* J3 is out of a halfway house and is now serving home confinement…
“I’ve experienced and I’ve accepted the consequences of my behavior, my poor judgment and my actions,” he said.
Jackson pulled up his trousers slightly to show the tracking device over his white sock on his left ankle.
Jackson said he has been writing a memoir while serving his time.
“I plan to use the next several months of home confinement…to share with the American people not only my journey, but the journey of Americans who have erred and made mistakes of judgement that led to their incarceration,” Jackson said.
“My takeaway is that people should not leave this experience bitter. They should be the better, more determined, more committed.”
* He also said he wanted to go into teaching. More…
Jackson, who pleaded guilty to spending $750,000 of campaign money on personal items in 2013, began his prison sentence on Nov. 1 of that year. The sentence does not officially end until September of this year, but Jackson became eligible to go home earlier.
After his release, Jackson must spend three years on supervised release under jurisdiction of the U.S. Probation Office and complete 500 hours of community service.
Sandi Jackson, former 7th ward alderman and the wife of Jesse Jackson Jr., will also serve prison time for filing false joint federal income tax returns that knowingly understated the income the couple received.
* Rep. David McSweeney (R-Barrington Hills) has introduced a new resolution. From the synopsis…
Calls upon the South Carolina General Assembly to take statutory action to remove any examples of the “Battle Flag of the Confederacy” from the grounds of the South Carolina State House, including the Confederate Monument.
* Carol Marin writes about Bonnie Liltz, the mother of a “catastrophically disabled” daughter who was herself desperately ill..
In 2012, Bonnie had a recurrence of cancer. And Courtney had to stay in an emergency residential setting until her mother recovered. It was not a good place and Courtney, said Glasgow, “came home a different kid. . . . It devastated Bonnie.”
Sue and Bonnie were both in the process of making application to a suburban residential center they felt would provide quality care. “But all these places have waiting lists,” said Sue.
Currently there are 22,000 developmentally disabled people on various waiting lists in Illinois, according to Veronica Vera of the Department of Human Services. And 7,000 waiting for residential placement. Yet, in Springfield, lawmakers and the governor are debating $33 million in cuts to those services.
“Bonnie wrote a letter to the governor,” said Sue, “asking him to reconsider.”
On the night she gave Courtney and herself an overdose of medication and wrote a suicide note, Bonnie was experiencing her worst attack yet of gastric pain and horrific diarrhea. She thought she was dying.
“She was in a desperate phase of her life,” said her attorney. “This was not a cry for help. This was a person who was at the end of her options in taking care of her daughter and herself.”
On May 27, Schaumburg police found both at home and unconscious. Courtney did not survive. Bonnie did.
Glasgow credits police and prosecutors for their professionalism and compassion. The charge, nonetheless, is murder.
* From a News-Gazette editorial about Gov. Bruce Rauner’s new TV ads…
What’s going on here? There is an old political maxim — if you can’t make them see the light, you can make them feel the heat.
Rauner is trying to peel away enough of Madigan’s legislative caucus to persuade the all-powerful speaker to entertain a few of Rauner’s legislative proposals, including modifications to the state’s workers’-compensation law. […]
So while Rauner and legislative leaders continue to talk, the TV ads will continue to play.
It’s an odd way to do legislative business.
But Illinois has become an odd state, one in which some of its leaders cling desperately to a status quo that has failed the people of this state. In that context, how much more harm can Rauner’s TV ads do?
* Yes, this is about making MJM et al “feel the heat.” Agreed, even though this is a relatively light check into the boards. But how does that ad “peel away enough of Madigan’s legislative caucus to persuade the all-powerful speaker to entertain a few of Rauner’s legislative proposals”? I’m not quite understanding how the CN-G is arriving at that conclusion.
And, by the way, they aren’t talking.
Whenever somebody or some institution appear to be cheerleading for war, or at least cheerleading one side in a coming war, their claims and predictions should always be put under a microscope and compared to actual facts and history.
* Let’s revisit my Crain’s Chicago Business column for this week…
In July 2013, Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed lawmakers’ salaries and stipends out of the state budget. He “hit them in the wallet,” he said, to spur action on pension reform.
Instead, all legislative progress suddenly and completely stopped on pension reform for a few months until a court finally ruled that the governor’s veto was unconstitutional. No way were legislators going to let Quinn push them around.
I could very well be wrong, but if legislators wouldn’t cave to protect their own pocketbooks, what makes anyone think they’ll cry “Uncle!” over somebody else’s problems?
Plus, legislators surely know, as they did with Quinn, that they can’t allow a precedent like this to be set: getting Rauner’s approval on the budget by giving in on his legislative agenda. If Democrats capitulate now, then the governor will just do it all over again when next year’s budget negotiations begin.
And then there’s the impact of that Rauner ad about Madigan. […]
Judging by history, including the Quinn paycheck ordeal, I get where the speaker is coming from, to some extent.
As long as Rauner’s TV ads are on the air, Madigan probably is not going to move even a millimeter. Doing so only would invite more ads in the future.
As noted previously, the governor’s ad isn’t devastating the process right now. As soon as the ad eventually comes down the two sides can probably resume talking. I just don’t see Madigan talking until then, however.
Then again, it’s not like he was talking all that much before the ads went up.
The statewide Independent Maps organization is getting a new leader, and the indefatigable Champaign-Urbana volunteers who collected thousands of signatures on petitions for a redistricting reform amendment are getting some recognition.
The new executive director at Independent Maps, a coalition aimed at passing a constitutional amendment to have a non-partisan independent commission draw legislative districts in Illinois, will be Cynthia Canary, who helped found the respected Illinois Campaign for Political Reform with the late U.S. Sen. Paul Simon in 1997 and served as its executive director for 14 years.
Canary replaces Patrick Brady, who was appointed head of the organization in April but recently stepped aside.
“Patrick got it through the drafting of amendment and the launch of the petition drive on the streets,” said Independent Maps spokesman Jim Bray. “His family lives in Raleigh (N.C)., and he was flying back and forth to Chicago. It just became evident that it was going to be too much time for him.”
Um, they didn’t ask the guy if he’d be commuting back and forth?
Sheesh.
I like Canary. She’s reasonable, not a screamer, not a conspiracy theorist. But this is a big, big task, so we’ll see if she’s up to it, administratively speaking.
Also, keep in mind that this is about state legislative redistricting, not congressional reapportionment. Big difference. Keep national politics out of the comment section, please.
* The reason I think Democrats ought to be backing this concept is simple: It’s in their self interest. If things remain the same and Gov. Rauner is reelected, he’ll have a 50-50 chance of drawing the new district map.
So, the Democrats need to ask themselves if they’d be happier with a remap reform amendment that they draft themselves, or would they rather Canary push through her own version, or would they prefer that none of that happened and they simply roll the dice on Rauner’s 2018 campaign. That dice-rolling didn’t work too well last year, did it?
The Democrats need to set aside their institutional arrogance and reform this process.
* Plus, I see it as a possible trade. Instead of the term limits amendment that Gov. Rauner is currently demanding, the Dems could give Rauner this issue and perhaps check a box on the governor’s Turnaround Agenda list.
Throughout his campaign for governor, Bruce Rauner asserted he didn’t have a social agenda and was focused solely on Illinois’ deepening financial crisis.
He’ll now be forced to stake out positions on a range of social issues thanks to the majority-Democratic General Assembly passing proposals this spring that would, among other things, reduce penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana, ban therapists from trying to change a young person’s sexuality, and ensure employers pay women at rates equal to men.
Any of the bills could spark the controversy the first-term Republican hoped to bypass. […]
Rauner hasn’t signaled how he’ll proceed. Six months after taking office, he still refuses to detail his stance on same-sex marriage or immigration reform. When pressed about four issues in particular — decriminalizing marijuana, legalizing the drug for those who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, requiring equal pay and banning gay conversation therapy — a Rauner spokeswoman emailed a standard reply: “The governor will carefully consider any legislation that crosses his desk.”
As I’ve said before, the governor so thoroughly controls both GOP caucuses that you first have to look for a “brick.” I think the bricks, if any, were more subtle on most of these bills than we’ve seen on other potentially controversial pieces of legislation.
* With that in mind, let’s look at the roll calls, starting with the marijuana decrim bill.
Republicans in both the House and Senate voted for the bill, suggesting that there was no solid brick on it. But the two GOP legislative leaders voted “No,” which could very well hint that the governor isn’t fully on board.
* Moving on to the PTSD bill. The Senate Republicans were all off that bill except for Sen. Oberweis. A couple of amendments were added in the House exempting patients from some FOID card laws. The amended bill passed the House with strong bipartisan support, although Leader Durkin voted “No.” But the Senate refused to accept the amendments and the House ended up voting to recede 60-41-6. This bill was sponsored in the House by Rep. Lou Lang. Rauner bricked Lang’s medical marijuana sunset extension in the Senate after the bill passed the House with bipartisan support. In between votes, Lang publicly lashed out at the governor.
* Next up, the equal pay bill. The legislation zoomed through both chambers, with Sen. Oberweis casting the lone “No” vote. That one’s not too difficult to figure out.
* And, finally, the gay conversion therapy ban bill. The legislation passed the House and the Senate with few GOP votes. However, both Republican leaders voted “Yes,” perhaps indicating that Rauner is open to supporting it.
The Chicago Public Schools will “run out of cash as early as this summer” and be unable to meet payroll, pension and debt payments without “third-party intervention” or a significant “cost deferral,” according to a new consultant’s report commissioned by the school system and obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.
The firm Ernst & Young is suggesting the Chicago City Council approve two property-tax increases for the school system. It says the twin increases would be necessary even if CPS makes drastic budget cuts and gets the pension relief and greater state funding it’s seeking in Springfield.
One of the tax hikes it’s recommending would be a “separate levy” of $50 million to bankroll school construction and pay off old projects. CPS has had the authority to impose a “capital improvement tax” for more than 20 years but “never activated” it, according to sources who told the Sun-Times it appears likely Mayor Rahm Emanuel will do so.
The second tax increase — in the range of $100 million to $400 million — is far less likely to be passed. According to the consultants, it would “effectively replace general state aid” siphoned from operations to pay off school construction debt.
It’s debatable whether that second tax hike could be approved by the city council without prior Statehouse authorization. If the maximum tax increases are passed, it would cost the owner of a $250,000 home about $450 a year, according to the article.
But even if CPS wins concessions from the City Council, state lawmakers and the CTU, the district won’t be able to close its annual $1 billion budget gap, according to the May 22 report by Ernst & Young, which spent four weeks meeting with school finance officials and analyzing budget documents. The report shows that even with a capital improvement tax, a separate, even-larger property tax increase, additional state aid, increased state funding of teachers pensions, concessions from the CTU and $150 million worth of budget cuts, CPS would still face an annual $350 million shortfall.
Potentially worsening the situation are unexpected bank penalty payments, the costly legacy of a series of complex financial deals masterminded by school board President David Vitale. Those deals fell apart earlier this year as the district’s credit deteriorated, meaning CPS could be forced to pay $228 million if the banks demand their money. The district has set aside only $174 million to cover such costs.
“They absolutely are deep in an imminent crisis,” CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey said. “Maybe they won’t be able to open, and maybe the state of schools when they do open is going to be miserable.” […]
“Right now, the district needs us,” Sharkey said. “The politics of Rahm Emanuel going to Springfield are a lot different than the politics of Rahm Emanuel and Karen Lewis going to Springfield.”
Gov. Bruce Rauner’s much-anticipated TV ad isn’t as over-the-top negative as we might have thought it would be.
“Exactly,” was the response from a Rauner official I spoke with after watching the ad and making that above observation about its somewhat muted tone.
“There’s plenty of time for that if it’s necessary,” the official added.
In case you haven’t seen it, the governor’s ad, above, begins with shots of downtown Chicago, then moves to a photo of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.
“Illinois is at a crossroads,” says the announcer. “Mike Madigan and the politicians he controls refuse to change.
“They’re saying no to spending discipline, no to job-creating economic reforms, no to term limits.
“All they want is higher taxes. Again.”
At the 19-second mark, Rauner appears in the ad. “Change in Springfield isn’t easy,” he says in voiceover as he’s seen talking with a couple of male workers. “But you didn’t send me here to do what’s easy,” he says as he’s seen talking to a woman standing at a counter near some flowers.
“With your help,” the governor says to the camera as the phrase “Join Bruce Rauner” appears next to his head, “I’m gonna keep fightin’ to grow our economy and fix our broken state government.”
The ad has played in most media markets in the state on both broadcast and cable stations, including the expensive St. Louis area, where Rauner is spending at least $100,000, according to a firm that tracks these things. Chicago, Rockford, Champaign/Springfield/Decatur, Peoria and the Quad Cities have been targeted.
An aide to the House speaker who saw the ad before I did said he didn’t think it would make much of a difference. After a buildup in expectations, he said, the ad failed to bite much at all, and he even laughed it off.
But a top Senate Democratic operative expressed sincere relief that the spot wasn’t so harsh that it would’ve destroyed any possibility of an agreement on the budget and the governor’s “turnaround agenda” issues, like workers’ compensation reform, a property tax freeze and tort reform.
They’re both probably right.
Rauner’s ad does not ask Illinoisans to do anything specific except support him. There are no phone numbers to call, no other actions to take. He could’ve flooded Madigan’s Statehouse switchboard if he’d chosen to do so, but he didn’t.
So on the one hand, you gotta wonder what exactly the governor hopes to accomplish with this ad, except to “punish” Madigan a bit and demonstrate his willingness to spend a million bucks a week on whatever the heck he wants.
On the other hand, those who still think a deal can get done ought to be relieved that the governor showed a little restraint in his march to war and didn’t go at Madigan with both barrels blazing.
And, by being somewhat reasonable and coming in under expectations, the ad likely will avoid any immediate public backlash. By speechifying across the state for months instead of holing up in Springfield, the governor has opened himself up to potential criticism that he ought to dump the rhetoric and get to work on solving actual problems. He’ll still have to deal with an angry and dismissive Madigan, however. That’s not going to be any easier now.
Former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar has been pleading for calm lately and asking that both sides avoid personal insults.
“The conversations they’re having aren’t the problem,” Edgar told Springfield’s WICS-TV. “Sometimes it’s what they’re saying when they aren’t together that’s the problem. It seems to be Madigan compares (Rauner) to Blagojevich and (Rauner) makes reference to their character. All that will happen in the heat of battle, but I think everyone needs to know we’re at the point if we’re going to get things done we need to back off of that,” the former governor said.
Regarding the new ad, Edgar said he was worried that Rauner’s TV buy would do more harm than good. “I fear that they could cause the Democrats not to come to the table, but maybe to dig in more,” Edgar told Statehouse reporters.
Rauner has all but claimed that Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton are corrupt, Madigan has compared Rauner to the imprisoned Rod Blagojevich, Rauner’s staff has pointedly insulted the House Democrats for engaging in a “sexist smear” of a Rauner appointee, etc., etc., etc.
So it’s little wonder that Edgar is worried that this thing could easily go off the rails, if it hasn’t already.
“Crisis creates opportunity,” Gov. Bruce Rauner told the Chicago Tribune editorial board in April. “Crisis creates leverage to change . . . and we’ve got to use that leverage of the crisis to force structural change.”
The “crisis” is the state’s severe fiscal problems. At Rauner’s behest, the Democratic-controlled Illinois General Assembly allowed the state’s temporary income tax to mostly expire on Jan. 1, which created a massive budget hole.
The Republican governor is refusing to negotiate on a budget fix until the Democrats agree to some of his “turnaround agenda” demands, like workers’ compensation insurance reform, a property tax freeze, legislative term limits and tort reform.
So when does the crisis begin? That’s debatable.
Does it start in the next few days, as the governor finally gets a chance to act on the budget, which the Democrats passed in May but didn’t officially begin transmitting to him until June 17?
Does it begin June 30? That’s when the Chicago Public Schools would miss a required $634 million payment to the teacher retirement plan if a pension fix continues to be caught in the crossfire between the governor and Democrats. If a budget deal isn’t reached, state spending starts grinding to a halt the next day.
Does it happen in mid-July, when the first state employee payroll can’t be met because there is no appropriations authority?
Does the crisis occur in mid-August, when public schools don’t receive their first state aid checks and many can’t open their doors?
Or has it already begun?
Rauner recently unveiled two rounds of budget cuts totaling $800 million that will run from July 1 through the summer. Those announcements set off a furor among Democratic legislators.
On June 16, Rauner launched a nearly $1 million TV advertising blitz slamming Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan for blocking his reforms.
Then again, here’s a question almost nobody is asking:
* Within what seems like milliseconds, an overlay ad covers our screen…
* But before we can click the “x” to close it, this pops up…
* And then we notice that a “pop-under” ad has been lauched…
* We hit the “x” on that, and we get this…
* After we’ve finally closed all the ads and solicitations, we click the “Navigation” button…
* Then we click “Early & Often”…
* Since there are no drop-down options under the main “Early & Often” link, we have to scroll through the page to look for Springfield news…
* Oops. We can’t find anything we need because for whatever reason they only display a handful of stories. But, luckily, we notice another “Early & Often” link at the top of the page. This one does have a drop-down option…
* Hooray!…
* Finally, we get to the story we want to read, but…
* And…
* Another pop-under…
* And…
* Huzzah, huzzah! We’ve arrived at the article we’d like to read…
* But we can’t read it until we answer a survey question…
* And after we answer that question, another survey question appears…
* And then a video ad starts playing…
I don’t know about you, but my browser usually crashes before I can ever read the story.
Now, all these ads don’t appear every single time. Like the headline says, this is a simulated experience. But it’s also too much like work.
* This AFSCME Council 31 handout to members was scanned by a reader and then converted to text. I’ve tried to correct most of the conversion errors. The original document is here…
Drastically reducing the group insurance benefit for state employees has been a priority for Governor Rauner since Day 1. Even before contract negotiations got underway, the Governor made cutting the state’s insurance plan a pillar of his budget proposal building $700 million in cuts to the group health plan into his budget. Even though his staff admitted in legislative testimony that changes would have to be negotiated with state employee unions, the governor is now demanding that legislators amend the collective bargaining law to ban negotiations over health care benefits.
At the bargaining table, Rauner is pushing for two radical changes to the group insurance benefit which could increase employee costs by thousands of dollars each year: He is proposing to drastically increase the share of the premium paid by employees and drastically increase the out of pocket costs when employees access healthcare.
Rauner wants to double the employee premium contribution to 40% of the cost for single coverage - and to 40% of the cost for dependent coverage too. By federal law, the cost for single coverage is capped at 9.5% of income. However, there is no cap at all on the premium contribution for dependent coverage. This proposal represents a significant change in a number of ways:
1. Currently employees pay a fixed dollar amount toward premiums that is specified in the contract. Moving to paying a percentage of the premium cost means that employee costs would rise each year based on any increase in the state’s healthcare costs.
2. Currently employees who make less pay a little less for health insurance, and employees that make more pay a little more. This proposal eliminates protections for lower paid workers, as everyone will be paying the same amount for group insurance.
3. Increasing the employee premium contribution from 19% (the current average contribution) to 40% puts Illinois outside the norm of other states. The national average for state employee premium contributions is 16%.
Rauner also wants to lower the insurance plan’s value and institute massive cost shifting onto employees through high out of pocket costs. The Administration is proposing a health plan with a 60% actuarial value. This means that on average, the health plan will pay 60% of allowable health care expenses, with the employee paying 40% of the cost through deductibles, copays and co-insurance.
• The current actuarial value of the Illinois group health plan is 93%. This mirrors state employee group insurance plans in other states. The average state government health plan nationwide had an actuarial value of 92% in 2013; the Midwest average is 93%.
• The Administration’s proposal does not include any specific changes to co-pays, deductibles, etc. Rather, it would delegate a committee to develop the new out of pocket costs based on its demand that employees pay a total of 40% of health care expenditures.
These proposed changes to health benefits would move Illinois from average to dead last when compared to other states.
• The Affordable Care Act (ACA) ranks plans as: platinum (best); gold; silver; bronze (worst). 60% actuarial value equates to “bronze” level coverage under the ACA.
• The average bronze level plan for an individual has a deductible of $5,400 and an out-of pocket maximum of $6,350. Bronze level plans would result in staggering and unaffordable cost increases for state employees. These plans have out of pocket costs at or near what is allowable under the ACA:
o $6,600 for single
o $13,200 for family
• 96% of states have a group health benefit that equates to an ACA “platinum” plan (valued over 80%).
• Only two states have “gold” level plans (valued at 80%)
• No other state has an employee health insurance plan with an actuarial value as low as 60%
* Hyperpartisan Democrats have been occasionally suggesting in comments that Gov. Rauner be recalled by voters. We’ve had even more today, so I feel I need to “front page” this topic.
Like all hyperpartisans, these recall enthusiasts are clueless.
The recall of the Governor may be proposed by a petition signed by a number of electors equal in number to at least 15% of the total votes cast for Governor in the preceding gubernatorial election, with at least 100 signatures from each of at least 25 separate counties.
15 percent of 3,627,690 total votes cast last year would be 544,154 signatures. That’s a whole lot, not to mention the 25 county requirement.
A petition shall have been signed by the petitioning electors not more than 150 days after an affidavit has been filed with the State Board of Elections providing notice of intent to circulate a petition to recall the Governor. The affidavit may be filed no sooner than 6 months after the beginning of the Governor’s term of office. The affidavit shall have been signed by the proponent of the recall petition, at least 20 members of the House of Representatives, and at least 10 members of the Senate, with no more than half of the signatures of members of each chamber from the same established political party.
Can anybody out there name 10 House Republicans and 5 Senate Republicans who would sign such an affidavit?
Ain’t. Gonna. Happen.
* Don’t clog up our comment section here with your goofy recall rants. You’ll be banned for life and forced to flee to a newspaper website, where nobody cares.
* I keep hearing this over and over about Sen. Mark Kirk…
He hasn’t had much of a filter on what he says in recent years. Whether that has anything to do with the stroke he suffered in 2012, I don’t know. It seems he was once more cautious. Now words just pop out of there.
Kirk has always had a mouth problem. That didn’t stop him from thumping his opponent five years ago. Underestimate him at your own risk.
I’m not making any excuses for his “bro with no ho” remarks. There are no excuses. But he’s apologized, so let’s move on to the question of whether he can hold his own against whomever the Democrats nominate.
Now, you may not agree with everything he said, but you have to admit that he was quite sharp and handled himself very well.
He has trouble giving long speeches (which don’t happen much in politics these days anyway), but he appears to have no trouble at all with answering questions.
* And here he is being interviewed at length not long ago by Bruce Dold at Elmhurst College…
Again, you may not agree with some of his statements, but he doesn’t look weak or ineffectual to me.
Kirk obviously needs to hold his tongue more often, but I think he’ll hold his own in the coming campaign, particularly with a potential opponent like this…
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Andrea Zopp was one of 19 character witnesses listed to testify Friday in Springfield for her friend Quinshaunta Golden, who is facing a decade or more in prison for her role in a multimillion-dollar theft and bribery scheme involving government grants and contracts awarded by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
But Zopp — who’s seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Illinois — said Wednesday, “I’m not going to be able to testify.
“The sentencing’s been moved countless times,” Zopp said. “I couldn’t make it work to go to Springfield. It’s an all-day trip. I couldn’t rearrange my schedule to make that happen.”
So much for the jobs-killer rep—when it comes to states that are growing new businesses, Illinois is among the top U.S. leaders.
The Land of Lincoln ranked No. 2 among states where businesses are being created the fastest, according to numbers released yesterday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The number of business startups in Illinois jumped 4.7 percent in the fourth quarter compared with a year earlier. The only state beating Illinois was Massachusetts—home of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology—whose fourth-quarter number rose 5.6 percent.
Education seems to be a common thread among the top business-creating states, said Robert Atkinson, president of the Washington-based Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, a research group that promotes innovation. […]
The density of young firms and population diversity, including an area’s ability to attract immigrants, are among the factors that helped some metropolitan areas and states stand out, said Arnobio Morelix, a research analyst who studies startups at the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City, Mo.
Illinois fits that bill, aided by Chicago’s status as one of the fastest-growing cities for technology jobs, with a rapidly-growing tech community in River North.
One hundred fifty years ago today, the U.S. Army took possession of Galveston Island, a barrier island just off the Texas coast that guards the entrance to Galveston Bay, and began a late-arriving, long-lasting war against slavery in Texas. This little-known battle would endure for months after the end of what we normally think of as the Civil War. This struggle, pitting Texas freedpeople and loyalists and the U.S. Army against stubborn defenders of slavery, would become the basis for the increasingly popular celebrations of Juneteenth, a predominantly African-American holiday celebrating emancipation on or about June 19th every year.
The historical origins of Juneteenth are clear. On June 19, 1865, U.S. Major General Gordon Granger, newly arrived with 1,800 men in Texas, ordered that “all slaves are free” in Texas and that there would be an “absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves.” The idea that any such proclamation would still need to be issued in June 1865 – two months after the surrender at Appomattox - forces us to rethink how and when slavery and the Civil War really ended. And in turn it helps us recognize Juneteenth as not just a bookend to the Civil War but as a celebration and commemoration of the epic struggles of emancipation and Reconstruction.
By June 19, 1865, it had been more than two years since President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation, almost five months since Congress passed the 13th Amendment, and more than two months since General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate army at Appomattox Court House. So why did Granger need to act to end slavery?
A lawyer for former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert on Thursday called leaks regarding the federal hush-money case against the Illinois Republican “unconscionable” and said he may ask the court to investigate.
Thomas Green, Hastert’s Washington, D.C.-based defense attorney, said during a status hearing in Chicago that he’s concerned information that’s been disclosed to the media may inhibit Hastert’s right to a fair trial.
“Something has to be done to stop these leaks,” said Green, who attended the hearing via telephone. “They’re unconscionable and they have to stop.” […]
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Block told U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin that prosecutors also find the leaks “disturbing.” He said the government is “doing everything we can” to look into it.
There are always some leaks and some helpful “assistance” provided to “friendly” reporters. But the Chicago US Attorney’s office hasn’t leaked like this in my memory.
* Rep. Phillips is a sponsor of a “right to work” bill, and now we know why…
State Rep. Reggie Phillips made his feelings on the proposed right-to-work resolution clear Thursday, saying AFSCME members are “like ants” and asking his members to lock arms and support towns that pass the resolution.
Phillips, R-Charleston, along with State Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, spoke at the Charleston Chamber of Commerce’s legislative update lunch at the Unique Suites hotel. Phillips pointed to right-to-work and pension reform as two of the biggest topics state legislators are dealing with.
Phillips said he will ask Charleston city officials to resurrect the right-to-work resolution, rescinded by council members after union supporters packed council meetings to speak against it, and wants his constituents to support it.
Phillips noted he attended one of the council meetings in support of the resolution.
“There’s only 38,000 members in AFSCME (represented by the contract in Illinois),” he said. “You’d think there’s 38 million. They’re mobilized, like ants.”
Phillips said he wished Gov. Bruce Rauner and Phillips’ own supporters would have stood firm on the issue. The process of change may be painful but is necessary for the state, he said.
“Trust me, it’s like spanking a child sometimes,” he said. “The child doesn’t want to be spanked, but in the end it’s going to make them a better person.”
Conventional wisdom told us that our leaders would end their dog-and-pony shows when push came to shove, get together in the governor’s conference room at the Capitol and hammer out a compromise budget in which neither side gets all it wants but both sides can live with it.
But these are unconventional times. Rauner has been hurling insults at Madigan, who is doing a slow burn. What’s developing before our eyes is a nonviolent version of World War I trench warfare: Both sides dig in and prepare for a long, withering conflict.
“My staff will tell you that there were many times when I was governor, and particularly that first few months, I had a lot of thoughts about Mike Madigan, but I never said them publicly,” says Edgar, a Republican who served two terms in the 1990s. “I worked that out, and we got to be very good friends, actually.”
Edgar says the money Rauner is spending on campaign-style ads attacking Democrats is unnecessary and won’t lead to compromise.
“That could make it extremely difficult,” he says. “I hope that some private talks will resume.”
Edgar says it also doesn’t help when Democrats are comparing Rauner to disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. He says when he was governor, in the final weeks of sessions, everyone kept their opinions to themselves and got to work, and thinks that should happen here.
Edgar also says Rauner has to realize he’s not in the private sector anymore. Democrats, in turn, must realize they can’t do things the way they’ve always done them, calling it “a new day” in Springfield, Edgar says.
After careful thought and consideration I have decided to not seek re-election as Illinois State Senator for the 47th District in the 2016 election.
It is an honor to have earned the trust and support of so many people in Western Illinois and across the state. I will continue to work hard to represent and be a voice for my constituents in Springfield as I transition to the private sector.
Sincerely,
Senator John Sullivan
Sullivan, a Democrat, represents a heavily Republican district. He told me last night that he’s not resigning before the election. The Democrats, therefore, won’t be able to put anybody into the seat to give him or her a leg up. That’s gonna be a real tough one for them to hold.
Sen. Sullivan has justly earned great respect from both sides of the aisle. He’s a class act, and that’s why his GOP voters have kept sending him back to Springfield. It’s a “Sullivan district,” not a partisan district.
He’ll be missed.
…Adding… Some decidedly unclassy spin from the IL GOP…
Senator John Sullivan, a downstate Democrat in a competitive district, announced Thursday that he is not running for re-election in 2016.
Sullivan’s announcement is an early sign that the Democrats controlled by Mike Madigan are afraid of answering to voters after their repeated failure in Springfield.
In spite of winning re-election by nearly 13 points in 2012, Sullivan bowed out of his re-election campaign less than a week after Governor Bruce Rauner visited the district and challenged voters to hold Sullivan accountable for standing with Mike Madigan. In the November election, Governor Bruce Rauner won the district by more than 36 points.
As the 30-year House Speaker and Chairman of the Democratic Party, Mike Madigan has held a firm grip on Democrats in Springfield and has enforced loyalty at all costs. Sullivan knows that if he were to run for re-election, he would not be able to distance himself from Mike Madigan.
For the Democrat legislators who continue to stand against reform to business-as-usual in Springfield, Mike Madigan’s name will be next to theirs on the ballot in November 2016.
Sullivan has won every election since 2002 by wide margins. Sen. Sullivan won a close race in 2002, beating incumbent Sen. Laura Kent Donahue by 3 points (51.5% - 48.5%), but he has coasted to victory in every election since. (Illinois Board of Elections, Accessed 6/18/2015)
2004: Sen. Sullivan (D) beat Republican Tom Ernst by 24 points (61.8% - 38.2%).
2008: Sen. Sullivan (D) won re-election unopposed.
2012: Sen. Sullivan (D) beat Republican Randy Frese by nearly 13 points (56.4% - 43.6%).
Just three weeks ago, Sullivan blindly supported his Democrat party boss Mike Madigan by voting for a budget that was unbalanced by more than $3 billion. “House Democrats worked into the evening Tuesday to push through major parts of a new budget they acknowledge is at least $3 billion short in an effort to force new Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner to eventually go along with a tax increase to fill the deficit.” (Monique Garcia and Kim Geiger,
“Illinois Democrats Push Ahead With Budget That’s $3 Billion Short,” Chicago Tribune, 5/26/2015)
Sullivan voted to pass Madigan’s unbalanced FY2016 budget bill. (Illinois General Assembly Records, Accessed 6/18/2015)
Sullivan has taken $1,037,820 from Democrat Party committees controlled by Mike Madigan. (Illinois Board of Elections, Accessed 6/18/2015)
Last week, Governor Bruce Rauner visited Sullivan’s district and challenged voters to hold Sullivan accountable for standing with Mike Madigan. “[Gov. Bruce Rauner] said he wants people to get in touch with their representatives and ask them: “Are you for taxpayers or the Chicago political machine?”‘” (WGEM, “Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner Challenges Voters To Pressure Lawmakers,” WGEM.com, 6/11/2015)
Governor Bruce Rauner won Sullivan’s district by 36 points (65% - 29%) in the November 2014 election. The rural Western Illinois district covers all or part of 11 counties, including Adams, Brown, Cass, Fulton, Hancock, Henderson, Knox, Mason, McDonough, Schuyler and Warren. Governor Rauner won the district by 36 points and the most populous county in the district by 56 points (Adams, 76.4% - 19.3%). (Illinois Board of Elections, Accessed 6/18/2015)
“Plain and simple: Sen. John Sullivan is running from Mike Madigan. After voting for a budget that was unbalanced by $4 billion and accepting over $1 million from Madigan’s Democrat Party over the years, John Sullivan knows that he can’t justify his actions to his constituents. In the past, Democrats have voted with Madigan in Springfield and then distanced themselves to voters at home. But now, Governor Rauner is not letting Democrats like Sullivan get away with it. Countless Democrats represent districts throughout the state where Madigan is loathed by voters. By November 2016, these voters will know that a vote for a Democrat in the state legislature is a vote for the failed status quo controlled by Mike Madigan,” said Nick Klitzing, Executive Director of the Illinois Republican Party.
