* Today’s Question is not getting much action. I think it was the way I worded it. Anyway, let’s try this…
Mayor Richard Daley today said he’s retained an agency to book him for speeches nationally and internationally after he leaves office in May.
Daley said he has signed up with the Harry Walker Agency, a company that sets speaking engagements for a roster of public figures that includes President Clinton, Lance Armstrong, Bono, former political leaders and other public figures.
“Both U.S. and abroad,” Daley said of where he will likely give speeches, though he does not have any specific engagements in place. “I’ll talk about leadership, talk about government, talk about decision-making.” […]
The mayor said he does not know how much he will get paid, but his spokeswoman, Jacquelyn Heard, noted that other speakers at the agency can receive in the neighborhood of $50,000 per appearance.
* The 2nd Question: Speech topics for retired Mayor Daley?
Snark is highly recommended.
103 Comments  
|
* As you already know, Rod Blagojevich and his lawyers claim there is a missing tape of a conversation that Rahm Emanuel allegedly had with a top Blagojevich staffer the day before Blagojevich’s arrest which would, if exposed, exonerate him…
The lawyers say there is a “missing” recording from a Dec. 8, 2008, phone call between a Blagojevich aide and Rahm Emanuel, then the White House chief of staff.
Blagojevich says Emanuel, now running for mayor of Chicago, offered a deal to give [Attorney General Lisa Madigan] the seat and help the governor pass a legislative package. Last week, Emanuel said an internal administration probe found “nothing inappropriate or any deal-making.”
Even if the tape existed, this would signify nothing. As I’ve said many times before, Blagojevich knew the FBI was taping his conversations, so in my opinion he was most likely attempting to create an alibi for accusations that he tried to sell the Obama US Senate seat by announcing a Madigan appointment. He was busted before he could pull it off.
* Anyway, as it turns out, there is no such tape…
In a statement filed Monday, prosecutor Reid Schar said such a recording does not exist, and that if the conversation took place, it happened on a phone line which was not tapped.
“As the defendant well knows, from reviewing the discovery” said Schar, “there is no missing recording.”
Back to the drawing board, boys.
* Related…
* IDOT hiring case in hands of federal jury
18 Comments
|
|
Comments Off
|
Question of the day
Tuesday, Feb 15, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Mayor Daley unveiled his annual gun control proposals yesterday, but the emphasis was on punishment…
The four newly proposed measures would automatically transfer to adult court cases of 15- to 17-year olds arrested with a gun; require at least five years [without parole] behind bars for felons caught with weapons; require 10 years in prison for people who point guns at police and firefighters responding to emergencies; and make it a felony to commit a crime with a child in tow if that child is injured by gunfire.
* The Question: Do you have problems with any of these ideas? Explain fully.
16 Comments
|
Behind Indiana’s “push”
Tuesday, Feb 15, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Here come the Hoosiers…
State and local officials in northwest Indiana are investing $250,000 in an advertising campaign to lure Illinois businesses across the state line.
The cash has been and will be spent on billboards, newspapers, websites and cable TV. When you consider that Indiana’s campaign started in late January and will continue a while longer and how large and expensive the Chicago media market is, this buy will barely make a blip.
* They also have a little - and I do mean little - website…
Indiana Commerce Secretary Mitch Roob (ROHB) says the campaign’s website already has generated 2,000 unique visits.
2,000 unique visits! Wow! That’s worth about $50 to AdSense. Hooray! They’re rich! That Indiana budget deficit will be balanced in no time flat, baby.
Seriously, 2K uniques since January 24th? That’s less than 100 per day. And, keep in mind that some unique visitor tracking software restarts every few hours, so 2K uniques since 1/24 doesn’t necessarily mean 2K different people.
* More propaganda…
“In Indiana, Republicans and Democrats alike don’t believe you tax your way out of a deficit,” Roob said. “We do not believe you can tax your way into prosperity.”
Yeah, except for that last Indiana tax hike that nobody seems to remember.
* A recent Roob quote…
“The new marketing slogan for Illinois must be: ‘Come for the higher taxes, stay for the corruption.’”
Cute.
* One other thing…
The two-pronged push, by the Northwest Indiana Forum and the Indiana Economic Development Corp., was the focus of a press conference Monday afternoon at the Hammond Marina.
So, they announce an Illinois ad blitz in Indiana. What does that tell you? This is as much, if not more, about local consumption by the rubes than it is about Illinois.
27 Comments
|
|
Comments Off
|
*** UPDATE *** As subscribers already know in more detail, the Senate Republicans are turning thumbs down on Gov. Pat Quinn’s borrowing plan…
The Republican caucus declared Tuesday that they are unanimous in opposing the idea. […]
But Republican leader Christine Radogno says Illinois should instead pay the backlog gradually by cutting spending. She said everything should be on the table for cuts, including education.
Radogno says many government programs don’t do much to improve life for state residents. She offered child-care services as an example of what could be reduced.
She might ask single moms working fulltime jobs if childcare services improve their lives.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* The AP has apparently seen an advance copy of the governor’s budget proposal…
A review of the document suggests a gap of more than $3 billion between income and expenses in the coming year. On top of that, the state owes about $8.7 billion to groups that provide services on government’s behalf, to corporations waiting for tax refunds and to the program that provides medical care for government employees.
In other words, expect cuts.
* That being said, one would expect the Chicago Tribune editorial board to be deliberately clueless on why the state should borrow to pay off past-due bills. They’re just that way…
What’s truly infuriating is that much of the money Quinn wants to borrow would go not to paying old bills, but to propping up other state spending. The synopsis of the borrowing bill, introduced by Senate President John Cullerton, says the proceeds of the bond sales “shall be used to pay vouchers that are at least 60 days past due, medical expenses incurred by the State under its health plans, corporate income tax refunds, and other operating expenses of the State.”
Bills are often drafted broadly, but the main purpose of this borrowing legislation is to retire past-due bills. Medical expenses and the refunds are part of that unfortunate milieu. The whole idea is to use a portion of the income tax hike to make the bond payments. That’s actually written into the tax hike bill.
* And Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno is doing some expected posturing before the negotiations begin…
Elaine P. Maimon, president of Governors State University, asked Radogno how she believes the state can catch up on its overdue payments like appropriations to public universities without borrowing.
“We wait and wait and they don’t come,” Maimon said of state payments. “So I just wonder what alternative plan there might be, for universities in particular, to get their appropriated funds without borrowing?”
Radogno said those payments should begin to be made with new revenues from the 67 percent income tax increase approved last month.
“Even if we can’t pay you every penny because it’s not all coming in at once, we can certainly start,” she said.
Every dollar from the income tax hike which is used to pay off old bills is another dollar of new deficit creation. The tax hike was designed with the borrowing bill in tandem. The tax hike pays down the structural deficit and to make the payments on the borrowing, which is then used to pay off the old bills. If you use the tax hike money for old bills, you’re creating new past-due debt unless you come up with corresponding budget cuts. The Republicans are promising to do that, but they haven’t done so yet.
* What really bothered me today, however, was reading the Southtown-Star’s editorial page. Just about every word in today’s editorial is wrong. For instance…
If you thought, perhaps, the estimated $7 billion in new revenue generated each year by the income tax hike for the four years it is to be in effect would stave off any additional borrowing, you’re sorely mistaken.
Who the heck thought that? The borrowing idea is not a brand new plan just floated today. The media has been writing about it since December. The tax hike and the borrowing plan have been inextricably connected since at least then. As mentioned above, the bond payment schedule is actually written into the tax hike law. If this caught the Southtown-Star by surprise, then they’re simply not paying attention.
More…
This $7 billion in new revenue should go to the estimated 36,000 vendors awaiting payment for services already doled out in past years, including school districts, child care providers and a host of others. Borrowing to make those payments is simply irresponsible.
Once again, you use that new tax revenue to pay off $7 billion in old bills you will then create $7 billion in new, unpaid bills unless you make corresponding cuts. There’s about $10 billion or so in state spending that can be cut. If the Southtown Star wants to get rid of 70 percent of that, then I’d be more than happy to publish their complete list. Their examples today barely reach the millions (except Medicaid reform, which the paper doesn’t seem to realize has been and continues to be tackled).
More…
Although Quinn likes to say he’s cut $3 billion from the budget, we’re hard pressed to find concrete examples.
As I explained to subscribers yesterday, a huge chunk of Quinn’s list he released last week was phony. But well over a billion dollars in real cuts were listed. It ain’t enough, but it’s there.
For crying out loud, start paying attention, people.
* Related…
* Illinois Union Ally Turns Critic: Mr. Madigan’s challenge to current workers’ pensions has drawn fire from the state-employee unions that supported him for much of his career.
* Editorial: Time for clear state budget proposals from both parties
48 Comments
|
Mayoral debate roundup
Tuesday, Feb 15, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Last night’s WTTW mayoral debate…
As always with that channel, the debate was focused and crisp. The candidates seemed to shy away from too many overt attacks on each other, but they all came across quite well, I thought. Nothing even approaching a knockout punch on Emanuel was thrown. I’m told to expect something far more brutal during ABC7’s Thursday debate. Let’s get to the coverage…
* Sun-Times…
Mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel said Monday he would re-organize the Chicago City Council — and strip Ald. Ed Burke of his police bodyguards and possibly his Finance Committee chairmanship — if he is elected mayor.
“There will be reform of the committees. There will be some committees closed, chairmanships will change,” Emanuel said. “There will be a shared sacrifice, including for Ed Burke and all the City Council. If Ed Burke has six police officers, that just can’t continue.”
During an hour-long debate at WTTW-Channel 11, Emanuel was not the only mayoral candidate who talked about reducing the starring role that Burke has played in the City Council.
City Clerk Miguel del Valle said the Council has developed “an unhealthy dependence upon Ald. Burke,” and it has to stop.
“It shouldn’t be one-person rule — you can’t have everything going through one alderman,” del Valle said. “It does not mean that Ald. Burke will not be Finance Committee chairman. It does mean that Ald. Burke will have to give up a lot of that power that he has exercised to make the City Council a more democratic place.”
Burke has put himself out there as Chico’s main backer. “Mess with the bull, get the horn” goes both ways.
* Tribune…
Asked what Daley’s biggest mistake was, del Valle listed the mayor’s overnight tearing up of Meigs Field, while Braun said Daley hadn’t done enough to build the city’s neighborhoods. Chico said Daley had too narrow of a relationship with the council. Emanuel said the mayor was overly aggressive about pursuing the 2016 Olympics at the expense of economic development.
* TV…
* ABC7
* Fox Chicago
* WGN
* The post-debate spinning was far more harsh…
Chico said he will spend the final days focusing on Emanuel’s tax proposal, which would decrease the sales tax by a quarter-point in return for allowing unspecified services to be taxed. Chico stopped just short of calling Emanuel a liar.
“He is a pathological evader of the truth. We have no answers and the citizens are about to go to the polls in a couple of days,” Chico said in reference to the role Emanuel played on the Freddie Mac board and failing to say what services would be included in his sales-tax swap plan.
“Families are going to be sucker punched with this tax,” Chico said, adding that he has repeatedly asked for a list of services and received “nothing.” […]
On [Emanuel’s] criticism of Daley focusing too much on the Olympics: “Too much of our economic future was pinned on one endeavor and that was the Olympics. And when we didn’t get it, we were left without an economic strategy and I think we need one.”
* Meanwhile, Mark Brown skewered Emanuel’s sales tax reduction…
If Emanuel cuts the city sales tax rate to 1 percent from the current 1.25 percent, how much would his hypothetical “working family” need to spend to save $200 in sales tax? Answer: $80,000. […]
Emanuel’s campaign said it was basing its savings estimate on a median family income of $46,000 and an assumption the family spent about one-fourth of its income on items subject to sales tax. Under that scenario, I told them, that family would realize a savings of just $28.75 in sales taxes. (One-fourth of $46.000 is $11,500, multiplied by .0025) […]
In one sentence he’ll talk about the 9.75 percent overall sales tax rate charged in Chicago and in the next mention his one-fifth proposed reduction, when he’s really only lowering the city’s 1.25 percent portion. Then he throws in the planned half-cent reduction in the county’s portion of the sales tax as if he has something to do with it, when Toni Preckwinkle will be doing all the heavy lifting.
That’s before you even get into the legitimate questions that Gery Chico has raised about what services would actually be subject to Emanuel’s luxury tax.
When you do the math, Emanuel’s tax plan doesn’t add up.
Mark’s right.
…Adding… Zorn said much the same thing on Sunday.
* And Emanuel took Chico to task for accepting a Chicago tea party endorsement…
Speaking at a Northwest Side luncheon for seniors hosted by outgoing Ald. Patrick Levar (45th), Emanuel also criticized rival Gery Chico for “accepting … with enthusiasm” the endorsement of the Chicago Tea Party Patriots, a conservative activist group.
“The entire purpose of the Tea Party is to stop the president, his agenda, and stop his presidency, and the notion that one would accept it with enthusiasm means that they see the Tea Party as legitimate in what they’re pushing in trying to stop President Obama,” Emanuel said.
Chico issued a news release blasting Emanuel for claiming that Chico had accepted the endorsement. While Chico has not renounced the endorsement, he said, “I am a lifelong Democrat and a fighter for the working families of Chicago. Unlike Mr. Emanuel falsely suggests, I did not seek the endorsement of this group and in reality, have nothing in common with them.”
Here’s the Chico campaign’s prior statement…
“Gery has a record of building coalitions across racial, ethnic and party lines to achieve common goals,” Chico’s Press Secretary Brooke Anderson told HuffPost Chicago. “We welcome their support in addition to the broad range of support we have received from a diverse range of organizations, elected officials and residents as we fight to take Chicago in a new direction.”
Last night, Chico briefly said he repudiated the endorsement, but it was quickly glossed over.
* Related…
* New poll projects victory for Emanuel: The fourth and final We Ask America poll conducted by the Chicago Retail Merchants Association (CRMA) found Emanuel building onto an already commanding lead among every demographic and geographic category tested. Emanuel was favored by 58.2 percent of respondents, an increase of 6 points since the January 24 poll. His closest rival, former school board president Gery Chico, garnered 23.7 percent. Emanuel’s lead of 35 points is well outside the poll’s margin of error of 2.06 points. [Full results here.]
* Braun’s remarks on HIV funding questioned
* Workers Question Emanuel’s Visit to Secured Airport Warehouse: The Rahm Emanuel campaign describes it as a goodwill visit, but there are questions about whether the mayoral candidate broke rules when he stopped by O’Hare International Airport on the night the blizzard ended. Some aviation department employees told us they were stunned when Emanuel came into their secured building with donuts and coffee. The warehouse, which is on airport property, is surrounded by a tall chain link fence topped with barbed wire and security cameras. You have to show an aviation department credential just to get past the gate.
* Gery Chico’s Success Based on Hardworking Grandparents, Diverse Family
33 Comments
|
|
Comments Off
|
|
Comments Off
|
|
Support CapitolFax.com
Visit our advertisers...
...............
...............
...............
...............
...............
|
   
|
Hosted by MCS
SUBSCRIBE to Capitol Fax
Advertise Here
Mobile Version
Contact Rich Miller
|
