The video replays footage of Walsh’s famous brunch-time freakout at Uno Chicago Bar & Grill, over a soundtrack of The Clash’s cover of “Brand New Cadillac,” which is supposed to make us feel that Walsh is out of control.
“Don’t blame banks and don’t blame the marketplace for the mess we’re in right now,” he shouts. “I am tired of hearing that crap.”
Without a doubt, this Walsh candidacy is gonna be a fundraising bonanza for Duckworth and Raja Krishnamoorthi, but…
It is not true that House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) promised Walsh $3.5 million for an 8th district run. Last week, Walsh switched from the 14th district, where he faced a GOP primary with Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.)
“That number credited to him is not accurate,” Cory Fritz, Boehner’s political spokesman told me Monday. Duckworth is using the $3.5 million number to help jumpstart her donations, attributing it to a report in a suburban paper.
* Meanwhile, Peter Roskam isn’t exactly champing at the bit to endorse Walsh…
Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), a member of House leadership, says it is premature to back anyone yet because a federal court panel in Chicago has not yet ruled on the legality of the Democratic-drawn congressional map. The map is designed to help Democrats pick up seats.
“We’re not even convinced the new 8th District is going to exist. So It is entirely premature to discuss any hypothetical matchup while the map is still with the Courts,” Dan Conston, Roskam’s spokesman told me.
* Duckworth’s campaign is doing whatever it can to generate press, including placing stories about old donations…
Top House and Senate leaders cut checks for Iraq War veteran Tammy Duckworth’s (D-Ill.) House bid recently — a strong signal that top Democrats are ready to make a significant investment in her campaign for the 8th district.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) donated to Duckworth in the past couple of months via their campaigns or political action committees, according to the House hopeful’s campaign.
The disclosure comes only a few days after freshman Rep. Joe Walsh (R) announced he’ll seek re-election in the 8th district instead of running against his fellow GOP freshman Rep. Randy Hultgren. The donations are also notable because Duckworth faces former Illinois Deputy Treasurer Raja Krishnamoorthi in the Democratic primary this March.
* In other campaign news, the idea for allowing candidates to draw a salary from their campaign funds was designed to let the non-wealthy compete with people who didn’t have to work for months at a time. But, of course, it was inevitable that somebody would take advantage of the law…
Chicago aldermen get paid $114,000 a year, but a FOX Chicago News investigation finds two of them are paying themselves out of their campaign funds for extra work, like marching in parades, passing petitions, and slating candidates at political meetings.
Ald. Danny Solis (25th Ward) has paid himself $194,778 since 2004.
“My job is to promote the Democratic Party in the 25th Ward, and that’s what I paid myself for,” Solis said. “If I paid a consultant, they would probably get paid maybe a little more than that if they were doing this full-time.”
The practice of paying for political work is completely legal, but David Morrison from the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform says when politicians pay themselves, it creates huge ethical problems.
“I can’t give you a bribe, but if I can give you money you can convert to your own use it’s the same thing,” Morrison said.
That’s less than $28K a year, but the guy is making a decent buck as an alderman.
Lots of people in Washington, D.C., own lots of stock in companies whose profits are affected by federal legislation. But one holding by DuPage County Congresswoman Judy Biggert now is drawing particular scrutiny.
According to her federal financial disclosure, Ms. Biggert, R-Hinsdale, is one of four members of Congress who own stock in TransCanada Corp., the company whose plans to lay pipeline from Alberta to the American Midwest have stirred an environmental furor and have been at least temporarily sidetracked by the Obama White House.
Ms. Biggert’s stake is valued at between $1,000 and $15,000, according to the disclosure.
If that’s all that was there, the matter likely wouldn’t be worth much more review.
But, as first reported by the Sunlight Foundation, a Washington research group, Ms. Biggert last month tweeted about the White House action, writing, “WH caves to anti-American energy lobby, delays job-creating Keystone XL Oil Pipeline.”
Nowhere in the tweet did she mention her ownership of up to $15,000 in stock.
Rod Blagojevich’s attorneys on Tuesday requested a 30-day extension on the date the former governor must report to prison. Judge James Zagel granted the extension during a hearing at the Dirksen Federal Building.
Blagojevich’s new date is March 15.
During the hearing Blagojevich’s attorneys also made a request for which prison he’ll be sent to. They asked for Englewood, Colo.
A federal judge ordered a Chicago Tribune reporter on Monday to turn over notes and other related documents concerning a juror who apparently concealed her criminal record in the William Cellini trial, a directive the newspaper called “unnecessary” and harmful to the independence of the reporting process. […]
During a brief hearing last week, U.S. District Judge James Zagel brought up the idea of compelling the Tribune to turn over its notes from a conversation with the juror before any of the lawyers in the case even raised the issue. The judge identified the juror in Monday’s ruling as Candy Chiles.
The defense argues that the Chicago woman compromised the verdict by concealing her criminal history and potential bias during jury selection. In an effort to bolster their position, Cellini’s lawyers sought access to notes of Tribune reporter Annie Sweeney from a brief interview with Chiles.
In his ruling issued late Monday, Zagel ordered that Sweeney “produce any and all notes, memoranda, tape recordings, documents, or other records, from Oct. 3, 2011, to present, of any conversations the journalist had with the juror” related to her previous criminal history or answers during jury selection.
I really don’t think judges ought to be nosing around in reporters’ notebooks. I asked Dick Ciccone, Cellini’s spokesman, about why they’d ask for such a thing…
It is simply to learn if the juror said anything about Cellini or the trial that did not appear in their stories.
“Journalists must be free to ask questions and collect information secure in the knowledge that their notes will not be seized by the government or litigants in court and used for other purposes. Unfortunately, that security now is threatened by this ruling.
We believe that these subpoenas are unnecessary and in fact do harm to the independence of the reporting process. We are disappointed by Judge Zagel’s ruling, and we now are considering our options.
We do not know why this juror’s record or suitability for service were not ascertained earlier by the court. Had that occurred, we might not face this situation now.
We argued in our court filing that there are other, more direct sources of information available to learn about the juror’s record and actions. These include the court’s jury selection records, the juror herself, her friends and family, and her fellow jurors.
Public court records also are available to everyone in this case, as they were to us when we revealed the felony convictions in our Nov. 11 story. “
Something has come up about you, I said. I am not here to judge, but we know about your convictions. And now there are questions about whether you were eligible to serve on the jury.
She began repeating the word no and indicated she did not want to be interviewed.
I continued talking. I was not taking notes.
She said she had nothing to say and told me to leave. She then made one brief remark that was not in direct response to a question. She said something about they should have known. I am not sure those were her exact words and I did not understand what she meant. I didn’t have an opportunity to ask her to explain it.
At some point I also asked her about her jury questionnaire in which she revealed she had a criminal history in her family but failed to put in the details.
She did not answer my questions and kept asking me to leave, so that’s what I did. The brief conversation ended before I could get a meaningful statement from her and I went to my car and wrote down my recollections of her remarks. They were not verbatim and not in perfect chronological order.
* Today’s SJ-R has by far the best explanation I’ve seen in print of the constitutional argument in favor of the pension reform bill that was sent to Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk…
Senate Democratic leaders, who are aligned with the House Republicans on this issue, believe that in the case of the two IFT officials, Steven Preckwinkle and David Piccioli, another part of the constitution backs their position.
Preckwinkle and Piccioli taught for a day in the Springfield School District in 2007, taking advantage of earlier legislation that allowed union officials to get into the teacher pension fund and count previous years as union employees. They were required to obtain teaching certificates, conduct classroom work and buy pension credits.
However, Article 8, Section 1 of the Illinois Constitution bars public funds from being used for anything but public purposes. Senate Democrats believe the loophole employed by Preckwinkle and Piccioli violated that provision of the constitution, thereby allowing lawmakers to revoke their pensions.
The other side of the argument is that the bill will allow the courts to test the constitutionality of taking away benefits from active employees.
* Sponsoring Rep. Kevin McCarthy laid out his reasoning for having proposed what amounts to a “just in case” trailer bill…
“If we only go forward with the one (piece of legislation) and that is found to be unconstitutional, then it’s as if we did nothing,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy said almost every lawmaker opposes what Preckwinkle and the other union leaders did. But he’s not sure that the Illinois Constitution allows the Legislature to change pension benefits once someone has paid into the system.
State Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, said the question about Preckwinkle and the other double dippers is not a question of right and wrong.
“Is it legal, that’s the question,” said Mautino. “If a court rules against (the pension reforms) then you have case law, a legal precedent, that public pensions cannot be altered.”
We don’t expect the perpetrators — a slew of Democrats in the Illinois House — to confess. But let’s all remember what they nearly achieved in Springfield late Sunday afternoon, when half of Illinois was shopping and the other half was watching the Chicago Bears.
That obscurity would have been perfect cover for gutting important elements of legislation to crack down on egregious pension abuses that are cheating rank-and-file union members and millions of Illinois taxpayers.
We can’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the arrival of four news reporters at this special meeting of a House pension committee radically changed its outcome. See whether you think the Democrats, realizing that they had been found out, hurriedly abandoned a plan to help some important union officials who just happen to be their political allies:
Even if the amendment had passed, the House Republicans and several Democrats would’ve created a huge ruckus on the House floor the following day. And even if it did pass the House, this bill would have never passed the Senate, so wiser heads prevailed.
However, Sunday’s committee hearing did show that the House Democrats aren’t at all enamored with the prospect of having a law out there which could test the constitutionality of taking away pension benefits from current employees, no matter what they may be saying in public. And, needless to say, the bill which already passed is putting the governor in a very tight spot with the unions.
* Roundup…
* State halts sales of underwater college savings plan - Illinois stops accepting new participants due to gap in funding: The new report, commissioned by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, finds that, as of March 31, the fund was 30% short of what it needed to meet its long-term obligations. That was about the same shortfall found on June 30, 2010, the date of the previous financial-health study. But the latest review incorporates lower, and probably more realistic, forecasts on investment returns and sales of new contracts, assuming they resume.
* Illinois youth prisons fail inmates, society, report says: Illinois’ youth prison system is an expensive failure with more than half of young offenders returning within three years of their release, many of them for trivial problems such as skipping school and staying out late, according to a new report. The Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission made the report for Gov. Pat Quinn and the legislature and issued it publicly Tuesday. The report makes recommendations it says could save nearly $80,000 per imprisoned youth annually, without sacrificing public safety.
* Report: Illinois failing to help young offenders
* Kadner: Corrupt schools boss gets 18 months’ probation
* Meter company sends city $13.5 million bill for disabled parking: Chicago Parking Meters LLC sent the city a $13.5 million bill to cover losses from people who used disability placards or license plates to park for free in metered spots between Feb. 28, 2010, and Feb. 28, 2011, records show. The parking-meter company didn’t gauge how many of those drivers were legitimately disabled — though its surveys have city officials convinced that fraud played a major role in the bill being that high.
* Our first winner from yesterday’s nominations for Senate Democratic campaign staffer is Noe Chaimongkol. An anonymous commenter summed him up…
Never gets the credit he deserves, especially on the political side. Don’t let his quiet demeanor fool you. He knows strategy backwards and forwards and is a someone every candidate should want in their corner. And really - Linda Holmes, twice? That’s worth a horseshoe in itself.
* Runner-up is Bryen Johnson. Here’s “Sideline Watcher’s” nomination…
Bryen Johnson for many of the reasons listed above but mostly because in politics it can be very easy to get cynical and jaded. Bryen erases all that by being an absolutely genuine, hardworking, honest broker who plays to win. We need more people like him, especially in this environment.
Agreed.
“Michelle Flaherty” wanted a special playoff on this one, but it’s not to be…
How about a pay-per-view smack down between Bryen and Noe? It could be broadcast online to CapFax subscribers.
Winner gets the horseshoe.
LETS GET READY TO RUMBLE !!!!!!!!!!!
* Our winner on the Senate Republican campaign staff is Jo Johnson…
Jo Johnson does a swell job on the legal side of things. She’s quick-witted and direct.
She’s done a heckuva job during the petition phase as well.
* A whole lot of people nominated Ryan Cudney, but Ryan runs the operation, so I’ll give him an honorable mention here rather than a runner-up. There were also a ton of nominations for Magen Ryan, who runs the SDem operation, so she also gets an honorable mention.
But instead of pitting the top dogs against their own staff, I’ve decided that we need a new category this year: Best legislative campaign staff director…
* Will Cousineau - House Democrats
* Kevin Artl - House Republicans
* Magen Ryan- Senate Democrats
* Ryan Cudney - Senate Republicans
Make extra sure to explain your nomination in comments, please. I’ll just ignore a simple name. I can’t stress enough that this contest is based far more on intensity than numbers.
And I know how competitive some of y’all are when it comes to partisan campaigns, so do your very best to avoid slamming somebody else. Just stick to the positive aspect of your own nomination, please. Any negativity will hurt your candidate.
…Adding… I’ve already nullified two votes because people are ignoring my insistence that they stay positive. It won’t be too many more of these and the candidate with the most negativity on his or her behalf will be disqualified. Final warning, people. Enough.
* If nothing else, the corporate tax cut bill raids Indiana…
An Indiana-based maker of automobile replacement parts is one step closer to receiving a tax incentives package worth $3.5 million over 10 years that would see the company move its corporate headquarters to Illinois.
UCI International Inc. is the latest in a growing number of companies seeking a special break in exchange for jobs. The company was added last week to a bill aimed at keeping Sears Holdings Corp. and CME Group Inc. from exiting the state. The Illinois House approved the tax-break package Monday. The Senate is expected to consider it Tuesday.
Look, I’m no fan of these cross-border raids, but I’m really getting tired of Indiana and other states bad-mouthing Illinois and attempting to steal our companies.
A buddy of mine had an interesting suggestion yesterday. Every time one of these states tries to lure a company out of Illinois, we ought to go after one of that state’s biggest companies with everything we have. In other words, the “Chicago Way.” Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight, fellas.
We might not have to do that too many times before other states get the message: Lay the heck off.
For instance, how about we make an offer on the Indianapolis Colts? The team sucks this year, but they’ll improve when their quarterback returns. We could move it to Arlington Heights in exchange for no slots at tracks. And then we could grab the Pacers and move them to the Metro East or the STAR Bonds district in Marion. St. Louis has no basketball team, so let’s get one and grab another state’s money in the process.
OK, that was mostly snark. But, seriously, we can’t just sit by and allow ourselves to be hammered like this. Repealing the tax increase would cost too much money and put the state in an even deeper fiscal hole. Maybe it’s time to fight fire with an even bigger fire as well as reforming some business laws.
The Illinois House approved a package of tax relief on Monday for families and businesses, including some big names like Sears and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange that are threatening to leave the state.
When fully phased in, the tax cuts would cost state government roughly $320 million a year. Chicago-based financial exchanges operated by CME Group Inc. and CBOE Holding Corp. would get about $85 million of that tax relief. Sears Holdings Corp. would get about $15 million.
Those companies have warned that they might move their operations to other states unless Illinois offers them incentives to stay.
During the debate, protesters unfurled a banner saying “Stop Corporate Extortion.” They were soon led out of the House chamber and discussion of the bills resumed.
The Illinois House approved tax breaks for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Monday in a move that could cut short its parent company’s talks with outside suitors, including Downtown Indianapolis and Carmel.
It was CME Group Inc., after all, that made noises about relocating most of its highly paid 2,000 employees to another state after the House initially voted down a similar measure last month.
Still, the Indianapolis mayor’s office is watching the developments closely until any possibility of a move is off the table.
Also, local governments — such as Community Unit District 300 in Carpentersville — would get about double the property taxes they now get from the deal, and Hoffman Estates wouldn’t be allowed to use its share to run or pay for the Sears Centre.
“This is a bittersweet victory for us,” said District 300 Superintendent Michael Bregy, who was in Springfield Monday. He noted that while the school district will get more money under the plan the House approved, it wasn’t as much as he wanted.
“We were able to negotiate the best possible deal,” Bregy said.
Thirty-nine Republicans supported the [corporate tax cut] plan after accounting for only one of the eight votes on Nov. 29.
“It’s not a break. It’s not a credit. The reality is they’re being taxed on all of their trades, and that’s not fair. That’s not right,” House Minority Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego) said of CME, whose trades are taxed by Illinois whether they occur in or out of the state. […]
House Republicans were mostly missing in action on the other piece of the tax-relief package that passed 67-49. It would double the earned income tax credit available to the working poor and increase the standard exemption for all taxpayers by tying it to the rate of inflation.
Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, and Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno, of Lemont, each are optimistic the provisions will win Senate approval on Tuesday, according to their respective aides.
The measures are nearly identical to those of a single, overarching package that received bipartisan support in the Senate late last month, only to be shot down in the House.
“We had agreement about what was put into one proposition and we hope there will be the same level (of) support,” said John Patterson, a spokesman for Cullerton.
