* It’s now 9:08 pm. Your website hasn’t updated since 8:09 pm. It’s filing deadline day and yet we have no updates for an hour? And there’s no way to reach anyone after normal business hours?
What the heck gives, man? Some of us have work we’d like to finish here.
*** UPDATE 1 *** The rant must’ve worked. Thanks. Back to work I go.
*** UPDATE 2 *** It’s stuck again. Sheesh.
*** UPDATE 3 *** And, we’re back. Good. Hope I don’t jinx it again.
*** UPDATE 4 *** If any Senate Republicans are still awake out there, could you get Sam McCann to file his D-2 please? It’s after the midnight deadline and he’s the lone holdout.
*** UPDATE 5 *** And he’s filed. Thanks.
*** UPDATE 6 *** I’m not doing statewide candidates in the Fax tomorrow, but I just noticed that Rep. David Miller hasn’t filed his D-2 yet for the comptroller’s race. You’d think a comptroller candidate would file financial paperwork on time. It’s now 12:25 AM and no report from Miller.
*** UPDATE 7 *** Rep. Miller just filed. An hour late. Not great, either…
Funds available at the beginning of the reporting period $388,768.93
Total Receipts $479,948.28
Subtotal $868,717.21
Total Expenditures $709,725.00
Funds available at the close of the reporting period $158,992.21
The judge hearing the Rod Blagojevich corruption case has abruptly adjourned court for the day, without explanation.
Sources told the Chicago Sun-Times that Blagojevich is unlikely to take the stand and that his lawyers will likely rest without calling a single witness.
The former governor had been expected to testify in his own defense starting this afternoon but did not take the stand.
Earlier today, during a lunchtime break in the trial, Blagojevich’s lead attorney, Sam Adam Jr., wouldn’t say whether Blagojevich would testify.
And Adam’s father and co-counsel, Sam Adam Sr., said only: “Nothing is a certainty.”
Asked this afternoon whether he would testify, Rod Blagojevich wouldn'’t answer. […]
But then they watched Monday and today as prosecutors cross-examined his brother and codefendant, Robert Blagojevich — the somber businessman with a background in the military, who’s accused of far less criminal conduct than Rod Blagojevich.
In just the first 10 minutes of cross-examination Monday, Robert Blagojevich, who had overseen the Friends of Blagojevich campaign fund, found himself contradicting his own statements and having to explain a secretly recorded and previously unheard conversation in which he’d urged his brother to do some “horse trading” with then-President-elect Obama in an effort to kill the then-ongoing criminal investigation of the Blagojevich administration.
Eric Zorn has predicted for weeks that the former governor wouldn’t testify.
Attorneys for Rod Blagojevich told the judge in his corruption trial this afternoon that the former governor will not testify in his own defense, sources said.
But after conferring with lawyers in a private sidebar, U.S. District Judge James Zagel told the defense team to mull the decision overnight, the sources said.
One day after a third Chicago police officer was gunned down after his shift, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn was in Chicago to sign the state’s newest get tough on guns law.
But it is not the weekend tragedy or the spike in violence in Chicago that is most significant about the law. The legislation that requires prison time for criminals caught with a gun is one of the few gun laws that passed the legislature with broad support. […]
Todd Vandermyde with the Illinois State Rifle Association said the new law deals with a topic that both gun supporters and opponents can agree on. Vandermyde says no one wants bad guys to be walking around with illegal weapons.
“If you don’t posses a FOID card and you’re prohibited from owning a firearm, those are the people we’ve always said should be punished.”
* Part of what made this announcement political is that Sen. Bill Brady missed the vote on the bill this year. From a Quinn campaign press release…
There is an epidemic of violence in our state. Our citizens and first responders are under assault from criminals using illegal weapons that have no place on our city streets. Just yesterday, another officer was shot and killed, the third such tragedy in two months.
At such an important time, Bill Brady didn’t think that increasing penalties for illegal gun possession mattered. He failed to appear to vote on this bill.
Our campaign has repeatedly pointed out that Bill Brady is outside the mainstream, more than any gubernatorial candidate in the history of our state. When it comes to guns, Brady isn’t a conservative; he’s an extremist.
And then they go on to list Brady’s gun votes…
For example, Brady opposes a ban on assault weapons. These are the same guns former Republican Governor Edgar called, “weapons of slaughter and destruction used by criminals” that had “no legitimate civilian purpose in a civilized society.”
These are Senator Bill Brady’s positions on weapons:
* Voted against safe storage of firearms to keep guns out of children’s reach [SB 117, 4/28/99; HB 156, 3/22/99];
* Would eliminate IDs for gun owners and destroy records of gun purchases [Chicago Tribune, 2/27/06];
* Voted against licensing gun dealers [HB 225, 3/22/99];
* Voted against penalties for ‘straw purchases’ of guns, one of the main ways illegal weapons make it onto our streets [HB 228, 3/22/99];
* Sponsored legislation to destroy records of gun purchases and eliminate waiting periods at gun shows [SB 57, 11/4/05];
* Voted against requiring gun license applicants to certify that they had not been convicted of domestic battery [HB 127, 5/31/97];
* Said he would veto legislation to ban semi-automatic weapons [Associated Press, 12/13/09].
* The Quinn campaign has now posted an Internet video blasting Brady’s gun stance. Watch it…
* Scott Lee Cohen actually got some local pols to sit down with him on the first leg of his “listening tour.” Yorkville’s mayor Valerie Burd and city administrator Bart Olson met with Cohen yesterday…
Cohen is now running against GOP nominee Bill Brady and incumbent Democrat Gov. Pat Quinn, although he was for a short while on the ticket with Quinn. He called Quinn “arrogant” and “incompetent” in dealing with the state’s financial crisis during his meeting with Yorkville officials.
Cohen made the comments after city officials said the biggest problem facing them at the moment is the state’s late disbursement of income and sales taxes. […]
Cohen said the General Assembly threw the financial system problem all to Quinn, and “that was the wrong person” to throw it to.
“Our fearless governor is cutting all this education funding,” he said. “I don’t believe education is the place to cut.”
Quinn will have to deal with this problem for the rest of the year unless a (not yet filed) lawsuit succeeds in knocking Cohen off the ballot. Cohen appears to be using most of his energy to blast the governor, who failed to show “proper respect” after the primary when word got out about Cohen’s past.
Notice also how the local paper tread ever so lightly on Cohen’s “issues”…
Cohen, who won the Democrat lieutenant governor’s primary race but resigned after disclosures of domestic violence incidents in court-filed divorce papers, is now running as an independent for governor.
Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn on Monday quietly signed a new law sponsored by his Republican rival and inspired by a controversy over the Quinn administration’s early release of prison inmates.
The new law, sponsored by Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington, would require the Department of Corrections to post on the Internet photographs and other information about prisoners who are being released early. A key goal of the law is to give crime victims and communities a user-friendly and specific location to check on whether a perpetrator is getting out of prison ahead of schedule. […]
“We believe the governor should have signed this bill promptly instead of letting it sit on his desk for 60 days because of politics,” said Patty Schuh, Brady spokeswoman. “Gov. Quinn had a secret early release program that jeopardized the public safety of Illinois, and I suspect he continues to be embarrassed it.”
* Quinn has recently criticized Brady for not showing up to vote in the Senate, and those absences cost him with the Illinois Chamber’s latest ratings…
The Illinois Chamber of Commerce is out with its annual legislative ratings and — I know you’ll be shocked, shocked, shocked at this — every one of the winners is a Republican.
The most significant rating was for lawmakers who voted right 85% of the time or better over the past three General Assembly sessions. Twelve senators and 25 representatives — again, all Republicans — got the nod.
Interestingly, Sen. Bill Brady, the GOP nominee for governor, fell just short of that mark because he missed or failed to vote in favor of a measure revamping the state’s telecom law and failed to vote against a bill creating a legal cause of action for public employees subjected to an “abusive” work environment.
*** UPDATE *** Greg has deleted that last graf and rewritten it to read…
Notably included is Sen. Bill Brady, the GOP nominee for governor. He voted perfectly, the chamber said, except he missed or failed to vote in favor of a measure revamping the state’s telecom law and against a bill creating a legal cause of action for public employees subjected to an “abusive” work environment.
So, no issue there.
…Adding… From a press release…
Governor Pat Quinn today announced that construction will begin in early September on the Chicago to St. Louis high-speed rail route. An agreement between the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and Union Pacific Railroad will allow upgrades to be made on an initial 90-mile segment of Union Pacific track to prepare it for high-speed rail. The $98 million dollar project is funded through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and will support an estimated 900 jobs.
“Today’s announcement will create hundreds of jobs and is a major step towards making high-speed rail a reality in Illinois,” said Governor Quinn. “When the corridor is completed, travelers will be able to move from Chicago to St. Louis in under four hours, making Illinois the high-speed rail hub of the Midwest.”
Houlihan has long privately coveted the mayor’s office. But now, with the 2011 election looming, he was open about that prospect today.
He said the results of a Chicago Tribune / WGN poll, published Sunday, that found 53 percent of those surveyed don’t want Daley reelected “didn’t surprise me.”
Houlihan took note of “the focus on the parking meters, people being upset about that, referring to Daley’s having turned over parking meters to private business interests that raised the cost of parking at a meter.
* Related and a state roundup…
* Will Illinois miss the Tea Party revolution, too?
* IL-10: Fuzzy Math-News Claims Dold Bests Seals in Q2 Funding When the Opposite is True
Robert Blagojevich and prosecutor Chris Niewoehner are entrenched in a long back-and-forth over Robert’s phone records on Dec. 4, 2008, the day of a key phone call between Rod and Robert about the Senate seat appointment.
Niewoehner is going over a list of attempted phone calls in harrowing detail. He puts up a chart that Robert’s lawyer originally published that details all the calls made that day.
It’s a long list. Robert tried to reach his brother over and over again, to no avail, sometimes more than once per minute. When that didn’t work, he repeatedly tried to reach the governor’s scheduler.
Robert gets irritated at the questioning. “I concede,” he says repeatedly, as the prosecutor tries to get him to acknowledge each call one by one. “Let’s not waste time.”
Robert’s lawyers originally showed jurors the list to show that Robert was annoyed — and not thinking straight — at a Starbucks, when Rod finally reached him and told him to elevate Jesse Jackson Jr.
But prosecutors are trying to show that Robert was, in fact, actively trying to get a hold of the ex-governor that day — suggesting maybe he wasn’t as distracted as he said when the two had that critical conversation about Jackson.
* I’ve noticed that a lot of commenters have quite a bit of sympathy for Robert Blagojevich, with some even saying they think he’ll be acquitted. Mark Brown was one of those until cross-examination yesterday. Robert had said over and over that he did everything possible to keep fundraising and government apart. But the prosecution undercut his credibility in a big way yesterday…
And then it all blew up in Robert Blagojevich’s face in just the first 15 minutes of cross-examination by federal prosecutor Chris Niewoehner as the former chairman of Friends of Blagojevich was left trying to explain a previously unheard conversation in which he counseled brother Rod to conduct “horse trading” with then President-elect Barack Obama to kill the federal criminal investigation of his administration.
The Nov. 5, 2008, discussion came one day after the presidential election at a time the Blagojeviches already knew Obama wanted Valerie Jarrett as his replacement but a month before the governor’s arrest when the full extent of the investigation would become known.
“If you can get Obama to get [U.S. Attorney Patrick] Fitzgerald to close the investigation on you, it completely provides you with total clarity,” Robert Blagojevich was quoted as telling Rod in a transcript read by Niewoehner, suggesting this as a more realistic gambit than angling for a Cabinet appointment. […]
There was no crime committed in this discussion, which is why we hadn’t heard it previously, but the problem for Robert Blagojevich is that it blew a huge hole in his credibility.
One minute he’s testifying about how he’d taken pains to maintain a separation between fund-raising and official government action and fully appreciated the legal ramifications, and the next minute he’s defending the idea of political interference in a federal corruption probe.
* For Phil Kadner, the moment he believed that Robert lost credibility was during a conversation about appointing Jesse Jackson, Jr. to the US Senate…
Back to the offer of campaign cash for the appointment of Jesse Jackson Jr. to the Senate.
For hours, Robert Blagojevich tried to convince the jury that he was kept in the dark about the behind-the-scenes politics.
He said he made no offers of anything in return for contributions to “Friends of Blagojevich.” If deals were being cut, he was unaware of them.
And then Ettinger had him go through a crucial conversation with his brother that occurred over the phone while Robert was at a Starbucks with his wife.
It was one of the few times the couple had gone out together, and Robert explained he was quite irritated that his brother was bothering him with political talk.
“Right,” Robert said over and over again.
But then the governor says he may appoint Jackson to the Senate seat after all, to stick it to the folks in Washington, D.C., who have been sticking it to him. He tells his brother to talk to the people who offered money for the Jackson appointment.
They key word is “if” he appoints Jackson, Robert said, what would they be willing to do. Robert says he will phone them.
The governor says not to use the phone when doing so. The whole world may be listening, he warns. Talk to them in person.
What did this mean?
Robert seemed to take it to mean that personal contact was always better than a phone call. Nothing more than that.
I don’t know what the jury thought, but I thought Robert’s credibility vanished with that statement.
Paulie hated phones. He wouldn’t have one in his house. He got all his calls second hand. Then you’d have to call the people back. There were guys, that’s all they did all day, was take care of Paulie’s calls.
Robert Blagojevich testifies that when he asked Children’s Memorial Hospital CEO Patrick Magoon to host a fund-raiser in fall 2008, it was not in exchange for pending government action that would have increased reimbursement rate for the hospital.
Instead, Magoon was merely a name on a list of prior contributors that Robert Blagojevich was trying to hit up for campaign cash, he testifies.
Robert said he was given the list of names by his predecessor at Friends of Blagojevich, and it contained only donor names and phone numbers — no amounts.
“(Magoon), like many others, was a previous contributor,” Robert Blagojevich testifies. Magoon said on the stand last week that he had given several $1,000 contributions to the governor. “To me, they were all the same, just names and numbers of people to call who were previous contributors.”
“It wasn’t your practice to go through the list and find people who had given at most $1,000 and then go ask them to hold a $25,000 fund-raiser?” prosecutor Chris Niewoehner asks. “Because it wouldn’t make sense to suddenly ask people to give 25 times more than they’d given before, would it?”
Robert Blagojevich argues that asking someone to hold a fund-raiser is different than asking them directly for cash.
“I think that’s a real difference,” Robert testifies. “I didn’t ask him for a contribution, I asked him to host a fund-raiser. If he wanted to.”
* Blago Prosecution Fights for Jury Anonymity: The U.S. Attorney’s office also referenced instances of people with no ties to the trial attempting to involve themselves in it. The government noted one incident — which largely flew under the radar — involving a woman named Tynetta Muturi, who was arrested and charged with criminal contempt of court on June 23 after trying to enter the courtroom against deputy marshals’ orders. Muturi, who was sentenced to one year of probation, had previously filed documents seeking $10 billion and, according to the motion, “the release of certain files relating to an investigation into the theft and sale of her grandchildren, which documents were allegedly taken from defendant Rod Blagojevich’s office by the government in the course of its investigation of the charged offenses.”
* UIS student Sean Olsta created this mock campaign commercial for a class. His friends said he should forward it to me and I’m glad he did. It’s a hoot…
I hadn’t noticed it before, but Quinn actually does look like Fozzie Bear.
* My intern Barton Lorimor is back at SIU for the summer. Gov. Pat Quinn was down ‘yonder yesterday for a press conference and Barton started right off asking off-topic questions. Quinn had to actually beg for questions on the topic at hand. Way to go, Barton…
* The three-week construction strike that shut down projects all over Chicagoland is over. This was the final tipping point…
The deal comes the same day Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig wrote the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association saying the state may try to invoke no-strike requirements in the future, could possibly rebid contracts and would not extend deadlines for financial incentives.
Hannig warned the contractors that he was keeping the clock running on the projects regardless of the strikes, which would’ve wiped out any early completion bonuses the contractors could’ve earned. He also threatened to rebid contracts if the strike wasn’t settled soon. The unions said they were prepared to bring in replacement contractors and IDOT was prepared to impose Project Labor Agreements to make sure the work restarted, with or without the current contractors. It was all bad for the contractors. So, they signed a deal that just days before they had said was outrageously high. From a contractor press release…
MARBA has agreed to increases of 3.25% per year, in wages and benefits, for three years. The unions’s original offer was 15.9% over three years.
The last time the unions received this low of an increase was ten years ago when they received 3% per year.
Contractors had been offering just over 4 percent in benefit hikes over 3 years. They’ll be giving nearly 10 percent over the life of the contract.
But the tough line drawn by Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration — which has received significant support, financial and otherwise, from big labor — seems to have broken the stalemate and ended the strike.
That’s true. Quinn deserves big credit for this.
*** UPDATE *** From Gov. Quinn…
“I want to salute the Operating Engineers and Laborers’ for coming to an agreement that will allow Illinois’ workers to return to their jobs and get important infrastructure projects back on track. We must continue to work together to keep these projects moving for Illinois residents and for the future of our state’s economy. The Illinois Department of Transportation continues to announce new projects that are part of the largest construction season in the history of Illinois. I want to again commend both parties – the unions and contractors – for the agreement reached last night that will help keep this construction season moving in the right direction.”
Also, for those of you who are griping about this settlement in comments, please re-read MARBA’s statement…
The last time the unions received this low of an increase was ten years ago when they received 3% per year.
Given the deep economic pain afflicting Americans, politicians are generally not very popular – whether it’s the president or members of Congress, Republicans or Democrats. So it should be no great surprise that Chicagoans are dissatisfied with the most important Chicago pol, Mayor Richard Daley.
Just three years after he was re-elected for the fifth time, by a landslide margin, people are asking what he’s done for them lately. A Tribune poll finds 53 percent don’t want to see him re-elected, with 68 percent disapproving of his handling of city corruption.
“The city that works” doesn’t. It’s an old cliche, but it certainly applies.
The middle class is being squeezed hard by high taxes and fees and service that gets worse every day, not better.
Expensive parking meters are springing up all over the city where meters have never been. It’s never cost more to take a bus or a train, yet the service has never been worse. Billions are spent on downtown, while neighborhoods crumble. None of Daley’s big projects were done properly because he wanted them done so fast. Midway’s remake was a disaster, for instance. Millennium Park had so many retrofits that the grass where the general public watches band shell concerts couldn’t be sloped for fear that it would collapse the entire thing. So, nobody can see what’s going on except the swells up front.
The schools still suck. The streets aren’t even close to being safe. Remember Natasha McShane and Stacy Jurich, the women who were beaten half to death in Bucktown? There’s a far different vibe in the city now, and the murders of three police officers in the past two months has gotta have residents on edge. Police cameras are everywhere, but crime is legitimately freaking people out. Zorn…
Though Officer Thor Soderberg was in uniform July 7 when a man attacked him in a police parking lot, took his gun and shot him dead, that attacker was evidently mentally ill. Sunday’s attacker or attackers, apparently, in contrast, made what they considered a rational decision that an unprovoked assault on a uniformed officer was worth the risk.
This death wasn’t the result of a shootout with thugs who felt cornered, a high-speed pursuit or a terrible encounter with a deranged person. It appears to be a random hit by predators utterly undeterred the uniform.
Violence problems don’t get much more out of control than that.
“Out of control.” That’s Chicago. Daley was supposed to be good at control. But the city has gotten too far away from him while he was doing things like jaunting to Europe on his failed quest to bring the Olympics to Chicago.
A two-year police hiring slowdown has left the Police Department understaffed by more than 2,230 officers a day, below the city’s budget-authorized 13,200.
And sometimes we are seized by the startling commonality of it all. That was the case last week, when a group of young men from the Midtown Educational Center’s journalism apprenticeship sat in on an editorial board meeting. Our guests, participants in a mentoring program for 10th- to 12th-graders, had already done some reporting on crime and gangs — their work will appear soon on the Midtown Voices blog, midtown-metro.org/midtown-voice.html. Many of them live or go to school in neighborhoods where gangs and violence are everyday fixtures.
For nearly an hour, the apprentices schooled the pros about life on those streets. How they navigate their neighborhoods to get to class safely. How they distance themselves from intraschool skirmishes and gang conflicts. How to behave, who to cultivate and who to avoid in order to maintain relative safety in public. How gang members hold their guns, as opposed to the laughable depictions in the media.
We quizzed them about what can be done to defuse the danger. Are there enough officers on the street? (No, they said.) Do police surveillance cameras deter crime? (Get serious, they said.) Is Chicago better off with or without a handgun ban? (There was a spirited debate.)
Most tellingly, our young guests said they don’t count on adults, especially police, to protect them. They dodge the daily perils as best they can. They didn’t say this in a way that suggested they felt the grown-ups had failed them. It is what it is.
Chicago has failed its people. Illinois has failed its largest city. The federal government has failed one of the nation’s greatest cities.
Why doesn’t the city launch an all-out war on the gangs with the state and federal governments? They infest everything now.
Why not try new ideas in the city’s schools? A friend of mine in Kansas City sends her daughters to a fantastic French immersion charter school. She’s the widow of my best friend and we’d all love her to move to Chicago, but there’s nothing even remotely like that school in Chicago’s public system.
Why not take some of that bloated TIF fund and put it towards hiring more cops?
Why raise CTA fares just enough to barely get by but never enough to make the system decent again?
Most importantly, why isn’t the mayor asking why?
It’s time for fresh thought and a complete do-over. Top to bottom. And Daley is far from fresh.
* We must stop ‘creating more monsters’: But the most insightful words came from retired Chicago Police Sgt. Thomas Wortham III. Wortham urged government to come up with more money to keep young people involved in positive activities that will steer them away from trouble. “There is a new generation coming up that we need to save. We need funds. We need activities in the community to keep from creating more monsters,” he said.
Villa Park police raided a “spray tan spa” Friday afternoon and arrested six people suspected of engaging in prostitution a day after a patron of the place told investigators that the business was supplying sex as well as tanning services, according to Villa Park Detective Sgt. Dan McCann. […]
The business came to the attention of police in February after the Tribune reported that a convicted prostitute who was the ex-girlfriend of Scott Lee Cohen, then the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, had worked for the operation when it was based in Glenview under the name Eden Spa.
Expect a press release soon: “Scott Lee Cohen boasts natural tan, cleans up crime!”
* Cohen’s enthusiasm knows no bounds. He recently trumpeted an endorsement from a tiny newspaper…
COHEN NETS FIRST MAJOR CAMPAIGN ENDORSEMENT
Kankakee City News Says Cohen Best for African American Voters
Chicago - Within two-days of being officially qualified for the November ballot, Scott Lee Cohen, received even better news when the Kankakee City News presented Cohen with its endorsement for Governor of Illinois.
“Needless to say, this has been a very good week for our campaign”, says Cohen. “I am honored to receive this prestigious endorsement from such a well-respected, African-American owned newspaper.”
In throwing it’s endorsement and considerable influence behind Cohen’sIndependent campaign for Governor of Illinois, the Kankakee City News and its Editor, James Taylor, explained that Cohen “best reflects the interests of the Illinois African-American electorate.” The newspaper’s endorsement went on to explain that Cohen is the only candidate in the race who “understands the many challenges facing Illinois residents in today’s economic environment.”
The paper has also endorsed Mark Kirk and Adam Kinzinger. It went with Kirk Dillard in the GOP gubernatorial primary. The only people to ever cover those endorsements were right of center blogs and the campaigns themselves.
Scott Lee Cohen, the affluent Chicago pawnbroker who is running for governor as an independent, might seem an unlikely candidate to receive financial backing from a Cook County judge. […]
Mr. Cohen apparently impressed Anthony Lynn Burrell, a Cook County judge who made three contributions totaling $650 to Mr. Cohen’s campaign committee, Citizens for Scott Lee Cohen. Mr. Burrell’s donations, on Aug. 12 and Aug. 14, 2009, were made public in an amendment to a 2009 campaign finance report filed Monday.
Mr. Burrell declined to comment.
Illinois judges are required by the state’s judicial code of conduct to “refrain from inappropriate political activity” but are not prohibited from making political contributions.
Judge Anthony Burrell is “Not Recommended” for retention as a Circuit Court Judge. Judge Burrell was admitted to practice law in Illinois in 1989 and elected to the Circuit Court in 2002. Judge Anthony Burrell has problems with punctuality and absences. In addition, Judge Burrell is poorly organized which affects his ability to run a high volume courtroom.
“President Obama’s hypocrisy is stunning — one minute you hear him attacking the ‘fat cat bankers’ and the next he is raising money for a mob banker in Illinois. As someone who promotes transparency and openness on a daily basis, President Obama should be condemning Mr. Giannoulias for his risky actions and associations, not raising money to support his campaign for U.S. Senate.”
Just a few weeks ago, the gun lobby was cheering the court’s decision to overturn Chicago’s handgun ban. All good people need is their own gun to fight off the bad guys, they said.
Right? Tell that to the family of Officer Michael Bailey. He had a gun. He knew how to use it. He did use it. But the bad guys had guns, too, and there were more of them.
Gov. Pat Quinn says he is disappointed with lawmakers in Springfield for not handing him a balanced budget.
Speaking with reporters in Chicago, Quinn said Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) has told him that there won’t be a vote on borrowing to balance the state budget until after the November election.
* The least cost-efficient team in baseball according to Forbes…
The Cubs rank last among 30 teams thus far in 2010, requiring $2.07 million in payroll per win, and underperforming their projected win total by 9 games.
* The Illinois Republican Party sent out a press release last week announcing some events at the State Fair’s annual Republican Day…
In addition, attendees can take in the music of The Brat Pack, a 1980s cover band. Songs such as, “Glory Days” and “Future’s so Bright” will fit in well with the overall theme of the day.
The Brat Pack? That band fits the “overall theme of the day”? Really?
* The Question: Which songs should the Brat Pack play during the Republican event? Snark heavily encouraged.
*** UPDATE *** Abdon Pallasch at the Sun-Times was able to get the quarterly figure from both campaigns…
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady raised more money than Gov. Quinn in campaign contributions for the second quarter of the year, bringing in $3 million to Quinn’s $2.8 million. […]
Brady had to wait until March 5 when Kirk Dillard conceded the razor-close Republican primary to start fundraising in earnest. So most of Brady’s money came in the last three months, spokeswoman Patty Schuh said.
[ *** End of Update *** ]
* Subscribers already know about this. From a press release…
The Quinn/Simon campaign announced today that it raised nearly $5.1 million in combined campaign contributions in the first half of 2010.
The campaign had nearly $2.3 million cash on hand on June 30th. Semi-annual financial disclosure reports for the two campaign committees – Taxpayers for Quinn and Quinn/Simon for Illinois – will be filed July 20, 2010.
“The people of Illinois realize how much is at stake in this election,” said Ben Nuckels, Campaign Manager. “Our contributions show voters know that Pat Quinn and Sheila Simon are the right leaders to keep growing our economy and bring jobs to the state.”
The total released by the campaign does not include contributions made after June 30, such as the IEA’s public commitment of a significant contribution during their endorsement last week.
That $2.3 million is the same as Bill Brady’s cash on hand.
So, why did Gov. Pat Quinn close the gap with Republican state Sen. Bill Brady in Rasmussen Reports’ latest poll? There’s a one-word answer: Women.
Rasmussen’s newest poll had Brady ahead of Quinn 43-40. That’s a pretty hefty swing from the firm’s June poll, which had Brady with an 11-point lead, 47-36.
Many political observers were stunned back in March when Rasmussen’s first poll had Brady trouncing Quinn with likely female voters 50-33. Quinn had a horrible time with women voters during the Democratic primary against Dan Hynes, particularly after the news hit that his administration had released a bunch of violent criminals from prison early.
Women voters were still upset with him after the primary, it appeared. Subsequent polling backed up Rasmussen’s numbers. An April survey by Public Policy Polling had Brady leading Quinn among women by 10 points.
Quinn ranks high on so-called “women’s issues,” but Brady is 100 percent pro-life, even in cases of rape and incest. Brady also has taken dozens of votes in the Illinois Senate that quite a few women, particularly in the all-important suburbs, won’t love. Some folks have been saying that Brady’s lead in all the polls was artificial because women just didn’t know what Brady stood for.
They were right. By June 7, Rasmussen had Brady leading Quinn among women by just three points, 42-39. Public Policy Polling’s June survey had the two men tied among women.
And the latest Rasmussen poll, conducted July 7, has Quinn completely turning the tables on Brady and now leading among women by 11 points, 47-36. Word appears to be gradually getting out about Brady’s very conservative stances on abortion, guns, etc.
That movement by women was totally behind Rasmussen’s latest 43-40 overall results, which is the narrowest margin that any poll has recorded in this race to date. Quinn launched a TV ad in the Chicago area last week that whacked Brady good on abortion and his vote against requiring insurance companies to cover mammograms with no out-of-pocket expenses. That ad probably will put Quinn’s numbers to where they should’ve been all along.
Meanwhile, Quinn’s signature this month on legislation creating a temporary “back-to-school” sales tax holiday dovetailed nicely with that same new poll by Rasmussen, which shows Illinoisans by a two-to-one margin believe tax cuts are a better way to create jobs than increased government spending
Every article and editorial about the upcoming sales tax holiday included the official budgetary cost estimates of $40 million to $60 million, which isn’t much, but is a definite issue during the state’s worst fiscal crisis since the Great Depression.
Yet 55 percent of Illinoisans, including 60 percent of independents and 47 percent of “moderates” believe that cutting taxes is a better way to create new jobs than increasing government spending. That’s less than Rasmussen’s national result of 69 percent favoring tax cuts, but to be expected considering Illinois’ more liberal bent. With the budget in sorry shape, tax cuts are few and far between, and with Brady advocating broad tax cuts, Quinn had to do his best to get the word out.
This sales tax holiday probably will get more publicity than any other pre-election tax cut Quinn could’ve devised. Retailers usually advertise quite heavily during back-to-school season, and they’ll surely include the automatic 5 percent discount from the sales tax holiday in their nonstop pitches to consumers. Broadcast and print news will do plenty of stories during the Aug. 6-15 tax holiday.
Not to mention all the mothers who will be thankful for a break on their purchases. Quinn knew what he was doing there, or at least stumbled into it.
But before the Quinn campaign can celebrate any victories, there is a very ominous warning sign in the latest Rasmussen poll for their guy.
Back in March, Quinn and Brady split the 65-and-older crowd with 45 points each in Rasmussen’s poll. By June, Brady had a three-point lead with seniors. Rasmussen’s July poll has Brady widening his lead to 11 points.
Seniors vote in high percentages, so Quinn needs to scare yet another demographic into retreating from Brady. Maybe a tax holiday on electric scooters?
Rod Blagojevich’s attorney Sam Adam Jr. said that White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett will not take the stand, but that the defense would try to still call White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to testify. “All she can say is what [Tom] Blananoff said,” Adam said of Jarrett. Balanoff previously testified about conversations he had with Barack Obama’s aides about the U.S. Senate seat.
We’re going through Robert’s history — and resume — quite closely. With at least one veteran on the jury, Ettinger is paying special attention to Robert’s expansive military history.
Ettinger asks Robert about his political affiliation — Republican, all his life — and experience with fund-raising. He never did any, he said, until he started volunteering for the Red Cross.
Robert looks serious as he answers questions, doesn’t smile much, if at all. He’s giving the answers straight.
Quoting a refrain from “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,” attorneys for Rod Blagojevich in his corruption trial Sunday filed a 41-page memorandum in support of a motion for acquittal.
“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data,” the motion quotes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. “Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”
Quibbling with the conspiracy charges against the former governor, his attorneys write: “Attempt to conspire (conspiracy being an inchoate offense) is not a crime. Likewise, conspiracy to attempt is not a crime.”
Noting that the prosecution decided not to call convicted political fundraisers Tony Rezko and Stuart Levine, Blagojevich’s lawyers claimed that the government failed to establish its RICO case, while it also prevented the defense to ask Rezko about conspiracy allegations made by former Blagojevich Chief of Staff, Lon Monk.
* This is a classic version of the old saying that begins “One man’s pork…” The Southern Illinoisan wants the state to spend money to upgrade the Hayes House, which is known as the Southern Executive Mansion…
Unlike the Springfield mansion, the Hayes House doesn’t host any events unless Quinn is in the residence, as it does not meet the necessary requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act. And the house will stay that way. “It’s going to remain a residence,” Bourland said. “For ADA, it would need an elevator, and that’s not going to happen.”
Well, we beg to differ.
The General Assembly should find the money to bring the house tastefully into ADA compliance, and it should become another focal point for Southern Illinois events and culture.
And, heck, we’d like the governor and other elected statewide officials to stop down and stay for a few days more often. Have an open house. We’d like to say hi.
Why is this such a classic? Here’s a Southern Illinoisan editorial from the end of May…
There really are only three things, and they must be done in combination, that can get Illinois out of this sucking financial black hole.
The state must first commit to launching no new projects and then making responsible cuts in spending. Then it can ask for more revenues (yes, taxes).
To pretend otherwise is nothing less than posturing for election or re-election.
(T)he poll found only 37 percent of city voters approve of the job Daley is doing as mayor, compared with 47 percent who disapprove. Moreover, a record-low 31 percent said they want to see Daley re-elected, compared with 53 percent who don’t want him to win another term.
Then again, just 41 percent wanted to see Daley re-elected in the Trib’s poll before the last mayoral race, but Daley took 71 percent of the vote in that contest.
About 80 percent disapproved of the mayor’s handling of the parking meter lease debacle, down from 90 percent a year ago, but still in the serious problem territory. More trouble spots…
On other issues, 68 percent of voters said they disapprove of Daley’s efforts to curb City Hall corruption, and 54 percent disapprove of the mayor’s handling of crime. Only one-third of voters approve of Daley’s crime-fighting efforts.
Daley just doesn’t seem to be all that engaged on the crime issue, which is getting worse. A police officer in uniform was murdered recently by people trying to rob him…
“The man was in uniform,” said Marcus Burks, 35, a bricklayer and a father who was one of the first to run to Bailey after he’d been killed in the 7400 block of South Evans Avenue.
“A Chicago police officer gets shot to death outside his house, he’s in full uniform, and he gets killed because some thugs want to rob his car on Sunday morning?” Burks asked me.
But those who think Chicagoans are begging to buy pistols to defend themselves might want to think again. 56 percent support Daley’s push to ban handguns in the city. Another positive…
Three-quarters of city voters approved of his efforts for more Wal-Marts in Chicago
And Daley is still popular in the suburbs…
In the six-county suburban area, 56 percent of voters approve of the job Daley is doing, while only 26 percent disapprove.
* The Sun-Times looks at some who think they might want to challenge hizzoner…
Freshman Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) said Friday he’s seriously considering running for mayor — whether or not Mayor Daley seeks a seventh term — because he’s fed up with the corruption, waste and mismanagement that have dogged the Daley era. […]
Aldermen Robert Fioretti (2nd) and Tom Allen (38th) are also considering running. So is the mayor’s former corruption-fighting inspector general, David Hoffman, and retiring Cook County Assessor Jim Houlihan.
To pull the trigger on a mayoral campaign, Waguespack said he would have to raise about $2 million.
“Everybody’s worried about polls in the United States, and all politicians worry about polls — they should worry about their actions,” he said, speaking at a march against violence in Woodlawn. “I do this six days a week — I’m passionate about it — you have to be passionate about your job, and there’s ups and downs.”
* More smart divide and conquer by striking road workers. From a press release…
Local 150, Will & Grundy County Contractors Reach Agreement
Many south suburban projects to resume
Countryside, Illinois-This morning, the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 and the Contractors Association of Will and Grundy Counties (CAWGC) reached a tentative three-year agreement, which will allow many projects affected by the strike to resume. The agreement calls for annual increases of 3.25 percent, which will go toward healthcare and benefits.
“This significance of this agreement cannot be overstated,” said James M. Sweeney, President-Business Manager of Local 150, “because you will see projects that have been stopped for more than two weeks start up again.”
Some of the projects that will resume include:
· Interstate 55 construction
· Interstate 55 & Route 59 Interchange
· Route 59 construction
· Larkin Avenue from Route 30 to Route 52
· Weber Road from Lily Cache Road to Interstate 55
· Olivet Nazarene University improvements and chapel construction
Another result of this agreement will be the availability of construction equipment and materials that have not been available for many projects throughout the strike. Many projects held up because of their reliance on struck MARBA contractors for this equipment and material can now look to any of the 55 contractors signed to this agreement to provide what they need.
“What we are proposing to contractors is completely reasonable,” said Sweeney. “MARBA disagrees, but they are the only ones who do. These other associations have chosen fair contracts over needless stalling.”
“MARBA has said that agreements such as this don’t affect them, but if MARBA doesn’t want to return to work, these associations represent many contractors who can take over for them.”
The Laborers District Council of Chicago & Vicinity reached an agreement with CAWGC on Tuesday.
The International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150 is a labor union representing more than 23,000 working men and women in Illinois, Indiana and Iowa. Local 150 represents workers in various industries, including construction, construction material production, concrete pumping, steel mill service, slag production, landscaping, public works and others.
* The contractors association isn’t budging, however. From a Thursday letter to its members…
It is unfortunate that the locals are attempting to pit companies against each other, but it is transparent and does not weaken our resolve one bit. In fact, it unites us even stronger.
We are attempting to put the union men and women back to work on jobs for which we are finally getting the opportunity to bid. While we were attempting to negotiate in good faith, the unions’ leaders declared a strike.
The unions have continued to demand a nearly 14 percent increase in wages and benefits over three years—their last offer was 4.55 percent per year for three years. Meanwhile the rank and file union members are out of work, unable to earn their $53 to $66 dollars an hour, while their leaders posture for the camera.
The projects that truly are of concern to people—the Eisenhower Expressway; downtown buildings like Roosevelt University’s tower; hospitals like Silver Cross in New Lenox—are still not resuming work and the vast majority of men and women represented by the locals are still out of work.
This strike may go on for a while until the unions get serious about recognizing today’s economic realities to help us secure work and put their members back on the job, and until that happens we may have a long way to go.
* That section in the union’s press release about how materials and equipment will now be freed up relates to this story…
A two-week-old construction workers strike that halted many Chicago-area roadway projects is now forcing the Illinois Tollway to set deadlines for the total suspension of three major projects, despite a written agreement prohibiting work stoppages, officials said Friday.
Construction crews on the tollway system are showing up for work. The problem is that the construction companies they work for cannot obtain the materials and equipment they need because union drivers are honoring the picket lines of striking laborers outside asphalt plants, concrete-mix facilities and quarries, officials said.
As a result, officials at the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority have stopped the removal of concrete on pavement-patching jobs on several interstates because of difficulty receiving materials to complete the work. In some cases, other work is continuing, but at a slow pace, officials said.
The toll authority also set deadlines Friday to fully suspend all work on the Edens Spur, the Veterans Memorial Tollway and the Tri-State Tollway/Reagan Memorial Tollway interchange–likely until next construction season.
