* I can’t believe I forgot to post my weekly syndicated newspaper column. Guess what? It’s about the constitutional convention…
There are many arguments against voting for a constitutional convention next month. I thought I’d try to address some of those arguments today.
Illinoisans are asked every 20 years whether they want to call a constitutional convention. I firmly believe our gridlocked, broken state government is in such desperate need of change and reform that a “yes” vote is blatantly self evident.
The points below are taken directly from the Web site of the Alliance to Protect the Illinois Constitution. APIC is funded mainly by big business and labor unions.
APIC: The cost of a convention is predicted to approach at least $80 million at a time when the state is running budget deficits and having a tough time funding schools and roads.
Response: The cost could be far lower, but that’s not the point. The current constitution has a huge loophole that allows for those big budget deficits. And there is no plan to fund schools and roads because too much power is far too concentrated in the hands of a few people who have been fighting each other for years. A constitutional convention could address those absolutely crucial issues. It’s worth every dime.
APIC: There is no question there has been too much inaction and infighting in Springfield. But it’s the politicians, not the system, who are at fault. The best way to deal with political issues and address problems in state government is to pick new elected officials, not tinker with a proven document full of protections for people’s rights.
Response: The truth is the powerful interest groups that are funding this push against a constitutional convention also have been responsible for bankrolling those very same politicians’ campaigns. Also, since the parties in power totally control the legislative redistricting process, politicians end up choosing their voters, not the other way around.
APIC: A constitutional convention opens the door to more political mischief. The General Assembly, by law, gets to decide how a constitutional convention would be run. And the constitution is unclear about who would get to pick delegates to a constitutional convention, voters or politicians in Springfield. Regardless, special interests and single-issue groups would fight to get their people sent to the convention to advance their own narrow agendas.
Response: The constitution is very clear about who chooses delegates: The voters. Also, it’s quite ironic that the special interests funding APIC are worried about special interests getting involved in delegate elections.
APIC: Scheduling a convention for 2010 would give politicians a pass to do nothing until then to address the state’s problems. There will be primary and general elections between now and the time a new constitution would even go into effect. Those elections are the best way to bring about real change and pressure elected officials into action.
Response: My own belief is politicians will be so frightened at what a constitutional convention might do to them that they’ll try to correct some of the state’s problems, such as public employee pensions, before the delegates ever are seated. I think that’s as likely as the other side’s argument. Nothing is certain, but the anti-constitutional convention folks sure act like it.
APIC: Illinois cannot afford more discord and distractions. Some groups are calling for a state convention because they want to push their own agendas. There are too many crucial everyday concerns that need attention to get stuck on a long, divisive debate on such issues.
Response: What the heck is wrong with debates? The reality is the Statehouse too often deliberately stifles real debates on issues of concern to real voters. Plus, there are hardly any “major” groups pushing for a convention. Almost all the money and all the power is against a convention.
APIC: The uncertainty of a constitutional convention more than two years away could make it very difficult to attract and retain businesses and jobs at a time when the state’s economy already is struggling. Our neighbors offer certainty and stability to businesses we would lose by asking companies to gamble on us.
Response: Illinois is the laughingstock of the nation when it comes to attracting and retaining businesses and jobs. A constitutional convention might offer some much-needed encouragement to out-of-state business owners that change is on the way.
* Local Lake County media was all atwitter this week at a seemingly stunning revelation by their county clerk…
Lake County Clerk Willard Helander expressed concerns Oct. 17 with the high volume of irregularities in voter registration applications recently received by her office.
These improprieties could impact the results of local elections within the county, Helander said.
“The integrity of an election could well be compromised,” Helander said. “In an election cycle where a Lake County candidate would win or lose by one or two votes, this is really scary.”
Helander said several days ago that she had notified area police, the attorney general and the feds. The attorney general, however, wasn’t notified until late yesterday afternoon.
Pointing to more than 1,000 “compromised” registration forms received by her office, County Clerk Willard Helander called Friday for voter registration reform to protect the integrity of elections.
Meanwhile, the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the initiation of a joint investigation into the registration forms, which include non-existent addresses, dead people and even pets.
The only “agent of change” Princess ever supported was the person who freshened the water in her fishbowl.
So election officials in Chicago’s northern suburbs want to know why voter registration material was sent to the dead goldfish. […]
Beth Nudelman, who owned the fish, said Princess may have landed on a mailing list because the family once filled in the pet’s name when they got a second phone line for a computer.
“There was no fraud involved,” said Nudelman, a Democrat who supports Barack Obama. “This person is a dead fish.”
The paperwork sent to a “Princess Nudelman” likely came from the “Women’s Voices, Women Vote” project, which sent nearly 1 million mailings to Illinois households in August using a list that mistakenly included some pets, said Sarah Johnson, a spokeswoman for the not-for-profit group that encourages single women to vote.
* An August 21st story in the Monmouth Review Atlas about the Women’s Voices, Women Vote statewide mailer includes this bit of info…
The generic form already has names printed on them
Apparently, some people are just sending the completed forms into the county clerk’s office, maybe as a joke, or maybe because they don’t read them closely, or whatever.
* I’d heard of that Women’s Voices, Women Vote outfit before. The group backed was chock full of Hillary Clinton supporters in the primaries and found itself in hot water all over the place. This is from the Virginia State Police…
Virginia State Police special agents have tracked down and identified the source of the mass mailing of voter registration applications to Virginia households across the Commonwealth.
The investigation was initiated Thursday (Feb. 7, 2008) after State Police was contacted by the State Board of Elections. On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, Virginia citizens began receiving recorded phone messages notifying them that a voter registration packet would be arriving in the mail. The individuals were then advised to complete, sign and mail in the application. Concerned because the messages did not specify who or where the packets were coming from, many of the citizens contacted their local registrar to find out if it was legitimate.
* In North Carolina, the group’s robocalls were initially thought to be a form of voter suppression because the calls targeted African-Americans with incorrect information…
“The calls were scheduled to coincide with the arrival of the voter registration applications,” the group said in a statement. “We regret any confusion that has arised as a consequence of this timing.” Podesta weighed in as well, calling the North Carolina situation “a mistake of judgment and execution, and not an attempt to disenfranchise voters.”
* In Arizona last November, election officials were “inundated with complaints” after Women’s Voices sent a mailing erroneously claiming that recipients were “required” to mail back an enclosed voter registration form. Many who received the mailing were already registered; the mailing also gave the wrong registration date. Secretary of State Jan Brewer denounced the group’s tactics as “misleading and deceptive.”
* A similar mailing in Colorado that month “[drew] fire and caused confusion,” according to a state press release.
* In Wisconsin, state officials singled out Women’s Voices for misleading and possibly disenfranchising voters, stating in a press release [PDF]: “One group in particular — Women’s Voices. Women Vote, of Washington, D.C. — apparently ignored or disregarded state deadlines in seeking to register voters,” sending in registrations past the January 30 deadline and causing “hundreds of Wisconsin voters who think they registered in advance” to actually not be.
* Michigan officials ended up “fielding tons of calls from confused voters” after Women’s Voices did a February mailing to “380,000 unmarried women” — including numerous deceased voters and even more that were already registered. Sarah Johnson of Women’s Voices “seemed confused by the confusion,” the Lansing State Journal reported.
* A 1.5 million-piece Women’s Voices mailing in Florida falsely stated: “To comply with state voting requirements, please return the enclosed application.” Pasco County’s elections supervisor called it “disingenuous”; another said it created “a lot of unnecessary panic on behalf of the voters,” reported local newspapers. Sarah Johnson of Women’s Voice said, “I’m sorry to hear that.”
* By March, Women’s Voices was backing off the erroneous “registration is required” language, but there were still problems. For example, a mailing in Arkansas allowed that “registering to vote is voluntary,” but a clerk in Washington County reported that “the majority [of forms] sent back to the county come from registered voters, causing needless labor for office employees.”
What a mess.
But it looks, once again, like this group may be incompetent or at least careless and not intentionally evil. Helander might want to rein in the rhetoric a bit.
Are you working or volunteering for any campaigns in Illinois right now? If so, what are you doing and why are you doing it? How much time are you putting in every week?
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich won’t restore state budget cuts until he’s sure the spending plan can withstand an economic slide, an aide said Monday, adding if the financial crises worsen, he might have to cut more.
But a legislative budget-watcher says the state has the money and Blagojevich should use it.
The Democratic governor is sitting on legislation to spare closing two dozen state attractions, laying off 323 workers and cutting drug-abuse treatment by tens of millions of dollars.
But what if the administration restores the cuts only to suffer a revenue slowdown? Illinois is better off than states of similar size but the governor remains concerned, spokesman Lucio Guerrero said.
“We are reviewing our revenue forecast to ensure that we will not have to make further cuts,” Guerrero said. “It would be a shame to propose restorations and then have to rescind them if the economic climate worsens.”
I can’t believe the AP let that one go unchallenged.
So what if the governor restores the cuts and revenue tanks? What does one have to do with the other?
The General Assembly made some very specific cut restorations by using targeted skims from existing money in special state funds.
Even if the overall budget completely tanks, there will be zero impact on the legislative package approved by the General Assembly, because it didn’t rely on any General Revenue Fund money. If GRF goes down, those special funds aren’t reduced.
* What’s going on here is that the guv’s office is saying if GRF is way down they just may cut those programs again. Even after the General Assembly made its will known by overwhelmingly voting to restore funding for those facilities, programs and services.
The argument that some of the skims aren’t allowed, which is made elsewhere in the piece, may or may not have validity. As of yet nobody has laid out the full legal reasoning.
But this game of “I cut, you restore, I cut again” is a bit much.
* Lots of administration types read this blog and comment here. I welcome the input. But I would like all of them to watch this video of a woman and her children being forced out of an alcohol and substance abuse center and into a homeless shelter because of this stupid, disgusting game…
* A recent story in the Washington Post centered around an interview with Cornell Belcher, who polls for both the DCCC and Barack Obama. It indicates that two Illinois Republican incumbents might be on the Dems’ radar because of the nation’s economic woes…
In Illinois’ 13th district, an exurban Chicago seat where veteran Rep. Judy Biggert (R) is running for re-election, Belcher found that voters trust Democrats to fix the economy more than Republicans by a 19-point margin. They gave Democrats a 15-point edge on energy issues and an 11-point advantage on the broad question of which party “shares your values.” And that’s all in a district where President Bush won by 10 points in 2004 and 13 points in 2000.
The story is similar in the neighboring 6th district of freshman Rep. Peter Roskam (R). The seat has long leaned Republican — Bush won it by 6 points in 2004 — but now, Belcher found, Democrats have a 14-point edge on the economy and a 15-point lead on energy.
Does that mean that Biggert and Roskam are going to lose? No. Both remain favored to win re-election, and neither of their races gets included on most prognoticators’ lists of competitive contests. The point here is that if Democrats are opening up such a wide lead on economic issues in Republican districts like these, what’s going to happen in the true swing seats? And that’s before the effects of Obama’s increasingly strong candidacy — and money — enter the discussion.
As today’s Tribune poll shows, 57 percent of Illinoisans said the economy was the top issue, which would explain why Belcher thinks those two incumbents might possibly be vulnerable.
* I checked with a local Democratic strategist about this article, and he had this to say via AIM…
Biggert is the exact kind of person that gets caught in a sweep like this: Low profile, not seriously challenged, not a big fundraiser.
A hammer dropped on her head is unexpected and dangerous, even if she’s moderate and has high approval numbers. Those can be very soft in an environment like this.
Roskam is different. He’s been communicating, he’s attacked Morgenthaler and he just went through a tough run last year. My guess would be that his voters are more loyal.
That said, I just can’t believe the [DCCC] would drop the hammer on these two.
Spend the money on Seals who deserves actual help from the committee and would be a Dem seat for 20 years.
* Democrat Jill Morgenthaler’s campaign had this comment about their chances against the Republican Roskam yesterday via e-mail…
In looking at the 16 election pairs (the last 10 years of primary + general) in the 6th District and the neighboring 8th and 14th, I discovered that the Democratic percentage of overall votes went up from the primary to the general in every case.
The Democratic percentage in the 6th in the primary was 54%.
By the way, it is the first time that the Dem percentage in the primary was over 50% in the 6th. […]
In February, Democratic ballots cast in the Congressional race were 54% and Republican 46%. If the historic voting trends prevail, then the Democratic candidate in the General Election, JIll Morgenthaler, would stand to get more than 54% in the the upcoming election.
Even in years where the Democrats were not well known and spent very little money, the percentage still goes up from primary election to general election.
A Morgenthaler victory might sound unlikely in this historically Republican district, but, given the large number of new Democrats who registered for the February election, approximately 37,000 and Obama’s popularity in district, it is not. (Obama is very popular in the district where he won his Senate Primary and General elections as well as the Presidential primary.) In the February primary, there were 25,000 more Democratic votes cast than Republican.
Roskam has a generally solid voting record, but he lends his name to some causes that would turn Congress into a busybody. He has co-sponsored a bill that would push the Defense Department to ban Playboy and R-rated movies from sale on military bases. He supports another bill that could put the clamps on in-vitro fertilization. Finally, Roskam opposes the expansion of O’Hare International Airport. That’s a key issue for this region—and Morgenthaler is right to support expansion. She gets the nod.
He has reached across the partisan divide, holding regular conference calls with voters. He has made tax relief his first priority, reflecting the preferences of both Republicans and moderate Democrats in his district. And he has the parliamentary skills and pragmatic approach to governance that could make him an effective counterweight to a possible Democratic White House and an overwhelmingly Democratic House and Senate.
Former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge was arrested today at his home in Florida on federal obstruction of justice and perjury charges for allegedly lying about whether he and other officers under his command participated in torture and physical abuse of one or more suspects in police custody dating back to the 1980s. Burge was charged with two counts of obstruction of justice and one count of perjury in a three-count indictment that was returned under seal by a federal grand jury last Thursday and unsealed today following his arrest by FBI agents from Chicago and Tampa.
The charges allege that Burge lied and impeded court proceedings in November 2003 when he provided false written answers to questions – known as interrogatories – in a civil lawsuit alleging that he and others tortured and abused people in their custody.
Burge, 60, of Apollo Beach. Fla., near Tampa and formerly of Chicago, was expected to appear later today in U.S. District Court in Tampa. He will appear at a later date in U.S. District Court in Chicago, where he will face prosecution.
The arrest and indictment were announced today by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division; Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Steven E. Ibison, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI’s Tampa Field Division.
“There is no place for torture and abuse in a police station. There is no place for perjury and false statements in federal lawsuits,” Mr. Fitzgerald said. “ No person is above the law, and nobody – even a suspected murderer – is beneath its protection. The alleged criminal conduct by defendant Burge goes to the core principles of our criminal justice system,” he added.
“Throughout this nation, law enforcement officers make daily sacrifices in the pursuit of justice,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Grace Chung Becker. “It is imperative that we take these charges seriously but also bear in mind they do not reflect upon the conduct of the vast majority of law enforcement officers.”
Mr. Grant said: “Everyday Chicago Police Officers execute their sworn duties lawfully with great skill, courage and integrity. Sometimes they do so with great peril, as we have been sadly reminded in recent weeks and months. But police officers have a special duty which is underscored by today’s announcement. Police officers don’t serve the public as judge and jury and they have a special responsibility to care for those within their custody, regardless of their alleged crimes. Today’s announcement brings great shame on the career of retired Commander Jon Burge.”
The investigation is continuing, the officials said.
Two years ago, Mayor Daley accepted his share of responsibility and offered to “apologize to anyone” for the torture of suspects by Jon Burge — even as he argued that the ultimate responsibility rests with the Chicago Police Department.
On Tuesday, the mayor changed his tune.
Hours after Burge was arrested in Florida and charged with perjury and obstruction of justice, Daley refused to accept even an ounce of responsibility for one of the ugliest chapters in the history of the Chicago Police Department.
Never mind that a $ 7 million report by special prosecutors faulted Daley, who served as state’s attorney during the 1980’s, for failing to follow up on a 1982 letter from then-Police Supt. Richard Brzeczek that strongly suggested abuse in the case of accused cop killer Andrew Wilson.
We have received the following information about Burge’s court appearance this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas B. McCoun III in Federal Court in Tampa:
Burge was represented by a federal court-appointed attorney for today’s hearing. (I don’t have his/her name.)
He is being released this afternoon on a $250,000 secured bond, meaning he will be posting his residence as security.
He must surrender his passport.
He must report to pre-trial services in the Middle District of Florida twice a week.
He must surrender his firearms to a friend for safe-keeping.
His travel is restricted to the Middle District of Florida and the Northern District of Illinois.
He must give pre-trial services in Tampa his travel plans when he comes to Chicago.
He is currently scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. on Monday October 27 before U.S. District Judge Joan H. Lefkow in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
The Tribune poll found Obama with the support of 56 percent of the state’s voters, compared with 32 percent who said they are backing McCain. […]
The economy was by far the No. 1 concern of voters across the state. A total of 57 percent named it the top issue of the presidential race, with affordable health care second at 14 percent. Terrorism and the Iraq War were the top concerns for only a fraction of the voters.
Asked which candidate would do a better job of restoring the economy and jobs in the country, voters chose Obama by a nearly 2-1 ratio, 54 percent to 28 percent. The Democratic senator also held an advantage among independents, who are often the deciding factor in elections.
Overall, 45 percent of the state’s voters have an unfavorable impression of Palin, compared with 33 percent who view her favorably. In contrast, Biden was viewed favorably by 54 percent and unfavorably by 23 percent.
* What is new, however, is that the Tribune has finally decided to post its poll results online. Mother Tribune has refused to do this in the past, so nobody knew what they might be withholding from us lowly plebes. So, when you see something like this in the article…
Obama has a 72 percent to 19 percent advantage in Cook County including Chicago. But in the Republican-leaning collar counties, Obama’s advantage narrows to 47 percent to 39 percent over McCain. In the state’s remaining 96 counties, Obama’s numbers shrink to a questionable lead, 45 percent to 41 percent.
You can go to the poll and see that Obama leads among men (55-34) as well as women (58-30). That’s unusual.
By the way, a 47-39 Obama lead in the collar counties is truly significant. And a four-point lead downstate, even though the MoE is pretty high for that result, is still nothing to sneeze at.
* Looking at the poll also gives us this narrative…
Obama leads 56% to 33% among white suburban women. In the same table, the race is 50% to 40% for McCain among fairly conservative voters and 59% to 29% among very conservative voters.
Suburban women are absolutely key to winning Illinois. McCain is getting trounced in that demographic. And he’s not doing nearly as well as he should among conservatives.
* Also not mentioned in the Trib story was this result on a question of which veep candidate is more qualifid to take over the duties of president. You may want to click the pic for a larger version…
* And this little, but unsurprising nugget got buried…
…only 18 percent in the Tribune poll approve of the president’s performance…
The poll itself shows that McCain voters are sharply divided over President Bush’s job approval: 43-44. Also, 78 percent of independents disapprove of Bush’s performance, while just 12 percent approve.
J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. has terminated a 52,100-square-foot lease of a former Bear Stearns Cos. office in the Central Loop, as Wall Street’s woes begin to rattle the downtown Chicago office market.
Five financial services firms that were sold or taken over as a result of the crisis, including Merrill Lynch & Co. and American International Group Inc., lease about 835,000 square feet downtown, according to a third-quarter report by tenant representation firm Studley Inc.
Sales tax collections are down in the Rock River Valley as a shaky economy squeezes business in Winnebago, Boone and Ogle counties, forcing some local governments to cut back spending.
evictions back
Less than two weeks after Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart announced he was suspending mortgage foreclosure evictions — a move that drew international attention — his deputies were back at it Monday.
Dart’s deputies were following new guidelines that he had insisted on before resuming the evictions, including protecting renters who have no idea they’re about to be evicted because no one has told them their landlord is facing foreclosure.
Cook County homeowners who got walloped by huge property tax increases this month could qualify for government assistance to help pay their tax bills under a proposal floated Monday by county assessor James Houlihan.
Houlihan wants Chicago and Cook County government and local suburbs to establish a fund earmarked for property tax relief, and he hopes to get Mayor Daley, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger and local mayors on board.
“The taxpayers are streaming into our offices and they are frightened,” Houlihan said. “They are worried about escalating property taxes when they see their home values are declining,” he said. “They need immediate help.”
More than 169,000 parking tickets were issued during the first eight months of this year in the 42nd Ward, which includes Chicago’s downtown and Gold Coast areas. That’s 44 percent more tickets than the next highest ward.
Thousands of Chicago-area residents braved the morning chill Monday to apply for food stamps to recoup losses from last month’s floods.
More than 5,000 households from the seven-county area affected by the floods have already been approved for disaster assistance, said Marielle Sainvilus, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Human Services. But thousands more are still in need, Sainvilus said, which is why the federal government has extended its application deadline through Wednesday.
The aldermen on Monday cited a recent Tribune article detailing how City Hall spends $4.7 million on salaries for more than 50 public information officials and has paid millions of dollars more to public relations firms.
Ald. Michael Zalewski (23rd) noted that the city is laying off almost 1,000 laborers, tree trimmers and other employees to plug a $469 million budget deficit.
“When we are prioritizing these cuts, are these [public information] people that are being looked at, or are we just going after laborers and people that are out there getting dirty every day?” Zalewski asked Daley aides who testified on the proposed budget.
It’s easy to poke fun at Cook County Board President Todd Stroger and his tendency to hire friends and family to fill county jobs. But every once in a while taxpayers can see firsthand why it’s nothing to laugh about.
Take the story of county purchasing agent Carmen Triche-Colvin, as reported in the Chicago Sun-Times on Monday by county reporter Mark Konkol.
The chance to act with foresight in advance of the coming wave came and went, and now these once-proud press flagships are swamped, broken and sinking.
* Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post thinks GOP freshman Congresscritter Peter Roskam is one of a new batch of Republicans “in real races” because the bottom has dropped out on the Republicans.
If Roskam really is in trouble, then we’re in for a landslide of epic proportions - like 1932 or 1936. In which case, there’s nothing much that Republicans can do except pray.
* Progress Illinois has funded a new poll in a different, much more pro-Obama district, and found the Republican incumbent is leading…
Dan Seals (D): 41%
Mark Kirk (R): 47%
Undecided: 12%
More…
In the middle of last week, the Washington D.C.-based polling firm Bennett, Petts & Normington conducted the above survey for Progress Illinois in the 10th Congressional District. The results are very similar to the Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll conducted two weeks earlier, which also found Democratic challenger Dan Seals down by six points (44-38%).
A few toplines…
Presidential results…
Barack Obama (D): 56%
John McCain (R): 35%
Undecided: 9%
400 likely voters, conducted from October 15-16, 2008, MoE plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.
*** UPDATE *** PI has a new poll in the 11th Congressional District, which for whatever reason didn’t include the Green Party candidate…
Debbie Halvorson (D): 50%
Martin Ozinga (R): 29%
Undecided: 22%
More…
The 11th Congressional District poll conducted for Progress Illinois by the Washington D.C.-based polling firm Bennett, Petts & Normington found a 21-point lead for Democrat Debbie Halvorson, similar to the 19-point gap in the internal poll she released on Friday (which included Green Party candidate Jason Wallace).
Republican Marty Ozinga ’s unfavorables (30%) continue to outweigh his favorables (20%), which certainly spells trouble. Independents made up 42 percent of the polling universe in our poll and they also appear extremely wary of Ozinga, with only 14 percent saying they support him and 41 percent still on the fence.
Some toplines…
Presidential…
Barack Obama (D): 49%
John McCain (R): 38%
Undecided: 13%
45% said “The economy and jobs” was the most important problem.
* More congressional stuff…
* NEW: Joliet Herald News - Halvorson will best represent our interests
As for Ozinga’s opponent, Halvorson can claim some legislative accomplishments in Springfield, and we admire her work ethic. Unfortunately, given her leadership position in the state Senate, she also bears some blame for the quagmire in Springfield, as much as she’d like to distance herself from it.
Halvorson rose to majority leader in the state Senate, and Ozinga sees that as a liability — she was too close and too obedient to state Senate President Emil Jones and Gov. Blagojevich, [Ozinga] says. […]
Halvorson said she finds it ironic that Ozinga tries to tie her to Blagojevich when Ozinga gave tens of thousands of dollars to Blagojevich’s campaign.
…ADDING… Progress Illinois’ new poll has these favorable/unfavorable ratings for Gov. Blagojevich in the Halvorson/Ozinga 11th CD…
* Illinois Republicans, faced with the prospect of a Barack Obama blowout, have stuck to a simple game plan: Tie all Democrats to Rod. The Democrats are trying to do the same to their Republican opponents, with varying degrees of success..
From the suburbs to Southern Illinois, Republicans and Democrats alike campaign against him, trying to tie their opponents to the governor in mailers and ads. […]
“Who wants to be associated with him?” said veteran Illinois political watcher Paul Green, Roosevelt University’s School of Policy Studies director. “He’s poison.”
* The State Journal-Register wrings its hands on the governor’s inability to govern, but offers up no really solid ideas…
It’s hard to see how he suddenly becomes an effective chief executive flush with political capital to burn.
This situation is more than fodder for a bull session among political junkies. At a time of economic peril, Illinois needs strong leadership.
With an approval rating like that and the feds breathing down your neck, how does one govern?
Well, you don’t.
* And while reporters for its own paper lay out in detail how poison Blagojevich is right now to the body politic…
“It would be the kiss of death for him to send a campaign contribution, even if someone turned around and sent it right back,” said Kent Redfield, a political scientist at the University of Illinois’ Springfield campus who tracks Illinois politics and campaign spending.
We’re certain Governor Rod Blagojevich’s political machine also would be involved.
Yeah. OK.
* As an aside, the Daily Herald also brings up this impossible dream…
It’s hard to vote the rascals out of office when the only real contest is during the primary and challengers fail to surface.
To change this, other states have turned to computer models and rules that prohibit using election results or the address of incumbents. Term limits also would guarantee new blood. These are some options that might be worth considering.
But we don’t need a convention to make this difficult fix. We have the amendment process.
Not mentioned is that such a proposed amendment would have to receive a three-fifths super-majority in both legislative chambers. Not gonna happen.
[Bumped up from Saturday, updated and comments opened.]
* Taken on its own [and combined with a new update below], a new Sun-Times story looks more promising than it may actually be. But things might become more clear once we connect some dots with another story published today.
A Chicago developer and donor to Gov. Blagojevich steered more than $100,000 in commissions to first lady Patti Blagojevich’s real estate firm before a business owned by the developer’s parents saw dramatic increases in state payments. […]
In 2002, before Blagojevich took office, the state paid Tiran’s parents’ home-care company for the developmentally disabled, Diane Home Care, $183,000. In 2003, during the governor’s first year in office, the payments increased to $325,000. Last year, Diane Home Care did $1.1 million in state business through a contract with the Human Services Department. […]
Sources who spoke to the Sun-Times on condition of anonymity said [FBI] agents had asked questions about Patti Blagojevich’s real estate dealings with Rezko. The work got under way in July 2003 — about six months after the governor began accepting Rezko’s recommendations to place people on state boards and about eight months after Patti Blagojevich landed a $47,000 commission from a Rezko land deal.
A few things to remember…
1) This doesn’t appear to be about Rezko.
2) Patti Blagojevich has had a real estate license for a long time. Every one of Dick Mell’s kids has a license. She’s known politically connected people almost all her life.
3) There is no stated direct link between the increases to the DD home-care business and the real estate connections. There may be a rational explanation. But so far, the corruption is all implied.
4) Tiran and his companies have given just $20,525 to the governor’s campaign fund. Not a lot by any stretch.
Commissions Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s wife made in her real estate business are linked to increased revenue for a state contractor’s family business, according to a published report.
Not quite.
* A new Tribune story claims Mrs. Blagojevich’s real estate firm earned $700,000 on real estate deals over seven years. That ain’t much during such an over-heated market. “Of those commissions, the Tribune found more than three-quarters came from clients with connections.” As I explained above in point 3, that doesn’t tell us much, either. She’s known connected people all her life.
* But this is where the dots might be connected. According to the Tribune, Mrs. Blagojevich appeared to use her proximity to power to obtain a job as an investment banker…
“I’m not going to lie to you, it would have been great for us to get one of the state pension funds,” said Peter Contos, president and CEO of North Star, who sponsored the first lady’s application for a federal license. […]
Contos said his firm decided to hire Blagojevich, who has a degree in economics from the University of Illinois, because of her political ties. He said she was recommended to him by an administrative staff member. […]
Contos said he and others at North Star encouraged her to find work at a bigger firm but she touted her connections and her ability to bring in business
* So, to sum up, while there may very well be something to this real estate business, there is no clear connection to wrongdoing as of yet.
However, as the Tribune story alleges, Mrs. Blagojevich touted her obvious political connections and her ability to land state business in exchange for a potentially lucrative job. She was also recommended by an administration insider. That goes directly to how she may have operated, not only in this particular instance, but during her real estate career.
“But after three months she brought in no business,” Contos said. “Obviously, her connections weren’t as strong as advertised.”
In the end, she turned out to be all talk and no action and had to leave the firm. So, nothing is completely clear-cut here.
Still, this is not good news for the Blagojevich family.
*** UPDATE *** The Trib ran a separate story Sunday about that Tiran real estate deal mentioned at the top…
Tiran recently told the Tribune he hired Patricia because she was recommended by the alderman in his ward, and not because of her family ties.
“No impact whatsoever,” he said. “And I believe they sold the whole project. They did a good job.”
[Ald. Dick Mell] said it’s possible he, too, had talked to Tiran about hiring his daughter but saw no problem with it.
“It’s conceivable that I mentioned it to Virgil that if he were looking for somebody to sell the property that my daughter is in the real estate business,” Mell said. “But just because I mentioned it to Virgil doesn’t mean he had to hire her. I’ve helped other Realtors who I know too.”
The real estate story looks even less “bad” now, but there’s still that problem with the revelations about how Mrs. Blagojevich allegedly got that investment banking job.
[Bumped up from Friday afternoon and comments opened.]
* FRIDAY 5:30 pm - Via the Peoria Pundit comes word of this interesting preelection probe…
The Peoria County State’s Attorney’s office says it has received a request from 18th District Congressional Democratic Candidate Colleen Callahan to investigate her Republican opponent Aaron Schock.
The request revolves around whether Schock committed official misconduct when he postdated [sic] documents for his parents as a notary public. […]
The state’s attorney’s office says due to the time sensitive nature of the manner, it is reviewing Schocks’ work as a notary and they could have the results next week.
* Callahan has been demanding an investigation into what would be an eight year old misdemeanor, if true…
“We can not be deceived here, this was not a mistake this was a premeditated act devised to shelter his families fortune from the US government, there is no dispute on this point his father testified to these facts under oath and Aaron Schock is trying to mislead us as voters.”
To me, the alleged misdemeanor is no big deal. What I found appalling was that the local media allowed Schock to claim without challenge that the apparent back-dating was a “clerical mistake” when his own father testified under oath that it was a deliberate act.
I guess it really is always the cover-up that gets you. As commenter GOPer noted yesterday…
Very disappointing. Schock’s first instinct is to not be truthful - even about small things, where the truth would have worked just as well. Reminds me of Bill Clinton.
If he had just said something like, “I was 19 and I made a mistake I regret” - I could accept that.
But instead he goes into dishonest cover-up mode. On one level this is a small thing - but it’s a big test of his character, which he’s failed.
“This one is going to be a full-fledged consumer recession,” says Paul Kasriel, director of economic research for Chicago-based Northern Trust Corp. “With corporate-led recessions, you have job losses. But now you have households with record debt, and liquidity at near-record lows and net worth falling — and they’re losing their jobs.”
Cook County President Todd Stroger’s best friend’s wife, county purchasing agent Carmen Triche-Colvin, was suspended after an inspector general investigation found she violated county policies for awarding contracts and used a fax machine in violation of federal law, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.
A year after running afoul of Cook County ethics rules, Republican state’s attorney candidate Tony Peraica is again benefiting from thousands of dollars worth of office space from a landlord with county business, state records show.
When Mayor Daley offered buyouts to nonunion city workers to fight a gaping budget deficit, some short-timers on the city payroll were able to cash in on a pretty good deal.
Any active, full-time, salaried, nonunion, civilian employee qualified for a minimum $12,000 payout — regardless of how long they’d been on the city payroll. A few workers left with a payout of nearly half their annual salary — after less than a year on the job.
The nation’s third-largest school system has handed out more than $265,000 in checks for good grades.
Chicago Public Schools distributed payouts Thursday to 1,650 freshmen in 20 high schools as part of the privately funded “Green for Grades” program unveiled last month. Freshmen and sophomores receive $50 for A’s, $35 for B’s and $20 for C’s every five weeks.
