around Iowa in the months leading up to the caucuses…
Dad drove his car to Chicago and paraded up and down Michigan Ave. on election night that year. Several people recognized the car from the blog and shouted greetings. It even happened while I was talking to him on the phone. “Hey! Are you Rich Miller’s dad?” I heard someone yell. We both got a kick out of that one.
He’s also an occasional commenter here and he’s an avid blog reader.
* Anyway, to the question, which isn’t really a question: Help me send best wishes and cheer him up.
* Scott Lee Cohen told Chicago Magazine that he believes his religion was one reason he was booted from the ticket…
Anything else?
Only how much of an effect my religion had on being part of the party. Listen, I’m Jewish. I’m only the third Jewish person to ever win the nomination for a statewide office. And I believe that that had some influence on the party not wanting me.
What gave you that impression?
The elected officials would never say that they don’t want me because I’m Jewish. But it did come up in chatter and in backroom meetings.
And a lot of the papers kept using the word “pawnbroker.” You know, being a pawnbroker is predominantly a Jewish business. My opponents kept attacking, kept saying, “the millionaire pawnbroker,” which a lot of people took as saying, “the millionaire Jew.” Jewish people, you know, have been persecuted our whole existence, and again, this is 2010, and maybe I’m naive, but I don’t believe it was an issue with the people as much as it was with the party.
I didn’t realize that pawnbroker was still code for “Jewish.” Either way, Cohen is a pawnbroker, so I’m not sure what he wanted to be called. If he was a firefighter, the stories would’ve called him that. Also, he ought to out the political types who made anti-Semitic remarks about his candidacy in “backroom meetings,” if they actually do exist.
* In related news, the vetting process for prospective lt. governor candidates is pretty darned intense…
In what could possibly produce the most well vetted candidate in Illinois political history, Democratic leaders are asking prospective nominees for lieutenant governor to fill out an 11-page questionnaire that covers an array of topics, asking applicants to detail traffic tickets, real estate tax exemptions, code violations and if they’ve ever used performance-enhancing drugs.
Applicants are asked to name spouses and where they work and whether anyone in their family is a lobbyist and if so whom they lobbied and when. Sitting lawmakers are told to list everyone who’s ever received a legislative scholarship and whether the recipient’s family ever donated or volunteered for their campaigns. A total of 45 questions cover personal, professional, political and legal issues. Interviews begin Saturday in sites across the state, including local sessions in Schaumburg and Hoffman Estates. The state Democratic Party’s central committee meets March 27 in Springfield to pick a winner. […]
Among the questions hopefuls now face is whether they are divorced, where it was filed and on what grounds it was granted. The divorce question includes this provision: “Do you believe anything could be found in your divorce papers that would disqualify you in the minds of voters from being on the ticket?”
Since the Cohen debacle, the media and the Republicans will probably try to comb through the past of whomever has been chosen.
* The Daily Herald editorial board is now griping about bill negotiations…
Cullerton also hosted a closed-door meeting on the public policy. In the meeting were camera critics, camera supporters and camera company lobbyists. How much sway did the lobbyists with a clear profit motive have on the compromise? We don’t know because the public wasn’t included. This is outrageous, especially coming on the heels of the outcry over the closed Senate session Cullerton convened to hear about the state budget crises a few weeks ago.
The editorial was about red-light camera reform legislation proposed by Senate President John Cullerton.
It’s pretty difficult to take an editorial page seriously when they print stuff like this. Private meetings to hash out differences on bills are as old as the Republic.
…Adding… I wrote this in comments, so I’m gonna frontpage it…
Believe it or not, when legislators are trying to regulate an industry, they usually bring industry representatives in for a meeting so they can understand how their actions might impact said industry. They don’t always have to agree with the industry, but it helps to know how a law will work in the world outside the capitol.
* The Champaign News-Gazette also editorialized about the red-light camera issue this week. They based their opinion on Daily Herald reporting…
Camera manufacturers want to sell them and make money. So they hired big-shot Chicago lobbyist Al Ronan, who spread campaign donations around to certain powerful legislators.
Presto, suddenly red light camera legislation was introduced and approved by the General Assembly.
RedSpeed, which is the big suburban player, has been making relatively small campaign contributions since 2006. Senate President Cullerton’s personal committee has received all of $3500 since 2008. Speaker Madigan has received just $1000. The company’s total since ‘06 is $53,215.00. That’s not inconsequential, but it’s not particularly big Statehouse money.
The real force behind this issue are municipal leaders like Mayor Daley who want the cash cows.
A leading Senate Democrat Tuesday used the birthdays of two colleagues to encourage Comptroller Dan Hynes to begin issuing expense checks to Illinois lawmakers, who are owed more than $665,000 in unpaid reimbursements for food, lodging and mileage dating back to last July.
“Perhaps because it’s their birthday, someone could call the comptroller and have him release their seven or eight months of past-due per diems for their birthday,” said Sen. Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago) to a smattering of applause as he feted Sen. Michael Bond (D-Grayslake) and Sen. Linda Holmes (D-Plainfield).
The wisecrack ginned up a little blowback…
But the No. 2 Senate Republican said Hendon’s focus on unpaid legislative expense checks, while perhaps not ill intended, won’t go over well with social-service providers awaiting state payments who have a lot more at risk financially than rank-and-file lawmakers.
“For those people who are watching state government very closely because they have a lot at stake, like providers waiting forever to get their checks, that’s probably not very funny,” said Sen. Dale Righter (R-Mattoon), the Senate deputy minority leader. “I’m not sure that I’d want to be joking about that.”
The joke was probably inappropriate, but Righter is totally against a tax hike to help make those provider payments, and most groups representing the providers are for a tax hike. Stones, glass houses, etc.
* Until a few weeks ago, I thought K2 was the name of a ski-maker…
The Illinois House moved Thursday to ban a little-known drug that legislators warn is quickly becoming a problem across the state.
Known as K2, the drug is similar to marijuana, only 10 times as potent, warns sponsor state Rep. Raymond Poe, R-Springfield. His bill banning the substance cleared the House on a vote of 112-0.
Nicknamed “fake weed,” the substance has been sold as incense or potpourri since 2006 and causes marijuana-like highs. It is synthetic chemical that is burned and smoked, causing hallucinations, vomiting, agitation and other effects.
“Now a 6-year-old or 10-year could go to the store and buy incense, really, over the counter,” said state Rep. Ken Dunkin, D-Chicago. “I think this a tool we are going to need in the future.”
Ten times as potent? I haven’t been able to find any verification of that online as of yet. Perhaps you can help. There just isn’t much information out there. While I am no fan at all of criminalizing substances used to alter consciousness, I will admit that this K2 thing is a bit weird because it’s a synthetic substance and so relatively new that nobody knows what sort of damage it could do.
But, if they’re worried about kids getting it, why not just ban the sale to anyone under 18? Or 21, like booze?
And Rep. John Fritchey makes a good point…
“Because it is a synthetic, all you got to do is make a very minor tweak to it, and it’s no longer a banned substance,” Fritchey said.
* Proposed legislation would ban sex offenders from Illinois parks: In Illinois, child sex offenders are already prohibited from being within 500 feet of a public park when children are present. State Sen. Kirk Dillard, R-Hinsdale, under the provisions of new legislation he proposing in the General Assembly, wants to ban all convicted sex criminals from stepping foot in any Illinois recreational area.
Robert B. Swaim, 61, who has lobbied on behalf of riverboat gambling and telecommunications interests in Illinois, owes nearly $400,000 to the Internal Revenue Service, according to an indictment handed down March.
Prosecutors presented evidence that Boender paid for nearly $40,000 in home repairs to Carothers’ home in exchange for Carothers pushing through a zoning change for Boender’s Galewood Yards project, a residential and retail development that now includes apartments, a movie theater complex and a union training facility on property that previously had been zoned for industrial uses.
The jury, which deliberated for a day, found Boender guilty on all counts: one count of bribery, two counts of illegal campaign contributions and two counts of obstructing justice. He is free on $500,000 bail but will now be placed on electronic monitoring.
Citizens tired of paying for City Hall corruption are sure to remember which aldermen feel comfortable being policed like everyone else — and which ones would rather be the law unto themselves.
* McPier’s chairman expected to head up interim board
Mayor Richard Daley on Friday is expected to appoint John S. Gates Jr., chairman of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, to the same position leading the smaller interim board, a City Hall source said Thursday evening.
The mayor will appoint three other board members, including two with financial backgrounds. They are expected to include Bruce Rauner, who heads private-equity firm GTCR Golder Rauner, and Andre Rice, president of Muller & Monroe Asset Management, a private-equity firm that manages accounts for institutional investors, the source said.
The road would connect Interstate 65 in Indiana with Interstate 57 or Interstate 55 in Illinois, but the exact route hasn’t been determined.
A private company would operate the expressway as a toll road, but the state would retain ownership of the land. Illinois-based investment and insurance company Ullico has expressed interest at financing the construction of the road.
Starting next month, inmates who have long had their meals delivered to them at 4:30 every morning will have to come and get it at the dining hall — a change Sheriff Tom Dart said could save the county about $1 million a year because he expects many inmates will choose to sleep rather than eat.
Long allegedly told investigators he had come to the Daley Center to visit the law library and had forgotten about the knives, which he said he bought earlier in the day as a gift for his brother-in-law.
Holt spoke of what the loss of a child means. Her son, Blair, was shot and killed in May of 2007. The proposed federal legislation is named in his honor.
It would require a driver’s license, social security number and fingerprints in order to purchase a handgun.
* State begins new trend of late payments to Kane County
The county hasn’t seen a dime of income tax revenue from the state in nearly six months, Finance Director Cheryl Pattelli told the county board’s Finance Committee Thursday.
* Will County Board freezes pay of elected officials
Earlier this month, county board chairman Jim Moustis (R-Frankfort) told members of the board’s executive committee that the salaries of those elected Nov. 2 should not be raised.
But Village Manager Ron Moser warned the deficit will grow should legislators approve Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposal to reduce municipalities’ share of state income tax revenue by 30 percent - or about $950,000 to Hanover Park.
* Subscribers were told about this a couple of days ago…
State Sen. Susan Garrett, a reform-oriented North Shore lawmaker, has emerged as a top candidate to become Gov. Quinn’s running mate.
She didn’t cop to the Madigan thing to me, however…
Garrett (D-Lake Forest) told the Sun-Times she was approached about the party’s vacant lieutenant governor slot by Quinn’s chief of staff Jerry Stermer and encouraged to apply for the position by state Democratic Party Chairman Michael Madigan’s political operation.
The 60-year-old from Lake Forest shares Quinn’s liberal views, and the governor believes she could help articulate his message as the lieutenant governor candidate in what’s already a contentious general election battle, said the sources, who asked not to be named so they don’t pre-empt Quinn. […]
The senator said she would bring an independence to the office, along with her promotion of ethics reforms at the Illinois Toll Highway Authority, clean water issues, health care and job creation. […]
Garrett also has been an outspoken advocate on women’s issues, a demographic in which Quinn suffered some problems in his narrow primary in over Comptroller Dan Hynes for the Democratic governor nomination. A Tribune poll before the primary found Quinn with only a 38 percent job approval rating among female voters.
Republican governor candidate Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington is a conservative who has opposed abortion rights and expanded health coverage for women. Those views are considered a potential liability, particularly among moderate women in the still heavily Republican suburbs.
“He and I are fighters. We share a lot of the same type of get-up-and-go independence,” said Garrett, who is part of Senate President John Cullerton’s leadership team
