Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar » 2010

Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* This “Jason Plummer won’t release his tax returns” story won’t go away quickly. Sen. Brady is now getting dragged into it by the AP….

The Republican candidate for Illinois governor isn’t saying whether he agrees with his running mate’s decision not to release his tax returns.

Bill Brady’s campaign for governor said in an e-mail Wednesday that he understands the tax decision was personal. But the campaign ignored the question of whether Brady thinks the decision was correct.

And Plummer has gone to ground…

Plummer’s campaign staff rejected interview requests from The Associated Press on Tuesday and Wednesday.

…Adding… From Plummer’s Tribune questionnaire…

I believe transparency is the most effective solution to the campaign finance reform question…. If candidates and elected and appointed officials are held accountable to the media and the taxpayers, they will think twice about taking a questionable donation or entering into a dubious business relationship.

So, when the media tries to hold him “accountable” on his refusal to be as “transparent” as his running mate, he thumbs his nose and refuses to answer questions? This is the new politics? Really?

34 Comments

Fox dumps another gem

Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Fox Chicago’s unceremonious dumping of political reporter Jack Conaty right before the holidays apparently didn’t sate the corporate appetite for weeding out strong journalists. Now they’ve gone and axed another one.

Lilia Chacon was a 21-year Fox Chicago veteran and is one heck of a reporter. She was on her way to accept her Peabody award - television’s Pulitzer - when she got a call asking to confirm the story…

On Friday she was told that her position was being eliminated and that her contract would not be renewed when it expires July 3. She’s the latest in a growing list of on-air veterans who’ve been purged from Fox Chicago News in recent months, including Jack Conaty, Lauren Cohn, Byron Harlan, Nancy Loo and David Viggiano. Close to two dozen technical staffers also are slated for unemployment in the coming weeks.

Chacon, 56, insisted that she has no hard feelings about the move, saying: “I’ve had a very good ride there — 21 years. That is extraordinary.” But she expressed sadness at the thought of leaving a job and a station she loves:

“I’m sad about it because I really am not sure what the future holds — especially for reporters like me. I have played it pretty much down the middle with my reporting. I’ve always wanted to be part of what was good about journalism. . . . You need to work for people who value the skill set you’ve spent a lifetime assembling.”

The elimination of Chacon’s position underscores what she called “a fundamental change in the way the Fox affiliates do news.” As the stations try simultaneously to cut their budgets and differentiate the formats of their newscasts from the competition, reporters are getting edged out. Instead, unpaid “experts” or free-lance pundits are hauled into the studio to comment on the stories of the day and fill air time — the cheaper the better — just as cable networks have been doing for years.

Chicago has long been known as a great TV news town. Yeah, you can nit and pick all you want, but try finding any comparable hard-news local coverage anywhere else in this country. You won’t.

It sickens me to see what the bean counters are doing to the news business. Silly on-air chit-chat with goofy “unpaid experts” cannot replace actual journalism, no matter how hard they try.

The one bright side here is that Fox has hired former CBS2 political reporter Mike Flannery. But why anybody would want to fire a quality worker like Chacon is beyond me. I wish her nothing but the best. Go get ‘em, Lilia.

…Adding… Walter Jacobson tosses in an eloquent two cents…

Select a subject, any subject, any time in Chicago television news, and it’d be darn-near impossible to find an ‘expert’ more of an expert than Lilia Chacon, or a reporter who can become an expert faster and better than Lilia Chacon…or a reporter or anchor in Chicago who can communicate on television better (if as well) as Lilia. Or a reporter or anchor who has more connections in the neighborhoods, more access to newsmakers, or more (if as much) persuasive power to get them on the air. Or who knows the streets and the hallways of political power as Lilia Chacon knows them. Or can tell a story as she does. Or is more capable of handling, live on the air, fast-breaking news…not to mention her being a minority, a woman, and beautiful.

For what possible, conceivable reason can Fox News be letting her go?? I cannot remember a time in my 50 years in the business that Robert Feder was wrong about what’s going on in Chicago television news. Maybe he imagined this Lilia story, or made it up??? What a stupid, stupid mistake that station is making. What a loss for Fox News, a loss for our profession, a loss for our community. Sometimes I can’t help being ashamed of us.

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*** UPDATED x1 *** Question of the day

Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Fran Eaton believes we need to know where Sen. Bill Brady’s wife stands on abortion…

So I asked. My question, “Since Sheila Simon’s entry into the race, there’s been a curiosity as to whether Mrs. Brady shares her husband’s views or, like Mrs. Bush, holds her own views in contrast?” was answered by Brady campaign spokesman John Hoffman.

Now mind you, I’m a pro-life opinion journalist with whom Mr. Hoffman was familiar. His answer was a brick wall.

“Nancy Brady is focused in this campaign on helping to show Illinois voters that her husband will provide a clean break from the old politics and end the job-killing taxes and regulations of the Blagovjevich/Quinn administration,” Hoffman wrote.

Eaton strongly believes that she’s on solid ground here…

The Brady campaign’s avoidance of the issue prompted discussion with abortion opponents. Everyone I spoke with thought it was important to know where Mrs. Brady stood on the life issue.

And this is why…

They wondered if they would be surprised by Mrs. Brady speaking at an abortion rights rally or speaking on behalf of a Republican legislative candidate who opposes overturning Roe vs. Wade. And even though Mrs. Bush didn’t appear to have much effect on her husband’s public policy in opposition to abortion, the question can be asked: Could a spouse’s lack of support keep her husband from doing more to save unborn lives?

She eventually got ahold of Mrs. Brady, who tried to talk about jobs instead. But Mrs. Brady did finally tell Eaton this: “”We’re a solid Roman Catholic family… Our beliefs are important to us.” Eaton took that as a good sign, but not definitive. Her conclusion…

It’s just not knowing for sure where she stands and the campaign’s hesitation to ease that uncertainty that’s troubling now. And like Laura Bush, when we learn Mrs. Brady’s views, it’s likely to become headline news.

* The Question: Were Eaton’s questions reasonable or out of bounds? Explain.

*** UPDATE *** Fran Eaton responds over at Illinois Review…

CapitolFax’s Rich Miller’s “Question of the Day” today is whether or not the question your IR Editor asked about Mrs. Brady’s position on abortion is out-of-bounds. See “Mrs. Brady sidesteps the abortion question”

Sure, it’s okay for the big boys to demand to see Brady’s individual income tax returns that make public the details of Mrs. Brady’s income and her financial status as well as her husband’s, but I’m out of bounds to ask her position on abortion.

They’re kidding, right? And just where are those invisible bounds anyway?

I think the debate here has been pretty spirited with people coming down forcefully on both sides of this issue. A tad touchy, perhaps?

Also, I didn’t just ask if her questions were out of bounds. I also asked if they were reasonable. She ignored that part. Typical myopia.

110 Comments

Magic beans for everyone!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* A series of press conferences by the Responsible Budget Coalition got quite a bit of media play…

Illinois legislators should return to Springfield and not leave again without delivering a “responsible state budget,” according to the Responsible Budget Coalition, a group of teachers, activists, health advocates and civic leaders. The group held news conferences Tuesday in East St. Louis and in seven other cities

More…

But the resounding message delivered by nine people including social services workers from various agencies and retired professionals was emphatic - Illinois lawmakers need to return to Springfield and produce a more responsible state budget to keep social service agencies intact for the clients they serve.

The message was delivered in a mannerly fashion during a news conference by Southern Illinois members of the Responsible Budget Coalition.

* The solution the coalition wants is House Bill 174, the tax increase which passed the Senate last year. But even Senators who voted for that bill will tell you that there are flaws which need to be addressed before it becomes law. Nobody really thought that thing would pass the Senate, so it wasn’t as meticulously vetted as it otherwise would’ve been. Some House Democrats, for instance, derided some of the bill’s new service taxes, including on diaper services.

The coalition also doesn’t want any more big cuts. From an RBC press release…

Coalition members note that, when legislators left Springfield, they were considering slashing more resources from schools, health and human services, public-safety efforts and other critical priorities that already have suffered brutal cuts this year. These cuts would cost the state tens of thousands of local as well as state jobs – from teachers, police and firefighters to private-sector providers of mental health, care for seniors and the disabled, and other services that contract with the state.

Trouble is, even if 174 passed the House and was signed into law, it would still not fill that huge budget hole. Big cuts would still be necessary, and big cuts will almost all have to come from “slashing more resources from schools, health and human services, public-safety efforts and other critical priorities.”

The hard truth is that there are just no magic beans for anybody in this mess. Coalition members sometimes get all misty-eyed when talking about 174, as if it will solve everything. But if the coalition wants to avoid deep spending cuts, it’ll need a much bigger tax hike than 174. Much. Some, not all but some, of the coalition’s leaders are not being fully honest with their members about this point. Don’t assume your problems will disappear even if your magic solution somehow becomes a reality.

* In other magic beans news, a group of state Senators has called on the new University of Illinois president to refuse part of his huge salary and freeze tuition instead. From a press release…

Students, faculty, staff and Illinois legislators—Senators Rickey Hendon, Kimberly Lightford and Marty Sandoval—call on incoming University of Illinois President Michael Hogan to freeze tuition and forego his $170,000 salary increase.

With a current Illinois budget deficit of $12.8 billion, the University of Illinois is imposing furlough days and layoffs on employees across the university system. The University Board of Trustees is also contemplating an increase in student tuition that would put the U of I tuition among the highest in the nation.

President Hogan should accept the same $450,000 salary as former Illinois President B. Joseph White; as a gesture of goodwill in this difficult economy. “Our hard-working members are asked to take pay cuts through furlough days and even accept layoffs. Sacrifice should start at the top,” said Christine Boardman, President of SEIU Local 73.

* Meanwhile, I told subscribers about this group last week…

A group comprised mostly of suburban Democrats wants the governor to freeze millions worth of state contracts and explore other options rather than unilaterally cut spending if he expects their votes for a state budget plan.

The nearly dozen Democrats involved came together after budget plans pegged on borrowing were rejected by the Illinois House earlier this month. A teleconference Tuesday among the lawmakers was the latest action.

State Rep. Elaine Nekritz, a Northbrook Democrat, said those involved are trying to come up with a “doable” plan that could be unveiled in the coming days. Lawmakers are expected back at the Capitol next week for another run at the state budget. […]

State Rep. Carol Sente, a Vernon Hills Democrat appointed to the House late last year, said the goal is to get enough members on board to block approval of existing budget plans until better alternatives are offered.

“We need to flip our own party,” Sente told the Daily Herald.

They will make some inroads, but don’t expect them to push this thing into overtime.

* Related and a roundup…

* Open season on teachers: You will be used as a cop-out, an excuse to explain how this rudderless state of ours was steered into financial ruin.

* Cabbies urging Gov. Quinn to block a raise in airport taxi tax

* Funding for poison center may end, despite 100,000 calls yearly

* Legislative break resolves nothing

* Well-paid lawmakers not working hard enough

* Quinn reaching out to lawmakers over budget

* Illinois lawmakers think budget is near

* Union, service leaders ask legislators to raise revenue

* Kristina Rasmussen: State can balance budget without tax hike, borrowing

* Tim Davlin: Pension fix idea no help to taxpayers: While your editorial, “Pass a pension fix for police, firefighters,” is accurate in highlighting the urgent need for lawmakers to prioritize this critical issue, it fails to inform your readers of the significant tax burden they would be faced with if the state legislature passes House Bill 5873.

* What lawmakers did, didn’t do this session

* Poshard is confident in borrowing bill by July

* IBHE chair applauds SIU for tuition

* End Illinois’ corrupt scholarship program

* State Capitol Q&A: Gaming machines at horse tracks

* Ala. company to pay IDOT $40 million to settle suit over damaged road in McCook

* Quinn should OK telecom bill

27 Comments

Blagojevich hid impeachment, other legal expenses

Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* We always figured that Rod Blagojevich was shifting legal bills away from his own office. Now, we have proof…

Illinois’ child-welfare agency and state police helped pay for ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s research on impeachment under his policy of charging his office’s legal costs to other departments, the state auditor said Tuesday.

Out of $7.2 million worth of legal work for Blagojevich, his office paid less than $22,000, according to a report by Auditor General William Holland. The rest was charged to an array of state agencies that had no apparent connection to the legal services.

Click here for the summary digest, and click here for the full auditor general’s report.

* Holland explains…

Bill Holland is the state’s Auditor General. He says the governor’s office paid for less than one percent of those bills over a two year period, while 18 other state agencies picked up the rest of the tab.

HOLLAND: It does two things: One, it distorts what is the level of the governor’s budget, and, two, it also distorts what those other agencies are. I am certain that those agencies did not budget for outside legal counsel for the governor’s office.

Holland says using the attorney general would have saved the state money.

A spokeswoman for Attorney General Lisa Madigan says it’s clear Blagojevich didn’t want to work with her office.

* Some details…

The former governor — who now faces federal corruption charges — also shifted the cost of legal research regarding his power to appoint a person to Barack Obama’s vacant U.S. Senate seat.

The report shows that state agencies that serve poor children and disabled people were charged for the cost of hiring attorneys to work on depositions of the governor’s inner circle.

Oh, my goodness….

The report also noted that in 13 of the contracts the state paid money for legal work performed by individuals who were not licensed to practice law, and sometimes for amounts higher than stated in the contracts.

What the heck?

More…

$300,000 for legal work on impeachment memos and the governor’s ability to call special legislative sessions was divided among eight agencies, including the state police and Department of Children and Family Services.

“Impeachment memos?” Blagojevich spent DCFS and state police cash on lawyers back in the summer of 2008 to research Speaker Madigan’s memo to candidates on how best to discuss the possible impeachment of the governor? If you need your memory refreshed, click here to read that memo. It was quite the talk of the town back then. Here is one of the least remembered moments…

House Speaker Michael Madigan’s memo on possibly impeaching Gov. Rod Blagojevich is complicating efforts to reach an agreement on balancing the state budget, other top officials said Wednesday — including some who argue Madigan relishes the distraction.

The memo has the top Republican in the Illinois House questioning how serious Madigan is about fixing a budget Blagojevich says is $2 billion out of whack or about passing a massive public works program that backers say will create jobs in the state.

“Is he more serious about creating a political document to, to play games with a … pretty important issue?” GOP Leader Tom Cross said.

Cross wondered about the Speaker’s priorities as he headed into a meeting Wednesday with Blagojevich and other top legislative leaders that Madigan opted not to attend, sending surrogates instead.

* Related…

* Blagojevich Petitions U.S. Supreme Court: The petitions, sent by overnight mail, ask the court to order a halt in the proceedings until it rules on the so-called “Honest Services” statute, under which Blagojevich was charged. The first is a 20-page petition for a writ of certiorari, which would be considered by the full court. The second, a five-page emergency application for a stay of trial proceedings, would go directly to Justice John Paul Stevens, who is assigned to matters stemming from Chicago’s seventh judicial circuit.

* Blagojevich trial could affect election season

37 Comments

Rate the Plummer refusal statements and reacts

Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - Posted by Rich Miller

* Let’s look at how Jason Plummer’s refusal to disclose his income tax returns was managed. Here’s Plummer’s statement…

“The voters of Illinois are fundamentally concerned with making a clean break in our state. As we have sadly seen all too often in Illinois, voters also need to know any potential conflicts that a public official might have. My campaign has committed to putting the names of every one of my donors online, going beyond what the law requires. I have also ensured that my Statement of Economic Interest fully reflects any potential conflicts as the law requires.

“As a candidate for Lieutenant Governor, I personally believe, like many other statewide candidates and public officials in Illinois, that the issue of releasing individual tax returns is often used to serve as a political distraction by those who can not answer the real issues that voters care about. I will continue to fully offer donor information and information on any potential conflicts, but I will not be providing individual tax return information.

“Right now, Illinois needs a sound budget more than anything else. We need a governor who will provide leadership, not more of the Blagovjevich/Quinn politics of the past. I stand with the voters of Illinois who demand leadership and real answers to the problems our great state is facing. That is what I will continue talking about in this campaign.”

* The explanation from the Bill Brady campaign to the AP…

John Hoffman, a spokesman for the Brady-Plummer campaign, said Plummer has filed his taxes and did not seek an extension. He would not say how much Plummer paid the government.

* The Pat Quinn campaign’s full response…

We have learned a lot about the Brady/Plummer ticket since April 15.

First, they had a chance to come clean and disclose their taxes and instead they chose to cover up and hide.

Second, Brady only agreed to disclose his returns after Gov Quinn pushed him to do so.

Third, Brady kept hiding, even as he disclosed. The public was not afforded the opportunity to view his returns and access was extremely controlled and limited.

Fourth, we learned that Senator Brady thinks taxes ought to be paid by someone else. As a wealthy business person who also draws a nice salary as a state senator, Senator Brady avoided paying income taxes. And we learned that he doesn’t pay payroll taxes on his campaign staff. While not paying taxes - he still made sizeable loans to his campaign.

Now Jason Plummer has refused to disclose his taxes to voters of the state. Is it possible that he didn’t pay any taxes, as well? Or is there something else? What is he hiding?

Governor Quinn and Sheila Simon have championed ethics reform and accountability in government. They understand that there are no degrees of transparency. After the last two scandal-plagued administrations, voters and taxpayers want to be sure of the openness
and honesty of their public officials. If Jason Plummer can’t meet that test — Illinois residents deserve to know why.

* And the goo-goo…

Many voters have come to expect full financial disclosure from political candidates, especially in the first election after Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment, said Cindi Canary, director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.

“I think it’s unfortunate, because Mr. Plummer isn’t yet a widely known candidate,” Canary said. “In this election cycle in particular, voters have good reason to really want to scrutinize the candidates, both where they stand on the issues and how they conduct themselves personally.”

Rate ‘em…

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