* Maybe we should ask the Texas governor for advice on how to deal with this obvious military invasion…
STATEMENT FROM THE CITY OF CHICAGO OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS REGARDING TRAINING IN CHICAGO JULY 20-25
The City of Chicago is providing continued support for a routine military training exercise in and around the Chicagoland area over the next week. This routine training is conducted by military personnel in cities across the country, designed to ensure the military’s ability to operate in urban environments overseas, as service members meet mandatory training certification requirements and prepare for upcoming deployments worldwide.
As part of this training, residents can expect to see increased aircraft activity, including helicopter flights. All training activities have been pre-coordinated with federal, state and city officials, and these locations have been carefully selected to minimize the impact on the daily routine of residents.
The training is not open to the public and the sites will be secured to ensure the safety of residents and the participants.
On an unrelated note, I’ve heard the phrase “Chicagoland area” all my life and have always thought it’s redundant. Wouldn’t “Chicagoland” suffice?
Governor Bruce Rauner signed Executive Order 15-16 today to remove a layer of government bureaucracy in hiring civil-service positions (Rutan-covered positions) and to protect the hiring process from unlawful political influence.
Executive Order 15-16 rescinds Executive Order 03-01, which required the Governor’s Office to review and approve the hiring and promotion decisions of Rutan-covered positions at state agencies. This system was inefficient, contributing to significant delays in hiring and promotion decisions. It also became a tool for political patronage, which led to an increase in patronage hiring in previous administrations.
Governor Rauner requested Illinois Central Management Services and the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget to review this system – known as EPAR – and they recommended it be discontinued. Agencies will be subject to budget and headcount limits, but will be allowed to fill Rutan-covered positions according to the applicable personnel rules and collective-bargaining agreements.
Executive Order 15-16 also requires all employment and personal services contracts going forward to allow the State to terminate the contract without penalty.
EPAR was a reform that had certainly been abused. But what he’s also doing here is eliminating any legal paper trails between his office and agencies that are hiring.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a key ally of Senate candidate Andrea Zopp, stepped up pressure on the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Wednesday for endorsing her rival, Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill. […]
Jackson wrote, “to the chagrin of many loyal Democrats, we have read in the press that Representative Tammy Duckworth has been endorsed by your committee without a phone call or the proper vetting conversation.”
“Ms. Zopp is in the community she represents. She deserves respectful treatment,” Jackson said.
Last week, Justin Barasky said before endorsing Duckworth they met with others considering an Illinois Senate bid, including Reps. Cheri Bustos, Bill Foster and Robin Kelly, who is African-American. Baraksy said the DSCC “kept the lines of communication open but Andrea Zopp did neither.”
“The DSCC is proud to have endorsed Tammy Duckworth and stand with her throughout the campaign because she is the best candidate to beat a senator like Mark Kirk, whose racist and sexist comments have repeatedly put him in hot water.”
* From Matt McGrath, who says he is a “Senior Communications Adviser to DPI [Democratic Party of Illinois], working on the U.S. Senate race”…
By now you’ve probably seen this: Senator Kirk is making headlines across the country for saying something outrageous and offensive - only this time it was on Boston’s largest radio station, not into a hot microphone.
Please note this is the second time Kirk felt compelled to invoke Hitler and make an ahistorical reference to appeasement. Back in April, he said “Neville Chamberlain got a lot more out of Hitler than Wendy Sherman got out of Iran,” while discussing the agreement’s framework. Those remarks were widely panned at the time.
He upped the ante this morning, however, when he said (and then reiterated) this: “The only reason that the president supported Corker legislation is because it allows him to get what he wants on Iran which is to get nukes to Iran.”
If that’s not accusing the President of treason, it’s awfully close.
In the same interview, Kirk refers several times to the President, whose Senate seat Kirk now holds, as Barack Hussein Obama… for some reason.
These are outrageous remarks, and they have no place in civil discourse. How does this square with Senator Kirk’s self-styled image as a “moderate” who “reflects Illinois values”?
There are so many banned commenting words in that e-mail of his that I hesitated to post it.
Let’s all try to be a bit more reasonable than both of those gentlemen, please. Thanks.
Mark Kirk made deeply inflammatory comments about the proposed Iran nuclear agreement yesterday, saying that what the President wants is “to get nukes to Iran.”
He also called the deal “the greatest appeasement since Chamberlain gave Czechoslovakia to Hitler,” and repeatedly referred to the President as Barack Hussein Obama — an obvious attempt to make misleading insinuations about the President’s religion and loyalties.
Add your name: tell Mark Kirk that his incendiary language and partisan fear-mongering is unacceptable.
This isn’t the first time Kirk has invoked Hitler or made a careless reference to appeasement when discussing the Iran negotiations. He was also one of the 47 Republican Senators who undercut the President’s authority earlier this year by sending a partisan letter directly to Iranian leaders during the negotiations.
This kind of language is inappropriate coming from a U.S. Senator, and Kirk’s comments, which border on accusing the President of treason, are disgraceful.
Kirk made these comments before he’d even read the agreement. Tammy believes that Congress should carefully review this deal, without rushing to judgment or resorting to reckless partisanship.
Sign our petition condemning Kirk’s remarks:
http://action.tammyduckworth.com/iran-comments
Thank you for adding your voice,
Kaitlin Fahey
Campaign Manager, Tammy for Illinois
[Gov. Bruce Rauner’s pension reform] proposal would give state employees incentives to move into a cheaper pension system known as Tier 2. Democrats said the move is hypocritical in light of a decision to give Rauner’s newly hired pick for state schools chief a special perk to boost his pension.
“This supplemental perk is a clear admission that Tier II is grossly inadequate as it stands. Thousands of Illinois educators receive this very same, insufficient retirement plan, but rather than make them whole as he is doing for his own executives, Rauner is proposing a plan that cuts them more deeply,” said Illinois Federation of Teachers President Dan Montgomery. “This is illegal, hypocritical, and a stunning display of the Governor’s real priorities.”
* The Tribune editorial board concurs in part and dissents in part…
Employees enrolled in Tier II earn pensions based on a less lucrative formula than those in Tier I. Higher salaries mean higher pensions, but the Tier II formula includes a strict ceiling on the earnings used to calculate retirement benefits.
[State schools superintendent Tony Smith’s] base salary for this year is $225,000. But his contributions to the Teachers Retirement System, or TRS, will be based on a capped salary of just under $112,000.
Smith’s contract requires taxpayers to make both the “member” and “employer” contributions to his pension, a rant for another day. Because of the salary cap, the “member” share is about half what it would have been under Tier I. So the taxpayers will write him a check for the difference.
Because Tier II, a baby step in a desperately needed pension system overhaul, is too onerous for the governor’s guy? We don’t think so.
Moving new employees into a sustainable pension plan was a sound policy decision by the state. Rauner has no business creating exceptions for his chosen aides.
Anybody who calls Tier II a “baby step” - when employees are essentially subsidizing everybody else - isn’t quite clear on the concept.
Even so, give ‘em props for finally speaking up about something.
Former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock’s legal woes have been lucrative for a handful of law firms that have collected more than $1 million from his campaign fund over the past three months, according to a campaign disclosure report released Wednesday by the Federal Election Commission.
In addition, the report shows that Schock owes almost $750,000 to the law firm Jones Day. […]
In recent months, Schock returned $57,800 worth of political contributions, the report shows. Reimbursements were made to contributors including prominent Chicago-area businessmen Ron Gidwitz, Sam Zell and restaurateur Richard Melman.
As of the end of June, $2.1 million remained in Schock’s campaign fund.
He paid $500,000 to McGuire Woods, a Richmond, Virginia, based law firm. McGuire Woods partner George Terwilliger, a former top official at the Justice Department, is representing Schock.
Schock owes $746,985 to the firm Jones Day, according to the Federal Election Commission report, which was made public Wednesday. […]
He paid $333,628 to Berliner Corcoran and Rowe, a firm with offices in D.C. and San Francisco, and $91,000 to Lane and Waterman. Jeffrey Lang, a former U.S. attorney in central Illinois who works at Lane and Waterman, is on Schock’s legal team.
The Bopp Law Firm, a Republican firm run by attorney Jim Bopp, did $25,000 in work for Schock. Berke Farah, a D.C.-based political firm, made nearly $3,500 from the former lawmaker.
Schock paid $25,000 in legal fees to JJ Jackson Consulting and $20,000 to Schertler and Onorato, a D.C.-based litigation firm. Schock also shelled out $50,000 to Blank Rome.
Illinois lawmakers adopted a stop-gap budget plan Wednesday and readied to send it to a likely dismissive Gov. Bruce Rauner, one piece of a flurry of state Capitol activity that did little to move the state toward a yearlong spending agreement.
Despite the first-year Republican governor’s well-known opposition, the Senate put up a partisan vote on a $2.3 billion, one-month budget to keep state government functioning; approved 39-0 with 15 voting “present.” Democrats, who have used provisional fiscal plans several times in the past decade, want to keep essential and emergency services available during the budget standoff, but Rauner wants a permanent agreement.
But the day’s bursts of activity provided more heat than light. […]
“We would strongly recommend to the governor that he put politics aside, ignore the advice of his campaign advisers, and sign the bill,” House Speaker Michael Madigan told reporters
There’s no doubt that the governor is using campaign tactics to govern. But he has some legitimate gripes about the way this state is run and the sorry state of our economy.
It would help if the Democrats finally realized that they haven’t exactly created a Heaven on Earth in Illinois.
* Regarding AG Lisa Madigan’s legal moves to block state worker pay without any authorizing state appropriations…
Madigan contends that she is doing the right thing (vindicating the Illinois Constitution) for the right reason (because it’s her statutory duty). If that’s true, her action would be almost without precedent in the history of Illinois politics.
Not mentioned is that her actions are “almost without precedent” because AG Madigan made pretty much the exact same legal moves in 2009 as she is this year. So, yeah, “almost.”
Consider the 2012 lawsuit filed against Cook County and the state by gay-marriage advocates who challenged the constitutionality of an Illinois law that permitted homosexual civil unions but limited marriage to a man and a woman. (The lawsuit became moot after the General Assembly approved same-sex marriage).
Both Madigan and Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez ignored their statutory duties to defend state law. Both said the Illinois law limiting marriage to a man and a woman was legally indefensible on constitutional grounds.
The American Civil Liberties Union and New York-based Lambda Legal originally filed separate lawsuits against Cook County Clerk David Orr, a supporter of gay marriage whose office is responsible for issuing marriage licenses in the county, which includes the city of Chicago.
The action was taken on behalf of the 25 couples, some of them from outside Cook County, but all of whom had applied for marriage licenses there and been denied. […]
Alvarez said it’s her job to represent Orr – and they both agreed with the plaintiffs.
* Back in the day, outgoing Senate President Phil Rock got his chief of staff elected to the vacant Auditor General post. This time around, Speaker Madigan wants that plum for one of his guys…
A top lieutenant of House Speaker Michael Madigan has launched a bid to become the state’s next auditor general.
State Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, resigned his post on the Legislative Audit Commission last week as a precursor to applying for the $152,000 per year post.
Mautino, who serves as deputy majority leader under the powerful house speaker, has begun spreading the word among some lawmakers that he wants the job after serving on the commission for 18 years, including 12 years as co-chairman. […]
“I think he’d be a very good auditor general. He’s served for years on the audit commission. And through that service on the audit commission he’s acquitted himself with what the office does,” Madigan said.
He’ll need a three-fifths super majority in both chambers. Considering that Mautino barely won last year and the governor wants to target his district next year, the Republicans will probably be more than happy to comply.
“We’ve had a lot of political leaders in this state who have been fighting to advance the political class rather than the middle class in Illinois. We’re going to change it right now, big time, here this summer.”
Thursday, Jul 16, 2015 - Posted by Advertising Department
[The following is a paid advertisement.]
Credit unions remain true to one principle – people before profits – and represent a highly valued resource for more than 3 million Illinois consumers during times that post economic and financial challenges. This includes circumstances that arise beyond their control, such as interruptions in paychecks for state workers due to the current budget impasse.
In response to this situation, credit unions from all across Illinois have been proactively working behind the scenes to provide their members and consumers with peace of mind. This includes partnering with Illinois State Treasurer Michael W. Frerichs who last week announced his office’s collaboration with Illinois’ credit unions to provide more than $50 million in available funding for interest-free loans to state workers during this challenging time. Credit unions from all across the state have stepped up to help their members, consumers and state workers alike with loan assistance programs and other crucial options, such as waiving skip payment fees and allowing early withdrawal of savings without penalty. And that list is growing every day.
To find out which credit unions are specifically reaching out to Illinois families, please go to www.icul.com and contact a credit union near you. During these uncertain times, Illinois credit unions will be there for its members.
The State Government Leadership Foundation announced a digital advertisement purchase to run throughout the state for the rest of this week, directing users to www.stopdiggingmadigan.com, an online petition to urge the speaker not to continue pushing for a state budget which spends $3 to $4 billion more than it takes in.
“The over 12 million people of Illinois are owed answers by Speaker Madigan on why he insists on deepening 30 years of reckless spending with his current budget proposal,” said SGLF Executive Director Matt Walter in a news release. “Such an enormous debt impacts every member of the Prairie State, and it’s time to tell the speaker that enough is enough.”
Steve Brown, Madigan’s spokesperson, responded the claims are misguided and attack the speaker for issues he himself did not create on his own.
“People try to use Mike Madigan’s longevity in office as a negative weapon,” Brown said. “They forget that he’s never signed a bill, he’s never appointed an agency director and never made a pension investment.”
Since Mike Madigan became House Speaker in 1983, Illinois total debt levels have risen to more than$321 billion, leaving it with the 5th highest debt levels in the country. That means every citizen of Illinois, all 12.88 million of them, owes $24,959 to pay off the debt that Madigan caused.
With his current budget proposal, he wants to add another $4 billion to that debt.
Don’t let Michael Madigan dump his mess on you and your children.
“What happens next is we all go home, listen to our constituents and wait for the other side to blink,” said Republican state Sen. Jason Barickman of Bloomington.
