* On the run from the English tax man, hounded by French police over all the junkies hanging out at Keith Richards’ southern France villa and frustrated by band members constantly gone missing, the Rolling Stones managed to make a masterpiece out of the jumbled yet strongly coherent Exile on Main Street.
Exile’s grungy mix was sharply criticized when the album was first issued almost 40 years ago. But to many Stones fans, including myself, the sound achieved (or blundered into, depending whom you believe) was more authentic than anything the group managed to do before or since.
The album was recorded in a dirty basement and it definitely sounded like it. That dirty, even muddied sound induced righteous feelings of euphoria in those of us who know those guys are capable of so much more than poppy stadium rock. The band members explored different musical styles, different sorts of phrasing and new instruments, mostly at the behest of one of those junkies who was hanging around all the time: Gram Parsons. And they did it all without overtly and cynically pushing for that “one big hit” designed to appeal to the juveniles and keep the record in the top forty. They also succeeded in making an album that covered the musical gamut while holding together as one. All the songs have the same Exile feel. There’s just nothing else like it in rock.
I never heard Exile until I got to college, but I’m glad I had to wait. It is a classic “college” album, ready-made for those of us who were discovering they loved art, not just the mindless hard rock of their high school daze. Just play it, man, put it on tape and release the thing. That’s Exile. Or, at least, that’s how it sounded to me.
* As you probably know by now, Exile has been reissued with some old tracks that were never released. Many of the tracks have been redone, with lyrics written and vocals added because they were just instrumentals back then. Still, the Stones didn’t manage to totally screw it up.
All but one of the new tracks are on YouTube, so I’ve been listening to them the past couple of days. My father and my brother Devin are in love with a boogie-woogie song called I’m Not Signifying…
If that doesn’t put you right back into that basement with a beer in one hand and a smoke in the other, nothing will.
“Tumbling Dice” has always been one of my favorite Stones hits, and now they’ve released the song it was based on, Good Time Women…
Again, you definitely get that high, rough feel which you will only find in spots on most other Stones albums.
Pass the Wine (Sophia Loren) has all new vocals, so we get that overly affected Jagger voice which I really wish he’d drop. Plundered My Soul sounds a lot like some of the songs the Stones released in the early 1980s, which will probably make it the big hit off this new release. An alternate take of Soul Survivor has Keith Richards singing instead of Mick. So Divine (Aladdin Story) sounds like “Paint it Black” at the beginning, but listen carefully because you’ll hear the inspiration for later Stones songs.
And while Dancing In the Light doesn’t really sound like an Exile tune, it’s something I’ll probably be playing in the convertible all summer…
* This looks like an oppo dump that didn’t quite succeed. Kirk exaggerated, but as it turns out, he really does play a huge role in the war room…
“In my role in the military, I command the war room in the Pentagon,” Kirk told a gathering of experts on U.S.-Chinese relations last May.
This struck military observers as, literally speaking, implausible: The Pentagon’s National Military Command Center is typically run in eight-hour shifts headed by an officer of the rank of a one-star general, who would outrank Kirk, an intelligence officer in the Navy, both a retired flag officer and current Pentagon official said.
But as it turns out that while Kirk’s comment may have a tinge of braggadocio, his reserve role does put him in charge of an important element of the NMCC. He has a remarkable job for a reserve officer, spending his weekends in a front-line post at the NMCC, where he serves as the Deputy Director of Intelligence, his campaign said.
The NMCC, the retired flag officer and current official both said, is physically and organizationally sectioned off into “silos” with different functions.
Kirk’s post puts him “in charge of the intelligence section of the alert center — the information ‘war room’” — and is responsible for contacting the [Director of Intelligence] when necessary,” his campaign said.
Kirk “is regularly called upon to brief the JCS Vice Chairman or Director of Operations,” the campaign said.
Mark Kirk was claiming on his campaign site to be “the only member of Congress to serve stateside during Operation Iraqi Freedom,” which was true, but on his official web site he claimed to be “the only member of Congress to serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom.” To say you have served in a campaign is precisely the sort of falsehood for which Richard Blumenthal has been castigated for the past few days.
Yet, whereas Blumenthal repeatedly pointed out in speeches that he had served “during” Vietnam–with that noteable slip-up–and then corrected the record when the mistake was pointed out, Kirk’s office refused to address the falsehood on his web site for more than 50 days after I first contacted him, despite the fact the Navy’s Office of Information agreed that, because Kirk had never served in Iraq during Iraqi Freedom, he had no right to claim to be an Iraqi Freedom veteran.
In the end, Kirk’s staff simply changed the site without comment or apology.
“I can’t imagine the governor not signing it. If for some reason he got confused and vetoed the bill, we would quickly go back to Springfield and override his veto and make it the law of the land,” said Sen. John Cullerton, Illinois Senate president.
Cullerton hasn’t yet transmitted the bill to the governor. Subscribers know why.
About 10 trade show leaders met with Quinn at his Chicago office Thursday. They emerged from the more than hourlong session saying Quinn had concerns about the bill but that they expect him to sign it.
Mr. Quinn is “working intensely on it,” said Mia Rampersad, a vice-president of the International Housewares Assn., who attended the meeting. “It’s complex legislation, and they’re doing what they can to get it done as soon as possible.”
The reason they’re looking so closely at the bill is to find a way to justify the delay…
The legislation designates Jim Reilly, a former chief executive of the agency that runs McCormick Place, as a trustee to oversee an 18-month restructuring. But there is no succession plan in the event Reilly cannot serve out that term, and that concerns Quinn, meeting participants said.
The reform bill puts Quinn in a tough position. Some unions oppose the work-rule changes it would impose at McCormick Place, and Quinn could use their money and volunteers in the fall.
But the General Assembly could just pass a trailer bill cleaning up that one provision and ignoring the rest.
* And Bill Brady is finally weighing in via press release…
“Pat Quinn needs to stand up for jobs instead of standing in the way of reform for McCormick Place.
“This is a prime opportunity to be on the side of growth and to make a clean break from the insider politics of Illinois. Pat Quinn failed the children of Chicago by opposing the Meeks voucher bill, and he is failing the people of the Pullman neighborhood who want jobs and opportunity in their community. Let’s hope he gets this one right. Governor Quinn should sign the reform bill today.”
* In other economics-related news, Sen. John O. Jones wants the STAR bonds bill expanded to other counties…
A Mount Vernon lawmaker says it’s not too late to consider other communities for special tax districts, as is being done with Marion with a proposed destination development.
State Sen. John O. Jones, R-Mount Vernon, offered these comments in response to an article in the Friday edition of the Southern Illinoisan.
Jones challenged Democratic Marion Rep. John Bradley’s notion it was too late to include Mount Vernon in the STAR bonds district. The creation of the district - which is outlined in Senate Bill 2093, now awaiting action in the Illinois Senate - would allow a portion of sales tax revenue generated by business patronage in the development site to pay off construction bonds.
The expansion push is happening even faster than I thought it would.
* Quinn won’t use budget power to raise state retiree insurance rates: “It’s very difficult legally and we think the best way to approach that is with a collective bargaining approach with the union instead of trying to do it unilaterally through the emergency budget act,” Vaught said during a meeting with The State Journal-Register editorial board.
* Will officials angry about new state law: Will County officials are furious about a new state law that allows the dumping of construction debris in local quarries.
* Public projects biggest TIF beneficiaries: While the Daley administration has caught heat for its use of tax increment financing for private developments, it’s likely that public projects and educational buildings were the biggest recipients of TIF money in the past decade.
* Court: Illinois can profit from unclaimed property: The state Supreme Court says Illinois is doing nothing wrong when it makes money off of unclaimed property.
Quinn has been meeting with legislators to build support for his budget proposals - borrowing billions of dollars, raising cigarette taxes and giving the governor broad new power to cut spending where he sees fit.
Republicans, who have been largely shut out of budget discussions, are refusing to support the proposals. Some Democrats object, too, and want assurances that Quinn won’t cut programs they see as vital.
“He has not made any commitments,” Kraft said. “He has definitely heard from legislators about things they’re interested in preserving.”
Quinn better start making some commitments if he wants to finish up this session. We’re getting down to the wire here, and it’s time to make some tough choices.
* Subscribers know more details, but here is a little about what to expect on Monday…
In the two weeks since lawmakers suspended their work, Gov. Pat Quinn’s been meeting with groups of Democrats in an attempt to structure a budget compromise that can get enough votes to pass. Some of them are planning a Monday news conference.
“Our philosophy is that we have to reform the process,” said Sen. Susan Garrett, D-Lake Forest.
That means, she said, targeted budget cuts, a thorough review of state contracts and how they are awarded, and giving rank-and-file lawmakers more input into crafting a budget.
“Cuts are going to be some things brought up to move us forward,” Garrett said. “We want to be more specific so certain agencies can plan ahead. … I’m assuming everyone is going to have to deal with some cuts.”
A group of House Democrats, the Capitol Fax Blog reports, plans to propose $1.3 billion in cuts on Monday.
* The Senate is waiting until Wednesday to return. Here’s why…
Cullerton spokeswoman Rikeesha Phelon said there is no reason for the Senate to come into session earlier since the chamber already passed all of the components of a new budget earlier this month and sent it to the House.
* Gov. Quinn’s top aides met with the Daily Herald editorial board to explain why they want to borrow to make the pension payment…
Quinn’s Chief of Staff Jerry Stermer pointed out that the state can borrow at a 4.5 percent interest rate, whereas if the pension payment is shorted, the state is automatically hit with 8.5 percent interest in making up the shortfall. And pushing off billions in state payments to vendors to make the budget look balanced incurs a 12 percent interest rate under late-payment laws.
Given those choices and the rejection of other proposals, Stermer said borrowing at 4.5 percent makes the most sense.
“Our analysis is we ought to do the most fiscally conservative thing,” he told the Daily Herald editorial board.
Borrowing is a miserable solution. But the alternatives — skipping or delaying a payment to the pension system — are far worse. Illinois is obliged to make this payment sooner or later — whether we resent those public union pensions or not — and the longer it’s delayed the more it costs the state.
* And Rep. Frank Mautino gets out quote of the day for his prediction of what the final state budget will look like…
“This will keep the trains running, though not on time.”
* Related…
* Press release: United Way of Metropolitan Chicago wants a revenue increase as part of budget deal
* The second-place finishers in the gubernatorial primary were both on Chicago Tonight last night. They answered several questions about the budget, but at the end of the program, host Elizabeth Brackett asked Sen. Kirk Dillard whether lt. governor Jason Plummer, a fellow Republican, should release his tax returns. Here’s Dillard’s response…
“I think public officials should release their tax returns, and Jason Plummer, a fine young man, you know, I think, is going to have to figure out how he releases his tax returns.”
* The Pantagraph editorialized on the subject today…
In a Dec. 4 editorial on this topic, we referred to comments made by Joseph J. Thorndike, contributing editor of the website TaxAnalysts, on the value of presidents and presidential candidates making their tax returns public.
The reasoning applies to candidates for governors, too, and is worth repeating: “Public returns can reveal points of inconsistency between a candidate’s public rhetoric and his private finances. Which is no small thing, especially when a candidate makes a point of targeting tax avoidance.”
Arguing that releasing the information invades a candidate’s “privacy” is not a persuasive argument.
When an individual chooses to seek public office, particularly high public office — such as governor or lieutenant governor — their expectations of privacy should shrink considerably.
When running for statewide office, that includes recognizing that their income tax returns shouldn’t be private — not if candidates want to demonstrate a commitment to openness and transparency.
The latest rumble I’m hearing is that Attorney General Lisa Madigan ought to release her returns before the Democrats call on Plummer to do the same. That’s kinda weird, since she’s not running for governor and her opponent hasn’t offered up his own returns and demanded she do the same. Also, it’s not just Democrats calling on Plummer to disclose. Dillard is no Democrat, and the Pantagraph is no Democratic paper.
After releasing his own federal and state tax returns to the Daily Herald, Republican congressional candidate Joe Walsh is calling on Democratic U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean to do the same. […]
A Bean spokesman said information about her finances can be found on her U.S. House financial disclosure forms, which are public. Scheurer said he’s keeping his tax return under wraps because of privacy concerns.
Walsh has ignored Scheurer and instead is focusing on Bean.
“Republicans and Democrats alike running for offices from the U.S. Senate and governor on down have released their tax returns,” Walsh said in a recent e-mail. “Rep. Bean clearly thinks she shouldn’t be held to the same standards of transparency and full disclosure. She is wrong.”
That’s not helpful to the Brady/Plummer ticket, which Walsh supposedly is supporting.
* Meanwhile, Sen. Bill Brady missed almost half the floor votes taken in the closing days of the spring session…
GOP nominee for governor Bill Brady recently missed more than 200 votes as a state senator during the waning weeks of the legislative session, a Daily Herald review of voting records found. […]
Hundreds of roll call votes from the hectic two-week period covering late April and early May are riddled with Brady omissions. The Bloomington state senator missed 207 votes during that period and cast 239.
For instance, Brady, who’s campaigned heavily against taxes, missed a rare chance to actually end a tax. He’s not recorded as voting on a proposal to do away with the sales tax imposed by the DuPage Water Commission. That proposal is now in Quinn’s hands.
Here’s the list. Oddly enough, Brady cast only two votes on April 27th. Both of those votes were for bills supported by the Humane Society, which whacked Brady for his “puppy and kitty killing” bill.
Part of the reason is philosophical: I don’t believe in spending much time or ink on folks who have no chance to win. It’s hard enough to get most voters to pay even minimal attention to election races, and I hate to distract them.
The House Armed Services Committee has dealt a blow to President Obama’s hopes to shutter the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, by unanimously approving legislation that would prohibit creating a detention center inside the United States.
That doesn’t appear to mean that the feds won’t buy Thomson for another purpose, but things are once again looking grim for the people in that area who just want to get that facility open. And the committee’s move doesn’t completely kill off the president’s idea, either…
The White House had no official comment on the committee’s action, but an official noted that the National Defense Authorization Act doesn’t entirely reject the idea of jailing Guantanamo prisoners in the U.S.
“The chairman’s mark also required a report, due by April 2011, from the [secretary of defense] on the merits, costs and risks of using any proposed facility in the U.S. or territories. So the issue will be revisited,” the official said.
However, if the White House accepts such a report as a prerequisite to closure, it will mean abandoning Obama’s prediction that the facility could close by the end of 2010. He had earlier vowed to close Gitmo in his first year in office but saw that prospect fall away because of bipartisan congressional resistance to bringing prisoners to U.S. soil.
At the very least, this puts off action for another year or so.
State Sen. Martin Sandoval (12th) called the tuition increase “unconscionable” and “insulting,” noting that it’s coming even as the board hires a new university president at a base salary of $620,000.
University officials have said new president Michael Hogan’s salary is comparable to what other Big Ten schools pay.
“There is no justification to the salary,” Sandoval said. “They just want to keep up with the Joneses. It is not an acceptable model.”
The salary is only a “bargain” because of a skewed marketplace. Captive board members buy into the mystique of super-high salaries and are therefore eager to pay out the nose. The exact same board attitude has driven corporate CEO salaries into the stratosphere. Everybody else is doing it, we need to do it too. As my mother would say, “If your friends jumped off a roof, would you follow them down?”
During a severe economic crunch, when the state’s revenues are in the tank and students and university employees are being asked to sacrifice greatly, it’s totally reasonable of Sandoval to request Hogan voluntarily give back the raise. But we shouldn’t pretend that the state legislature is an innocent bystander in the college cost crunch. Since FY 1997, state allocations for higher education have dropped $137 million in real dollars. It’s far lower when adjusted for inflation. Worse yet, the state can’t even keep up with those measly payments, falling behind on its appropriations to U of I by $464 million.
Then again, that’s all the more reason to wonder why the board is willing to spend so much money. Does paying huge mountains of cash always mean you’ve found the best? Could they have found someone who actually wanted to run the U of I so much that s/he would’ve been willing to sacrifice the glitzy salary? Did they even try to break out of this race to the top?
One reason state approps dropped or held constant during Rod Blagojevich’s tenure is that he was trying to force the universities to rein in their pricey fiefdoms. It was one of the few policy initiatives of his that made sense. The problem is, the schools just kept increasing tuition without changing their money-based culture.
The RTA board met Thursday, but there was no discussion of the recent discovery of a half-million-dollar fraud against Metra committed by late executive director Phil Pagano.
The RTA has financial oversight of Metra, but no one would even say whether the RTA would audit Metra.
RTA executive director Stephen Schlickman declined any comment about the Pagano investigation.
Garrett said she is filing legislation calling on Metra to hire an independent auditor to review its finances and to require Metra to appoint an inspector general with specific watchdog duties.
Pagano made $269,625 a year in salary and allegedly stole at least $475,000 right under the noses of everyone at Metra. He was able to get away with this for so long because he had so much power that nobody wanted to question him. Sound familiar? Another captive, all-too-compliant board.
