* A judge today ruled that Congressman Joe Walsh has to prove why he doesn’t owe $100,000 in back child support…
A judge in Chicago issued a preliminary ruling Wednesday against U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) in the Tea Party favorite’s child-support dispute with his ex-wife, ordering Walsh to explain why he appears to be $100,000 behind on his child-support payments.
Cook County Circuit Judge Raul Vega also wanted to know why Walsh wasn’t in court for the hearing — the McHenry Republican’s ex-wife, Laura Walsh was — and said he expects him to show up at the next hearing, in November.
Walsh’s new attorney, Janet Boyle, asked Vega “for what purpose” he wanted the congressman in court.
Vega gave her a puzzled look.
To which Boyle responded: “Mr. Walsh is a U.S. congressman.”
“Well, he’s no different than anyone else,” the judge said.
Ultimately, Laura Walsh’s attorney said the congressman probably wouldn’t have to come to court for the next hearing, after all.
Still, Vega said he was going to issue a “rule to show cause” why Walsh shouldn’t be held in contempt of court for falling behind, according to his ex-wife, by $100,000 in his child support over the past five years.
The effect of that ruling is that, instead of Laura Walsh having to prove that the congressman owes the money, now the burden shifts to the congressman to prove that he doesn’t owe money, according to attorneys for both Walshes.
The judge also stayed a subpoena that Walsh had filed of his ex-wife’s employer after Walsh’s attorney backed away from her attempt to force the ex to show exactly how much money she was making.
* Meanwhile, Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. is not pleased with this comment by potential primary opponent Debbie Halvorson…
Halvorson sounded very much like a candidate when she said, “He (Jackson) lives in D.C.. He doesn’t come home on weekends. His kids go to school in D.C.”
* Jackson’s response…
“I think it’s helpful when people leave people’s families and children out of political contests,” Jackson said. “People in my district are concerned about employment, they’re concerned about jobs, and I’ve been narrowly focused on that.” […]
Jackson said that because of the schedule set by GOP leaders, he puts his children in school in the nation’s capital. “If they weren’t here, I’d never see my children,” Jackson said. “I want to see my children. It comes with the real estate, it comes with the territory.”
He snapped that “other Members of Congress have grown children,” perhaps a veiled swipe at Halvorson, a mother of four. Her youngest child has graduated from college.
…Adding… Kinda related…
* Political groups owe Illinois $700k in overdue fines, with little reason to pay: The Illinois State Board of Elections posts on its website a list of overdue fines. Close to 200 political committees are there, ranging from the Putnam County Democratic Central Committee, which owes $25, to the Friends of William Burch, which owes $35,500.
* Candidate for Cook County office vows to clear up $17,500 in overdue fines: A politician running for a Cook County office on a message of reform owes more than $17,000 dollars to Illinois’ election board. Ald. Rick Munoz is promising to clear up the overdue fines. Munoz is listed as chairman of a couple campaign funds, including one called the 22nd Ward Independent Political Organization. The fund has racked up big fines this year for failing to file on-time campaign disclosure reports, which are supposed to list who gave the committee money, and how it spent that money. One of the reports was more than a year late. All together, the 22nd Ward campaign fund owes $17,500 in overdue fines to the state board of elections.
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A weird idea, to say the least
Wednesday, Sep 14, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Ummm…
What would you think of the Thompson Center downtown for a Chicago casino?
Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce president Jerry Roper says the high, glassy atrium in the state office building would make it ideal.
“It’s front-end loaded. It’s a burden to the state. And it could make a great casino on the first floor and the lower level and hotel rooms surrounding. That would be one site,” Roper said.
With those high ceilings, I gotta figure the place would be too noisy to bear. Then again…
“If you take a look at the casino that is in Montreal, you’ll see that it’s the old French Pavilion. Turned upside-down, it looks just like the State of Illinois building. We showed it to the governor and he made a note of a re-purposed use of state property. Think about that building. As old as it is, it’s going to have to have a major renovation. Maybe you’re better off just allowing somebody else to renovate it.”
Turned upside down? Turned inside out, maybe.
Thoughts?
* In other casino news, Gov. Pat Quinn might be getting himself into even hotter water with Mayor Rahm Emanuel…
Quinn’s latest criticism centers on the way casinos would be taxed under the legislation, as a major portion of that money is set aside each year for schools. That amounted to $328 million last year, according to Quinn’s office, but the governor says that will drop under the bill that needs his signature to become law.
As it stands, casinos are taxed on a sliding scale of 15 percent to 50 percent, depending on the amount of money they bring in. The legislation Quinn is weighing eventually would limit the rate to 40 percent for casinos raking in between $200 million and $300 million a year and 30 percent for those pulling down between $300 million and $350 million a year.
For casinos making more than $350 million a year, the tax rate would fall to 20 percent. It’s estimated that the lower rate would apply only to a casino built in Chicago because it is expected to bring in the most money.
The casino tax rates would fall before all of the new casinos came online, however, which leads to the estimated initial dip in gambling money going to the education fund.
As subscribers have known for weeks, Quinn has been talking privately for a while now about forcing a Chicago casino to pay a significantly higher tax rate. That’s a deal-killer for Emanuel, who believes the financials won’t work at a higher rate.
* Speaking of Quinn and trouble, this is from the Bond Buyer…
Illinois has selected Mayer Brown from among 18 law firms that submitted proposals to work as the state’s bond and disclosure counsel for the next two years.
The state’s procurement office made its choice public Monday in an award notice posted on its IllinoisBID website. Mayer Brown was chosen based on its top score, state debt manager John Sinsheimer said.
More from Crain’s…
Mayer Brown scored highest among the 18 law firms vying for the work, Mr. Sinsheimer said, adding, “I would say it was close.” Scoring was based on each firm’s bond disclosure experience nationwide, the team assembled for the Illinois work and a detailed description of how the state should handle its public disclosure requirements.
So, apparently, it was not only close but the ratings were subjective as well.
I posted these stories because some powerful Democrats reached out to me this week upset at Gov. Pat Quinn’s choice of attorneys. Mayer Brown partner Ty Fahner is the lead attorney on the Republican lawsuit against the new Democratic congressional map.
That’s just what Quinn needed to do. Yep. Hand out sweet, expensive goodies (indirectly) to the guy who’s probably more hated by the state’s Democratic congressional delegation than anybody else right now. Also, way to hobnob with Republicans, guv, after making such a big deal out of House Speaker Michael Madigan attending a fundraiser for US House Speaker John Boehner.
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* Forget about the political framing in this New York Times article, and think of the damage this could do to Illinois’ budget…
As Congress opens a politically charged exploration of ways to pare the deficit, President Obama is expected to seek hundreds of billions of dollars in savings in Medicare and Medicaid, delighting Republicans and dismaying many Democrats who fear that his proposals will become a starting point for bigger cuts in the popular health programs.
The president made clear his intentions in his speech to a joint session of Congress last week when, setting forth a plan to create jobs and revive the economy, he said he disagreed with members of his party “who don’t think we should make any changes at all to Medicare and Medicaid.”
Few Democrats fit that description. But many say that if, as expected, Mr. Obama next week proposes $300 billion to $500 billion of savings over 10 years in entitlement programs, he will provide political cover for a new bipartisan Congressional committee to cut just as much or more.
* Illinois’ budget simply cannot take a major hit on Medicaid without kicking a whole lot of people off the system. Period. End of story. Why? Read on…
Illinois had more poor people last year than it has had in nearly two decades, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau that also showed the number of impoverished nationally at a new high.
More than 1.82 million people lived in poverty in Illinois last year, up from 1.69 million. That was the biggest number of poor since 1992 when there were 1.86 million people who were impoverished.
The poverty rate last year rose to 14.1 percent from 13.2 percent in 2009, data showed. […]
The report also revealed the percent of uninsured in Illinois rose to 14.8 from 14.2 in 2009. There were 1.91 million people uninsured in the state last year, up from 1.81 million. Nationally, 49.9 million Americans had no health insurance, or 16.3 percent, up from 16.1 percent, or 49 million.
Median household income in Illinois fell 5.5 percent to $50,761 last year from $53,743, the report showed. Nationally, it dropped 2.3 percent to $49,445, from $50,599. Since 2007, median household income has declined 6.4 percent. [Emphasis added.]
Oy.
* More misery…
“In the fiscal year that ended June 30, we serviced 5.1 million individual visits to our food pantries,” said Bob Dolgan, spokesman for the Greater Chicago Food Depository, which operates 650 pantries, soup kitchens and shelters in the city and Cook County. “You go back just three years ago, it was 3.2 million visits.”
Cuts to even relatively small government assistance programs are making it difficult to serve the growing numbers of poor, said Shurna, citing an 87 percent cut to an $11 million state program designed to prevent homelessness.
“So many people are just one catastrophe from becoming homeless, suddenly unable to make a house or rent payment because of unforeseen medical bills or some other emergency,” he said. “Now, because of this cut, 10,371 such people will not be helped.”
* Quote of the day…
“It’s a lost decade for the middle class,” said Sheldon Danziger, a poverty expert at the University of Michigan.
* Nearby state poverty rates…
Indiana 16.3 percent, Ohio 15.3 percent, Kentucky 17.7 percent, Michigan 15.5 percent, Missouri 14.8 percent, Wisconsin 9.9 percent.
* A very depressing national poverty rate graph…
* Meanwhile, the governor’s staff had to straighten out a nervous bond trader…
Quinn last week announced $313 million in budget cuts through the shuttering of seven state facilities and slashing 1,900 jobs. He pressed lawmakers to either increase spending in the $33 billion budget or reallocate funds to support the facilities.
Michael Brooks, a senior portfolio manager at Bernstein Global Wealth Management, slammed the governor’s comments, saying they might offset strides made this year to improve the state’s image in the investment community and lower its borrowing costs.
Brooks said the spread early this year of 250 basis points between five-year Illinois paper and triple-A rated debt has narrowed to 145 basis points in recognition of the state’s move to increase its income tax.
[llinois debt manager John Sinsheimer] said Quinn’s comments were directed specifically at the budgets for the various facilities being shuttered and not the overall budget.
But, hey, that’s probably what happens when you make a gigantic freaking public deal about a few million dollars in reallocations.
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Doing themselves no favors
Wednesday, Sep 14, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* This latest Chicago Teachers Union effort at spin predictably didn’t work…
Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis says Mayor Rahm Emanuel made a comment to her that included an obscenity during a heated discussion over lengthening the day at Chicago public schools […]
Activist the Reverend Paul Jakes has written a letter demanding the mayor apologize.
“I know that African-American women have been victims continuously down through the years of disrespect and we as an African-American community will not stand for it,” said Rev. Jakes.
But Alderman Emma Mitts said there’s nothing racial about it and and who knows what Lewis may have said to Emanuel.
“I know there’s two sides to every story, and somtimes three sides to every story. So what really went on,” said Mitts.
* Zorn looks at how the teachers union is doing itself no favors…
A simple for instance: Is the union for or against a longer school day?
Yes and no.
The union is in favor of it if the extra time is well-used — “we want a better school day,” is how CTU President Karen Lewis puts it — and if teachers get commensurately more money for putting in more hours. But they’re against it because Chicago’s instructional time is very similar to instructional time in similar cities and because objective research doesn’t back up the claims for longer school days. […]
The union often stresses the need to empower classroom teachers in making important educational decisions. But when City Hall began the recent effort to lengthen the classroom day by a majority vote of the teachers in individual schools, union leaders objected, called it union busting and filed suit on procedural grounds.
The teachers now look like confused obstructionists — part of the problem, not part of the solution — largely due to self-inflicted public relations injuries.
* A while ago, Zorn attempted to get to the bottom of the disagreement between Mayor Emanuel and the Chicago Teachers Union over how many instruction minutes per year kids are receiving…
The teachers union claims 55,260 minutes a year, the administration claims 52,360.
In a flurry of email and phone messages I tried to get the sides to reconcile these numbers — the difference amounts to 17 minutes a day — and concluded it has to do with whether you count “passing time” (time allocated for physically transitioning from one activity to another) as instructional time, which other school districts may also do.
In other words, the CTU is counting time spent in the hallways as instruction time.
* But after being played like a violin by the mayor, this bit of spin is the first time that the CTU has seemed to get ahead of the story…
Using the elite private school where Mayor Rahm Emanuel now sends his kids as a starting point, Chicago Teachers Union officials have crafted a proposed schedule that adds 75 minutes to the typical public elementary school student’s day.
The union’s latest salvo in the battle over a longer school day uses as a comparison point the schedule of one third-grade classroom at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, union officials said Tuesday.
Just like at what U of C kids often call “the Lab School,’’ the CTU proposal offers a well-rounded curriculum featuring far more art, music, physical education and other extras than most CPS kids now get and even includes the study of a second language.
Ultimately, the proposed CTU schedule would provide an even longer school day than the Lab School , where a third-grader’s tuition is $21,876. And it does so without requiring Chicago Public School teachers to add any minutes to their work day.
The union will need lots more PR like this to try to neutralize Emanuel. This, alone, won’t do it, of course. Emanuel is a driven, ruthless man who has the polls and the public behind him.
* But, President Lewis can’t seem to get that silly argument behind her…
Also on Tuesday, new information emerged about the four-letter fracas between Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the teachers union president in his City Hall office. The mayor is said to have used the F-word when pushing his plan during a heated exchange.
“This is obviously a demonstration and illustration of who he is. That’s what that is,” said Lewis.
“My view is this is a distraction from the major issue which is getting the kids an education and time in class learning,” said Emanuel.
But sources say she too screamed and swore during the meeting, something she doesn’t deny.
“I did not, um, I did not take it. Let’s put it that way,” said Lewis when asked if she cursed back.
It’s time she moved on to more important things. Just because a reporter asks a question doesn’t mean she has to answer it.
* Related…
* 2 more schools opt for longer days - 7 faculties have now bucked union on divisive issue
* City Enacting New Preschool Health Goals
* Emanuel to aldermen: Suggestion box is out on budget - Mayor needs to eliminate shortfall put at $636 million
* Goldman Sachs to provide $25 million in loans and grants to Chicago-area small businesses
* New city crime database goes online
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