“David Axelrod has always been skillful at creeping into your room in the middle of the night and slicing out your heart, somehow without leaving behind a single fingerprint or drop of blood that ties him or his candidate to the crime,” said Obama biographer David Mendell of Obama’s top political aide.
* Of course, the first thing to come to mind would be the Blair Hull scandal, and Mendell addressed that as well…
Axelrod, Mendell and others have reported, had asked about divorce records of a wealthy Democratic candidate, Blair Hull, when he considered working for Hull, and been rebuffed. The Chicago Tribune, his old newspaper, sued to unseal the records of Hull, who was Obama’s Democratic primary opponent, and later to unseal Republican Jack Ryan’s. Ryan, the 2004 GOP nominee in the Illinois Senate contest, ended up having to quit the race.
Axelrod denied to POLITICO, as he has many times before, that he suggested either approach to the paper. “I and we have zero to do with it,” he said. (Suggesting such a line of inquiry, incidentally, would hardly have been out of bounds in an ordinary political campaign, but to keep the move fingerprint-free would have reflected a certain dexterity.)
“Axelrod and the Obama Senate campaign played no public role in unsealing the Hull or Ryan divorce records. But the behind-the-scenes machinations were more complicated,” said Mendell, who broke the Hull story for the Tribune in 2004, in an email, adding; “You really have to connect the dots to pin things on Axelrod.” [Emphasis added.]
Nevertheless, Hull’s ads were working. And when Hynes’ quick hit of television had no effect, the Hynes brain trust began worrying even more about Hull. Hynes’s campaign spokesperson, Chris Mather, stepped up her phone calls to me and other reporters in hopes of slowing the Hull momentum. However, the intense lobbying effort actually had the opposite effect with me. Hynes’s obvious fear gave Hull even more credibility.
At about this time, I met with a Hynes operative for lunch. When I had gone to meet Mather earlier in the campaign season, we convened near Hynes’s office. But this operative wanted to come to me, so we gathered at a North Michigan Avenue restaurant just a couple of doors from the Tribune Tower. Before I had taken a bite of my grilled chicken sandwich, I was handed a folder of opposition research on Hull. Among the papers was a copy of the outside sheet of the filing of one of Hull’s two divorces in Illinois. Hull, in fact, had been divorced three times. He was married to his first wife for nearly thirty years, raising three children with her. After moving to Chicago, he then twice married and divorced the same woman. The rest of the divorce file had been sealed, and this vague court order was the only document publicly available.
The order contained only one salient fact: Hull’s second wife, Brenda Sexton, had once been granted an order of protection against him. [Emphasis added.]
So, in his book he clearly blamed the Hynes campaign for the Hull leak, but now Mendell is putting the blame on Axelrod? Weird.
U.S. Rep. Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL-2) tonight said in a statement that he does not think President Obama’s “American Jobs Act” will work. […]
“The President’s plan will help - assuming Republicans help to pass it - but it is short of the need.
His Democratic primary opponent Debbie Halvorson sharply criticized Jackson for not fully supporting the president. Today, he sent an e-mail message to supporters…
I am in full support of President Obama’s jobs plan and building a airport for our future. Help me help President Obama.
A Democratic congressman compared the NCAA to the Mafia over how it controls the lives of student athletes.
“I think they’re just one of the most vicious, most ruthless organizations ever created by mankind,” Illinois Rep. Bobby Rush said of the NCAA at a congressional forum on college sports Tuesday. “I think you would compare the NCAA to Al Capone and to the Mafia.”
Rush made the accusations at the forum called to look at the impact of “back-room deals, payoffs and scandals” in college sports. The congressman spoke after hearing from a couple of mothers of former student-athletes who complained of ill treatment by schools after their sons suffered injuries. […]
One mother, Valerie Hardrick, said the University of Oklahoma refused to grant a waiver for medical hardship that would allow her son, Kyle Hardrick, to play basketball at junior college after transferring from OU. Prior to Tuesday’s forum, Hardrick’s family provided to The Associated Press documentation showing that team doctors diagnosed him with a torn meniscus in his knee and wrote down on practice logs that he should be held out because he was hurt. Hardrick’s family said the university has refused to pursue the waiver unless the family agrees to a settlement that would prohibit him or his family members from enrolling at Oklahoma or any of the universities governed by its board of regents. The proposed settlement also would prevent the Hardricks from filing a lawsuit against the university.
“My insurance does not cover all of Kyle’s medical bills,” an emotional Valerie Hardrick said. “The University of Oklahoma refused to pay for Kyle’s surgery, his rehab, and his medication. The university actions also allowed Kyle to be released without appropriate medical treatment before consulting his original surgeon.”
*** UPDATE *** The Catholic Conference of Illinois has responded to the governor’s comments by saying he dodged the issue…
“Governor Quinn’s statement today that he is recognizing a rape victim for her advocacy work dodges the issue. Our hearts go out to any victim of rape, one of the most personally violent crimes against women,” said Mary Massingale, director of communications.
“He is presenting an award – titled the Pro-Choice Leadership Award – at an event hosted by Personal PAC, an organization that describes itself as a ‘political action committee (PAC) dedicated to electing pro-choice candidates to state and local office in Illinois.’ This action is irreconcilable with any honest profession of the Catholic faith, and it is what prompted the Bishops’ statement.”
[ *** End Of Update *** ]
* Yesterday, Cardinal George and all Illinois Catholic bishops issued an open letter blasting Gov. Pat Quinn for presenting an award at a Personal PAC event, saying the governor was now going beyond “supporting the legal right to kill children in their mother’s wombs” to the point of “rewarding those deemed most successful in this terrible work.”
“I am going to the event to present an award to a woman who was a victim of rape and who is a very strong advocate of helping rape victims all over our state [and] our country,” Quinn said after an appearance in Chicago to announce state funding to overhaul the CTA’s Red Line. “I really feel that’s a proper, Christian thing to do to honor someone who’s doing someone that helps the community at large.”
Asked whether he’s offended that George and the other bishops were questioning his credentials as a Roman Catholic, Quinn said, “No, I just follow my conscience. That’s all you can do in life.”
“The governor is saying a few kind words about a woman who has been raped and had the courage to tell her story,” Cosgrove said. “The Catholic Bishops attacking him for that and accusing women of killing their children is a new low in public discourse, even for them.”
Powerful stuff. Personal PAC’s ads, mailers and phone calls did more to elect Pat Quinn governor than anything else last year. Quinn defeated pro-life Catholic Bill Brady.
* Whether or not you agree with the Cardinal and the bishops, this is still a free country and they have a right to voice their opinion. If Quinn was presenting an award at a pro-life fundraiser, I’m sure Cosgrove would have something to say about it. If Quinn was an AFSCME member, he’d have lost his union card by now.
So, please, try to keep your “separation of church and state” notions in line with reality when you comment. Thanks.
* In other news, three Republican legislators from Springfield say they doubt that any major pension reforms will surface next week…
Springfield’s lawmakers said Wednesday they do not think a bill revamping pensions for current state employees will be called for a vote during the remaining three days of the veto session.
Appearing before The State Journal-Register editorial board, Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield, and Reps. Raymond Poe, R-Springfield, and Rich Brauer, R-Petersburg, also said they might consider a borrowing plan for the state if the money could be repaid in less than a year and Gov. Pat Quinn specifies exactly how the borrowed money will be spent. […]
“I’m inclined to think it won’t occur this year, nor will it in the spring,” Bomke said.
His argument is that lawmakers face elections next year and will be running in newly drawn districts, making them reluctant to deal with a controversial issue like changing pensions.
Springfield Republicans probably aren’t the best source for news about pension reform, for obvious reasons, but they’re not alone in predicting a lack of action. We’ll see soon enough.
* From House Republican Leader Tom Cross’ press staff…
(T)he Illinois House’s Revenue and Finance Committee is meeting this afternoon in Chicago on HJR45. We have filed an amendment to that resolution calling for no new wage increases associated with any collectively bargained contracts throughout State government until the State has achieved two years of operating surpluses. An operating surplus would be defined as a state fiscal year in which the expenditures authorized or incurred are less than the revenues received during the same fiscal year, as determined by the Comptroller’s Office.
Under our proposed language, the state would also not approve any funds for payment increases in lieu of pay raises for health insurance benefit increases, employee cost sharing reductions, or reductions for employee contributions to the state employees’ retirement program until the threshold of two consecutive years of operating surpluses has been achieved.
* From a press release…
“Our priority is on the protection of jobs in this state and ensuring that we get our fiscal house in order above all else,” Cross said. “We should not enter into any new contracts that guarantee wage and benefit increases at a time when the Governor is talking about closing seven state facilities that serve those with mental health needs, at-risk youth, and house dangerous criminals.” […]
“We need to put the teeth back into every fiscal reform we enact in the State of Illinois in order to protect jobs and make them meaningful and accountable to taxpayers,” said Leitch. “For three years legislators have taken 12 unpaid furlough days, a significant pay cut. It’s only fair that all state employees share in the sacrifice until Illinois’ financial health is restored and we are no longer the ‘Deadbeat State.’”
* The Question: Do you support a wage/benefits freeze for unionized state workers until Illinois’ budget has had an operating surplus for two years? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
As Congressman Joe Walsh’s legal team preps for a pretrial conference in his child-support suit next week, his primary election opponent, Congressman Randy Hultgren, has taken a poll that among other issues, looks at how Walsh’s personal past might cost him politically.
The poll, the first conducted by the Tarrance Group for the Hultgren campaign, sampled residents of the new 14th Congressional District, Hultgren campaign officials said.
Of course Hultgren would put questions about Walsh’s child support issue in his benchmark survey. You’d have to be an idiot not to examine how this is playing in Voter Land. A campaign which didn’t poll the issue wouldn’t be worth a dime, Walsh’s included. But Walsh wasn’t asked if he tested the issue in his own polling. I cannot fathom why he wasn’t asked about this, since that would be important to know if he’s gonna bring up a phony issue about polling questions.
* But, of course, Congressman Walsh just has to play the aggrieved victim card…
Yet, after hearing from constituents that the poll contained a number of questions on child support and his financial past, Walsh is calling the effort a “push poll” — a political campaign technique designed to influence voters by disseminating negative and false information — and evidence of a dirty campaign.
“If he raises his voice and calls into question who I am as a father, I’ll punch him in the face, figuratively speaking,” said Walsh, of McHenry.
This is not a “push poll.” A push poll is a phone canvass of lots of voters that focuses on one issue. It’s an advocacy call, not a survey, even though some are thinly disguised as polls.
And I’m sure Hultgren is content to let Walsh’s ex-wife do all the talking about who Walsh is as a father.
* And, obviously, Congressman Hultgren doesn’t need to make this promise…
Walsh said he would “sign a pledge tomorrow” that he “won’t go personal.”
“And I’d ask him to do the same thing,” Walsh challenged.
Hultgren is a boring, conservative church-goer who, I’ve heard, prays before every vote. Walsh would have to make something up to “go personal” on Hultgren.
All Walsh did by whining about Hultgren’s poll was put his own very damaging issues in front of voters yet again. But that’s Joe Walsh. When the only tool you own is a hammer, all problems look like a nail. Congressman Walsh’s only tool is publicity about his personal and political victimization, so he constantly resorts to it.
* When Gov. Jim Thompson decided the state should lease buildings instead of building or buying them, Bill Cellini made a bundle…
June 1979: State legislators approve a plan to lease the vacant Concordia Seminary from New Frontiers, a Cellini-owned company, for $985,000 a year and use it as a state prison training facility. The proposal came with an option to buy, and legislators talked about purchasing within five years, but the state is still leasing the building. The project was controversial from the start. “I don’t think anybody would be jumping all over this if Bill Cellini were not involved,” then Department of Corrections director Gayle Franzen said. “It just so happens that he knows more politicians than the governor or I put together.” Cellini closes several more leasing deals with the state in ensuing years, and by 1984, New Frontiers is leasing more square footage to the state than any other landlord in Springfield, collecting $175,300 a month in rent.
* When Thompson moved from concrete to asphalt roads, Cellini and his friends made out nicely. When the Republican-controlled General Assembly allowed for the commercial and residential development around UIC, Bill Cellini expanded his reach to Chicago and built University Village. We all know about the hotel, financed with a $15.5 million state loan before it was finally foreclosed upon after its loan balance topped $30 million. And then there was the TRS investment business, which ended up leading to his downfall.
* But Cellini made his really big cash on a casino…
Cellini paid $50,000 for a state gambling license to open a casino in Alton in 1990. Three years later, Cellini and his partners took Argosy public, with Cellini selling $4.9 million in stock and keeping shares worth an estimated $50 million. When Argosy was sold in 2004, Cellini received an estimated $63 million for his remaining shares, according to State Journal-Register archives.
It’s impossible to run a government without making some people a bunch of cash. And while not condoning his behavior, there’s no doubt that Cellini was a genius. Wherever there was money to be made off the government, he was there, like an Illinois Zelig. Actually, he probably came up with most of those ideas, which is all the more amazing.
If he’s lucky, a person will have one good moneymaking idea in a lifetime. Cellini had too many to count. I just don’t think there will ever be another one like him. Not only is he a unique person, but laws and times have changed too much to do what he did now.
The organizer of the Coalition for Political Honesty, Pat Quinn has been called shallow, unrealistic and a hypocrite; yet, a large number of Illinois citizens respond when he makes a call for action. Governor Thompson will not soon forget his tea bag mail.
“Pat Quinn was one of the most personable, clearly gregarious people in the Walker administration,” commented Rep. Michael McClain (D., Quincy). “His only problem was that he loved power and was vicious in doling out patronage and taking it away. He is not politically naive. The stuff he says now doesn’t jive with the stuff he said then. He’s a guy you’d love to have a beer with and in charge of your own patronage, but he would not get the most Christian guy of the year award, by any means.” Chicago Democratic Rep. James Taylor put it more simply. “He’s got to learn that confrontation politics are out. He’s got the Walker image, and you know how popular he was around here.”
Quinn admits, however, that his reputation has cost him clout. “Lots of times, legislators won’t vote on another legislator’s bill because they don’t like the sponsor, refusing to deal with the bill on its merits. I experience much of the same attitude toward me.” […]
“You’ve got to know your enemy and organize accordingly,” Quinn said. “There’s no nice way of doing things, no subtle way.” […]
“If you’ve got a bill you want passed, I wouldn’t advise hiring me as your lobbyist,” said Quinn.
Thursday, Nov 3, 2011 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Out-of-state energy company Tenaska is still trying to win support from the legislature to build the Taylorville Energy Center (TEC). This legislation, which has already failed three times, would leave consumers paying up to seven times the market price for electricity and cost $286 million per year.
Tenaska and TEC supporters claim that we need more coal power, touting an exaggerated and inaccurate estimate that “40 percent” of Illinois coal plants could be forced to close as a result of new regulations from the EPA. But independent studies – including the EPA’s own analysis – do not support this “sky-is-falling” estimate.
What’s more, Illinois’ projected energy demands will be met even if some older coal plants now operating in the state are retired. That’s in part because Illinois draws power from two regional power pools that, combined, serve 21 states and have a power generation capacity in excess of 300,000 megawatts. The TEC, if built, would add just 544 megawatts to this total, an addition of only two-tenths of one percent.
So what would it cost Illinois consumers to pay for this drop in the bucket? Total costs for the TEC would be at least $8.6 billion. That’s why the market isn’t supportive of the TEC and why Tenaska is instead asking the legislature to push this unneeded power plant through.
* Cardinal George and the rest of the state’s Catholic bishops issued a press release this afternoon blasting Gov. Pat Quinn…
We have recently been made aware of Governor Quinn’s decision to present a Pro-Choice Leadership Award at an upcoming event for a political organization known as Personal PAC. This organization describes itself as a “political action committee (PAC) dedicated to electing pro-choice candidates to state and local office in Illinois.” Personal PAC has raised and spent millions of dollars in this effort and supports the lobbying efforts of Planned Parenthood in Springfield.
We deeply regret the Governor’s decision to present this award, which so closely associates him with a political action group whose purpose is contrary to the common good. With this action, Governor Quinn has gone beyond a political alignment with those supporting the legal right to kill children in their mother’s wombs to rewarding those deemed most successful in this terrible work.
They’re obviously very upset about this Personal PAC event. But check out the next two paragraphs…
Pope John Paul II asked in his Letter to Families (1994), “How can one morally accept laws that permit the killing of a human being not yet born, but already alive in the mother’s womb?” Governor Quinn not only accepts these laws, he promotes them and publicly presents awards to their advocates. This approach is irreconcilable with any honest profession of the Catholic faith. While we deeply regret and oppose his actions, we continue to pray for his conversion and the protection of unborn human life.
To our Catholic institutions statewide, we reaffirm our desire and policies that those acting in the manner of the Governor should not be given special recognition on Church property or at functions held in support of Church ministry. [Emphasis added.]
* Not being a Catholic myself, I asked the Catholic Conference for a clarification, including whether this somehow meant Gov. Quinn would be barred from receiving communion. A spokesperson responded…
The Catholic dioceses in the state have policies prohibiting any politician who has voted in favor of policies that go against the Church’s teaching from speaking at or receiving an award from a Catholic institution, like at a school.
The bishops have not banned Quinn from receiving Communion. An individual priest could make the decision not to give Quinn Communion.
The bishops’ statement further underscore existing policy, and expresses extreme disappointment in Quinn’s intention to give out the Personal PAC award.
It seems highly irregular for a sitting governor to give out an award on behalf of any Political Action Committee.
Quinn is also involved in a lawsuit over his administration’s refusal to allow Catholic Charities to continue doing adoption and foster care services as long as the institution won’t work with gay parents in civil unions. A major fight has been building for some time now.
Cosgrove says the bishops should not try to “enforce their religious dogma” on a woman’s private decision and asked them to join in efforts to promote contraception and sex education that would lower the number of unwanted pregnancies.
I’ll let you know if the governor’s office responds.
*** UPDATE 1 *** From the governor’s office…
The governor is scheduled to attend, but on the political side. [The event is] Not on state calendar.
Quinn is presenting an award to a victim of sexual assault who is also a rape victim advocate.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From Personal PAC…
A few minutes ago, the Catholic Conference of Illinois released a statement to the press attacking Personal PAC, Governor Quinn and the reproductive rights of all Illinois women. The Bishops’ objection stems from our support of Governor Quinn and all other candidates who stand on the side of women in believing that the profoundly personal decision to use birth control and seek a legal abortion should rest with women, and not politicians. The Bishops take issue with Governor Quinn attending our Annual Awards Luncheon on Thursday, November 17th. In their statement about our luncheon, the Bishops state “With this action, Governor Quinn has gone beyond a political alignment with those supporting the legal right to kill children in their mother’s wombs to rewarding those deemed most successful in this terrible work.”
While I don’t expect the Bishops to apologize for this inflammatory and outrageous language accusing women of killing children, I do hope that each of you, and everyone you know, will join us at the luncheon to demonstrate that we fully support elected officials who refuse to back down in the face of threats. The absolute best response we can have for the Bishops is to pack the Hilton Ballroom on November 17th and show them that we intend to protect the reproductive rights of EVERY woman in the State of Illinois.
You can slice and dice the legalese all you want, but one message came through loud and clear in Tuesday’s conviction of William Cellini: Times changed, Cellini didn’t.
* But Chris Mooney, the Arrington professor of state politics with the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois Springfield, wasn’t so convinced…
“I was actually kind of surprised that he was convicted, because I didn’t think the case seemed that strong. But I wasn’t in the courtroom. But I do think that it also shows you that you don’t want the federal government knocking on your door, because, my God, if they can convict him on this, boy, they can get you.”
Before the trial started, I thought the feds had a pretty weak case. After Tom Rosenberg’s testimony, I figured they had Cellini on everything. So, to me, the most surprising aspect of the verdict was that jurors found Cellini not guilty of the actual Rosenberg shakedown (”attempted extortion”), but then convicted him on conspiracy to extort.
“What really got him was the wiretaps,” juror Candy Chiles said. “It was right there. . . . All the evidence was overwhelming . . . He did the crime, and when you do the crime you have to do the time.”
The evidence apparently wasn’t “overwhelming” enough to convict Cellini on the most important count of attempted extortion.
I’m not talking about a big belly laugh, the kind of laugh where the jaw almost unhinges and sound comes out full throated, the eyes bugging, and what you see is a body shaking with confident, honest, joy.
No, this laugh was different. I heard it Thursday at a corruption trial involving Illinois politics, and what passes for honest laughter among politicians using your government to cash in isn’t loud and honest and confident. […]
It was Illinois Combine boss William Cellini laughing with informant and convicted weasel Stuart Levine on federal tape played during Cellini’s corruption trial. On tape they were talking about using their political connections in then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s office — specifically Blagojevich’s convicted influence peddler Tony Rezko — to squeeze another man, Thomas Rosenberg. […]
How could they laugh?
Because they were the guys with the juice, they were the ones who allegedly controlled the government, and when you can use the government as your hammer, that’s better than a dozen tough guys because the government carries the force of law. So corruption is only a piece of it. That’s just money. But corrupting the government, which is supposed to be fair, and the effect that corruption has on the people, that is stealing something too. It steals the presumption of honest treatment.
A Cellini friend cited that very thing yesterday after the verdict. I think both are probably right.
“I really believe he extorted,” juror Paulette Green of Round Lake Park said of Cellini. “I don’t think he went in it wanting to. I believe it just happened.”
Green said it was clear from Rosenberg’s angry testimony last week that he felt shaken down.
“Oh, he knew it,” she said.
* So, if Cellini extorted and Rosenberg believed he was being shaken down, then why not convict him on attempted extortion? Perhaps because nothing was explicitly demanded on the tapes? Likely…
The jury felt prosecutors fell short in proving two other criminal counts, conspiracy to commit mail fraud and attempted extortion.
“There were (nuances) in the law that had to be proven that we didn’t think were proven beyond a reasonable doubt,” Nast said. “We really took each count independently.”
Jurors felt the recordings didn’t prove Cellini’s guilt on those two counts because he was not recorded directly implicating himself, he said. The charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud relied too much on the word of Levine, Nast said.
* A strong sense of jury camaraderie might have also led to a desire to compromise…
Jurors in William Cellini’s trial got along so well during their deliberations, that after reaching a unanimous verdict on Tuesday, they assembled at the nearby Elephant & Castle restaurant and bar near the downtown federal courthouse.
About eight jurors who spent the last 3 ½ weeks or so listening to evidence in Cellini’s trial toasted their conclusion to the case, which ended in a split verdict with two guilty counts and two not guilty counts.
Wednesday, Nov 2, 2011 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Enough is enough. Let’s look at their claims:
STOP Claim: “Taylorville Energy Center electricity will cost SEVEN times market price.”
The Truth: STOP compares today’s historically low market prices with a price that includes 30 YEARS OF INFLATION. It’s like comparing the price of gas at the pump today with what we’ll pay between now and 2041.
STOP Claim: “Tenaska wants Illinois consumers to pay even if their plant produces no power.”
The Truth: The legislation was changed six months ago at the request of ComEd so this remote possibility could never happen. Consumers aren’t “on the hook.” Which part do STOP and ComEd not understand?
STOP Claim: “We don’t need any new baseload. The speculation on the closure of baseload plants is just that, it’s speculation.”
The Truth: So far, 239 coal plants are scheduled to close because of the new EPA rules. Industry analysts expect Illinois to lose up to HALF of its coal plants, which currently provide 45% of Illinois electricity.
A diverse coalition of elected officials, business and labor, consumer and environmental groups from around the state knows the truth and supports SB 678, the Comprehensive Energy Efficiency and Investment Act.
The 2012 budget passed by the state legislature and signed by Gov. Pat Quinn earlier this year cuts funding for homeless prevention services by 52 percent, eliminating $4.7 million for shelters, emergency housing and transportation. Homeless advocates are fighting for that funding to be restored, but neither party seems optimistic about that happening.
Numbers from the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless indicate that more people were turned away from homeless services last year than were taken in. That’s 45,673 turn-aways compared with 40,542 intakes.
But, hey, the state apparently has $800 million in extra cash laying around for tax breaks.
* Roundup…
* Big business big winner so far in legislative talks
* Quinn wants to increase tax credit for working poor: Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno of Lemont said the meeting served as acknowledgement by Democrats that “we have a real problem in this state in the business climate and environment.” That’s the message of Republican lawmakers heading into the second week of the fall session next week.
* Editorial: Do-nothing veto session was inexcusable
* Editorial: Time to debate lawmakers’ roles in contract talks
* Top lawmakers, Gov. Quinn meet to talk jobs: Unemployment in Illinois has risen for five straight months and in September hit 10 percent for the first time since August 2010.
* Kadner: 4-day waits in ER for the mentally ill: Five area hospitals have agreed to treat patients from the Tinley Park center, state officials said Tuesday. When Crotty asked them to name the hospitals, they could not. They’ve just been in talks, not real negotiations, the governor’s people said. This is crazy. Insane. Plain stupid. And that’s your government at work.
* Parents, patients and advocates ask state to keep mental health center open
* State urged to keep open Tinley Park Mental Health Center
* Quinn: Gaming negotiations aren’t taking place: Link, a Waukegan Democrat, said he held the bill, SB747, from a floor vote last week at Quinn’s request. “The governor called and didn’t want it and [said] he wants to talk.” But Link said that meeting has not materialized. ‘We have done everything in our power to try to set up [meetings] and discuss these things. I just hope that the governor doesn’t get to this point where he wants to draw a line in the sand.”
* Quinn sends mixed message on gambling: In one breath, Quinn made his annual pitch for the Veterans Cash lottery game, encouraging people to buy the scratch-off tickets. In the next breath, Quinn warned that the state cannot gamble its way to prosperity.
* The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute has released more results from its annual statewide poll. This set of numbers is about reform…
Exactly three-fourths (75 percent) of the voters favored term limits for legislators. They support five consecutive two-year terms for state representatives and three consecutive four-year terms for state senators. Only 19.4 percent opposed the term limits proposal. […]
Seven in ten (71.4 percent) favored or strongly favored a proposal to put limits on the amount that people could contribute to judicial campaigns, while 21.2 percent either opposed or strongly opposed the idea. […]
Voters were asked whether they favored or opposed eliminating contributions to judicial races by providing public funding for all candidates who qualify for it. More than half (53.6 percent) of voters surveyed either favored or strongly favored this proposal, while 34.4 percent either opposed or strongly opposed public financing for judicial races. […]
A total of 71.8 percent of the voters supported the change to an open primary [in which no party declaration is required] while only 19.9 percent opposed it. In 2010, voters favored the open primary plan by similar margins: 75.4 percent favored or strongly favored the open primary system and only 17.7 percent opposed it. […]
Voters overwhelmingly favor a proposal to have legislative district maps created and recommended by a commission that is independent of the elected representatives. In the last year, when the statewide redistricting process has played out in a very public way, support has increased and opposition has decreased for this system.
This proposal was favored by a total of 65.1 percent and opposed by a total of 19.1 percent of the respondents. In the 2010 poll a total of 53.5 percent approved or strongly approved this plan while 27.1 percent opposed or strongly opposed it. […]
Voters also strongly support a second proposal, which would provide that the Illinois Supreme Court add a neutral person to the legislative redistricting panel in case of a partisan tie. The survey showed that a total of 70.1 percent of the respondents said they favored or strongly favored this change while 16.6 percent either opposed or strongly opposed it. […]
Voters also backed a third reform — limiting what party leaders can give to other candidates for the Legislature in a general election. Illinois voters favored this proposal to limit the power of their party leaders by a margin of 61.4 percent in favor compared to 28.3 percent who opposed. [Emphasis added.]
* The Question: Which one of these reforms do you support the most, and which do you support the least? Please, don’t forget to explain your answers in comments, please. Thanks.
Wednesday, Nov 2, 2011 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Last week, thousands of police, firefighters, teachers and caregivers – working men and women who serve their communities across Illinois – stood tall against the scare tactics of a group of wealthy Chicagoans.
These public servants sent a strong but simple message: The middle class shouldn’t pay for an economy ravaged by the corporate elite. Slashing the modest pensions of those who give their working lives to public service is not the answer to Illinois’ debt problems.
First, for the only time in 22 years, his older brother Rich is not mayor of Chicago. This will remove the stigma of one family having too much political control. Bill Daley can run as his own man and let the voters decide.
Second, Daley has nothing left to prove in his other chosen professions. He has had great success as a government official, political consigliore and businessman. A resume which includes U.S. Secretary of Commerce, White House chief of staff and Vice Chairman and member of the executive committee at JPMorgan Chase does not need any more bulking up. Daley is an ambitious man and winning elective office is one of his few life goals that he has yet to accomplish.
Finally, Daley has a good chance of winning the next race for governor of Illinois. Pat Quinn, the current governor, has a dismal approval rating of 30% and sixty percent of Illinois voters disapprove of his performance. Quinn is a nice man, but lacks the necessary leadership strength to govern. Illinois needs a more effective chief executive in order to begin working its way out of it unsustainable budget deficits and outrageous pension liabilities. There is a very low probability that Quinn will be re-elected as governor.
This political vacuum will present Daley with the opportunity to challenge Quinn to become the Democratic candidate. Daley has the fundraising expertise, political savvy and connections to win the primary. Daley would also stack up well against the likely Republican opponents he might face in the general election. His corporate experience and moderate social views would make him an attractive candidate for both business executives and middle-of-the-road voters.
*** UPDATE *** Gov. Quinn held a press conference today and managed to answer questions for over eight minutes without uttering a negative word about anybody. Raw audio…
* By the way, Quinn told reporters today: “I think we can explore pension reform ideas that are within the bounds of our Constitution, and we plan to do that as well and we’ll be working on that in the next few months.”
Mike Lawrence, a longtime statehouse journalist and press secretary for former Gov. Jim Edgar, said Quinn’s inability to work with lawmakers could make him irrelevant.
“There have been times when the governor and the General Assembly have had strained relations, but I don’t think we’ve seen anything like we’re seeing now,” Lawrence said.
Only during the end of Rod Blagojevich’s tenure as governor can Lawrence remember lawmakers and the governor simply ignoring each other, Lawrence said.
“There is a lack of trust of Gov. Quinn for a different reason than there was a lack of trust in Gov. Blagojevich,” Lawrence said. “The lack of trust in Quinn stems from the belief from lawmakers that the administration doesn’t have its act together.”
Even with total Democrats in control of the statehouse, Quinn, a Democrat himself, has had a difficult time working with legislators. State Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, points to the governor’s preference for bombastic public statements over one-on-one conversations with lawmakers as an example.
“There was a thought that once (Quinn) became governor … he would grab on to the job and the gravitas that comes with it” said Lang.
“He’s tried in his way to do that, but in some issues, it’s not working too well.” […]
“We need an engaged governor,” Lang said. “Not one that says, ‘Don’t pass that. It’s going to get vetoed.’”
Some officials in cash-strapped Chicago believe they’ve found a way to bring in millions of desperately needed dollars while freeing up police: marijuana.
Alderman Danny Solis plans to introduce an ordinance Wednesday that would make possession of small amounts of marijuana a ticketable offense with a $200 fine rather than a misdemeanor. He estimates the change would generate $7 million a year and, since the vast majority of such cases are dismissed, would save police and courthouse workers money and thousands of hours of time.
Similar laws exist around the country, but unlike in other states and cities where debate has often focused on marijuana use, the discussions in Chicago are centered almost entirely on money and wasted resources.
“In these trying times of the economy, we could really use the revenue generated by fines versus arrests,” Solis said. “And each (arrest) means police officers are spending an inordinate amount of time outside the neighborhoods, inside the district offices doing paperwork.”
* Better yet, just legalize and tax it. A recent Gallup poll shows a majority of Americans favor legalization…
A record-high 50% of Americans now say the use of marijuana should be made legal, up from 46% last year. Forty-six percent say marijuana use should remain illegal. […]
Support for legalizing marijuana is directly and inversely proportional to age, ranging from 62% approval among those 18 to 29 down to 31% among those 65 and older. Liberals are twice as likely as conservatives to favor legalizing marijuana. And Democrats and independents are more likely to be in favor than are Republicans.
More men than women support legalizing the drug. Those in the West and Midwest are more likely to favor it than those in the South.
* In my opinion, the real legislative tipping point will come when moms are OK with legalization. Mothers tend to rule these sorts of issues. They brought on Prohibition, then they helped end it. Ronald Reagan was elected president with big help from moms who were repulsed by skyrocketing marijuana use. Right now, 46 percent of women favor legalization. That’s close, but it has to rise a bit more before any widespread change will come.
One day, hopefully, we’ll stop locking adults in steel cages simply because they put something into their bodies that other people don’t like. It’s ridiculous.
In Broomfield’s only contested local race of the 2011 election season, voters elected incumbent Pat Quinn to his third term as Broomfield mayor Tuesday night by a margin of nearly 3-to-1 over challenger Paul Madigan.
Though results will not be finalized for another two weeks, as of Tuesday night Quinn had received nearly 72 percent of the vote to Madigan’s nearly 28 percent. Turnout for the election was at about 46 percent, or 12,481 ballots cast out of 27,243 registered voters in Broomfield, in an all mail-ballot election.
Quinn was first elected mayor in 2007 in a three-way race that also involved Madigan and former City Councilman Clark Griep. He kept up on election return numbers Tuesday evening alongside City Council members and other city officials at Bumpers Grill.
“It feels great,” Quinn said of being elected for third and — due to term limits — final term. “At the end of this term, I’ll have completed 25 years of service to Broomfield. I’ve worked on open space and budget and development issues and just making Broomfield a place we all want to live.”
Quinn first got started on the community service path by serving on the Boulder County Parks and Open Space Advisory Committee in 1988, when parts of Broomfield were still in Boulder County. […]
Madigan, who was running for mayor for the fourth time this year, said via e-mail Tuesday afternoon that he would be spending the day with his children and would not be watching election returns. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.
