* I asked a friend of mine this week if he ever went to the Soul Train TV studio back when the show was broadcast every day from Chicago. “Of course,” he said. The show was absolutely the place to be on the South Side, so he was a regular.
Soul Train eventually switched to a weekly format and host Don Cornelius then moved it to Los Angeles. But Big Don is coming back to the city on Labor Day for an anniversary concert…
Pay homage to 40 years of Soul Train – the Chicago-based, longest-running, nationally syndicated television show – with a spectacular Labor Day concert at Millennium Park’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion. The evening’s honored guest is none other than Don Cornelius, Soul Train’s founder and host. Legendary R&B and soul artists, including Jerry “The Iceman” Butler, The Impressions, the Chi-Lites, the Emotions and Gene Chandler, take the stage with an orchestra of veteran musical collaborators led by the acclaimed conductor/arranger Tom Tom Washington.
* Everybody was doing the “Soul Train Line” back in the 70s…
* She hasn’t made up her mind yet, but, oh, man, if this primary happens it is gonna be brutal…
Former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson said Friday she has filed a statement of candidacy with the the Federal Election Commission in the 2nd congressional district of Illinois, a seat held by fellow Democrat Jesse Jackson Jr.
Halvorson, unseated in the 11th congressional district last year by Republican Adam Kinzinger, emphasized she has not yet decided to run.
“I’ve been asked to run by constituents who feel they are not represented,” said Halvorson, who lives in Crete, which would become part of Jackson’s congressional district under a new remap. “I’ve told them I would consider it and I have to keep my options open if I’m going to do that and that means filing my paperwork.”
However, 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. […]
“I just want to emphasize I haven’t made a decison yet,” she said. “This is a tough one. The new (2nd) district includes a lot of the areas I represent, so I am very familiar with it.”
She’s already bringing up the guy’s kids? Yikes.
* These two have been fighting for years, mainly over the third airport. Here’s a story from the first time she ran for Congress in 2008…
Jackson is concerned that if Halvorson were elected to Congress, his airport plan—which he has worked on or advocated for more than a decade as an economic boon for residents in his district to the north—would be dead.
“That is our specific fear, that if she’s put in charge, our developers will leave,” said Rick Bryant, a spokesman for Jackson, who declined to speak to a reporter directly.
“They should be fearing me becoming a congresswoman,” Halvorson said in response. “I represent the people who live in the 11th Congressional District. . . . He’s just nervous that I’m going to become a congresswoman because then his control is over.”
Jackson got a little payback earlier this year when he adamantly opposed Halvorson’s attempt to get herself appointed to be the state’s Transportation Secretary…
“Any consideration of her for that post would be an outrageous slap in the face to voters in the south suburbs who overwhelmingly supported Gov. Quinn for re-election because of his promise to build a third airport,” said Jackson […]
Jackson added that Halvorson would doom other regional projects, including the proposed Metra Southeast Service, CTA Red Line extension and the Metra extension to the airport,
“She has no record of success for promoting any transportation project in her district or in the State of Illinois,” Jackson concluded.
* The redrawn 2nd District is less than 54 percent African-American, but that percentage will be far higher in a Democratic primary. Jackson has loads of baggage that she can use against him, which is a big reason why this contest would be so intense, but the demographics are not her friend here.
Still, one can hope, right?
* Other stuff…
* Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh to Skip Obama Speech to Congress
* Rep. Walsh draws crowd: President Barack Obama got both a snub and a sorry Thursday from Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh… “I sincerely apologize for what I said last night. That’s not what I meant to say, but that’s what I said,” Walsh, R-McHenry, said, citing the Northwest Herald story in which the remark appeared.
* Area Dems To Collect Congressional Signatures - Reps. Peter Roskam and Judy Biggert will wait to see how a lawsuit challenging new district maps will play out in the courts.
* ‘I am disgusted with Congress’s failure’: Former state Rep. Jay Hoffman will run for seat in 13th District
From silk plants to pant suits, costume jewelry to collectible clowns, the very things often identified with former Cicero Town President Betty Loren-Maltese are up for sale.
The ex-convict says she will wheel and deal at a garage sale at a friend’s house in west suburban Forest View the next three days as she sells off decades of stuff she had in her home or her Cicero office. Included are make-up mirrors, a singing bass plaque and more costume earrings than Imelda Marcos had shoes–at just $1.50 a pair.
* The Question: What else might you expect to find at Betty’s garage sale?
* Last year, the National Right to Work Foundation backed a federal lawsuit against the state over the unionization of personal care assistants. Assistants in the state’s rehab program voted to unionize in 2003 after a gubernatorial executive order mandating an election. Personal care assistants in the state’s disabilities program rejected union membership in 2009 after another executive order.
The disabilities assistant union election became a cause célèbre on the Right. Michelle Malkin was particularly involved.
* The lawsuit claimed the First Amendment rights of rehab assistants were violated because they were being forced to pay union dues. The disabilities assistants said their 1st Amendment rights were harmed by the possibility that the union might win a future representation election.
The plaintiffs lost the first round and they appealed. Yesterday, the appellate court ruled against them as well…
[B]ecause of the significant control the state exercises over all aspects of the personal assistants’ jobs, we conclude that personal assistants are employees of the State and reject the plaintiffs’ arguments that the State’s interests in collective bargaining do not apply to the unique circumstances of personal assistants. As such, the fair share fees in this case withstand First Amendment scrutiny—at least against a facial challenge to the imposition of the fees itself. […]
The [disability assistant] plaintiffs feel burdened fighting to prevent what they view as an unconstitutional collective bargaining agreement. But many individuals and organizations spend considerable resources fighting to prevent Congress or the state legislatures from adopting legislation that might violate the Constitution. The courts cannot judge a hypothetical future violation in this case any more than they can judge the validity of a not-yet-enacted law, no matter how likely its passage. To do so would be to render an advisory opinion, which is precisely what the doctrine of ripeness helps to prevent.
* In other labor news, the Congress Plaza Hotel strike hit its 3,000th day this week…
The union still hopes to reach an agreement with the hotel and has proposed wages just below industry standards. Congress Hotel’s lawyer and negotiator, Peter Andjelkovich referred all questions to the legal proceedings against the union and said negotiations do not take place in the press.
Holding the picket line for more than eight years, many of the union members actively campaigned companies and expos to choose other venues. The union boasts of costing the hotel at least $700,000 over the last few years. The figure could actually be closer to $1 million, but the hotel refuses to acknowledge it. At least a dozen companies or events changed locations because of the strike. As a result, the hotel has filed suit alleging secondary activities, an illegal maneuver, by the union.
Everyone involved is declining to comment, but sources who would know say that Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign is wooing a top Illinois Republican to support him for president: state House GOP Leader Tom Cross.
Mr. Cross, like much of the state’s Republican establishment, so far is neutral in the presidential derby. The candidate who had built significant support here, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, dropped out a couple of weeks ago.
But Mr. Perry has caught a bit of a tail wind in the last month, and insiders say fascination with him is growing.
Mr. Cross, who backed Rudy Giuliani four years ago, is said to be interested in an alliance, which could be politically beneficial to both men. But no deal yet has been struck, though Mr. Perry quietly slipped into town a few days ago to meet with potential funders and backers.
State Sen. Kirk Dillard went as far to say he was leaning heavily toward Perry, but he stopped there.
* However, Karl Rove, who is said to despise Perry, just picked up a bigtime backer from Illinois…
The Karl Rove-affiliated Super PAC American Crossroads raised $2.7 million between July 1 and August 24, according to a new report filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Notably, Kenneth Griffin, the founder and CEO of the massive hedge fund Citadel, donated $300,000 to the group. In 2008, Griffin backed Barack Obama’s bid for the presidency, raising between $50,000 and $100,000 as a donation ‘bundler’ and contributing the maximum $4,600 to the then-Illinois senator’s presidential bid.
Griffin and his wife were hugely important Tom Cross contributors last year.
Perry leads by nine among men but trails by five among women. Among voters under 30, the president leads while Perry has the edge among those over 30. The president leads Perry by 16 percentage points among union members while Perry leads among those who do not belong to a union.
Of all the Republican candidates, I’m most intrigued by Perry, as I know many Americans are. We’d all love for somebody to bring this country out of its economic funk, and many of us want to know if there’s anything in the Texas example that could help the rest of us and whether he’s the guy to do it.
Economic issues may very well trump social issues in the next election, and President Barack Obama certainly hasn’t been any profile in courage on gay marriage either with his own ever-evolving views.
But I’ve never been convinced any president of the United States can do a whole lot to turn around the economy, while I’m absolutely certain the right president can move this country forward on social issues and the wrong one can set it back for decades. I don’t intend to go back quietly.
* Speaking of the economy, Illinois was just ranked sixth in the nation for gaining businesses…
To determine which states truly seem to be luring businesses, I used data provided by economic consulting firm EMSI of Moscow, Idaho, showing business establishments per capita. Since the data control for population, the method allows for comparisons between populous states like California and Texas and less populated ones like Rhode Island and Nevada. I was interested in each state’s performance over the last few years, to account for the recent recession, so I measured the change in business establishments per capita from the beginning of 2008 through the end of 2010. I also included each state’s unemployment rate in my data set, to help identify outliers.
The gain wasn’t much, from 0.97 businesses per person in 2008 to 1.01 businesses per person in 2010, but, hey, we can take everything we can get.
That same person also looked at Texas job creation since 2008. Some highlights…
Federal government jobs. Texas: Up 7 percent. U.S.: Up 4.3 percent.
State government jobs. Texas: Up 8.4 percent. U.S.: Down 0.1 percent.
Local government jobs. Texas: Up 6.1 percent. U.S.: Down 1.7 percent.
Private-sector jobs. Texas: Down 0.5 percent. U.S.: Down 6.6 percent.
Healthcare jobs. Texas: up 12.6 percent. U.S.: Up 6.2 percent.
Retail jobs. Texas: Up 1.9 percent. U.S.: Down 7.2 percent.
Manufacturing jobs. Texas: Down 11.6 percent. U.S.: Down 15.8 percent.
* As always, before you comment on a national issue like this, take a very deep breath. No bumper sticker slogans, no goofy DC talking points. Take the high road, or you’ll be shown the door. Forever.
* Apparently, Gov. Pat Quinn is dithering on purpose when it comes to state boards…
Nearly a quarter of the state’s more than 300 boards and commissions have been inactive in recent years, according to an audit released Thursday, and the Quinn administration said it is looking at how to eliminate ones that are no longer needed.
The inactive boards listed ranged from the Governor’s Council on Health and Physical Fitness to the Steel Development Board to the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Task Group, according to Auditor General William Holland’s examination. The findings were part of an overall audit that also found many of the boards and commissions violate open meetings laws and fail to do basics like keep attendance at meetings.
Quinn’s office is in favor of looking for ways to cut down the number of boards and commissions but still keep in place the essential ones, ranging from the Illinois Commerce Commission to the Illinois Liquor Control Board, said Quinn spokeswoman Brooke Anderson. The governor is seeking help from the legislature to move forward, Anderson said.
Quinn also has sought to merge to labor relations boards, one dealing with educational matters and another dealing with business and labor issues, Anderson said. Part of the reason some of the boards were inactive was because they’ve completed their duties, Holland said.
* But Will County Executive Larry Walsh blasted his fellow Democrat for dithering on a solution to the regional superintendents’ fiasco…
Walsh wrote, “… many of us are astonished that a resolution to this issue has not been reached given the important role these superintendents play in the Illinois public education system.”
Walsh pointed out that the State should not abdicate its responsibility to pay the superintendents when it is the state which mandates the positions exist to handle specific functions within the education system. Nor should the governor have eliminated the salaries with no prior conversations with local officials.
“School districts and local governments, of which the State of Illinois owes millions of dollars in aid to, also should not be expected to pick up the tab to pay superintendents for work mandated by the State of Illinois. If there was a feeling within your administration that local assistance was needed for Regional Offices of Education in these difficult times there should have been an upfront discussion, not a last-minute line-item veto of superintendent salaries.” […]
“We, however, cannot ask them or expect them to continue this work when the same level of responsibility, sense of community and principle is not being bestowed upon them for the work that they do. The severity of this situation calls for nothing short of an immediate resolution,” he wrote.
Nearly half of the inaugural money raised came from money managers. Emanuel has longstanding ties to that industry, where he built his personal wealth as an investment banker prior to his 2002 run for Congress.
“I think what you will find is that the ratios of contributions pretty much match his campaign funds,” said Tom Bowen, the spokesman for the Emanuel campaign who put together the list.
Money managers also accounted for nearly $5 million of Emanuel’s nearly $15 million mayoral campaign fund.
* And the Sun-Times wants the prosecutorial dithering to end in the Drew Peterson case…
We believe it’s time to free Peterson from the Will County Jail, where he has been held without trial for two years and three months, and put him under less restrictive house arrest. To keep him in jail while prosecutors plod through yet another round of pretrial motions is to deny him his constitutional right to be free, in the words of the Eighth Amendment, of “cruel and unusual punishments.”
This is a sacred phrase in American jurisprudence, first to be found in the English Bill of Rights of 1689.
Peterson’s lawyers, in a motion filed with the Illinois Supreme Court on Tuesday, argue that their client should be freed altogether while awaiting trial, and we’re sympathetic to that view. Much of the evidence presented at a hearing 14 months ago that resulted in Peterson’s continued jailing was of the hearsay variety — what one person allegedly said to another person — and, as we have argued before, we doubt the constitutionality of such evidence.
Every month, Thomas Villanova gets a $9,000 reminder of how lucrative it can be to serve as a union leader in Chicago.
The sum is part of a city pension that comes on top of the $198,000 annual salary he is paid to represent the interests of thousands of city workers.
Villanova last worked for the city in 1989 as an electrical mechanic with the Department of Streets and Sanitation, making about $40,000 a year. Yet in 2008 he was allowed to retire at age 56 with a $108,000 city pension. That’s because, under a little-known state law, his pension was based not on his city paycheck but on his much higher union salary.
This kind of deal is available only to union officials who meet certain requirements, but a Tribune/WGN-TV investigation has uncovered documents that show Villanova violated state law when he applied for the pension and cast doubt on whether he truly qualifies for all that money.
Oops.
And it gets “better”…
Villanova gets another $12,000 a year from the State University Retirement System of Illinois, based on his work for the community college. Although he held that job for only three years, state law allows him to receive reciprocal pension benefits from SURS when he retired from the city.
That pension is also based on his union salary, not the $41,000 he made working for the community college.
Thomas Villanova isn’t the only official from Local 134 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers who participated in a city pension and a union pension at the same time, in violation of state law.
Three other local leaders who did so stand to collect more than $6 million from the municipal pension fund in their lifetimes, according to an analysis by the Tribune and WGN-TV.
Like Villanova, all three retired from the city before the age of 60. Like Villanova, each signed an application saying he wasn’t participating in his union’s pension fund, and Local 134 officials wrote letters for all of them saying they weren’t getting any union pension benefits.
