The Illinois GOP also supported prohibiting the government payroll system from collecting union dues from public employees — a key element in defusing powerful public-sector unions and a deterrent for Republican candidates who may be tempted to take campaign donations from those unions.
* The Question: Should state and local government payroll systems be barred from collecting union dues from public employees? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
* I bought a couple of great seats for last night’s White Sox vs. Cardinals game. It was a perfect evening for baseball, and we witnessed a heckuva pitching duel.
The hardcore Cardinals fans in front of us politely tolerated my occasional whoops of joy, despite warnings from my friend to tone it down, especially when I less than politely derided those around us for giving their pitcher a standing ovation for striking out our pitcher. I mean, really. How hard is it to strike out Peavy?
The redbird boosters behind us were another story. Cardinals fans always claim that they have the best crowds in baseball. But the idiots behind us talked loudly about golf and took calls on their cell phones all night. Not good. We moved over a few seats to get away from them.
I saw a bunch of friends at the game as well, including one very good buddy from Chicago. We were wearing the white and black in an ocean of red, so it wasn’t hard to spot each other. We hugged and laughed and talked about old times. Then he went back to his seat and I resumed watching intently as the pitchers kept shutting down the other side. By the 9th, the Cardinals had managed just one run. The Sox couldn’t get on the board. Every time I thought we’d score, we wound up with the goose egg. I never lost faith, though. Our team has hitters. No way do we get blanked. And our pitchers can definitely handle them. We got this. Heck, the top of the order is up in the 9th. It’s all good, baby.
* But tragedy struck.
There we were, top of the 9th, one out, men on first and third, Paul Konerko at the bat. Sox were still trailing 1-0. Three balls and one strike to the big guy.
I’m figuring, hey, this is exactly what baseball is all about, man. We’ve got the best hitter in the Major Leagues up to bat and he’s got a hitter’s count, so I’m feeling really comfortable. Not nervous at all. At the very least, we’re going into extra innings. How perfect would that be?
The person I’m with is a Cardinals fan. Rabid, even. My friend is terribly nervous. I’m smiling. All is well. My friend can hardly watch.
And then Konerko hits into a double play.
Game over.
Cardinals win.
1-0.
Shut out.
My friend is jumping up and down with unadulterated joy. I’m literally in shock, slouched in my seat. How could this happen? All the way back to Springfield I have to listen to my friend crow about the game. I guess that’s only fair. I crowed pretty loudly after Tuesday night’s game.
* We stopped at a gas station on the way back to Springfield and there’s a guy wearing a Sox jersey just inside the door. I’m wearing a Sox shirt as well. The two of us stand there and look at each other for a long time with sad faces. And then we bond. His name is Tony. He also lives in Springfield. We talk about how good the pitching was. We talk about our team’s missed opportunities. Neither of us blames Konerko. He’s the best. How can you ever be angry at Paulie? He’s there for us, so we’re there for him. And, frankly, if the Sox hadn’t blown so many other opportunities, the game wouldn’t have been on Konerko’s shoulders.
There aren’t many Sox fans in this town. I wanted to buy a new hat for the game, but finding Sox paraphernalia in Downstate Illinois ain’t easy, man. There’s Cub and Cardinals stuff literally everywhere you go. But almost nothing for us Sox folk. I think about that as I leave the gas station and joke with my friend that Downstate Sox fans are kind of a cult.
* We’re going back to Busch Stadium tonight. We have to win. I made some rather, um, interesting bets on this series during a moment of chutzpah, so I really cannot lose.
* Greg Hinz thinks Gov. Quinn got the best of Aaron Schock on the “Morning Joe” program earlier this week…
The two men who some think will be their respective party’s 2014 nominee for governor shared a TV platform this morning, and thanks to some self-inflicted damage, I give the verdict to incumbent Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat, over potential rival Congressman Aaron Schock, R-Peoria.
Mr. Schock started off well and achieved the prime goal of anyone in such matches: hogging the microphone. In fact, Mr. Quinn didn’t even get a word in until halfway through the 9-minute segment.
But after making his points how the GOP’s Mitt Romney is running even in the polls with President Barack Obama, Mr. Schock stumbled when Mr. Quinn challenged him on the inability of House Republicans to get their act together and pass a multiyear funding bill for road and transit projects.
“We passed a five-year highway bill, the Senate passed a two-year bill, and we’re now working out the differences” in a conference committee, Mr. Schock countered. “I think the House passing a five-year highway bill is a step in the right direction.”
The only problem is, the House didn’t pass a five-year transportation funding bill. And it appears highly unlikely to do so.
Speaker John Boehner did propose one, but he never called it for a vote after his caucus became divided over exactly what projects to fund and how to pay for them. Nor would Mr. Boehner call for a vote the two-year bill that passed the Senate with a wide bipartisan majority.
Schock was elected to Congress when he was 27, and doesn’t seem to want to stop there. When asked about his ambition for higher office, he uses this line: “In politics, you never know who’s going to die, retire, or — in Illinois — get indicted.” It’s hard to imagine him leaving Washington, where he’s become one of the most celebrated congressmen, for Springfield, where he won’t be able to maintain his tan or buy designer suits. If he does run for governor, though, he’s already lost his first debate with Quinn.
The two politicians were interviewed together on MSNBC’s Morning Joe Tuesday morning, speaking from the NBC Plaza in Chicago. Schock appeared tan, fit, tailored and eager. Quinn appeared whiter-shade-of-Irish pale, bloated, rumpled, and grumpy. He was either irritated enough to poke Schock in the temple or hungry enough to use him as the filling for a Breakfast Buddy.
* Unlike Quinn, Schock effectively countered the governor’s talking points. Quinn said that President Obama “saved” the auto industry and added that Ford was doing much better here now. Schock acidly pointed out that Ford didn’t get a bailout. Quinn, on the other hand, didn’t say a word about Schock’s blatantly false statement about the transportation bill.
But Quinn did effectively counter Schock after the young Republican said he wouldn’t accept ten dollars in federal budget cuts in exchange for one dollar in revenue increases. Quinn claimed that Ronald Reagan, who’s from Illinois, wouldn’t be successful in today’s Republican Party because Reagan raised taxes and closed tax loopholes. Schock then countered that the Republicans want to close loopholes. Apparently, that doesn’t count as new revenue under Schock’s construct, though.
* Quinn has done a much better job of pushing back against Schock since that appearance. He whacked the Republican but good on Don & Roma’s show yesterday, for instance…
Gov. Pat Quinn’s critique of House Republicans as focused only on obstructing the White House is “nonsense,” U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock said Wednesday. […]
“The president knows what he’s doing when it comes to reviving the economy,” Quinn said on MSNBC. “He’s got to have some cooperation, Aaron, from the House of Representatives. All you’ve been is obstructing the president. You can’t even pass a transportation bill, which we did in our own state of Illinois.”
On Wednesday, Schock said that criticism was “nonsense.” For example, the House has at least tried to pass a transportation bill, while President Barack Obama has sat on the sidelines without his own proposal, Schock said.
“The only reason we’re discussing a highway bill right now is because the House put forward its version, the Senate put forward its version, and now we are negotiating between the two bodies to try and come up with a compromise,” Schock said. (Congress faces a June 30 deadline when current highway funding expires.)
Schock also downplayed any interest in running for Illinois governor – talk that surfaced previously but has flared after his run-in with Quinn. Schock said Wednesday he’s not “running for anything other than for Congress.”
“Well, I haven’t ruled anything out, but at this point, I’m not worried about it,” Schock said.
* Schock effectively hogged the microphone, got away with a major falsehood and looked more relaxed on TV. He does talking points with ease. Quinn looked rumpled, slouched in his chair and sounded like he was repeating an Obama press release.
I can’t see how you can give the “debate” to anyone but Schock. Quinn, however, marginally won the post-debate, but I’ll bet a whole lot more people watched the “Morning Joe” segment than saw the resulting Internet coverage of Quinn’s push-back. And instead of solely focusing afterward on Schock’s falsehood about the transportation bill (that nobody cares about in the abstract anyway), he should’ve also continued to hammer Schock on the Reagan angle. He’s right. Reagan would be a liberal socialist to today’s DC GOP crowd.
So, Schock wins this round. And Quinn really needs to up his game if he plans to continue going toe to toe with the kid.
* Restarting the early release program for good behavior had bipartisan support in the General Assembly and has received applause from newspaper editorial boards. But, as always, there are consequences…
As Gov. Pat Quinn mulls a bill to allow early release for inmates in state prisons, parole agents who monitor ex-offenders say the program would add to their already burdensome caseload. […]
An IDOC report from 2010 showed there were about 28,000 parolees that year and a ratio of one agent for every 80.4 parolees. That works out to about 349 parole agents statewide. IDOC’s website currently says there are about 26,000 parolees. […]
The 2010 IDOC report shows 8.6 percent of inmates admitted to prison that year were former inmates who went back to prison for committing new crimes, while 29 percent were inmates who violated the terms of their parole.
Simmons says some parole agents are working without vehicles, instead relying on rides from other parole agents to check up on their assigned parolees. He says the Illinois State Police have started allowing parole agents to use their vehicles as a short-term solution.
Oy.
* Meanwhile, Kurt Erickson looked at agency purchasing records to see how serious the Quinn administration is about closing facilities…
But, a review of requests for various services and products at the facilities shows some are continuing to purchase goods, while others are cancelling contracts because of what could be a looming shutdown.
The state’s youth prison in Murphysboro is an example.
On May 29, the Illinois Department of Department of Juvenile Justice canceled a $2.1 million contract extension for substance abuse counseling at the Southern Illinois facility, saying the service won’t be needed after June 30.
That stands in contrast to purchases being made by officials at the all-female Dwight Correctional Center, which Quinn also said he wants to shutter.
In May, Dwight officials signed off on an agreement to spend $59,000 on water-testing services. The facility also just approved a contract to buy $12,800 worth of thread for use in the facility’s garment manufacturing program.
At the youth prison in Joliet, officials there spent more than $15,400 to repair a broken air conditioning system.
But, a response by Illinois Department of Human Services spokeswoman Januari Smith suggests not reading too much into the purchasing requests.
* After yesterday’s swing and miss, the Illinois Republican Party just sent out this e-mail…
For Immediate Release - June 14, 2012
Contact 312-201-9000 info@ilgop.org
Happy Father’s Day Speaker Madigan
A Father’s Day message from Lisa Madigan to Mike Madigan
Dear Daddy….I mean Mr. Speaker,
You are the greatest dad ever. You got me this cool Attorney General job, and that was after you got me that neat state senate seat.
Also, thanks for having all your union friends be real nice to me, they send me tons of campaign money at Christmas time, they must be rich!
My brother-in-law loves that job at Metra you gave him. He loved playing with toy trains growing up. I don’t understand why the republicans complain about the economy, all our family friends have great jobs!
You’ve done so much for the family, I’m glad you took time last month to make sure you got a bigger pension. You’ve been working so hard for the rest of us!
Reached at home Wednesday night, the North Side Democrat confirmed that she has been diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer, and is undergoing tests to help guide her choice of treatment options.
She declined to elaborate further. But she did take time Wednesday night to thank a well-wisher on Twitter, who sent her a message offering prayers for a quick recovery.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has signed a $2.7 billion package of cuts and taxes designed to repair a long-term deficit in the state’s Medicaid program.
The Chicago Democrat signed the five bills Thursday, including a tax increase on cigarettes of $1 per pack. Quinn says lawmakers “worked together in a bipartisan manner to tackle a grave crisis.”
Under the measure Quinn signed, hundreds of thousands of poor Illinoisans would lose health coverage under stricter qualification standards.
A prescription drug discount program for seniors would be eliminated and dental care for adults would be greatly curtailed.
Doctors and hospitals that provide care will see payment rates slashed.
Doctors won’t experience any rate cuts at all.
* The governor outlined some of the Medicaid cuts and reforms in his press release…
Reducing eligibility for adults in the FamilyCare program to 133 percent of the Federal Poverty Level ($30,660 for a family of four).
· The state’s subsidy for the federal prescription drug (Part D) program, IL Cares Rx, is terminated, but “Extra Help/Low Income Subsidy” provides federal assistance to low-income seniors and people with disabilities eligible for Medicare.
· New integrity measures will aggressively target client and provider fraud through:
o Enhanced eligibility verification of income and residency through use of private vendor’s access to national databases for annual redeterminations; and
o Expanded authority of the HFS Inspector General to deny, suspend and recover overpayments and conduct pre-payment and post-payment provider audits.
· Eliminates some optional services, such as group psychotherapy and adult chiropractic services, and places utilization control on certain optional services such as adult dental services (restricted to emergencies), adult podiatry services (restricted to diabetics), and adult eyeglasses (limited to 1 every 2 years).
· Limits are placed on adult and children’s prescriptions to four per month, with additional prescriptions available based on patients’ needs.
· Most provider groups receive a rate cut of 2.7% except for doctors, dentists, clinics, safety-net hospitals and critical access rural hospitals. Non-exempt hospitals receive a rate cut of 3.5%. Nursing home cuts average 2.7%, but the homes serving clients who have the highest care needs are being impacted less.
* Yesterday, Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady issued yet another press release slamming Attorney General Lisa Madigan. This time, it was over AG Madigan’s alleged abdication of her role as a crime fighter in the wake of an “explosion in gang violence”…
“Under Attorney General Madigan, we have seen an explosion in gang violence, including murders of innocent bystanders and Lisa Madigan has done nothing to combat it,” said Brady. “In New York, the state’s top law officer leads the charge in major anti gang operations, most recently indicting 52 for gang and drug activity.”
There has been over 30 homicides in the City of Chicago since the end of the NATO Summit on May 21st.
“Here in Illinois, Lisa Madigan is content issuing edicts about the perils of buying a used car,” Brady added. “She has abdicated her role as the State’s Chief Law enforcement officer. As Attorney General, she has the tools to fight gang violence but unfortunately, she has chosen not to use them.”
* Wow. That was pretty darned harsh. But later in the day, the US Department of Justice issued this press release…
Nineteen Chicago area men, many suspected members or associates of the of the Imperial Gangsters street gang, were arrested yesterday by FBI special agents and Chicago Police officers assigned to the FBI’s Joint Task Force on Gangs, culminating a nearly three-year long investigation which targeted illicit drug and firearms sales in and around the Humboldt park area on Chicago’s near northwest side.
Yesterday’s arrests were announced by Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) who was joined by Garry F. McCarthy, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department (CPD); Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Anita Alvarez, Cook County State’s Attorney, Lisa Madigan, Illinois Attorney General, and Michael Witz, Chief of the Franklin Park Police Department. […]
Regarding the combined efforts that led to the charges, Attorney General Madigan said, “These arrests demonstrate how effective coordination between law enforcement agencies at all levels can produce significant results in fighting drug dealing and gang activity.” [Emphasis added.]
* I asked the AG’s office about Chairman Brady’s comparison with New York. The response…
This comparison of the NY and Illinois AG offices is comparing apples-to-oranges. So, let’s dispense with that right off the bat. In New York, the state passed a law in 1970 creating a Statewide Organized Crime Task Force, putting the AG in charge of that task force (the AG and Governor jointly select the head of the task force), and providing that the head of the task force “may request and shall receive” assistance from every agency of state government (including the State Police) and every political subdivision (including local police departments). So, based on that 1970 law, the AG (working with the Gov) oversees a statewide task force with the power to command assistance from every police department in the state. In addition to that, the NY AG’s office employs 225 sworn police officer investigators. By way of comparison, Illinois does not have a similar statute providing such broad criminal authority and access to state and local law enforcement resources, and our office employs fewer than 20 sworn investigators.
With the inapt comparison to NY out of the way, let’s look at the situation in Illinois. Here, as you know, the significant statewide police resources are in the hands of the Illinois State Police and the broad jurisdiction to prosecute crimes is in the hands of the county state’s attorneys. They have much broader criminal jurisdiction than our office (whereas we have very broad jurisdiction under the civil laws). With that as the background, our office’s criminal prosecution resources are dedicated to assisting state’s attorneys when requested, working with state’s attorneys on cases where we have unique resources (such as using our Internet Crimes Against Children task force to work with local law enforcement and state’s attorneys to investigate and prosecute child pornography—thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice) and enforcing statutes that give our office jurisdiction (for example, we prosecute sexually violent persons cases all over the state).
Under the Statewide Grand Jury Act, we have limited jurisdiction to convene a grand jury to investigate and prosecute cases that cross county lines and involve narcotics – but only if we can explain to a judge (1) why a local county grand jury cannot effectively handle the case and (2) that the state’s attorneys for the counties in which the crimes are occurring have consented to the Statewide Grand Jury. And if you think about the resources available, it makes sense that the Cook County State’s Attorney, with hundreds of prosecutors and a grand jury sitting every week, would not require the assistance of our office. Where we focus our efforts is in collaborating with state’s attorney’s offices that have significantly fewer resources, as well as with other federal, state and local agencies whenever possible.
* Congressman Joe Walsh has responded to the news that rocker Joe Walsh is doing a fundraiser for Democratic challenger Tammy Duckworth. From a fundraising e-mail…
“Life’s Been Good” for the liberal elite…
Dear Friend,
Our nation continues to find itself in dire straits. We’re still hurting as Americans and we need serious leadership.
You and I both know Tammy Duckworth represents Beltway insiders who, over-tax and over-spend. She also represents the “liberal elite”, who are far too out of touch with everyday Americans.
That’s right folks… Tammy Duckworth is bringing in the “rock star” Joe Walsh for a fundraising party on July 1st.
It’s already known she relies on the liberal elite for her campaign’s support. Last fundraising period, her fundraising reports showed she raised more money from San Francisco alone than from the entire 8th district.
But Tammy can keep her “Hotel California” elite liberal supporters, because I want your support.
(Click here to show you support my re-election campaign!)
The Beltway insiders prefer a Congressman endorsed by the liberal Hollywood crowd and backed by the Chicago Machine, because they’re one in the same.
I bet you wouldn’t guess who Joe Walsh’s agent is? Ari Emanuel, Rahm Emanuel’s brother. It figures Tammy is going to continue to roll with the liberal jet-setters and machine politicians.
They want to hand pick her for this seat and get rid of people like me: a person who refused his congressional pension and healthcare package. I’m also a guy who sleeps in his D.C. office, because I know I wasn’t sent to Washington to make it my home.
I went to Washington to shake things up by supporting a Balanced Budget Amendment and the No Budget, No Pay Act and limiting myself to three terms in Congress.
I’m sure they’re just cracking up they got the musician Joe Walsh to come out against the Congressman Joe Walsh, but it’s time to get serious about what we face as a nation.
Tell the Tammy Duckworths and out of touch Hollywood liberal elites of the world that it’s time to get serious about our problems by making a donation to our campaign today.
I don’t need rock stars throwing me a fundraiser. I need support from people like you.
* Who is the worst politician in Illinois? It can be federal, state or local, but the politico must currently be holding office or actively campaigning for an office. As always, explain your answer in comments please. Thanks.
* Ron Shinkman over at Fierce Health Finance read the bill which raises cigarette taxes and gives non-profit hospitals some concrete guidelines on what they have to do to maintain their property tax exemptions and also gives for-profit hospitals ways to reduce their taxes. He doesn’t think much of it…
The charity care provisions of the bill are meant to provide dollar-for-dollar offsets against property tax exemptions not-for-profit providers in Illinois enjoy. Many industry observers say the Illinois bill could serve as a nationwide blueprint for other hospitals falling short on their charity care obligations. However, it’s more like a terrific linguistic design for a colander or sieve. Here’s why:
• Hospitals could make in-kind or financial contributions to their own affiliated facilities or another provider to offset the tax burden.
• Hospitals could make donations of any sort of supply to offset the tax burden.
• Hospitals could argue that any effort they make in terms of community outreach or education could be used to offset the tax burden.
• For-profit hospitals could use charity care to offset their property tax burden.
• For the purpose of tax assessment, the hospital buildings could be depreciated based on age. If they’re more than 40 years old, they are essentially deemed worthless for tax purposes.
My house celebrates its 52nd birthday this year. I suspect asking for a tax exemption based on its age would receive a less than amused response.
Then again, there’s little to find amusing in a bill that pumps steroids into every sleight-of-hand hospitals use to make it seem they’re generous with uninsured patients.
The hospitals did do well. No doubt. We’ve talked about this before. They had to give up some things, though, including a guarantee for providing “free care,” and took a hit on their state reimbursement rate. There’s also a bill to place a limit on putting people in jail over failing to pay their bills, and the hospitals had been among the worst abusers of this loophole. Shinkman doesn’t mention that stuff.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder pledged under oath Tuesday that the Obama administration under no circumstances would seek to transfer Guantanamo Bay detainees to the vacant Thomson prison in northwestern Illinois.
Holder testified at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in answer to a question from Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
Durbin said the state and federal government had agreed to a purchase price for the long-vacant prison, but money appropriated to the Department of Justice needed to be reprogrammed for the sale to go through.
“We want to acquire the Thomson facility,” Holder said, after agreeing to the pledge sought by Durbin. “It would really be a welcome addition to our Bureau of Prisons.”
Durbin wants the federal government to buy the prison to ease overcrowding and spur the local economy. He said the sale would create more than 1,100 jobs and “inject at least $1 billion into the region’s economy.”
Neighbors of state Sen. Suzi Schmidt claim the lawmaker has been harassing them for more than a year, including a confrontation with their 7-year-old son, according to a no-contact order issued against her in conjunction with her arrest Tuesday.
In the court order, the neighbors claim they received a series of harassing calls, texts and emails from Schmidt starting in December 2010 and continuing until this February, despite repeated requests to stop.
A woman states that on March 19, Schmidt “confronted my 7-year-old son and made inappropriate comments to him about an alleged affair I am having with her soon to be ex-husband,” according to the order. […]
In the no contact order, the neighbors also assert that, on June 2, Schmidt “trespassed on our property, removing property from our yard and discarding into the swampy cattails and then proceeding to damage personal property.”
State Sen. Suzi Schmidt, who faced questions last fall of abusing her political influence during a domestic dispute, was arrested Tuesday on charges of damaging her neighbor’s bag of feed, according to police.
Schmidt was also charged with criminal trespass to property and was served with an emergency stalking no-contact order, according to the Lake County sheriff’s office.
Schmidt’s Lake Villa neighbor had warned her to stay off his property in the recent past, and the sheriff’s office obtained a warrant for her arrest last week after she went back on his property and damaged the bag of feed, police said.
“They can warn you, you are not welcome here, then if you violate that, they can have you arrested,” said Lake County sheriff’s Police Chief Wayne Hunter. “There has to be some type of forewarning.”
Schmidt’s arrest makes her the second sitting member of the General Assembly to be embroiled in an ongoing criminal proceeding.
State Rep. Derrick Smith (D-Chicago) was arrested in March as part of an undercover FBI sting that allegedly nabbed him accepting a $7,000 bribe in exchange for writing a letter of support on behalf of a purported daycare operator seeking a $50,000 state grant. Charged with bribery, Smith faces possible expulsion from the Illinois House.
News of Schmidt’s arrest traveled quickly in political circles, with one senior party official saying privately that this latest development warrants Schmidt’s resignation and harms GOP efforts to hold on to the Lake County Senate seat now being fought for by Republican Joe Neal and Democrat Melinda Bush.
“Her entire situation is just tragic,” said Neal, the GOP nominee who won his primary with Schmidt’s backing. “I have no comment on whether she should resign or anything beyond that at this point.”
State Sen. Terry Link (D-Vernon Hills), chairman of the Lake County Democratic Party, said Schmidt’s arrest — after the regret she expressed for her conduct in the 911 recordings — is jolting.
“The thing that surprises me is she did what she did with the 911 and all of that, and I know Suzi has repeatedly said to me she regrets that she did that, that she wishes she could take those words back,” Link said. “Doing something like this, well, it surprises me something like this could happen.”
Link said he did not think Schmidt’s arrest, based on the scant information released by the sheriff’s office, would be enough to warrant action under Senate rules to launch disciplinary proceedings akin to what Smith is facing in the House.
“She didn’t embezzle anything. She didn’t steal anything. I don’t think this is a Derrick Smith type of thing,” he said.
This latest incident comes on the heels of a very public domestic dispute with her now estranged husband. Late last year 911 tapes were made public where Schmidt could be heard telling the dispatcher that she was the former County Board Chairman and to “ignore her husband” who had called police after a dispute. Schmidt then announced that she would not be seeking re-election. Robert Schmidt told the Chicago Tribune that he has since moved out of their home and that they are in the middle of a divorce.
A spokesperson for the state Republican staff told WLS News that lawmakers would be dealing with the matter.
Two of the most powerful legislators in Springfield ran their private businesses out of the offices of a crooked government contractor, according to documents obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
State Rep. Edward Acevedo and state Sen. Tony Munoz won’t say why they had desks and computers for their businesses in the Southwest Side offices of Azteca Supply Co., whose owner and her husband await sentencing in a minority-contract fraud scheme.
The two Chicago Democrats — who each hold the title of assistant majority leader in the Illinois Legislature — have never listed the 4500 S. Kolin Ave. address on any business filings with the state of Illinois. Nor have they reported any business ties to Azteca on the financial disclosure forms that they are required to file each year with the legislature.
But an Azteca employee-turned-government-informant told the FBI that Acevedo and Munoz kept the desks and computers for their businesses at Azteca’s offices, according to a recently unsealed search warrant that led to the indictment and convictions of Azteca president Aurora Venegas and her husband, Thomas Masen.
The informant told federal investigators that the two lawmakers “acted as consultants/lobbyists” for the crooked contractor, according to a sworn statement FBI Special Agent Julia E. Meredith wrote to obtain the search warrant for the July 17, 2008, FBI raid on the offices of Azteca, which got millions of dollars in work from the city of Chicago and was the largest female-owned subcontractor on Mayor Richard M. Daley’s O’Hare Modernization Project.
Despite that sworn statement, the FBI did not search the desks belonging to the two legislators because they were “not believed to maintain business records of Azteca.”
* My ticket to last night’s ballgame listed the matchup as “World Champsions” vs. “White Sox.” Well, the St. Louis Cardinals didn’t play much like champs last night…
After dropping two of three to the Houston Astros, Paul Konerko said the Chicago White Sox were looking to get back on track as quickly as possible Tuesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Konerko had three hits to lift his major-league best average to .373, and teammates A.J. Pierzynski and Adam Dunn homered to lead the White Sox to a 6-1 win. […]
Quintana (2-1), making his fifth start, allowed a career-high 10 hits but did not issue a walk and was helped out by three double plays.
“That’s actually what I was looking for,” Quintana said through an interpreter. “The double plays were going to get me out of the inning and I was able to get them.”
White Sox manager Robin Ventura said that Quintana, who is filling in for the injured John Danks, has earned at least one more start.
Is a sweep in the, um, cards? Discuss.
…Adding… The Cardinal fans I was with didn’t appreciate me singing this song after the game last night. Oh well…
Wednesday, Jun 13, 2012 - Posted by Advertising Department
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* Gen. Enyart puzzled some folks with his big National Guard retirement announcement followed by a press conference where he announced he hadn’t yet decided whether to toss his hat into the ring for the vacant slot created when Democrat Brad Harriman dropped out of the race to replace retiring Congressman Jerry Costello. But today, he finally made it official. From a press release…
Retired Major General William Enyart Announces Candidacy for Illinois 12th Congressional District
Major General William L. Enyart of Belleville, retired Adjutant General and former commander of the Illinois National Guard, announced today his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Illinois 12th Congressional District. Enyart cited his dedication to service and his deep ties and loyalty to Southern Illinois as his reasons for pursuing the nomination.
Enyart submitted his questionnaire today and released the following statement:
“Coming to Southern Illinois as a 19 year old enlisted airman, raising my own family here, and serving our community in the Illinois National Guard for the past 30 years has been an honor and a source of inspiration. Today I am proud to rise to the challenge before us and heed the call to serve by fighting for good jobs and a responsible way to reduce the deficit to build a strong middle class and protect the Southern Illinois way of life.
“This is a family decision, and I am honored and humbled to have the support of my wife Annette, our sons, James and Alex, and my daughter-in-law Tanya, as well as our friends and neighbors and the all folks who called and encouraged me to take this important step to serve Southern Illinois. I look forward to an open and transparent process as I seek the Democratic nomination.
“I believe that the next voice representing us in Washington must share Southern Illinois values of hard work, honesty and fairness. Too many folks here are worried about making ends meet, and the future of Southern Illinois is at stake. We need to make sure that there are good jobs for our families, Medicare for our seniors, and an economy that Southern Illinois families can have confidence in.”
Ten Democrats submitted their applications today, including Enyart. Whoever is picked will face Republican Jason Plummer this fall.
* That would be the rocker Joe Walsh, not the politician, of course…
“I’m the real Joe Walsh and I’m proud to back a real American success story — Tammy Duckworth,” the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer said in a statement endorsing the Democratic candidate in her bid to unseat the incumbent Republican who shares his name.
“Tammy’s story, her service to our nation and her continued commitment to working families (like the one I come from) have convinced me that she’s the right choice for Congress,” Walsh, guitarist for the Eagles, said.
Walsh, a six-time Grammy Award winner, grew up in Evanston and will perform a special concert in support of Duckworth on July 1 at John Barleycorn in Schaumburg. Tickets are available at www.tammyduckworth.com/WalshConcert.
Ticket prices range from: $100 for general admission; $500 for reserved seating up front; $1,000 for a reception with Walsh; and $2,500 for a photo-op and meet and greet with Walsh.
The title of the event: “A Private Concert and Evening with The Real Joe Walsh.”
* Sangamon County Judge John Schmidt has issued a landmark ruling against Champaign’s attempt to keep secret electronic communications sent by city council members on their private phones during public meetings…
In July 2011, News-Gazette reporter Patrick Wade asked the city for “all electronic communications, including cellphone text messages, sent and received by members of the city council and the mayor during city council meetings and study sessions since and including May 3.”
The city originally provided The News-Gazette with 24 pages of emails generated during city council meetings. But officials withheld the remainder of the documents, arguing that the correspondence is not public record if it exists on council members’ personal accounts and cellphones.
But last November, the [attorney general’s] public access counselor ruled that all communications regarding city business on officials’ personal devices is subject to public disclosure.
In Monday’s arguments before Schmidt, Laura Hall, an assistant city attorney for Champaign, contended the electronic messages were not public records because an individual city council member could not be construed as the entire council.
“You are not a public body by yourself,” she said.
But Esther Seitz, arguing for The News-Gazette, said that “a public body acts through its individual members.”
And Laura Bautista, an assistant attorney general, said that even if council members used their own cellphones to send an electronic message, you “can’t use a private device to shield yourself from your communication becoming public.”
Gov. Pat Quinn uses his private cellphone to conduct business, and has maintained that those communications are exempt from state FOIA laws. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has also refused to turn over his text messages related to city contracts. Extending Schmidt’s logic outward, far less info could be shielded from public view.
* The Question: Do you agree with Judge Schmidt’s decision? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please. Thanks.
* Pat Quinn just about lost the Democratic primary because of a botched early release program for violent prison inmates. Quinn overreacted and shut down all early release programs in order to avoid being whacked for crimes committed by parolees. As a result, the prison population spiked upward in 2010 and 2011. The General Assembly has sent him a new bill that reinstates a long-standing early release program that Quinn killed with the now infamous “Meritorious Good Time Push” program. The governor demanded legislation before reinstating any early release plan, but he’s not saying yet whether he’ll sign it, although the betting is that he will…
Prisoner early release programs nearly cost Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn his job two years ago, so he stopped them. Now state lawmakers have sent him a measure that once again would let some nonviolent inmates out before their sentences are finished.
Republicans say it’s a Democratic attempt to provide Quinn with political cover, arguing the governor already has the power to launch an early-release program because his administration runs the Illinois Department of Corrections. If lawmakers set up the guidelines, Quinn could blame them if a freed inmate went on a crime spree, Republicans said.
“If someone is released and they are causing a terrible crime which occurs, it’s easy to blame the legislature,” said Republican Rep. Jim Durkin, a former prosecutor from Western Springs. “To a certain extent, that could be viewed as passing the buck.”
The Quinn administration is remaining mum on the bill, with a spokeswoman saying no other person than the governor will review it.
* The bill faced Republican opposition in the House, but it passed the Senate by a wide margin. However…
The early-release bill had an easier time passing the Senate. Even Sen. Brady, who blasted Quinn on early release during the governor’s campaign, voted for it.
Brady later said his vote was a mistake, that he meant to vote “no” because he thinks the bill gives the prisons chief too much discretion and violates the spirit of truth-of-sentencing guidelines that require a prisoner to serve most of his sentence.
“I didn’t see any merit in what they were expanding,” Brady said. “It just doesn’t smell right to me.”
* As Bill Cosby used to say, I told you that story so I can tell you this one. Ever since the MGT Push debacle, Quinn has been trying to boost his crime-fighting bonafides. As part of that effort, Quinn staged a big, splashy press conference yesterday with Chicago’s mayor and law enforcement to sign the state’s new RICO bill into law…
Local authorities now have the power to go after street gangs as criminal organizations under a new Illinois law.
Gov. Pat Quinn signed the Street Gang RICO Act on Monday.
The federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act doles out stiff penalties for acts performed as part of a criminal organization, like the Mafia.
The Illinois law applies the same idea to street gangs. It takes effect immediately.
Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez is a proponent. She says it’ll help prosecutors go after gang leaders instead of treating gang crimes as isolated events. Her office has started a new division for RICO cases. More than two dozen states have RICO laws.
They may say it’s just about street gangs, but it could be used for a whole lot more than that. From the statute…
(b) “Enterprise” includes:
(1) any partnership, corporation, association, business or charitable trust, or other legal entity; and (2) any group of individuals or other legal entities, or any combination thereof, associated in fact although not itself a legal entity. An association in fact must be held together by a common purpose of engaging in a course of conduct, and it may be associated together for purposes that are both legal and illegal. An association in fact must:
(A) have an ongoing organization or structure, either formal or informal; (B) the various members of the group must function as a continuing unit, even if the group changes membership by gaining or losing members over time; and (C) have an ascertainable structure distinct from that inherent in the conduct of a pattern of predicate activity.
However, opponents argue the law gives Illinois’ 102 county state attorneys too much power and leaves potential for abuse.
“The fear is that politically elected people can use it politically,’’ said state Sen. Kwame Raoul, a Chicago Democrat, who voted present on the bill. He also said low-level gang members could get swept up in investigations and charged with harsher crimes. […]
The Chicago Crime Commission, a nonprofit organization that studies city crime, applauded the law and said it was long overdue. Arthur Bilek, the commission’s executive vice president, said there had been little evidence in other states of abuse of power on the part of prosecutors.
“The dangers are insignificant compared to the good that bill can bring by finally beginning to put away these vicious violent drug gangs that are really the new mafia of the United States,’’ he said
The Chicago Police Department said nearly 80 percent of the city’s homicides are gang-related. It also said there are approximately 100,000 Chicago street gang members.
The violence is nowhere near its historical peak of the early 1990s, when Chicago recorded roughly 900 homicides per year. But from Jan. 1 through late May there were 203 homicides, an increase of more than 50 percent over the 134 during the same period in 2011.
Just as important have been dramatic changes within the gangs themselves.
“In the past the gangs were very organized from the top down,” said Sgt. Matthew Little of the Chicago Police Department’s gang enforcement unit. As more gang leaders are arrested, convicted and sent to prison, the gangs they left behind have become “very splintered,” he said.
Young men on the city’s streets agree.
“There is no one to control this, so it has become haywire,” said Devon Tims, who identified himself as one of the Chicago Vice Lords, making him one of the city’s estimated 70,000 gang members.
* Gov. Pat Quinn hasn’t even signed the full budget into law yet, but working parents and seniors are already getting notices that they’re about to be cut off from health coverage…
More than 25,000 working parents in Illinois stand to lose their state-provided health coverage on July 1 - and most of them don’t know it yet.
State officials will eliminate their coverage in just three weeks as part of the $2.7 billion package of cuts and taxes the Legislature passed in May in an effort to save Illinois’ Medicaid program from possible collapse. But with the clock ticking, the state has just sent out notices to the Medicaid families who will be affected once Gov. Pat Quinn signs the bill, as he has promised to do. […]
The state agency responsible for Medicaid sent roughly 26,000 notices to parents losing coverage on Friday, an agency spokesman told The Associated Press. Other letters to seniors losing help with prescription drug costs are being mailed in batches this week, Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services spokesman Mike Claffey told the AP on Monday. […]
Illinois has little experience informing Medicaid patients they’re losing coverage. The program has had few eligibility limits imposed, and mostly the program has grown to cover more residents over the years. Last year, a new income limit was placed on state coverage for children covered by a program called All Kids. But, in that case, the Legislature gave a year before the 4,000 children already enrolled lost their coverage. Their families got many months’ advance notice.
Now, advocates are bracing for phone calls from Medicaid recipients who may have only a week or two to make backup plans. Clinics are rescheduling appointments for patients in the middle of treatment.
NOTICE OF TERMINATION OF ILLINOIS CARES RX BENEFIT
Dear Illinois Cares Rx Member:
We regret to inform you that the Illinois Cares Rx program is ending June 30, 2012. Due to Illinois state budget reductions, funding for the program is being eliminated. This means beginning July 1, 2012, Illinois Cares Rx will no longer help you pay for your prescription drugs and Medicare Part D plan premium. It is important that you contact your Medicare Part D prescription drug plan to find out what your premium and prescription drug costs will be beginning July 1, 2012. See page 4 for phone numbers for the Part D plans that were coordinating with Illinois Cares Rx.
* Gov. Pat Quinn got a little bit overzealous with his pats on the back yesterday…
What appeared to be intended as a pat on the back turned into a little bit more than Emanuel bargained for.
“Thank you for the hit in the back,” Emanuel said — Quinn flashing a devilish grin next to him. “Thank god I was holding the podium when you did that.”
The two men recently, reportedly got into a heated argument on the telephone over gambling legislation. Maybe this was Quinn’s way of getting him back? […]
McCarthy, tough guy that he is, invited Quinn’s masculine back-slap when it was his turn to be introduced.
“Did you hurt yourself,” McCarthy quipped to the governor.
* Ben Polak, chairman of the economics department at Yale University, and Peter K. Schott, professor of economics at the Yale School of Management…
There is something historically different about this recession and its aftermath: in the past, local government employment has been almost recession-proof. This time it’s not. Going back as long as the data have been collected (1955), with the one exception of the 1981 recession, local government employment continued to grow almost every month regardless of what the economy threw at it. But since the latest recession began, local government employment has fallen by 3 percent, and is still falling. In the equivalent period following the 1990 and 2001 recessions, local government employment grew 7.7 and 5.2 percent. Even following the 1981 recession, by this stage local government employment was up by 1.4 percent…
Without this hidden austerity program, the economy would look very different. If state and local governments had followed the pattern of the previous two recessions, they would have added 1.4 million to 1.9 million jobs and overall unemployment would be 7.0 to 7.3 percent instead of 8.2 percent.
In the graph atop this post, I ran the numbers on total government employment after the 1981, 1990, 2001 and 2008 recessions. I made government employment on the eve of the recession equal to “1,” so what you’re seeing is total change in the ensuing 54 months, which is how much time has elapsed since the start of this recession.
As you can see, government employment tends to rise during recessions, helping to cushion their impact. But with the exception of a spike when we hired temporary workers for the decennial census, it’s fallen sharply during this recession.
Note that a Republican was president after the 1981, 1990 and 2000 recessions. Public-sector austerity looks a lot better to conservatives when they’re out of power than when they’re in it.
