* This may be a politically dumb move in a Democratic primary, but give him props for saying what he believes…
Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Bill Daley is calling on Gov. Pat Quinn to withdraw his appointment of a powerful south suburban Democratic leader to the Chicago Transit Authority board.
“The only transportation experience Frank Zuccarelli has is walking people to the polling place,” Mr. Daley told me, responding to my story this morning about how, thanks to Mr. Quinn, Mr. Zuccarelli will be able to benefit from a double-dip loophole in state law.
“It’s the same old Springfield game. It’s been like this for 12 years, first under (convicted ex-Gov. Rod) Blagojevich and now under Quinn,” Mr. Daley said in a phone interview. “Here we have a transportation crisis, he just appointed a blue-ribbon panel to review transit, and he goes and does this sort of thing.” […]
Mr. Daley said he is not worried Mr. Zuccarelli heads a large and influential political organization, serving as Democratic committeeman in Thornton.
“I’ll worry about the election next March,” Mr. Daley said. “Someone needs to worry about the transportation system and the credibility of government.”
Yikes.
Background here.
* Bruce Rauner also responded…
“I’d call this is a blatant insult to every taxpayer, but it’s clear Pat Quinn and the Democratic machine don’t care about the taxpayers at all,” Mr. Rauner says in a statement. “In fact, there is now a pattern of Pat Quinn handing out taxpayer-funded salaries and benefits to key cogs in the Democratic machine. This is exactly why voters are eager for a governor who can’t be intimidated or influenced by the special interests and political machines that try to control politics in Illinois.”
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Question of the day
Tuesday, Aug 6, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Politico…
Former White House chief of staff Bill Daley is featuring a White House photo of the day Osama bin Laden was killed and touting his “key role” in the operation as an example of leadership in his campaign for governor of Illinois.
On his campaign website, a link just above “donate today” reads: “This is what leadership looks like.” When users click, it brings full screen the official White House photo of the Situation Room on May 1, 2011, where President Barack Obama’s national security team is getting an update on the mission to kill bin Laden.
The caption on Daley’s website reads: “As President Obama’s Chief of Staff, Bill played a key role in the operation that captured Osama bin Laden.” […]
In the bio section of his site, Daley highlights his stint in the Obama administration from January 2011-January 2012, saying Daley “was involved in all aspects and issues faced by the president and the administration, both domestic and foreign.”
* The iconic photo…
* The Question: Will Bill Daley’s involvement with the killing of Osama bin Laden be significantly persuasive in the Democratic gubernatorial primary race? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.
online survey
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Quinn the reformer
Tuesday, Aug 6, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Gov. Pat Quinn has railed at politics eroding public confidence in the Chicago area’s mass transit agencies. Yesterday, he proposed a blue-ribbon panel to propose ways to clean things up.
But check out this fascinating twist from his recent appointment of Thornton Township Supervisor Frank Frank Zuccarelli to the CTA’s board…
Brad O’Halloran recently resigned as chairman of the Metra board, at least in part because of reports that he’d violated state law by accepting compensation both as a Metra board member and as an Orland Park village trustee.
But Mr. Zuccarelli is different. At least, so says Mr. Quinn’s office.
The state law establishing the CTA says that “no member” of the CTA board “shall hold any other office or employment under the federal, state or any county or municipal government except an honorary office without compensation or an office in the National Guard.”
But Grant Klinzman, a spokesman for Mr. Quinn, cites a different provision of law, which says: “‘Municipal’ or ‘municipality’ does not include a township, town when used as the equivalent of a township, incorporated town that has superseded a civil township . . . or any other similar governmental district.”
“The statute prohibits anyone who is paid by a municipality, county or state government (not a township),” Mr. Kinzman said in a statement. “Supervisor Frank Zuccarelli is an elected leader and strong advocate of a region that is quickly growing . . . (and) will be made significantly more accessible to public transportation by the proposed Red Line extension.”
Zuccarelli is also the local township Democratic committeeman and his township has the highest Democratic turnout in suburban Cook County. Zuccarelli was looking for another second job after Toni Preckwinkle let him go from a part-time county post, so the Quinn appointment was seen at the time as a way to help lock in the Z-Team’s support for the governor next spring. Now, it could backfire on Quinn.
Oops.
*** UPDATE *** Greg Hinz updates…
State Rep. Jack Franks, D-Woodstock, a longtime critic of how public transit operates here, is ripping the double-dip, and says he’ll try to make it illegal.
“The governor is basing his decision on a technicality, to help a political operative,” said Mr. Franks in a phone call. Before making “a political move,” Mr. Franks acerbically added, “I’m sure the governor did a nationwide search to find the best candidate.”
Mr. Franks says a pending bill of his would close the “township loophole” for a variety of posts. But he now intends to submit separate legislation aimed specifically at those who hold both transit agency and township-paying jobs.
GOP gubernatorial hopeful Kirk Dillard also has words for Mr. Quinn, telling him to withdraw the Zuccarelli appointment.
“This is hypocrisy beyond belief,” Mr. Dillard told me. “Gov. Quinn’s appointment of a political insider may technically be legal, but it sure is a total violation of the spirit of the law” — particularly at a time when the mess at Metra has shaken public confidence in public transit generally, he added. “At a time when one in 10 Illinoisans is out of work, (Mr Zuccarelli) is on multiple payrolls.”
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ALEC to be met with Chicago protests
Tuesday, Aug 6, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The American Legislative Exchange Council is meeting in Chicago this week to celebrate its 40th anniversary, and opposition groups are gearing up. From a Common Cause and Center for Media and Democracy press release…
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is running a secretive, multi-million dollar slush fund that finances lavish trips for state legislators and has misled the Internal Revenue Service about the fund’s activity, two government watchdog groups charged today.
Common Cause and the Center for Media and Democracy said the “scholarship fund” scheme also raises serious questions about ALEC’s compliance with state gift and disclosure laws, and the ethics of lawmakers who accept ALEC’s travel payments.
The watchdogs said that by funneling money through ALEC, that group’s corporate sponsors are able to take a federal tax deduction for the cost of wining, dining and housing lawmakers and their families at resorts and events like ALEC’s 40th anniversary meeting this week at Chicago’s posh Palmer House Hilton (August 7-9). Meanwhile, ALEC conceals the sources of the funds from the public and hides the amount of spending from the IRS by claiming that it only holds the funds in “trust,” while writing lawmakers’ checks to cover their trips.
Common Cause and CMD laid out details of the fund’s operation in an IRS tax whistleblower complaint and letter to the IRS Commissioner.
The groups have built their case based on documents obtained through open records requests, and are taking a number of actions this week to urge a crackdown on the ALEC
The IRS tax whistleblower complaint is here. The letter to the IRS Commissioner is here. An investigative report, Buying Influence, is here.
* A protest is planned for Thursday. From a Center for Media and Democracy press release…
According to ALEC, up to 2,000 state legislators and lobbyists are expected to be meeting behind closed doors inside the Palmer House Hilton in downtown Chicago. Although ALEC’s leaders have told the press its meetings are open to the public, reporters have been blocked from meetings where corporations and politicians vote as equals, bounced from other meetings, denied credentials, and even threatened with arrest.
In its latest move to shield its activities from pubic scrutiny, ALEC has begun stamping legislation and materials it gives to lawmakers as exempt from state open records laws. It has also resorted to using a drop box service Box.com in an attempt to evade legislators’ open records obligations. CMD is litigating this issue in Wisconsin in a suit against ALEC’s National Treasurer. Read more here.
Outside the ALEC conference, protests are planned for noon on August 8, led by the Chicago Federation of Labor.
* For background, this is from a December, 2012 Bloomberg report…
ALEC this week released its 2013 state legislative priorities and proposed legislation to accomplish them, including ending traditional pensions for newly hired public employees, repealing requirements that utilities buy electricity from environmentally friendly sources, using taxpayer dollars for religious schools, and limiting lawsuits by consumers injured by faulty products.
There was a small protest at the Palmer House yesterday and a handful of people were arrested. The big event is Thursday. Fred Klonsky has video.
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Fahner: “I misspoke”
Tuesday, Aug 6, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From an e-mail I received yesterday from Civic Committee President Ty Fahner…
Regarding my comments at the Union League Club in March, I misspoke.
First, while I may have said so, I didn’t call the ratings agencies, nor did any of our Civic Committee staff. My response to the questions was very confusing and inarticulate. If you notice, at the end of my answer, I close by saying it wouldn’t be the responsible thing for me to have done so with our members being the state’s largest employers. But I did say it.
He misspoke? That’s a pretty long story for a simple misspeak. Here’s the complete Fahner quote…
“The Civic Committee, not me, but me and some of the people that make up the Civic Committee, some of the same names I mentioned before, did meet with and call, in one case it was in person, a couple of calls to Moody’s, Fitch and Standard & Poor’s, and say, ‘How in the hell can you guys do this? You’re an enabler to let the state continue. You keep threatening more and more and more.’
“And I think now we’ve backed off, because we don’t want to be the straw that breaks the back, But if you watch what happened over the last few years, it’s been steadily down. Before that, it’s been the blind eye, and that’s a whole different topic, as you know, about how the rating agencies act and don’t act. That’s more in your field and stuff. It has been irresponsible. We have told them that we thought they were being irresponsible, but we stopped that a couple months ago. I do know that we suggested that they talk to the governor, the governor’s staff to see if he could give them comfort on where the state was going, and I think that’s one of the reasons why we’re really close now. I hope we’re close.”
“Inarticulate,” maybe, but not really confusing. He said what he said, and it was pretty darned detailed.
* Anyway, Fahner told me nobody from staff spoke with the ratings agencies, so I followed up with a question about whether any Civic Committee members had meetings and here’s his e-mailed response…
Rich, to be clear, I am not aware of anyone connected with the civic committee that contacted the rating agencies to urge Illinois be downgraded or for any other reason.
So, he made the story up out of whole cloth? And this guy is running the most powerful business group in Illinois?
* Back to Fahner’s original e-mail…
Finally, if there’s any good news in this, it’s that even a cynical political columnist like you now cares about pension reform, something we’ve been screaming about for a while now. We appreciate that. Stay on it. Illinois is in critical condition and we need everybody’s hands on deck.
Whatever.
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* Sun-Times…
Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office confirmed Monday it will have a direct role in the legal dispute over Gov. Pat Quinn’s move to cut legislative salaries despite the fact her father, House Speaker Michael Madigan, is a plaintiff in the case.
The three-term attorney general will represent Republican Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka in the case that pits her and Quinn against the House speaker and Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago), who sued the governor and comptroller.
“There’s not a conflict of interest because of the familial relationship,” said Natalie Bauer, a spokeswoman for the attorney general. Cullerton and Speaker Madigan “filed in their official capacity as the legislative leaders, so there is no conflict.”
The case is scheduled for its first hearing Tuesday before Cook County Associate Judge Neil Cohen, who is being asked to grant a preliminary injunction that would set aside Quinn’s line-item veto and authorize Topinka to resume paying legislators, who missed their first paychecks last week.
The motion for a preliminary injunction is here. The governor’s general counsel was served with the papers as well.
*** UPDATE *** From the Twitters…
Keep an eye on our live feed for more updates.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Twitters…
That means two paychecks will be missed and likely no pension reform until after Sept. 18th unless they can somehow convince the judge to issue an order beforehand.
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Caption contest!
Tuesday, Aug 6, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From a recent bill signing event…
Now, y’all know that I really don’t like violent imagery in comments, so make sure you don’t get weird on me today. Take it easy. Thanks.
Funniest commenter wins a beverage with yours truly at the Illinois State Fair.
* Yesterday’s winner was Arthur Andersen…
“Forget Chicago, just gimme that countryside”
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