This just in… Latest George Ryan appeal denied
Wednesday, Jul 6, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* 1:11 pm - From the AP…
A federal appeals court has upheld former Illinois Gov. George Ryan’s corruption convictions.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday rejected arguments from Ryan’s attorneys that the charges should be overturned because prosecutors never proved he took a bribe.
It was the latest attempt by Ryan to get out of prison based on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling curtailing “honest services” laws.
The appellate court accepted government arguments that Ryan’s case clearly involved bribery and kickbacks, so the high court ruling didn’t apply.
* From the opinion’s conclusion…
Ryan observes that the jury was not required to determine whether Warner’s payments were bribes or kickbacks. True enough; the question under the instructions, based as they were on Bloom, was whether Ryan had received a secret financial benefit.. But there is no doubt that a properly instructed jury could have deemed the payments bribes or kickbacks; the inference that they were verges on the inescapable.
* And this is from the initial appellate opinion, which the court says “summed up the core of the charges”…
The story behind this case began in November 1990 when Ryan, then the Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, won election as Illinois’s Secretary of State. He was re-elected to that post in 1994. Throughout Ryan’s two terms in that office, [Lawrence E.] Warner [Ryan’s co-defendant] was one of Ryan’s closest unpaid advisors. One of Ryan’s duties as Secretary of State was to award leases and contracts for the office, using a process of competitive bidding for major contracts and selecting leases based on the staff’s assessments of multiple options.
Improprieties in awarding four leases and three contracts form the basis of the majority of the RICO and mail fraud counts against Warner and Ryan, as these leases and contracts were steered improperly to Warner-controlled entities. The result was hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits for Warner and Ryan. These benefits included financial support for Ryan’s successful 1998 campaign for Governor of Illinois.
Thoughts?
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Something’s missing
Wednesday, Jul 6, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Committee for a Fair and Balanced Map is a group of former Republican politicians and others who are raising money to fund the GOP’s court challenge to the new congressional map. They call themselves “an independent, not-for-profit organization created by citizens who are concerned about the Congressional redistricting process in the state of Illinois,” but this is clearly a GOP front group. Their latest e-mail fundraising pitch includes this line…
In closing, the Illinois map should not be the place where Nancy Pelosi looks to reclaim the title of Speaker.
* Anyway, I noticed something interesting in the group’s fundraising e-mail. Let’s see if you catch it as well…
We believe our legal challenge will overturn the Democrats’ map, and here’s why:
1. The Democrats’ map favors the City of Chicago — where population is shrinking — over the suburbs, where population is growing. Residents in places like Arlington Heights, Hinsdale, Elmhurst, Orland Park, and other communities will have to go to Chicago to visit their congressional representative.
2. The congressional districts created by the Democrats are not compact, as required by the by federal case law. The lines do not make sense.
3. To achieve partisan advantages, the Democrats’ map divides communities of interest and disenfranchises entire swaths of voters. Major cities and counties in Illinois, and places like Chinatown in Chicago, are divided into three or more congressional districts.
4. The lawsuit challenging the map will be filed with the federal court, not in state court. This increases the chance for an unbiased review of the facts of this case and a fair application of the law as it applies to congressional redistricting.
Notice anything missing? Perhaps, oh, I dunno, the word “Latinos”? After all, Latinos are supposedly at the heart of the GOP’s challenge to the new map…
At the federal level, Republicans formed the Committee for a Fair and Balanced Map, a not-for-profit fund-raising arm to help with court costs. John McGovern, spokesman for the group, said the committee opposes Democrats’ efforts to “dilute” Latino influence, despite their growing population.
“We are committed to ensuring that everyone in Illinois is represented fairly and equitably in Congress, regardless of ethnicity or race,” he said in a statement.
It probably goes without saying that a fundraising pitch to a Republican donors list probably wouldn’t be all that successful if it focused on Latino political power.
* Meanwhile, Tammy Duckworth went from making her first round of campaign calls on Friday to jumping into the race today…
Tammy Duckworth made it official on Wednesday morning, launching a run for Congress from the north suburban Illinois 8th congressional district, carved out by Illinois Democrats to give Democrats a boost.
Duckworth, a wounded Iraq war veteran, resigned last month as assistant secretary at the Veteran’s Administration–an appointee of President Obama. She will file papers with the Federal Election Commission later this week.
“My father served in Vietnam, my brother served in the Coast Guard, and my husband continues to serve on active duty because our family believes in this great nation. There are plenty of folks in Washington who serve political ideology and personal ambition. I want to continue serving our county,” she said in a statement.
She added, “It’s time to tell John Boehner, Karl Rove and the tea party crowd that you can’t balance the budget on the backs of seniors. You can’t serve multi-national corporations first and American families last. And you won’t build a better future by tearing down our economy brick by brick and shipping it overseas.”
* On the other end of the time spectrum, Democrat Mike Boland is still kinda, sorta exploring…
Former state Rep. Mike Boland, D-East Moline, is considering running for Congress against freshman Republican Rep. Bobby Schilling of Colona.
Boland hasn’t formed an exploratory or campaign committee yet, but he will look at doing so, according to a news release Tuesday.
In a statement, he said he would talk to constituents and party leaders to discuss a possible run for Congress. He plans a news conference at Odell Public Library in Morrison this morning.
A news conference does not equal listening. Just saying.
* This doesn’t seem like a bad idea at all…
Last week, Rep. Bobby Schilling, R-Ill, introduced a bill that would tie the retirement age for lawmakers to the Social Security retirement age. This follows a similar proposal by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.
While we common citizens must wait until age 66 or 67 (depending on our year of birth) to receive our full retirement benefits under Social Security, federal lawmakers can receive full retirement benefits at age 62 with five years of service, at age 50 with 20 years of service, and at any age with 25 years of service.
* Congressman Hultgren clears up a tiny problem…
The Federal Elections Commission [earlier this month] said it has dismissed a fundraising complaint against U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren after the freshman congressman’s campaign returned an improper $2,000 donation.
Hultgren, a Winfield Republican who represents the far west suburban 14th Congressional District, accepted for his federal campaign fund two $1,000 donations from the state campaign fund he maintained as a state senator.
* And a potential Democratic candidate has been whacked hard before he even got out of the gate…
A Springfield attorney who is considering running for Congress has been censured for misconduct and had his law license placed on probation in two separate cases before the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.
The ARDC is an administrative agency of the Illinois Supreme Court that regulates the legal profession and handles disciplinary matters.
Mark N. Lee, 49, who lives in Rochester but has a practice in Springfield, said last week that he was considering running for the Democratic nomination for Congress in the new 13th Congressional District that includes Champaign-Urbana, Decatur, Bloomington-Normal and Springfield.
* Related…
* Mark Brown: Rep. Jackson rips Quinn on job losses
* Freshman Republicans Lobby Federal Agencies For Millions Amid Spending Critiques: Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), for instance, wrote the Department of Agriculture on February 14, asking for $7,498,015 in cash and commodities contributions for the American Nicaraguan Foundation and Fabretto Children’s Foundation — groups that run education, health and nutrition programs in Nicaragua.
* Loss of 180,000 black residents will complicate Chicago ward remap: After the 1990 Census, Chicago taxpayers spent $20 million in legal fees — and tens of thousands more on a costly referendum — only to end up changing just a handful of blocks in the 18th Ward, which resulted in the re-election of then-incumbent Ald. Tom Murphy (18th).
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Question of the day
Wednesday, Jul 6, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Just for clarification, this is from the governor’s budget office…
If the governor makes a line item reduction, the [item] is in effect at the reduced amount. The General Assembly would have to vote to restore that amount.
In the case of a line item veto, that item goes to zero. Again the GA would have to vote to restore the amount. So yes, dead.
In either case - reduction or line item veto, the rest of the budget goes into effect as passed. By issuing line item vetoes or line item reductions, the Governor is signing the budget and that’s what it is unless the GA takes further action.
* From one of the many stories on the governor’s elimination of funding for regional superintendents…
Jim Carlson took the oath of office July 1 to officially become the regional superintendent of La Salle County schools.
But just hours before, the future of his new job became uncertain with a stroke from the governor’s pen.
Gov. Pat Quinn late Thursday eliminated the $11.3 million in funding for regional offices of education, money the Illinois General Assembly left in place when approving the budget. Quinn used his line-item veto power to eliminate the ROE allocation.
Carlson, however, is committed to keeping the office open until he’s told to do otherwise.
“We’re going to be here and continue to do the services we do,” Carlson said. “We’ll still be doing the day-to-day business of the office. We’re not going to shut the doors.”
Statewide, Carlson said ROEs generate $135 million in savings through grant writing, creating cooperatives and looking for economies of scale. With a food cooperative alone, La Salle County schools save $500,00 each year.
The governor says local schools should pick up the tab for regional superintendents if they want them.
* The Question: What do you think of the governor’s line item vetoes of all state funding for regional school superintendents?
*** UPDATE *** AP…
Gov. Pat Quinn wants to pay regional school superintendents with tax money that comes from business and goes to local government.
Quinn budget director David Vaught said Wednesday the 44 superintendents should be paid from the “personal property replacement tax.” Corporations and business partnerships pay that instead of local [personal] property taxes. […]
Vaught says the officials may have to go without pay for several months until a deal can be worked out with lawmakers.
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Pound foolish
Wednesday, Jul 6, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The state will no longer test 11th graders for writing skills…
Gov. Pat Quinn signed the belt-tightening move into law last week as part of the state’s spending plan. The writing assessments for elementary and middle school students already had been dropped last year.
“We’re trying to minimize the damage” of the cuts, state Schools Superintendent Christopher Koch said. “Writing is one of the most expensive things to assess.”
I’m not a huge fan of standardized tests. I’m also not that into the grammar police. Heck, I couldn’t diagram a sentence if you put a gun to my head.
But I learned very early in life that writing forces one to actually think. Sometimes, I don’t even know where I stand on an issue until I write about it. Other times, I’ve changed my mind in the middle of a column or a blog post and had to redo everything. That’s one of the reasons I hector my commenters here. When people are pressed to express an original thought, minds can be opened. I’ve seen it happen many times.
* Yet, in today’s education world, once the testing requirement is removed, the bottom falls out of the incentive to teach the subject …
When the state did away with the grade school writing test last year, requests for teacher training in writing instruction at the elementary and middle school level plummeted. The same drop-off occurred in 2004, said Kato of the Chicago Area Writing Project. Demand surged when the writing exam was revived two years later.
Total savings from eliminating this test? $2.4 million.
Teaching people to write is akin to the age-old proverb about teaching a hungry man to fish. This cut is absolutely the wrong way to go.
* Speaking of the budget, does Gov. Pat Quinn even know what he proposed earlier this year? Apparently not.
A group of pastors complained yesterday about how the new state budget drastically cuts funds for indigent burials. Quinn was pressed on the issue by reporters yesterday and he said he’d do what he could to make sure “there is a decent funeral for anyone,” adding, “It is something I take to heart.” However…
Quinn’s [original] budget had proposed cutting the program to zero. The version approved by the House and Senate cut the program to $1.9 million, from $12.6 million in the last fiscal year.
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*** UPDATE 1 *** The appellate court just struck down the city’s firing range ban…
The City’s firing‐range ban is not merely regulatory; it prohibits the “law‐abiding, responsible citizens of Chicago from engaging in target practice in the controlled environment of a firing range. This is a serious
encroachment on the right to maintain proficiency in firearm use, an important corollary to the meaningful exercise of the core right to possess firearms for self‐defense.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Not long before the court ruled, the city council voted to legalize firing ranges…
The Chicago City Council today voted to legalize firing ranges inside city limits as Mayor Rahm Emanuel tries to head off a federal court decision that could force the city to welcome them.
The vote came without discussion or dissent today.
The practice shooting venues could be built only in areas of Chicago zoned for manufacturing and would have to be more than 1,000 feet away from residential areas, schools, parks, liquor retailers, libraries, museums and hospitals.
The ranges also would have to be indoors, and a license to operate one would cost $4,000 every two years.
[ *** End Of Updates *** ]
* A lawsuit is quickly making its way through the system, so Mayor Emanuel wants to pass an ordinance before the court acts. Firing ranges are currently banned within the city limits, but the city’s new gun ordinance requires owners to get training at a firing range. So, Emanuel is hastily pushing a new measure through the city council…
Firing ranges could soon be legal inside Chicago limits as Mayor Rahm Emanuel is fast-tracking a plan designed to head off a federal court decision that could force the city to welcome them. […]
The shooting practice venues could be built only in areas of Chicago zoned for manufacturing and would have to be more than 1,000 feet away from residential areas, schools, parks, liquor retailers, libraries, museums and hospitals.
The ranges also would have to be indoors, and a license to operate one would cost $4,000 every two years.
* Let’s look at the react. First, one of the original plaintiffs…
Walter Maksym, who sued the city on behalf of people who want to be able to sell guns in city limits, said the Emanuel administration’s firing range proposal still seems too restrictive.
“It’s a step in the right direction, a recognition that the original ordinance would not stand up to scrutiny, but it doesn’t go far enough,” Maksym said.
* A suburban gun dealer…
According to Don Mastrianni, the owner of Illinois Gun Works in Elmwood Park, “They’re doing it to make money, let’s face it, that’s common sense and he sees Chicago as a big market so right now that market has to go to the suburbs.” […]
According to Mastrianni, “If the city is going to have the CFP process I would think that they need to ensure that everybody is actually participating and cooperating with it. There are plenty of gun shops that will cell guns to people without their Chicago Firearm Permit.”
* And the NRA…
The National Rifle Association branded the ordinance so restrictive, it invites another lawsuit.
“This is protected constitutional activity. If the city wants to continue to deny it, as they have with their revised gun ordinance, then obviously they haven’t learned anything from court rulings and our tenacity,” said Todd Vandermyde, Illinois legislative liaison for the NRA.
“The city is already on the hook for big-time legal fees in the McDonald case [that prompted the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Chicago’s handgun ban]. When you have a multi-million dollar deficit, you should be trying to find ways to minimize litigation instead of inviting more litigation.”
* Meanwhile, the mayor is proposing some lobbying reforms…
At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, the mayor will introduce an ordinance limiting — to $50 per gift and $100 per calendar year —the value of gifts lobbyists can give to city employees.
City employees would also be prohibited from getting loans from individual lobbyists or their businesses. Twice a year, lobbyists would be required to report their campaign contributions to city employees and elected officials. […]
Lobbyists would literally be required to disclose who they lobby and what they are lobbying for and post those disclosures online in “real-time,” so voters can access the information before legislation is approved.
* More…
And lobbyists would be required to report campaign contributions to city elected officials and city employees running for office. Right now, candidates are required to report lobbyists’ political donations to the Illinois State Board of Elections. […]
The mayor called his proposed changes “the most comprehensive lobbyist disclosure database in the nation.” But the Cook County clerk’s website, up and running for year, appears to be as detailed as the one Emanuel is proposing. And Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board has a database that goes a step further, offering links to bills each lobbyist is working on.
Emanuel also wants to codify an executive order he signed hours after he was sworn in to office. That order bans any city employee who leaves his administration from lobbying City Hall for two years. Emanuel’s directive exempts people hired under former Mayor Richard Daley who leave by Nov. 16.
* Unlike the state, the city requires lobbyists to disclose their pay. From a recent story…
Chicago City Hall lobbyists were paid nearly $13 million last year, according to records the city posted online Thursday. […]
Among the highest paid were political insiders such as Michael Kasper, a high-powered Democratic Party lawyer who along with partner Courtney Nottage was paid $460,500 to lobby last year. Terry Gabinski, a former alderman, was paid $276,000, according to the data. […]
The top three earners among the individual lobbyists were Theodore Brunsvold, the son of a late former downstate legislator, who was paid $978,000; Ronald Johnson of Johnson Research Group, who was paid $838,000; and Jay Doherty, president of the City Club of Chicago, who was paid $771,750, according to the data.
I’m starting to rethink my subscription rate. Just kidding. Kinda…
* Related…
* Mayor looking to revamp Taste of Chicago after attendance drops
* Emanuel questions school security
* Rogers Park harvests plan for open land that could become urban farm
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Quinn: “We’ll be happy to meet them in court”
Wednesday, Jul 6, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The governor struck a defiant pose yesterday…
Gov. Pat Quinn said Tuesday that he’s ready for a possible lawsuit from the state’s largest employee union after he moved to block raises for 33,000 workers that were scheduled to take effect last week.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 has threatened to pursue legal action over Quinn’s decision, which affects employees at 14 agencies and boards. Quinn said he had no choice but to eliminate the scheduled pay raises after lawmakers shorted the payroll budget by $75 million.
“If they decide to sue, that’s their right and we’ll be happy to meet them in court,” Quinn said. “The General Assembly just did not appropriate any extra money for raises for employees. They chose not to … and anybody who is unhappy about that should really go to the legislature.”
Democratic lawmakers acknowledge they cut money for personnel but argue it was to allow the governor to eliminate unfilled positions after Quinn struck a deal with AFSCME before last year’s election to not seek layoffs.
* Actually, plenty of legislators said that the budget cuts specifically targeted the raises, although most of them were Republicans. Set the Wayback Machine to May 12th…
State Rep. David Reis, R-Willow Hill, said the House is urging labor union officials to again defer the raises to avoid having to make cuts in other areas of the budget.
“We’re suggesting to them that they should not implement the raises,” Reis said. “We’re suggesting to them that they come back to the table.”
State Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth, said the pay raise issue was one reason he voted “no” on the latest budget plans.
“I don’t think its going to be realistic,” Mitchell said. “I don’t think these are going to be the final product.”
Quinn could’ve eliminated filled positions as well, not just unfilled positions.
* AP…
While Quinn said repeatedly that lawmakers did not set aside money in the budget to pay the raises, that’s not entirely accurate.
It’s true that lawmakers cut spending for salaries despite the scheduled raises. But budgets don’t distinguish between regular salaries and raises; they simply give the governor a certain amount of money for employees. The governor decides how to spend the money.
So, potentially, Quinn could have cut some jobs and used the money available to pay the full raises to remaining employees. Or he could have paid everyone the higher salaries and come back to lawmakers in October and requested more money. He also had the option of vetoing the budget.
What about just proceeding as if the budget cuts didn’t exist? Probably not prudent…
“We have got to run the government, got to make sure (the money) lasts for an entire fiscal year,” Quinn said. “I had no choice.”
Well, he did have a choice. He could’ve just vetoed the budget or done something else. But acting as though a budget cut doesn’t exist could cause big problems down the line if no additional money is appropriated. Those who suggest such a course of action in the current political climate are pretty darned irresponsible.
* This is a very good point by the Peoria paper…
On the flip side, [Quinn] created some of this mess himself by unwisely boxing himself in when he was running for election in 2010, making a deal with AFSCME not to eliminate any more jobs or close state facilities in exchange for some other budget concessions and apparently AFSCME’s endorsement. If that produced enough union goodwill to help launch him to the victory stand, that has since vanished, as AFSCME is on the warpath.
* When will we see action? Maybe today…
The union spokesman says AFSCME could file legal action to reinstate the pay raise as soon as Wednesday. Their contract does not expire until next year.
* After looking into this some more, I think the Sun-Times editorial board may be right…
But state workers have a contract, and we don’t see how Quinn can get around it. With a few legal maneuvers, the state workers’ main union probably can get the raises restored. Quinn likely knows that, of course, which makes his move puzzling.
Subscribe to learn more.
Also, has anyone else noticed that the Tribune editorial board has been completely silent on this issue? I mean, the governor finally takes on AFSCME and not a peep from the union’s most avowed enemy? Strange. They had time for a Casey Anthony editorial today, but nothing on this topic.
* And Cullerton talks of compromise…
Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, suggested the issue also could be dealt with by the General Assembly. Senate Democrats agree with Quinn that the budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 is underfunded in a number of areas.
“We will add the governor’s latest actions to the list of items in the current year’s budget that need to be addressed in the coming weeks and months,” Cullerton said in a statement.
I checked, by the way, and that statement does not mean that Cullerton wants a special session.
* Listen to raw audio of the governor…
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*** UPDATE *** Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. just sent out a press release headlined: “Southland Jobs Continue to Hemorrhage Under Quinn.” It was about an announcement of a supermarket closure, but he tied it in to the third airport and the south suburban casino…
Upon hearing Jewel-Osco’s surprise announcement to close the Olympia Fields store this summer, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. today called on Gov. Quinn to commit whatever state resources he can to keep the supermarket open.
“The Governor’s delays in developing a south suburban airport and Southland casino continues to create a hemorrhaging of jobs in the south suburbs, with Jewel being just the latest company to announce a shutdown and layoffs,” Jackson said. “Today I am calling on Gov. Quinn and the Jewel-Osco management team to come together and find a way to keep Jewel-Osco open.” […]
Jackson noted that a recent analysis showed that Quinn’s economic development programs awarded $350 million in business incentives during the last two years, but only 1 percent ($3.4 million) went to south suburban businesses.
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* Um, Congressman, the Democrats gave you a sweet map and a very Republican district. Yes, you were “targeted” - for preservation…
Shimkus was asked if he felt Democrats had singled him out by dividing his hometown between two districts.
“It’s almost an honor to be personally targeted, because it means that someone doesn’t like the job you’re doing,” he said. “And if it’s the Democrats in Springfield and Chicago, then that must mean I’m doing a pretty good job.”
I know it’s all the rage in DC to claim to be a victim, but Shimkus ain’t a victim. And since those bad ol’ Democrats actually kept him safe and sound, what does that mean?
* I’m told by his campaign that Raja Krishnamoorthi put just $11,406 of his own cash into this rather impressive fundraising haul…
Raja Krishnamoorthi who lost a primary bid for Illinois comptroller last year has already launched a campaign. On Friday, his campaign said in a release Krishnamoorthi has in the last five and a half weeks put $400,000 into his warchest.
Krishnamoorthi’s wife reportedly contributed another $2,500.
* Krishnamoorthi’s most likely Democratic primary foe is Tammy Duckworth, who was released from Hatch Act restrictions last Thursday when she left the federal payroll. She started making calls on Friday…
If Duckworth ran for the House again, she would have a much stronger position than the first time around–her resume is more formidable–since 2006 she ran the Illinois veterans agency and is one of the top VA officials in Washington– and she would be running from the more Democratic district.
Her Hoffman Estates home is in the proposed new 8th district, designed by Illinois Democrats to have a Democratic tilt.The new 8th contains territory from the present 6th district where Duckworth beat Roskam.
When Duckworth ran in 2006, her candidacy was supported by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), then Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and then Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), now Chicago’s mayor, then running the House political operation.
* This is a clue as to her intentions…
Pete Giangreco, a consultant who also worked on Duckworth’s 2006 bid, said Friday was her first day back in Illinois after leaving her job as assistant secretary of Veterans Affairs in Washington.
Giangreco was making calls and sending out e-mails Friday on her behalf.
* The Chicago News Cooperative has a decent basic primer on the expected Republican challenge to the legislative and congressional maps…
Republicans and Latinos are not traditional political allies in Illinois. But in a lawsuit expected to be filed this week, Republicans will stump for Latino interests as they challenge the legality of the state’s redrawn political boundaries.
In addition to that case, which disputes the new map of General Assembly districts, Republicans also plan to file a similar lawsuit opposing the redrawn congressional map.
In both instances, the GOP will advocate for more Latino representation in the Statehouse and Congress, a cause driven by political expediency, not ideology. Republicans and Latinos tend to clash on immigration policy, entitlement programs and criminal justice issues. […]
Latino groups are split over their analysis of the new boundaries. U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Chicago) supports the new congressional map, which secures his seat representing a super-majority Latino district but does not create another. Other groups, such as the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, continue to weigh legal options to sue and have been communicating with GOP officials. The state map divides the heavily-Latino Little Village neighborhood into multiple districts, a change MALDEF opposed.
“It is not ironic,” MALDEF Midwest Redistricting Coordinator Elisa Alfonso said of a Latino-GOP partnership. “If you look at the history of redistricting cases, some cases we’re friends of the Republicans and sometimes we’re not.”
* Speaking of the map, I suppose one could look on the bright side and rejoice in the notion that the Associated press has finally discovered the rural hamlet of St. Anne…
Surrounded by fields that grow corn, soybeans, melons and potatoes, this tiny rural village is 65 miles from Chicago but light years away from the big city. Still, St. Anne and a lot of the farm country around it has now been dragged into the metropolis as part of an ambitious political strategy focused on the 2012 national elections.
A new census-based political map drawn by the state’s Democratic-controlled Legislature, and signed into law by Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, has taken swaths of suburban and rural Illinois and added them to the districts of veteran Chicago Democrats such as U.S. Rep. Jackson Jr., who could be St. Anne’s next representative.
That Jackson district is most certainly one of the weirder aspects of this new map. And perhaps the reporters in the southern end of his new district will have more luck prying answers out of Jackson…
During the trial, he denied, under oath, any involvement in Blagojevich’s shakedowns. Afterward, he issued a written statement:
“As you can imagine, I have many strong feelings about this entire matter,” he said. “My strongest feeling, however, is respect for our judicial system. Therefore, I will have no further comment about the case or how it has affected me until there is a verdict.”
I couldn’t wait. Alas, post-verdict, Jackson kept his “strong feelings” to himself. Last week, his office issued the usual “no comment.”
* This CNC story tells part of the story about black migration to the south suburbs…
On Willow Road, a boulevard lined with 3,200-square-foot houses, five of the nine buyers in the 1000 block moved to Newbury Estates from heavily black sections of the South Side. Buyers came from the Woodlawn, Park Manor, Morgan Park, Gresham and Englewood neighborhoods, property records show.
The subdivision, about 30 miles from the Loop, represents only part of a much greater migration to the south suburbs from 2000 to 2010. In all, Chicago’s black population declined by about 181,000 people, or 17 percent, in that period, according to recently released figures from the 2010 census. The rapid contraction of the black population was the main driver of the city’s overall population loss of about 200,000 in the last decade, a fact noted by Rahm Emanuel in his mayoral inauguration speech in May.
According to the CNC’s chart, south suburban towns saw a population increase of about 46,000 over ten years. Some of that was natural growth, much was migration from the city. But that still leaves a whole lot of people unaccounted for.
* Roundup…
* Sheyman Raises Almost $110K for Congressional Run
* Eric Reyes announced Saturday in Rock Island he will be joining three other Democratic candidates seeking nomination for the race against Rep. Bobby Schilling in the 2012 election.
* Bustos In, McNeil Out in Illinois’ 17th District Race
* Chuck Sweeny: Rockford stands to lose big in the new 17th District
* Foster, we’d like to miss you for a change
* Hultgren gets a look at thriving business in Genoa
* Kent Gaffney plans to run in 2012
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Weathering Storms with a Smart Grid
Tuesday, Jul 5, 2011 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
On June 21 powerful storms, including two tornadoes, struck ComEd’s service territory knocking out power to 440,000 customers.
ComEd’s call center responded to nearly 600,000 calls and Web site traffic was at an all-time high as customers reported their outages and checked to find out when power would be restored.
With more than 800 crews, working around the clock ComEd restored service to 90 percent of customers within the first 48 hours. Within three days, the company had restored power to virtually all customers, with some individual, isolated outages lingering into Saturday.
Power outages are more than just an inconvenience; they lower productivity of the region’s economy and cost money.
But what if smart grid technology had been in place?
o ComEd would have known customers were out of power without them having to call us.
o Technology would have pinpointed outages allowing us to dispatch crews more quickly to restore service.
o Digital automation would have rerouted power meaning fewer customers would have been seen outages, and
o Thousands of customers may have never experienced an outage.
Why wait to modernize our electric grid? The time to act is now.
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Jul 5, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* As you already know, the Flubs managed to eke out just one win in the latest three-game series against the White Sox. The team’s record is an abysmal 35-51. They can’t even put together three wins in a row…
As difficult as this is to believe, through July 4, the Cubs have still not won three games in a row this season. As the three-game winning streak drought germinated early in 2011, I researched to see if other Cubs teams have ever had this problem. I had to go all the way back to 1974 to find a Chicago Cubs team that did not win three straight until July 5. After losing to the Washington Nationals, the 1966 Cubs are the next Chicago team to have gone longer without a three-game winning streak… The 1966 Chicago Cubs did not attain a three-game winning streak until August 6!
Injuries and mental errors have plagued the team and goofy excuses abound…
Cubs closer Carlos Marmol didn’t blame his costly wild pitch in the 10th inning on having to rush into the game because of an injury, which he never had done before. Marcos Mateo left with an elbow injury after facing two batters.
But manager Mike Quade wonders if there might be a better way to prepare a reliever if the situation arises again.
‘‘These guys’ routine is to get ready in the bullpen and then come out and make their eight [warmup] pitches and pitch,’’ Quade said. ‘‘But [in cases of injuries], everyone always comes out and makes their pitches on the mound in front of 30,000 people. Do you have to do that? Someone told me today it’s a courtesy.
‘‘Well, if a guy’s more comfortable doing his thing [in the bullpen], I’d rather have him [do that] because of the urgency once you get on the mound and everybody’s watching.’’
* The Question: Just how bad is this Cub team?
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Crime and punishment
Tuesday, Jul 5, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* More than three months after falsely claiming that Rep. Bob Rita had been convicted of a felony and was therefore ineligible to serve in the House (wrong on both counts), the Illinois Policy Institute quietly issued a retraction and apology on the Friday before the July 4th holiday weekend under the headline “Investigative Reporting Update.” I have no idea why the group waited so long to do this because it was clear within minutes of publishing its story that at least half of it was wrong (even if he was a felon, which he wasn’t, felons are able to serve in the General Assembly after they’ve completed their sentences). The other half (about being a felon) was cleared up within a few hours. Even so, the group continued to aggressively push the story via Chicago radio and TV appearances.
Rep. Rita has graciously accepted the apology. I’m still waiting for the group’s apology to me, however. All I did was point out IPI’s egregious errors and was then insanely accused of fronting for the House Democrats. Ridiculous.
* This is bizarre on so many levels…
State Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Cicero) awarded a taxpayer-funded college scholarship for $8,200 to Michael A. Giorango, who’s the son of three-time felon and reputed mobster Michael C. “Jaws” Giorango.
And then Sandoval did something that state officials say was even more unusual: He tried to revoke the scholarship that he’d awarded to the younger Giorango to attend Illinois State University.
But it wasn’t because the father had been convicted of helping run a mob bookmaking operation, failing to file his taxes and participating in a nationwide prostitution ring, according to Sandoval.
“I never met him, I don’t know who he was, and I don’t care to meet him,” Sandoval says of Michael A. Giorango and the string of events that led to his getting — and ultimately giving up — one of the college scholarships that the senator gets to hand out under Illinois’ legislative scholarship program.
Nor, Sandoval says, does he know the elder Giorango, who served a four-year prison sentence during the early 1990s for the mob bookmaking conviction. According to federal prosecutors, the south suburban ring that Giorango helped run once threatened bombings and other violence to make sure people paid them what money they owed.
Giorango listed his address as being at the home of Rudy Acosta, a top precinct captain for Ald. Ed Burke, even though he actually lives in Orland Park, which is not in Sandoval’s district. Acosta has worked for Sandoval in the past, but Sandoval says Acosta didn’t personally recommend Giorango to him for a scholarship. The scholarship application was approved by an aide, Sandoval claims, even though Giorango didn’t complete a 500-word essay or submit a school transcript.
* Meanwhile, the Daily Herald has a story about the murderer registry bill…
The father of an Illinois State Police officer mowed down during a high speed police chase 25 years ago in Itasca, is imploring Gov. Pat Quinn to sign a bill requiring first-degree murderers to register their whereabouts with local law enforcement for 10 years after their release. The state Senate unanimously approved the bill in May. […]
John Kugelman had been a member of the Illinois State Police for about 3½ years when he was killed during a high-speed police chase in November 1986. David Melind, who was 17 at the time, led police on a high-speed chase through Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg and Elk Grove Village before he mowed down John Kugelman. The state police officer had stepped onto the shoulder of Route 53 near Irving Park Road in an attempt to stop the chase. Melind, formerly of Elk Grove Village, had taken off when police attempted to pull him over for speeding. Melind did not take his foot off the accelerator when he ran Kugelman over, according to court testimony. […]
Sponsored by state Rep. Dennis Reboletti, a Republican from Elmhurst, the bill is known as “Andrea’s Law.” Andrea Will was an Eastern Illinois University student murdered by her ex-boyfriend in 1998. He was released from prison after serving half of his 24-year sentence. If approved by Gov. Quinn, it is estimated between 400 and 500 first-degree murderers currently on parole would have to register with the state police. The Internet database would include mug shots and addresses, similar to the state’s sex offender registry.
* But the Sun-Times editorial board thinks it should be vetoed…
But this bill would make it all but impossible for ex-offenders to make a fresh start, while offering only the illusion of greater public safety.
The logic of sex offender registries is that at least some small percentage of sex offenders cannot be rehabilitated; released from prison, they will repeat the same crimes. Society must know who they are to protect itself.
There is no compelling evidence, however, that people who kill once tend to do so again, especially after serving a 20- to 30-year prison term.
What we do know is that making it harder for ex-offenders to fully integrate into society after prison — with friends, family and a job — increases the likelihood that they’ll return to crime.
In a cash-strapped state that already has public registries for sex offenders, child murderers and arsonists, we also question whether Illinois has the resources to keep track of the thousands of convicted murderers who would be required to register.
* Related…
* Cellini ready for trial in October, attorney says
* Gov. Quinn bars disclosure of gun-permit holders
* Did Cicero’s Dominick slur Hispanics?
* Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposing new round of ethics reforms
* Jody Weis to be named deputy head of the Chicago Crime Commission
* Going it alone: Other towns not following Palatine’s lead on smoking
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The other three charges
Tuesday, Jul 5, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My weekly syndicated newspaper column is about the three felony counts that didn’t stick to Rod Blagojevich…
While Rod Blagojevich’s jury found him guilty on 17 felony counts last week, jurors found him not guilty on one count and deadlocked on two others. Not much has been written about those other counts, so let’s take a look.
The paucity of electronic surveillance evidence related to those verdicts, the lack of credible witnesses for the prosecution and absence of actual harm appeared to hurt the federal government’s case.
Jurors deadlocked on whether Blagojevich actually attempted to hit up Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s brother for a big campaign contribution in exchange for releasing funds to a school in Emanuel’s old congressional district. But this allegedly happened in 2006, long before the feds began bugging Blagojevich, so there were no tapes. And Mayor Emanuel testified at trial that he’d never been told the grant would be made if his brother held a fundraiser. His testimony undermined the feds’ case and jurors deadlocked.
There was some surveillance involving the other two counts, which centered around whether Blagojevich tried to shake down a road builder in exchange for giving him tollway contracts. But nothing concrete could be promised to the builder since a $6 billion tollway construction plan that was constantly mentioned on tape was just a dream in Blagojevich’s head at the time.
Blagojevich, in other words, was just dangling the possibility of government work in exchange for money from the road builder. But demanding a contribution from someone who does business with the government is not illegal under federal law.
The targeted road builder testified that he felt pressured to contribute, but he initially told the FBI that there was no pressure. And the builder’s bosses testified that Blagojevich never directly connected campaign contributions to contracts. Blagojevich was declared not guilty on one count and the jury deadlocked on the other
“No harm, no foul,” may be a good way of summing this up. Emanuel’s school got the cash and no fundraiser was held. The road builder was never promised or given anything specific and no money was contributed.
Blagojevich was convicted of two other similar shakedown attempts. He was recorded being told that for every day he didn’t sign a horse racing industry bailout bill that track owner John Johnston would lose $9,000. Real harm was being done. Blagojevich was also caught on tape instructing his aide how to approach Johnston and appeared to admit that he was holding off signing the bill until he got his money. He didn’t sign the bill until after his arrest. There was nothing hypothetical about that charge and harm was done, and the former governor was found guilty.
The same reasoning goes for the shakedown of a Children’s Memorial Hospital executive. Blagojevich was repeatedly caught on tape plotting to hit the exec up for a large contribution in exchange for releasing funding for the hospital. Blagojevich was also busted checking out whether he could hold up the money. And the exec credibly testified that he believed he was being shaken down. The state cash wasn’t released until after Blagojevich was removed from office. Once again, real harm was done and there was plenty of recorded evidence and credible testimony to back up the government.
But if hypothetical situations and lack of actual harm undermined the government’s case on three counts, why then did the jurors decide to back the prosecution’s case all the way on the attempted sale of Barack Obama’s US Senate seat? After all, none of the schemes were ever followed that far. Nobody was really harmed by the delay, and much of what Blagojevich was caught on tape saying was obviously crazy talk.
Besides the audacity of Blagojevich’s crassness, the answer may have been the huge amount of electronic surveillance. The jury was obviously impressed with the vast number of recordings involving the Senate scheme. “There was so much more evidence to go on,” said one juror after the verdicts were issued.
And, unlike his last jury, which deadlocked on all but one charge, these jurors seemed to comprehend the fact that this wasn’t about whether Blagojevich followed all the way through on his Senate schemes. “He was being tried on attempting, not committing a crime,” a juror correctly explained to reporters.
Prosecutors also did a better job of explaining a much more streamlined case this time. The last jury got lost in a jumbled maze. But the feds used a PowerPoint presentation during summation which so impressed one juror that she said she wished the jury could’ve had it during deliberations.
* Related…
* Blagojevich appeal complicated by testimony?: So even if the appeals court finds Judge Zagel made an error, they’re unlikely to grant an appeal. They’d consider most judicial errors unimportant compared to the role Blagojevich’s testimony played in the jury’s decision.
* Prison terms for political corruption affect families
* WLS: Former Blago Lawyer says suppressed tapes could clear Blago
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* The Tribune has published a very good article on corporate tax burdens. But keep a few things in mind. These numbers are for state and local income taxes. Illinois has no local income tax. Also, these numbers are for all states, not just Illinois. And Illinois changed its tax laws several years ago to what’s known as the “single sales factor.” Only Illinois sales are counted toward a company’s income taxes. The change was meant as a boost to the state’s manufacturers…
In 2010, a majority of Illinois’ top 50 publicly traded corporations paid less than 2 percent of their earnings in income taxes to states and municipalities across the country, with some paying nothing at all or receiving refunds.
[…]
Peoria-based Caterpillar, with $42.6 billion in sales and revenue last year… does 70 percent of its sales outside the U.S. and saw sales plummet by 37 percent in 2009. Its state and local income tax burden that year was minus 3.3 percent of global earnings, which means it was owed money back. In 2010, a year when its sales began to recover, its liability was just 0.7 percent. […]
Infant-formula maker Mead Johnson Nutrition has a low state and local tax burden, 0.2 percent, because only 17 percent of pretax income came from the United States, and within that segment, a lot of sales occur in other states.
* But not every corporation has it so good…
Integrys’ [which owns Peoples Gas and North Shore Gas] state and local income tax burden for 2010 was 5.1 percent of global earnings, tying the electronic health records company Allscripts for the second-highest effective rate among the region’s largest companies, according to the Tribune analysis. At the top was CME Group, owner of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, at 5.8 percent. All tax-burden figures in this story include an allowable federal deduction.
* More relevant numbers…
While Illinois income taxes generally make up a small portion of expenses for major corporations, and corporate income tax revenues accounted for only 4.5 percent of the state’s general fund revenues in 2010, 18 of the state’s 50 largest public companies have been granted state tax credits in the past decade.
Discuss.
* Related…
* John Cullerton talks workers’ comp, tax increase
* Menard workers still get disability even though doctors clear them to return to work
* Committee to examine state’s business atmosphere
* A drop in downtown day-trippers - City’s attractions are drawing fewer suburban visitors
* Technology replaces brawn in Ravenswood corridor
* Joffrey letter to dancers threatens to cut season: The drastic action — which constitutes a lockout not dissimilar to what the NFL is facing — is the result of an ongoing, unresolved contract negotiation between the ballet company and the dancers union, the American Guild of Musical Artists, which also represents major companies such as American Ballet Theatre in New York.
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AFSCME contract open thread
Tuesday, Jul 5, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* For the complete story on how and why Gov. Pat Quinn decided to cancel scheduled pay raises for thousands of union employees, click here and here.
* The reasoning basically boils down to this: The state Constitution gives the General Assembly the sole authority to appropriate funds. The state’s Labor Relations Act has a clause that makes all union contract provisions subject to appropriations. Therefore, since the GA shorted the approps for personnel, the governor had no choice but to cancel scheduled pay raises. Even so, AFSCME claims that the action is illegal and vows to fight it in court
* Quinn was asked about his action over the weekend…
Approximately 30,000 state workers, from prison guards to health care workers, were supposed to get a raise Friday, after having time-deferred their previous two raises.
The governor said ‘no’. Legislators did not put money in the budget for the raises, so for now, they will not happen.
“We have got to run the government, got to make sure it lasts for an entire fiscal year - all of the services that people need - and when the money was not provided for the pay raises, I had no choice,” said Quinn.
Listen…
* Frank is not a lawyer, so you can’t take this to the bank…
Quinn wanted a budget $2 billion larger than what was approved by the Democratic-led legislature. But a leading legislative budget negotiator said the administration never signaled that it would try to bypass a collective bargaining agreement with union workers as a financial management strategy.
Rep. Frank Mautino of Spring Valley, the House Democrats’ budget point man, also said he doesn’t think Quinn’s pay raise move is enforceable.
Mautino acknowledged lawmakers cut the personal services budget lines of state agencies, but said this was to allow Quinn to eliminate unfilled positions because the governor struck an election-year deal with AFSCME not to seek layoffs.
Discuss.
…Adding… Ghost makes several strong and quite important points in comments…
Set aside that it is AFSCME and just insert “contract” here.
Right now every Gov can only spend money which has been appropriated for that purpose. Quinn can not sign a contract to buy the Dodgers, for example, if no money has been appropriated for it. It is a fundamental check and balance of our system. Only the GA can authorize and approve spending.
If the GA does not approve the spending, then the money can not be spent. There is no legal remedy as the court does not have appropriation authority either.
If the court upholds that a Gov can spend money without spending authority form the GA stand back, you think our budget situation is bad now, imagine a Blago who could enter into contracts for health care without any money being appropriated to cover them…or to build buildings or roads etc.
In essence if the court sides with AFSCME, it is giving the Gov authority to spend money without the approval of the general assembly, which tosses out any need for the general assembly to appropriate and approve spending. [a few minor spelling corrections made]
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