Reader comments closed for the weekend
Friday, Feb 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* My favorite song from the first record I ever owned. Check out Ringo’s expertly swinging hi-hat work and the way he joyously kicks that bass drum hard leading into the chorus, Paul playing the first integral bass guitar chords in rock ‘n roll history and John’s oh so smokey voice. Awesome stuff…
The words you long to hear
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Just a hiccup?
Friday, Feb 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Dan Rutherford’s running mate Steve Kim was asked by the Daily Herald about the allegations against his boss…
Kim called the Rutherford allegations a “hiccup.”
“I think our base is more energized than ever before,” Kim said.
*** UPDATE *** I told subscribers about this earlier today…
This week, employees in Rutherford’s office were submitting to interviews for the internal review.
“They’re being pretty frank about it,” one source with knowledge of the interviews said. “They’re scared about it but they’re doing it.”
This doesn’t look like it’s gonna end well for anybody involved.
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Question of the day
Friday, Feb 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* As we discussed last week, longtime Statehouse lobbyist Dick Lockhart’s 90th birthday party was this past Wednesday.
One of the most popular speeches of the night was delivered by Bob Myers, of the Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois. Most of Bob’s speech was him reading from “Lockhart’s Logic,” a list of do’s and don’ts for lobbyists honed by Lockhart over the centuries. Here’s Bob reading the list…
* If you can’t watch videos at work, here are some of the rules…
“Credibility is a non-renewable resource. Once gone, it is gone.”
“A legislator and his ego are never parted.”
“If you can’t defeat a bill, dilute it. If you can’t dilute it, delay it.”
“It is better to be the key to a locked door than it is to try to beat the door down.”
“Fear and/or greed generate most legislation.”
“Everything is temporary.”
“Necessity is the mother of strange bedfellows.”
“Coalitions are temporary love affairs, seldom consummated or even blissful, and they frequently lead to seductions by clever suitors.”
“No bill should be called before its time.”
“Legislation is not only the art of compromise, compromise is also an art.”
“Say ‘Thank you’ often, and mean it.”
* The Question: Can you think of any other do’s and don’ts not covered here?
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* No surprise at all…
Gov. Pat Quinn won’t debate his lone Democratic challenger ahead of next month’s primary.
Activist Tio Hardiman wrote Quinn a letter requesting debates ahead of March 18, saying the public “deserves a serious debate.”
Quinn campaign spokeswoman Leslie Wertheimer said Friday she hadn’t seen the letter but no debates were to “take place.”
Politically, I guess I can’t blame Quinn. But, I’d really like to see a debate between those two.
*** UPDATE *** The News-Gazette is upset at Congressman Rodney Davis for not debating his Republican primary opponent…
The local League of Women Voters is holding a forum for Democratic and Republican congressional candidates on Feb. 20 at the Champaign City Building. It starts at 7 p.m. Five of the six Democratic and Republican candidates are expected to be there.
Davis won’t be because he lacks sufficient respect for his opponent and the public to show up.
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* From a Gov. Pat Quinn press release…
There are 10 Blackhawks hitting the ice in Sochi, playing for five different nations, including Patrick Kane on Team USA. Kane was part of the silver medal-winning 2010 Team USA. Blackhawks fans can also watch Jonathan Towes, Duncan Keith and Patrick Sharp on Team Canada; Niklas Hjalmarsson, Marcus Kruger and Johnny Oduya on Team Sweden; Marian Hossa and Michal Handzus on Team Slovakia; and Michael Rozsival on Team Czech Republic. Toews, Keith, Oduya, Kane, Hossa, and Handzus have played in previous Olympic Games for their respective countries.
Eleven Illinois athletes are in Sochi as part of the U.S. Olympic Team. Illinois’ Team USA athletes include both past Olympic medalists and those competing at the Olympics for the first time. The Illinois Olympic athletes are:
Megan Bozek, hockey, age 22 (Buffalo Grove): Megan attended the University of Minnesota. She is a member of the U.S. women’s national ice hockey team. This is her first Olympics.
Jason Brown, figure skating, age 19 (Highland Park): Jason is a student at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. He has won medals in both national and world championships. This is his first Olympics.
Kendall Coyne, hockey, age 21 (Palos Heights): Kendall attends Northeastern University in Boston. She is a member of the U.S. women’s national ice hockey team. This is her first Olympics.
Shani Davis, speed skating, age 31 (Chicago): Raised on Chicago’s south side, this will be Shani’s third Olympic Games. He is a two time Olympic Gold Medalist (2006, 2010) as well as a two time Olympic Silver Medalist (2006, 2010).
Aja Evans, bobsled, age 25 (Chicago): Aja competed in track and field as a college athlete at the University of Illinois. She is part of an athletic family which includes her father, the first black national collegiate champion in swimming; her brother, a Minnesota Vikings player; and her uncle, former Cubs star Gary Matthews. This is her first Olympics.
Gracie Gold, figure skating, age 18 (Chatham): Gracie is the 2014 U.S. national champion. She has a fraternal twin sister who is also a competitive figure skater. This is her first Olympics.
Brian Hansen, speed skating, age 23 (Glenview): Brian won a silver medal as part of the team pursuit at his first Olympic games in 2010. He currently attends Marquette University.
Jonathan Kuck, speed skating, age 23 (Champaign): Jonathan is a physics major at the University of Illinois. He won his first silver medal in the team pursuit at the 2010 Olympic Games.
Emery Lehman, speed skating, age 17 (Oak Park): Emery is a senior at Oak Park and River Forest High School. He took up speed skating at age nine in an effort to improve his ice hockey skills. This is his first Olympics.
Patrick Meek, speed skating, age 28 (Northbrook): Patrick is an alumnus of the University of Utah. He comes from a family of avid speed skaters which includes his sister, father and grandfather. Meek participated in the 2006 and 2010 Olympic Trials and qualified for his first Olympics this past December. This is his first Olympics.
Ann Swisshelm, curling, 45 (Chicago): Ann competed at her first Olympic Games in 2002 and is a national and world curling champion. Ann began curling at age 10 and is a graduate of Drake University.
Eleven seems kinda light to me.
Learn more here.
…Adding… The Senate Democrats have more here.
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Today’s quote
Friday, Feb 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Republican House candidate Landon Laubhan of Springfield…
“If you can’t trust a teacher to carry a concealed weapon and protect students, who can you really trust?” he said. “I’ll put a teacher with a gun up against a bad man with a gun any day.”
Laubhan said he is fully confident that law enforcement will be able to screen out people who should not be able to carry concealed guns. He isn’t a gun owner, he said, but “I don’t have to own a gun in order to love the Second Amendment.”
I can think of a few teachers in my own past who I wouldn’t trust with a concealed gun in class.
And he’s not a gun owner? Curious.
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Nukes versus wind and an upcoming power play
Friday, Feb 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From Crain’s…
The clock is now ticking for Exelon Corp.’s Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear power plants.
CEO Chris Crane said the company would have to decide by year-end on whether to shutter nuclear facilities that currently are losing money due to persistently low wholesale power prices. Analysts have identified the downstate Clinton plant and Quad Cities as the two in Illinois that fit this description. […]
A number of state politicians, including Senate Energy Committee Chairman Mike Jacobs, D-East Moline, who represents the district including Quad Cities, would want at least to explore ways to keep open the plants, each of which employ hundreds of union workers and contribute millions each year in local taxes.
Mr. Crane has been a vocal critic of state and federal subsidies to wind farms that are competing with Exelon’s plants. Tax credits enable wind farms in areas of the country that have a surplus of power, like Illinois, to run profitably even when wholesale prices are zero.
Those two possible plant closures would, indeed, be a major blow to the respective regional economies.
* Exelon wants to make its decision by year’s end, and the threat of closure could prompt legislative action…
If lawmakers entice the company to enter into negotiations on what it would take to keep the plants open, given the deadline Mr. Crane laid down on closure decisions, a bill would have to be acted on in the legislative veto session that takes place in November.
That two-week session would be a challenging venue for acting on such a request, which inevitably would be highly controversial and would open the door to requests from every energy-related interest group.
No kidding.
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Today’s numbers are grim
Friday, Feb 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* From the Decatur Herald & Review…
Decatur has the second fastest-shrinking economy in the United States, according to a study by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
The study shows that Decatur had a decline in what is called Gross Metro Product of 4.8 percent in 2013. Gross Metro Product is similar to the gross domestic product, although measured on a city level. At any rate, a decline of nearly 5 percent isn’t good.
The news isn’t predicted to get much better in 2014. The study projected that the GMP would improve by only .8 percent in Decatur.
The employment statistics aren’t really news to folks in Decatur, although some might be surprised to learn that the 4.2 percent drop in employment was the worst in the nation.
There are some bright spots in the future. The “Midwest Inland Port” project ought to boost employment.
But Decatur also needs to try and stop its young people from leaving. Jobs are hugely important, of course, but, as with far too many small cities, there’s just not much of anything going on in that town and no apparent effort by city leaders to get anything going. Decatur used to have a thriving local music scene, for instance. No more. A couple of years ago, I was heading to Decatur and asked a local political leader if he could recommend a good restaurant. He couldn’t.
Making the city more livable won’t cure all its problems, but, hey, why not at least try anyway?
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Dillard’s nuanced tax stance
Friday, Feb 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Most folks in the media have so far interpreted Sen. Kirk Dillard’s views on the “temporary” income tax hike as far less nuanced than it actually is. For instance, this is from Dillard’s campaign website…
“I did not vote for that bill (increasing the tax from 3 to 5 percent), which was brought up in the middle of the night on the last day. The Democrats said they were going to use the funds to pay off old bills. That didn’t happen.”
We should roll back the income tax.”
If elected, would appoint a blue ribbon committee of business leaders, farmers and taxpayer advocates to rewrite the Illinois tax code, which he calls archaic. Would have very few politicians on the committee.
Does not take “no new taxes” pledges because he wants to keep his options open, but opposes the planned progressive income tax, “which would be nothing but a massive tax increase.” [Emphasis added.]
* Ben Yount reported Dillard saying this last July…
Kirk Dillard is flying around Illinois, announcing his run for governor by loudly proclaiming that he will not raise taxes if elected.
But the suburban Republican state senator is admitting quietly that he may not roll back Illinois’ 67-percent income tax increase from 2011.
“I said I’m not going to sign an increase in the income tax,” Dillard explained Monday at his campaign stop in Decatur. “Everything is going to be on the table.”
* From last November…
“The Senate Republican caucus has a plan that shows you how you phase out that tax. It lays out a menu of options,” [Dillard] said.
* This week…
Republican gubernatorial candidate Sen. Kirk Dillard on Thursday held out the option of a short-term extension of the temporary income tax hike as he works for an overhaul of the state’s tax structure.
Speaking to The State Journal-Register editorial board, Dillard made it clear he wants the tax hike to expire and pledged it would during his term as governor if elected.
However, with the bulk of the tax set to expire at the end of the year and no clear indication of what lawmakers will do about it, Dillard said a short-term extension might be an option.
“You could do something on a temporary basis while you wait for the (tax overhaul report),” Dillard said. “You can let it go and see how big your budget hole gets, or you can keep it for another six months.”
* And, of course, he also said earlier in the week…
Dillard also left the door open for the potential broaden the sales tax [to include services]. “Everything needs to be looked at,” said Dillard
Discuss.
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Caption contest!
Friday, Feb 7, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel poses with Democratic state treasurer candidate Sen. Mike Frerichs…
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