* Gery Chico’s new TV ad is about - what else? - “the Rahm Tax.” According to the campaign, it’s a $500K buy. It’s also quite witty. Watch…
Script…
VO: The Rahm tax would be the largest sales tax in the city’s history..
Rahm’s tax would hit families on everything including pet care, to car repair to taxi cabs to bowling alleys.
Bowler: Attention bowlers… Pay the Rahm Tax.
Gery: This is crazy. This tax is going to hit families when they don’t have one more ounce to give. They can’t take one more brick on their back. And that’s what this tax is.
VO: If you thought the Stroger Sales Tax was a Killer – You’ll hate the Rahm Tax
* Chico and del Valle said the lack of access between North and Southbound lanes on LSD was a big problem Tuesday…
Mayoral challengers Gery Chico and Miguel del Valle on Friday suggested periodic gaps in the median planters that beautified Lake Shore Drive to prevent a repeat of the Blizzard of 2011 fiasco.
If there had been a few well-positioned breaks along the way, emergency vehicles would have had quicker access to stranded motorists and traffic stalled behind accidents could have been diverted to the southbound lanes before being buried in snow, both candidates said. […]
Del Valle said there are many “lessons” to be learned from the Lake Shore Drive debacle — and one of them is that, “You have to have access.”
* And the Sierra Club is backing Emanuel…
Sierra Club today announced its endorsement of Rahm Emanuel for Mayor of Chicago during a tour of a clean water job training facility on Chicago’s west side.
“Throughout his career, Rahm has not just been a strong supporter of environmental protection — he has been a key strategist in efforts to protect Lake Michigan, and to move toward a clean energy future,” said Jack Darin, director of Sierra Club’s Illinois chapter. “That’s exactly who Chicagoans need as their next mayor — someone who wants a cleaner, healthier Chicago for the future, but also has the strength and smarts to get things done. Rahm knows we can bring new jobs to Chicago and make our city cleaner by being smarter about how we use energy, and by making Chicago a global capital in the green economy. We are proud to recommend Rahm Emanuel to all the Chicagoans who want a better future for their children and new, good-paying jobs.”
CHICAGO—In a unanimous decision handed down on Thursday, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel was sleazy enough to be included on Chicago’s mayoral ballot. “It is the opinion of this court that Mr. Emanuel is coarse, vulgar, and power-hungry to such a degree that he should be eligible to hold this city’s highest office,” Illinois Justice Robert R. Thomas wrote in his majority opinion, adding that Emanuel also met a key stipulation requiring that any mayor of Chicago be a bully willing to do whatever is necessary to push his agenda through the city council. “Further, Mr. Emanuel is a sleazebag and a sleazeball, both of which are criteria he fulfilled prior to filing his papers with the local election board.” The decision overturned an appellate court’s ruling that Emanuel was only sleazy enough to be the governor of Illinois, and that he lacked the slithery, snake-like attributes necessary to oversee the morally bankrupt cesspool of Chicago politics
Who would influence a Mayor Emanuel, in the way that Bridgeport friends and generous developers have influenced Mayor Richard M. Daley? By force of intellect and personality, Emanuel surely would co-opt others. It’s fair for Chicagoans to ask who would try to co-opt him. Consider:
Much attention has focused on the large number of companies that have employed Chico’s law firm and won business from city government. A different crowd could try to make demands of Emanuel: wealthy donors who have funded his campaigns. We hope those connections aren’t behind his vagueness over whether he, like the other major candidates, would block the Chicago Children’s Museum or any other institution from a land-grab in Grant Park.
That said, we think Emanuel embodies a healthy blend of tactical shrewdness, ethical conduct and inexhaustible energy. Emanuel could not let himself fail. He is among the most results-driven people to walk this Earth. That might mean more expletives fly and more fish corpses arrive by ground mail. But if Chicago emerges from an Emanuel mayoralty with its finances stabilized, its job market thriving, its schools improving and its middle class intact, his successes once again will have eclipsed his excesses.
Given all the enemies an effective mayor will have to make, he could be one term and done. But what a term it would be. We hope that, between now and Feb. 22, Chicago voters reach the same conclusion as Bill Clinton and Barack Obama did when they brought him to the White House: This guy deserves a chance to get this near-impossible job done.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie flew to Illinois today, trying to sway business leaders to bring their business east. He won’t say whom he’s meeting with. One thing is certain: It’s no one from Kraft Foods Inc.
“We received an invitation to meet with the governor, but schedules were simply not conducive to a meeting at this time,” Michael Mitchell, a spokesman for Northfield-based Kraft, the state’s fourth-largest company by market capitalization, said in an e-mail. […]
The administration wasn’t releasing details of the meetings “in the interest of discretion,” said Michael Drewniak, another spokesman. Drewniak said he didn’t know whether taxpayers paid for the trip. […]
Representatives of four of the six largest publicly traded businesses based in Illinois said no meetings with Christie were planned.
* And this is from Senate President John Cullerton…
“I want to applaud Governor Quinn’s tireless efforts to draw and keep businesses like Mitsubishi here. Mitsubishi’s announcement means more jobs for Illinois and new technology to push our country’s energy and transportation policies forward. I look forward to working with Governor Quinn this session as we strive to make Illinois more competitive.”
“Illinois has reformed its pension system, enacted spending limits, recruited and retained key businesses and put itself back on track for stability and prosperity. Compare that to New Jersey where the governor is spending more of the people’s money promoting himself in the Illinois media than he is on his state’s underfunded pension systems.”
“Showmanship and 2012 aspirations don’t create jobs anywhere. A workhorse approach like that displayed by Governor Quinn is what gets results.”
Oof.
* According to a press release from Gov. Quinn’s office, Mitsubishi intends to invest $45 million into its Normal plant and build a crossover SUV. Also…
A goal to have 1,000 electric vehicles on Twin City streets by 2014 moved closer to reality Friday, as Mitsubishi Motors pledged to supply exactly that many of its new, all-electric i-MiEV car for local drivers starting later this year.
The Japanese automaker also signed a pact with Gov. Pat Quinn to boost research and development of electric vehicle technologies in Illinois, and to temporarily supply a “limited number” of i-MiEVs to the state’s fleet.
* I confirmed this for subscribers today, but the Newark Star-Ledger was able to get a comment out of Gov. Chris Christie’s office…
[New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie] will travel to Chicago today, he said, as part of his efforts to recruit more businesses to the state.
“Both New Jersey and Illinois are providing business leaders with certainty,” Christie said at a business symposium in Newark. “In New Jersey you can be certain taxes are going down over the next three years, and in Illinois you can be certain they are going up.”
The governor’s office would not provide details of the trip.
“The purpose of the trip is for the governor to meet personally with Illinois business leaders about the current economic climate, challenges and obstacles they are facing,” said spokesman Michael Drewniak. “This is not a grandstanding or media event. He wants to be able to have frank but private discussions with business leaders.”
We’ll see how far he stays away from the media. He’s more than a bit of a hound. And even some business group leaders here have seen right through the act…
Overtures by New Jersey’s Chris Christie, Indiana’s Mitch Daniels and Wisconsin’s Scott Walker are “a lot of political theater, a lot of hubris,” said Kim Maisch, director of the Illinois chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business, which represents about 10,000 small businesses in the state.
Discuss.
* Related…
* Mitsubishi to announce new vehicle for Normal plant: Mitsubishi is also expected to announce a public-private partnership today that would bring electric vehicle charging infrastructure to Normal, an initiative that would create a ready-made market for the auto manufacturer’s plug-in vehicles – seven of which are expected by 2015. Mullen said the vehicle planned for the plant will likely be the next generation of one of Mitsubishi’s more popular models -– possibly the Outlander, Lancer or Outlander Sport -– which would do well to be produced in North America.
* Might Quinn, Mitsubishi have good news for state?: Details of the announcement were being kept quiet, but it had the makings of a public-relations coup for the governor, who has faced sniping from out-of-state Republican governors like Chris Christie of New Jersey and Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who are trying to poach state businesses after Quinn raised corporate income taxes last month.
* Mitsubishi to get $29 million in state tax breaks
* New Jersey’s Christie strikes back at Maryland Gov. O’Malley: “I heard that pabulum Governor O’Malley was spewing down in Maryland,” Christie says, according to a transcript provided by the program, which is scheduled to air Thursday at 6 p.m. “He doesn’t know what he is talking about.”
* Rahm Emanuel’s latest TV ad has a good message, but all that footage of people in short sleeves seems way out of place right now. Rate it…
Script…
RAHM: City government is not an employment agency. It is delivering a service to the residents and the taxpayers of the city. I want that mindset to be different. We’re going to deliver a service to the taxpayers. We’re going to get them the best price for what they pay for, whether that’s protecting a street, cleaning a street, or plowing a street. That means making sure everybody that works for the city government knows that they’re actually a public servant representing and helping the people that pay them.
* Carol Moseley Braun still doesn’t have enough money to put an ad on TV, so she’s posting Internet videos. Here’s her latest…
* Gery Chico’s latest Internet video is entitled “Chicago businesses say NO to Rahm Tax.” Have a look…
* DJ Freddie Mac and The Blue State Cowboys have a new video spoofing Rahm Emanuel. Too Big to Fail…
You wanna play ball, put a check in the mail
I got Hollywood cash; I’m too big to fail
* Our last video has nothing to do with politics. Uptown Coyote…
* Walter Jacobson touches on something that’s been glossed over in the coverage of the Lake Shore Drive outrage: Class…
I know we don’t like inconvenience. Especially, Lake Shore Drivers don’t like it, and Gold Coasters and Lincoln Parkers are unaccustomed to inconvenience. But we were all told in advance to prepare for the blizzard. […]
The storm ended yesterday, and already today 900 cars on the drive are unstuck; the expressways to the suburbs are clean, the trains and buses are running; the plows are clearing the streets.
Not bad after 2 feet of snow and 50 mph winds. Not bad at all.
Hard to argue with that.
* WTTW’s Elizabeth Brackett posted a video which included footage of cars stranded on South Shore Drive…
Media coverage of the public outrage was almost purely focused on drivers stranded on the north end of the Drive.
Officials in Cook, DuPage and Lake counties were investigating several possible weather-related fatalities — mostly from shoveling — bringing to at least 11 the number of deaths tied to this week’s blizzard and cold weather.
DuPage County Coroner Pete Siekmann said his deputies assisted in four death investigations that are believed to be linked to shoveling the approximately 20-inch snowfall.
Officials in Mount Prospect are awaiting autopsy results for a man who died late Wednesday after shoveling snow from neighbors’ driveways. Police said John Soboda, of the 600 block of East Prospect Avenue, was found dead in his car. Soboda had spent Wednesday pushing neighbors’ cars and helping them clear snow, his wife, Pamela, told police.
In Lake County, the death of a Mundelein woman is being investigated as a possible exposure death. Susan Smith, 57, of the 18000 block of Meadow Lane Road, was found Wednesday in her car in a Lake Zurich church parking lot about 24 hours after she went missing, according to Lake County Coroner Richard Keller.
* Sometimes, you can’t trust your own eyeballs. ABC7’s I-Team found that out the hard way when they drove by the homes of several aldermen and discovered their streets had been cleaned. After the report aired, some irate aldermen called up to complain. An addendum was posted online…
Alderman James Balcer said he gets no special treatment, that neighbors worked on his street, and his alley was plowed by a resident who has nearby rental properties.
Alderman Dick Mell says neighbors on his street have always pitched in together to dig out with no preference from the city.
Alderman Leslie Hairston says she got no special treatment and was busy Thursday helping constituents on her own.
Alderman Margaret Laurino lives in Sauganash and says a community association pays for its own snow removal.
* Tired of waiting on city, neighbors work to clear Bucktown street
* Roof of historic church collapses after storm: It was one of the few structures to survive the Chicago fire, temporarily housing government workers during reconstruction of their offices in 1871.
* Costs are piling up around the Chicago area: The early blizzard price tag for Joliet is estimated to be about $450,000 — almost eight times more than a typical snow event… As of noon Thursday, about 25 percent of [Naperville’s] 1,200 residential cul-de-sacs remained unplowed, officials said.
* Naperville: ‘It’s taking us significantly longer to finish the job’
A task force appointed by Gov. Pat Quinn wants a law forcing insurers to spend at least 80 cents of every of premium dollar on providing health care - or pay rebates to customers.
The task force is releasing its initial recommendations Thursday. It also recommends legislation giving state regulators the authority to approve or deny health insurance rate increases. […]
Illinois Department of Insurance director Michael McRaith says for-profit insurers in Illinois now spend as little as 50 cents of every premium dollar on health care.
* Educational co-op lays off all its workers: It must wait and see about funding…
The executive committee of the Williamson County Early Childhood Cooperative approved resolutions Thursday authorizing dismissal of about 45 teachers and staff members at the end of the school year because of current nonexistent state funding.
The move is reminiscent of a year earlier. when the committee was forced to take the same action before state funding was allocated at the end of the legislative session to keep cooperative personnel and services intact.
* Will there be concerts on Northerly Island this summer?: It’s hard to see how, unless the city is once again about to hand the rights to book a temporary venue on this prime piece of real estate to the dreaded Death Star of the concert business, Ticketmaster/Live Nation, by side-stepping the bidding process…for a second time.
* Catholic hospital operators explore merger - Chicago-based Resurrection Health Care may combine with Mokena-based Provena Health
* Belleville independent candidates pledge to play fair
* More Clues About Business PAC’s Play In Council Races: Until recently, all the money raised by FBC PAC had come from a 501(c)(4) organization also called For A Better Chicago, meaning the donors were impossible to track. But in a February 1 filing with the SBOE, the FBC PAC showed a contribution of $10,000 from David Herro, an investment manager at Harris Associates, LP. Herro was a major player in the 2007 city council races, throwing significant cash at aldermanic candidates supportive of building Wal-Marts.
* Lots of bleepin’ laughs - The evil genius behind @MayorEmanuel — whoever it is — has Chicago guessing, everybody laughing
* Del Valle links rivals to convicted ex-Streets and San boss
* Seven county workers suspended from scandal-plagued jobs program: Karin Norington-Reaves, director of the Cook County Board President’s Office of Employment Training — known as POET — suspended staffers on Monday and Tuesday, including a manager related to a former POET employee sent to prison for stealing more than $100,000 from the program.
* County Treasurer Sits At $23,000 Office Set: Pappas once ran her office from a beautiful desk and credenza in her private office. But they were replaced with custom-ordered furniture costing $23,034. The furniture was part of a much larger redecorating job overseen by high-end interior designer John P. Regas. He was paid an additional $27,000 for his interior design work throughout the treasurer’s office.
* Book details ex-Illinois governor’s gangster ties: One of the most amazing details writer Jim Ridings learned while researching his books is former Illinois governor Len Small’s connection to gangsters.
Longtime Statehouse lobbyist Harry “Bud” Kelley died Wednesday. He was 78.
Kelley was one of the best-known figures among Capitol lobbyists, serving 34 years as executive director of the Illinois Association of Tobacco and Candy Distributors.
A Hillsboro native, Kelley graduated from Millikin University in 1954 and then joined the U.S. Marine Corps as a second lieutenant. He later became a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve.
Kelley worked for his father’s food business until moving to Springfield in 1966 to be chief administrative assistant in the state Department of Business and Economic Development.
