A new name has emerged in the U.S. Senate race between Mark Kirk and Alexi Giannoulias.
It’s Saddam Hussein, the former dictator of Iraq.
Kirk’s campaign first leveled the accusation in a press blast after Alexi Giannoulias released a new campaign ad Monday morning, and Kirk reiterated Alexi’s supposed tie to the “Butcher of Baghdad” during a campaign question and answer session at the Sofitel Hotel Monday while he addressed the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
If you want to read the Kirk campaign’s full explanation of this, click here. It’s a bit of a stretch, but they seem to think it’s a worthwhile charge.
On a day that Democrat Alexi Giannoulias released a new commercial slamming him as a liar, Republican Mark Kirk tried to shift the focus back onto Giannoulias’ family bank, saying the bank gave a loan to Nadhmi Auchi, who Kirk said sold arms to Saddam Hussein.
“According to the New York Times, he was a banker to Saddam Hussein,” Kirk said of Auchi. “And According to the Observer of London, he was a middleman in the billion-dollar naval arms deal between Hussein and the Italian Navy.”
Voters should care, Kirk said: “This is not political Kryptonite — this is Hemlock,” Kirk said.
Kirk delivered his remarks after giving a 40-minute speech on foreign policy — Iran, Afghanistan, etc. — to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. It was the first of a series of speeches Kirk planned to “elevate” the debate above mud-slinging in the senate race, Kirk said. Then he went back to trying to link his opponent to Saddam Hussein.
“This was a huge loan,” Kirk said of the $22.75 million loan the Sun-Times disclosed last week from Broadway Bank to Nadhmi Auchi and Tony Rezko to develop a 66-acre South Loop site. “The owners of the bank and its officers would have known that they were lending money to a convicted felon with a record of facilitating arms deals to Saddam Hussein and I’m not even talking about Tony Rezko.”
Giannoulias’ campaign said he left five months before the loan was approved and had nothing to do with it. But Kirk said today he had his doubts and he noted Giannoulias was at least still a part-owner of the bank.
“When you look at Treasurer Giannoulias’ statements, I can’t tell when he left the bank,” Kirk said. “The other day, he said he was at the at bank in March of 2006, which would have been a month after this loan was approved. They were running a federally insured institution and so you would think that dealing with a person barred from the United States, convicted of a felony, that a simple Google search would have revealed his business dealings.”
Actually, Giannouolias said in March of 2006 that he was still running things. Now he says he was on a paid leave by that time. But, whatever, you get the drift.
* Meanwhile, Kirk says he will likely vote for a bill that will pump hundreds of millions of federal dollars into Illinois coffers…
Republican Senate candidate Mark Kirk says he’s inclined to vote for a $26 billion jobs bill that Democrats are pushing. […]
On Monday, Kirk called the measure deficit neutral and said it would keep teachers in the classroom.
He says he still needs to read the fine print but expects to support the bill.
* Giannoulias was on MSNBC’s Morning Joe today. You can watch the full thing here, or you can choose to view the short clip that the Kirk campaign wants you to see…
From a Kirk press release…
Scarborough: Did you guys give loans to organized crime?
Giannoulias: No.
Scarborough: Is that a no?
Giannoulias: Yes that’s correct.
Giannoulias Lies about Loans to Mobsters: This morning, in a flat-out lie, Alexi Giannoulias told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that Broadway Bank never made loans to organized crime figures.
Actually, he was not asked if he made loans to organized crime “figures.” He was asked if he made loans to organized crime. Parsing, yes, but if you’re gonna accuse somebody of lying, at least get the quote right.
* And the Adam Kinzinger campaign is touting a new poll by Public Opinion Strategies that has him leading Democratic US Rep. Debbie Halvorson by 11 points, 51-40. From the pollster…
* Among high interest voters (those who rank interest at 8-10 on a scale of 1-10), Kinzinger’s lead expands to 57-35, with seven percent undecided
* Twenty-six percent of respondents believe the country is headed in the right direction, while 68 percent believe it is on the wrong track
* Thirty-one percent of respondents support re-electing Halvorson, while 55 percent think it is time for new representation
Public Opinion Strategies is working with 50 House and Senate campaigns this year, so it’s a biggie. But the firm had real problems with this district two years ago, claiming in late September that Marty Ozinga was only trailing by two points. Ozinga got clobbered, scoring just 34.5 percent of the vote. The firm also rated almost at the bottom of 538’s June rankings - just below the now widely discredited R2K.
Also, I seriously doubt that Kinzinger has a name ID of 60 percent, as the pollster claims. It doesn’t make sense, especially since only 27 percent rated him favorably and 4 rated him unfavorably.
Even so, the Halvorson campaign isn’t releasing its own numbers, so you gotta figure that Kinzinger isn’t doing too badly.
…Adding… I’m not saying it, but if I was saying, this looks a whole lot like a high tech brick through your own campaign window. Just saying…
An independent candidate for governor believes someone is trying to sabotage his effort to get people employed.
Scott Lee Cohen calls it a despicable act. His office has received well over 100 phone calls from people seeking more information about a job fair he plans on holding Aug. 19 in Chicago . The problem: those people had been given the wrong date, and not by Cohen’s campaign or from fliers that he has disbursed to local churches and other outlets. He believes someone is intentionally mass texting people the wrong information.
“I don’t know who’s doing it. However, if it’s an attack on me, to try and hurt me, what they’re really doing is hurting the people of Illinois. I think it’s a despicable act…a cowardly act,” Cohen said.
Cohen believes it’s deliberate, although he isn’t pointing fingers because he doesn’t know who’s doing it. “I believe it is deliberate. … If this is a political ploy, then whoever is doing it is really a sick individual.”
…Adding More… A friend of mine just forwarded me the text message that he received…
From: 7736551309
Received: Aug 4, 2010 4:01 PM
Subject: Fwd: Fwd: “Job Fair” August 19th,
Fwd: Fwd: “Job Fair” August 19th, 2010 @ 566 W. Lake - Lower Level - Call Andrew @ (312) 441-0300 for more info.
I called the 773 number and it went straight to voicemail, which was full.
The strangest episode of Paul’s time at Baylor occurred one afternoon in 1983 … when he and a [brother in his liberal secret society] paid a visit to a female student who was one of Paul’s teammates on the Baylor swim team. According to this woman, who requested anonymity because of her current job as a clinical psychologist, “He and Randy came to my house, they knocked on my door, and then they blindfolded me, tied me up, and put me in their car. They took me to their apartment and tried to force me to take bong hits. They’d been smoking pot.”
Smith notes that Paul spokesman Jesse Benton “didn’t respond directly” to GQ’s question about the incident, so Smith followed up…
Benton repeated his non-denial to me in an email, adding: “We’ll leave National Enquierer type stories about his teenage years to the tabloids where they belong.”
* The Question: This goofy little story has inspired me to ask you to fill in the blank…
“Yes, Illinois sucks, but at least we’re not _____.”
And then explain why, if you feel the need. Snark is heavily encouraged, of course.
* After searching around for an excuse to justify doubling non-union furlough days, the Quinn administration finally decided to blame it on Congress’ inability to pass a bill to help out the states, which would’ve blown a $750 million hole in the state budget…
“The 24 furlough days [ordered earlier this month] is aimed at closing that $750 million gap,” [budget spokesperson Kelly Kraft] said.
But now that the US Senate has passed the bill and the House is heading back to DC tomorrow to vote on it, the excuse may be gone. Quinn’s office isn’t saying yet what the governor will do…
Gov. Pat Quinn’s order requiring 2,700 non-union state workers to take 24 unpaid days off still stands, despite a major step Congress took this week to prevent much of the federal funding shortfall cited by Quinn when the furloughs were announced. […]
But Quinn spokeswoman Ashley Cross wouldn’t speculate Friday on whether continuation of the federal funding will affect the governor’s furlough order.
She said Quinn wants to see the outcome of the legislation in Washington, D.C., before making any decisions or announcements.
“It would be a bit premature,” she said, though she added that Quinn officials were “excited” by this week’s vote.
* Your taxes aren’t going up - yet - but state budget cuts mean some people are paying more. For instance…
Illinois families already shell out more money for K-12 textbooks than parents anywhere else in the country, but now they face even steeper bills after the state wiped out funding for schoolbooks.
With the state in fiscal crisis, the Illinois State Board of Education for the second year has eliminated more than $40 million in funding used to defray textbook costs — or about $40 per student.
Now, districts are passing along that cost to families in a variety of ways: Some schools that rent books to students are hiking the fees. Those that require students to buy books will be passing out fewer free ones. And even private schools are taking a hit because the money also was available to them, prompting Illinois’ Catholic bishops to write a letter to Gov. Pat Quinn calling the cuts “poorly reasoned and deeply flawed.”
While books are free in the vast majority of public school districts across the country, bills of $300 or more per student are not uncommon in some Chicago-area schools. Instead of using tax dollars or general state aid money, districts have traditionally looked to parents to pay for books.
Illinois’ new regulatory fees include an astounding 1,525 percent increase for state ski lift inspections. Last year, it was $60. This year, it will be $975.
The inspection requirements didn’t change much. Only the price.
Another new state fee increased tattoo shop regulation from $100 annually to $500. The state of Illinois enacted the fee, but didn’t add any inspectors. Instead, they are contracting with counties and cities to keep on doing the same inspections they’ve always done. The key difference? The state gets a $400 cut.
Scott Hinton, Moline’s city engineer, affirmed that tattoo shop owners can expect the same inspection — “we’re not going to do anything different,” he said — at five times the price.
We also asked about Snowstar’s ski lift inspection fees possibly rising 1,500 percent.
“I don’t know all of the details of that. I’d be glad to look into it. Where’s the ski lift located”, Quinn asked.
“Andalusia”, I answered.
He responded, “Well I think we ought to look into it. I don’t know all of the details but I think it’s important to sometimes you have tough times like we do now but certainly these fees, you know, need regular review. I’d be glad to look at it.”
So far, 14 companies have applied for operator licenses and 31 for manufacturer/distributor/supplier licenses, said Gaming Board spokesman Gene O’Shea. Applications are not yet available for establishments that want to have the machines.
Before anything can get operating, though, the state needs to install a central communications system that will link every terminal in use. It’s similar to the way lottery terminals are linked statewide. The Gaming Board selected Scientific Games of New York — one of the leaders in developing gaming systems worldwide — to install the $62 million system.
However, the board and the company are still negotiating some contract details, O’Shea said, so the contract has not been finalized. Until it is, work cannot start on the system, and until the system is installed, video gaming won’t be a reality.
O’Shea said estimates are it will take four to six months to install the central communications system once the contract is finalized.
Yes, I know that the video game revenues are for capital projects. But some of that capital money is supposed to be coming out of GRF. And there ain’t no money in that fund.
“If I get convicted of this, every politician in America should!” That’s what former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich told me during a courthouse lunch break in the midst of closing arguments.
Yeah, because every politician in America has tried to shake down a children’s hospital executive for a huge campaign contribution in exchange for releasing state funds. Right. By the way, I saw this and almost had a stroke…
TV talk shows for Aug. 9…
10 a.m. The Bonnie Hunt Show: …former Gov. Rod Blagojevich
Turns out, it’s a rerun. Whew. I thought he’d finally entered straight-jacket and electro shock territory.
* CBS News Radio’s chief legal analyst and legal editor Andrew Cohen Tweets…
No #Blagojevich verdict this week. Betcha US attorney #Fitzgerald and Co are beginning to sweat things just a wee bit.
“The chances of a not-guilty verdict in any federal criminal case are slim and none — and slim left town,” Leng said. “Getting an acquittal in federal court on a criminal case, particularly a case of that magnitude, is just enormously difficult.”
Assistant U.S. attorneys are famously methodical, and the strict rules of law in federal cases play to their strengths, Leng noted. Prosecutors also typically plead out anything in doubt - something never apparently contemplated in the Blagojevich case.
There is conventional wisdom that the longer the jury is out, the better the indication that is for the defense, but Leng says, “That is an old saw; I don’t know how accurate it is.”
Another old saw, he added, is a day of deliberation for every week of the trial, which puts the jury only just over that ratio so far, having received the case after eight weeks and beginning their ninth day on Monday.
“I don’t think it’s gotten to the range where anybody is sitting around saying, ‘This has been going on a long time,’” Leng said.
The ad, entitled “Unfit,” includes snippets of news and talk show hosts talking about incorrect statements Kirk has made.
“One lie after another after another,” one says. A headline labels Kirk ” not fit for public office.”
The ad, which the Gianoulias campaign said would start airing statewide on Monday, also accuses Kirk of lying about Giannoulias’ record. That appears to be a reference to Kirk stretching the facts to link the Democrat to the unpopular BP oil company.
It also criticizes Kirk’s record in Congress by saying he voted for Bush administration policies that “wrecked the economy.”
* Meanwhile, the IL Republican Party has a new Internet promo video attacking Gov. Pat Quinn that basically rehashes campaign ads…
* Here’s a radio ad for that Right Nation 2010 event that I’ve already told you about. The ad features Glenn Beck…
Democrats throughout the country and right here in Illinois are pushing a two-pronged negative strategy to retain their hold on power in these uncertain times.
The first tactic is to do as much opposition research as possible on their Republican opponents to keep races “localized” with nasty revelations about individual candidates. The second is to try to tie the Republicans as closely as they can to the more radical elements within the GOP, including the Tea Party leaders.
This could be summed up as the “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail” strategy. Make voters loathe the Republicans with nasty revelations about their voting records, personal backgrounds, etc. Then make them fear the Republicans by tying them to some unsympathetic characters with radical ideas who are regularly seen screaming at TV cameras.
It’s not a new strategy, but it’s pretty much the only thing the Democrats have going for them. The economy stinks, so everyone is fearful about the future. And a large number of Americans have, for various reasons, grown to loathe the president, his policies and his Democratic allies.
Fear and loathing is what’s killing the Democrats right now, so they’re trying to reflect that back on the opposition and use it to gin up their own disappointed and even embarrassed political base as much as possible.
Last week, the Democratic National Committee launched a push to pressure congressional Republicans to say whether or not they will join the new Tea Party Caucus in the House of Representatives. The point was to either tie them to the Tea Party movement or force the Republicans to alienate the Tea Party crowd when they distance themselves.
The very same day, Illinois Senate Democrats blasted out a fundraising e-mail to supporters warning of “Illinois’ Radical Right.”
“The Senate GOP is showing its true colors,” the message began. “They are welcoming notorious right-wing extremists Glenn Beck and Andrew Breitbart to our state to help raise money and generate support for their candidates. We can’t let the far right hijack our values or our government. These are the people that want to repeal the minimum wage, get rid of Social Security and abolish the Department of Education.”
The e-mail was sent after I reported that Illinois Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno, of Lemont, and House GOP Leader Tom Cross, among other top Republicans, are listed as “hosts” of an event featuring Beck and Breitbart.
Beck is a Fox News host who is perhaps best known for his rants about how this or that liberal policy is directly traceable to Adolf Hitler’s Nazi ideology. Breitbart is an amazingly successful online entrepreneur who made the news recently with his attacks against the NAACP’s alleged “racism.”
The Republicans say they really have no choice but to participate in events like next month’s Right Nation 2010. Organizers say they expect to draw 10,000 participants, many of them Illinois Republicans. Ignoring the gathering would be more dangerous for Illinois Republicans than co-hosting the event, they explained. And Radogno, the Senate Republicans pointed out, won’t even be at the Right Nation event.
But the Democrats also pointed out that several Republican Senate candidates this year have tied themselves to so-called radical elements.
For instance, downstate Sen. Deanna Demuzio’s Republican opponent, Sam McCann, “proudly supports Beck’s 9/12 movement,” according to the Democrats. Asked for supporting information, the Democrats forwarded a link to a downstate Beck-related group to which McCann spoke at least twice.
Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Rockford) was hit for wanting to “start a Tea Party Caucus like ultra-conservative ‘hero’ Michelle Bachman.” Syverson posted a comment on Facebook (later deleted) saying he liked the idea of a state Senate Tea Party Caucus and would “look at starting that when I return.”
So, will any of this work? Some of those ties to the Tea Party were pretty tenuous, but it certainly made the Democrats’ job easier when Radogno agreed to co-host that Beck/Breitbart event. Whether the Democrats in both chambers can translate this as a dangerous move to the right by the GOP is yet to be seen.
* Doug Dobmeyer: I’m With Whitney: Some of you may ask, well, is Doug just going to help elect Bill Brady as governor by taking votes away from Quinn? No, that is not the case. In the 85 days left to the November 2nd election I will work hard to elect Rich Whitney governor. And only hard work will make the change Illinois needs.
* Keep in mind that this is a national Rasmussen poll, and that the “40 percent Yes” answer to the first question is way off the mark. But, it might give you an idea of what Illinoisans think about the sales tax holiday…
* Does your state briefly suspend sales taxes at this time of year to encourage back-to-school shopping?
40% Yes
43% No
17% Not sure
* Do you favor or oppose so-called sales tax holidays?
62% Favor
22% Oppose
16% Not sure
* Are you more likely to buy things during a sales tax holiday or less likely to buy things during a sales tax holiday?
60% More likely
14% Less likely
23% No impact
3% Not sure
Fifty-two percent (52%) of all adults favor a school ban on the sales of sugar snacks and soft drinks.
Sixty-three percent (63%) oppose a full-year school calendar. Just as many oppose a four-day school week as a possible budget saver.
Most adults nationwide (55%) believe bullying in schools is a bigger problem today than it was in the past.
After students graduate from high school, 68% say every American should attend a post-secondary school.
* Methodology…
The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on August 2-3, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.
* In other polling news, the Tribune sat on some polling results for almost a month…
The telephone poll of 800 heads of households across the six-county Chicago region July 8-14 found that 57 percent of the respondents did not want police to seek illegal immigrants for deportation.
Almost half of those polled, 48 percent, said they believed that illegal immigrants snatched jobs and resources, taking away from society and the economy.
Nearly all of those who responded, 87 percent, believed that some sort of legal status should be offered to the nearly 11 million people in the country illegally, provided that the immigrants aren’t dangerous felons, that they learn English and that they pay fines and back taxes.
Opinions about immigration in the suburbs are slightly different than in Chicago, whose immigrants from around the world have helped define the city. In some collar-county communities that have only recently seen new immigration, there is more support for police enforcement and a more negative view of illegal immigrants. On the question of offering legal status, 84 percent of those in the collar counties said they would support such a program, compared with 90 percent in the city.
Speaking to a group of Hispanic business leaders at Chicago’s Navy Pier Friday morning, State Senator Bill Brady called on the federal government to reform immigration laws and to secure America’s border.
Brady said increasing legal immigration would boost economic growth. He said our current birth rate is too low.
“The birth rate in this country will not allow us to grow at a rate we need to grow at, and we need to bring real reform to immigration policy and open the doors so we can see a growth rate in this country of four percent or greater,” Brady told the group.
When asked how many legal immigrants he proposed to admit, neither Brady nor his campaign spokeswoman would respond. Later — responding to reporters’ questions — Brady said
officials should “negotiate” over proposals that would penalize current illegal immigrants, but allow them to remain in the U.S.
* Related…
* Quinn defends sales tax holiday: The governor predicted that waiving the 5 percent state sales tax will result in more revenue for the state because it will entice more shoppers into stores. Once there, those shoppers will spend on items such as electronics and sports equipment that aren’t covered by the tax holiday. Shoppers still will have to pay the local portion of the sales tax, which is 4.75 percent in Chicago.
* Somebody finally took notice of the under-the-radar bill actions by this governor. From the Tribune…
…Quinn announced by e-mail [a week ago] last Friday that he had signed [the video gaming bill] along with other bills more than two hours after state offices closed. Quinn said he approved the measure so late in the day because he simply had “a lot of things to do,” including an earlier bill signing at a YMCA on the city’s West Side.
The low-profile approach allowed to Quinn to put off explaining why he approved the measure over the objections of the state’s chief gambling regulator, who has said the law would be a “disaster” for his agency. The law scales back an Illinois Gaming Board rule to require those wishing to operate video gambling terminals to testify they had not previously used the machines illegally. […]
Quinn also signed a bill to protect banks that charge customers an extra five days of interest a year. The governor did so in the late afternoon this week when his public schedule was done for the day.
The Tribune had highlighted the legislation as a potential conflict of interest after the measure passed the Senate with no opposition. Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, is a partner at a law firm that represents banks impacted by it. Cullerton said he had no conflict. Speaker Madigan, D-Chicago, later voted “present,” saying he would abstain to avoid a potential conflict because his law firm also represents banks involved.
* That isn’t all he’s done. As the article notes, Gov. Quinn posted his latest round of budget cuts online without telling anyone. And here’s a bit of what I told subscribers about back on Saturday, July 31st…
* Gov. Pat Quinn chose a late Friday evening after every reporter had gone home to act on some very controversial legislation.
For instance, he signed House Bill 4927, which has been slammed by Illinois Gaming Board Chairman Aaron Jaffe and the Tribune editorial board for limiting the board’s discretion on denying a new video gaming license. The governor’s signing statement is here: After careful deliberation, it is evident to me that there are appropriate safeguards and ample authority in existing law to prevent objectionable operators from conducting video gaming in Illinois.
* Quinn also used his amendatory veto power to delete language on a bill that would’ve forced all people convicted of sex crimes to remain on the state’s registry for life. Perhaps not coincidentally, the bill was the subject of a Neil Steinberg column yesterday.
The governor’s AV statement makes note of the request for change: Accordingly, I am pleased to honor their request for this amendatory veto and look forward to working with them in the future on this very important issue.
The AV could easily be used by the Bill Brady campaign to further the claim that Quinn is soft on crime. Stay tuned.
* SB3047, creates the Health Care Justice Implementation Task Force: Amendatory Veto, moves back reporting deadline a year, changes structure of voting members, etc.
* SB2819, changes burden of proof of death from the life insurance company to the claimant: Amendatory Veto: “changed to protect consumers”
Up until now, the media has mostly let Quinn get away with this stuff. He needs to be called out way more often.
An Olin Corp. spokeswoman confirmed Friday that the Clayton-based manufacturer is looking into moving one of its Winchester ammunition production facilities out of East Alton — a decision that could drain the area of 1,000 jobs.
Winchester spokeswoman Valerie Peters said it is still early in the process and that more discussions with union leaders will occur before a final decision is made. She would not comment on how many people Olin employs in the area.
Monica Bristow, president of the River Bend Growth Association, said Olin employs about 1,700 people in East Alton, far and away the largest employer in the area. The next largest employer is Global Brass, which used to be Olin’s metals division before the company sold it in 2007. That factory employs about 1,100 people, though there have been layoffs since the sale, said Bristow, whose association serves as the area’s chamber of commerce.
* Lack of jobs leave many teachers wondering about future: Of the 1,100 education majors from ISU’s Class of 2010, about 80 percent are still hoping for an offer, according to the career office. And even traditionally hard-to-fill specialties — math, science and special education — in impoverished communities are turning away applicants.
Much could still change, especially if teachers agree to forgo contractual 4 percent raises or if a federal jobs bill passes that could mean up to $80 million for the school district. But after starting the season with an estimated $1 billion deficit, a battery of layoffs, efficiencies and state actions has enabled school officials to release a balanced budget Monday.
Schools chief Ron Huberman said that completely drawing down the $190 million reserve to balance the budget is necessary because the state still owes the district $236 million from last fiscal year. The district is counting on the state to come through with those payments to replenish the reserve fund.
Gilberto Quinones, who oversaw CDOT’s Division of Administration, resigned his $122,940-a-year job effective July 26.
If Quinones hadn’t resigned, he risked being fired. Sources said Inspector General Joe Ferguson recommended Quinones’ termination for allegedly muscling his son into “three successive” full-time jobs with three different engineering firms holding Transportation contracts.
The process — called predictive analytics — is to analyze every violent incident and gang interaction with police to extrapolate and identify future problems. The numbers will be analyzed by experts at ITT.
Karen Crawford, 47, the former head of the county’s troubled job-training program known as POET, has been appointed to take over after current chief of staff Joseph Fratto leaves in September for a job with the Cook County treasurer.
He says that on July 21, “a Burbank Police Officer told him that in order to stop further trouble with the City of Burbank Building Commissioner, Mr. Frank Kainrath, I should inform the City whenever I do any repair to a refrigeration unit or turning a screwdriver to make an adjustment on a cooler. I do not have this requirement from any other city I work in.”
I talked to Simandirakis over the phone, and he said it would be virtually impossible for him to comply with such a requirement.
“I often get calls on weekends or at night that some freezer is malfunctioning, and I don’t have time to check in with a building department,” he said. “It’s an emergency. I don’t know what’s wrong until I get there and then I make the repair. The business stands to lose thousands of dollars in merchandise if the problem isn’t fixed right away. I just fix the problem.”
* Southtown Star: $3 million, 23 years, no results:
For 23 years, residents in Chicago Heights awaited a governmental overhaul that at times seemed an improbable fantasy. Taxpayers over the years have shelled out more than $3 million in legal fees - largely to the law firm of Anthony Scariano, the attorney representing Chicago Heights - to settle an ongoing voting rights lawsuit and thus far have nothing to show for that multimillion dollar drain.
* East St. Louis firefighters union rejects plan to rehire some laid-off members
Members of the firefighters union rejected a city proposal on Friday night that would have restored eight jobs in return for wage cuts.[…]
The union says its members have endured wage freezes for three years, furloughs and getting paid straight time instead of overtime. The starting annual salary for a firefighter after serving a probationary period is about $43,000.
SPRINGFIELD, IL—The State of Illinois acknowledged last week that in an effort to stay afloat during the worst financial crisis in its history, it had begun performing in adult films.
Officials said that since ending the 2010 fiscal year with a record $4.7 billion in unpaid bills, Illinois has been actively pursuing roles in sexually explicit direct-to-DVD features, but is only doing so until it can get back on its feet.
“The truth is, we’re facing an unprecedented revenue shortfall and must consider every option on the table,” state comptroller Daniel Hynes told reporters. “This temporary porn work—which, again, is only our short-term strategy—will provide the much-needed influx of capital we’ve been looking for.”
“It’s not even that big a deal,” continued Hynes, noting that other states, such as Minnesota, had been forced to enact their own emergency programs by cutting social services. “We need the cash, and anyway, it’s mainly just Playboy-type stuff that most people these days would probably find pretty tame.” […]
“Look, sometimes you just don’t have a choice,” Gov. Pat Quinn said. “No one’s stepped up to fund Illinois’ special-education programs or infrastructure improvements, so we have to do what we have to do. Nobody has the right to judge us. Not you, not anybody.”
The Onion has written the best budget story of the year. True artistry.
