NEW: City Club speakers are traditionally given a coffee mug for their efforts. Gov. Blagojevich reportedly quipped today when he was presented with the cup that he guessed a mug was better than a mugshot.
The man has no internal editor. But the wisecrack got a big laugh, as you might imagine.
There’s no real “news” to report from the speech, apparently.
* The governor is speaking at a City Club luncheon today. I’m hearing of a planned protest by Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn outside the venue. Quinn’s gonna demand that the Senate reject the legislative pay raises this week. He already has a website on the topic.
…Adding… Comptroller Dan Hynes has apparently decided not to rule on whether the pay raise clock expires this week (I’m not sure it does, by the way). Instead, he just sent out a press release saying that the raises won’t be paid because there is no appropriation…
“We cannot implement the pay raises without an appropriation. But more importantly, I am of the opinion that this is no time for pay raises,” Hynes said, pointing out the drastic cuts to health care providers and social service programs in the FY09 budget.
The raises could legally kick in before the election, and then be retroactively funded in a future budget (that retroactive funding happened last time), but Hynes is apparently refusing to make a ruling on that point. Instead, he’s saying that nobody will get a bigger check until there’s an appropriation. True, but they’ll all get a lump sum check in the future when these raises are included in a budget.
Courageous, no?
No.
…Adding more… The comptroller just called, and after much back and forth, I finally just asked him to tell me when the clock expires. He said he’d get back to me. I’ll let you know.
Quinn says he doesn’t have a ticket for the City Club of Chicago event Blagojevich is headlining. But he’s outside handing out information alongside a staffer holding a sign that reads “Vote Now, Vote No.”
* Here’s a brilliant, must-see parody ad by Joe Fournier. Click the pic to watch…
* A YouTube person who goes by the name Altgeld’s Ghost created quite a racey pro con-con video last week that I never posted. AG’s latest pro con-con effort is here.
* You may have seen Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s recent outrage over “Meth Coffee”…
The back of the package for Meth Coffee suggests drinkers “chew them whole, snort the powder dry, cook it over a lighter and huff. . . .”
But Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is having none of it.
Madigan is demanding a San Francisco company stop what she calls the misleading marketing and sale of the coffee.
“Parody or not, it’s still glorifying drug use and it’s sending a terrible message,” said Madigan’s spokeswoman Robyn Ziegler.
But Scott Reeder thinks AG Madigan is being a bit of a prude, and digs up a New Yorker cartoon drawn by Madigan’s husband, Pat Byrnes…
[Byrnes] drew an office worker with a meth lab set up on his desk telling a co-worker with a cup of Joe, “Meth doesn’t upset my stomach the way coffee does.”
Gee, I hope she doesn’t sue her own husband.
See her husband’s toon here. Watch the Meth Coffee ad here, and Zorn’s take is here and here.
A 2006 survey by Response Insurance, a national car insurer, found that 57 percent of American drivers don’t signal when changing lanes. Men are less likely to signal than women, and drivers under 25 are less likely to signal than older drivers. Their reasons were a bit scary:
• 42 percent said they didn’t have time,
• 23 percent said they were lazy,
• 17 percent said they don’t because they forget to turn it off,
• 12 percent said they changed lanes too frequently to bother,
• 11 percent said it was not important,
• 8 percent said they don’t because other drivers don’t. And, most disturbing of all,
• 7 percent skipped the signal to “add excitement” to their trip.
* Several voters in the 11th Congressional District received this mailer from Republican candidate Martin Ozinga the other day…
* Trouble is, the members of that attractive “family” have probably never heard of Ozinga. They’re paid models…
One Democratic operative has called the advertisement “Ozingaweis,” arguing that it’s eerily reminiscent of a tactic Republican Jim Oberweis used in an unsuccessful bid during a special election this spring in the 14th District.
Oberweis’ mailer, which was trashed by the Chicago Tribune’s editorial board, used actors and gave them fake names and situations to argue against his opponent’s tax policies.
Ozinga’s mailer doesn’t go that far, and only includes a quote but no names.
“It’s a symbol of the fact that families are supporting Marty Ozinga,” Andy Sere, Ozinga’s campaign manager, said.
Sere also points out that the DCCC’s television ad also appears to use stock video.
“It’s a common campaign procedure,” he said. Such images and videos can be purchased more easily and cheaply than assembling local families for such situations.
“I’m shocked that (Democrats) think this is important to the voters of the 11th District,” Sere added. “It shows just how bankrupt they are of ideas and that they would go to any lengths not to talk about Debbie Halvorson’s record.”
A previous Ozinga mailer prominently featured one of his employees. This new one uses paid spokesmodels. You’d think the Ozinga campaign could find a good looking family in the district that is voting for the man.
…the National Republican Congressional Committee launches near daily attacks on Foster’s early record on Capitol Hill.
“Where’s Bill Foster?” read the title of a recent NRCC e-mail blast to the media.
In it, the committee — which spent close to $1.3 million in support of Oberweis leading into March’s contest — targets Foster for voting to recess instead of staying in Washington to debate energy policy. Last week, the NRCC released an “energy report card” that painted Foster as unwilling to get behind solutions to energy issues.
“Bill Foster has used his brief stint in office to define himself as an out-of-touch obstructionist, but this report card paints an alarming picture of a member of Congress who will do anything he can to side with Democrat leadership instead of the people of Illinois,” NRCC spokesman Ken Spain stated in one release.
* Other congressional stuff…
* Hinz: Pregnant women will have to deliver in back seats. Whole subdivisions will burn. Productivity will plummet as firetrucks and cars alike are stuck in traffic. That’s the story that opponents of a pending big railroad merger in the Chicago area have peddled in recent weeks in a highly effective media blitz to pressure federal authorities to reject the deal. As that great liberal populist U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Wood Dale, thundered in a press release last week, “In CN’s eyes, we are nothing more than speed-bumps on the way to an enhanced bottom line.”
Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Sunday used his amendatory veto power to give a full property tax exemption to an estimated 16,000 Illinois veterans with severe disabilities. The exemption would affect veterans who have a service-connected disability of 50% or more, according to a release from the Governor’s office.
There is no state money to pay for this new program, however.
“That is an absolute abuse of the amendatory veto power,” said Dawn Clark Netsch, a former state senator and one-time Democratic nominee for governor who was a principal architect of the state’s current amendatory-veto statute.
“The idea was that you keep the substance of the legislation but make some improvements,” said Netsch, now a law professor at Northwestern University. “It was never intended for the governor to sit back and not participate (in the legislative process) and then say, ‘Now I’m going to do it my way.’”
The Governor may return a bill together with specific recommendations for change to the house in which it originated.
The voters rejected a 1974 referendum that would’ve changed the constitution to confine the AV to minor changes, and the Illinois Supreme Court has kinda jumped around on the issue. Netsch has been running all over the place denouncing a proposed constitutional convention as unnecessary, but she just disproved her point yet again.
Blagojevich sounds like he’s prepared to take several shots if lawmakers don’t agree with him. He suggests the pile of bills lawmakers put on his desk gives him lots of opportunities to try to force lawmakers to go along with the proposal for disabled veterans as well as other ideas he’s cooking up.
“It’s sort of like a quiver with a whole bunch of arrows in it,” Blagojevich said. “And if they don’t approve a specific bill, I may take other bills and put the same rewrite in it. We’ll take several bites at the apple before we take ‘no’ for an answer.”
Just to add a little pressure, he said he wants lawmakers to consider his changes before the election. The move relies on lawmakers caving into populist ideas under public pressure right before they ask voters to cast their ballots. The theory is simple: how many legislators will risk taking an unpopular vote right before an election. […]
“It’s very easy, and it’s no accident that the General Assembly has the veto session comfortably after the election, and there’s a certain cynicism to that, which I think is kind of troubling if you’re a citizen of this state and you feel like there’s no reason why good things shouldn’t happen before an election,” Blagojevich said.
* Little hope going into special session - State lawmakers return Tuesday, but both sides feel there’s not much that can be done on education funding, capital bill
* Fair creates new hurdle for lawmakers - Political divisions may become even more evident at festivities
The Democratic governor also defended the budget cuts he made to erase a massive deficit, saying he struggled with the difficult choices but ultimately did the right thing.
“You know, you ought to walk a mile in my shoes, OK? Sit there and look at $2.2 billion in deficit and decisions you have to make. It’s not easy,” he said during an appearance at the Illinois State Fair.
* Poor guy. He has such a tough job…
That didn’t sit well with an administrator of a drug-counseling program that will have to slash services because its state support is drying up.
“I would love for him to walk a mile in the shoes of someone who has gone though addiction and gone through the recovery process,” said Neli Vazquez-Rowland, vice president of A Safe Haven in Chicago.
She invited him to visit the program, which has already cut housing for 52 mothers and their children and could end up kicking out 400 people.
The governor, who has been making more frequent public appearances recently after curtailing them the past two years as the federal probe deepened and investigative newspaper stories dropped, also mulled a new way to raise money for his long-stalled statewide construction program: a trip to the dunk tank.
“Isn’t that what you guys do to me almost every day?” said Blagojevich when asked if he’d get drenched at the fair to raise some of the $25 billion he’s seeking for new roads, bridges and schools.
“Give me a number, how much we could raise,” Blagojevich responded to a follow-up question. “I’ll look at it.” […]
“Why don’t you give me the pledges and then we’ll put it towards healthcare. I might consider that.”
He took it in good humor and offered up a pretty good retort. Right on message.
Blagojevich was asked if he will be attending the Democratic National Convention in Denver later this month. Yes, indeed, he said.
“I’ve got a big speaking role,” Blagojevich said. “I think it’s something like four o’clock in the morning in the men’s room of the convention center speaking to a handful of voters. I’m hopeful I can persuade them and we can carry Colorado.”
But Finke points out this is a retread…
Here’s what Blagojevich said in 2004 when Obama stole the show at that year’s Democratic convention. He was asked how his role in that convention compared to Obama’s.
“The Democratic National Committee invited me to speak at 4:30 in the morning in the men’s room of Faneuil Hall,” Blagojevich said.
“The people’s feedback is always generally mixed here in Springfield,” he said, again with a laugh, “but it’s honest, and you’ve gotta love that.”
* But the best quote goes to Sen. Michael Noland, who said this when askd about the prospects of passing anything meaningful during this week’s special sessions…
“And I think we’re going to cure cancer, and win the war, both of them - Afghanistan and Iraq,” said state Sen. Michael Noland,
I had heard from numerous sources, including Deputy House Majority Leader Gary Hannig, that the governor announced during a legislative leaders meeting that Rep. John D’Amico (D-Chicago) was the state representative who feared losing his city job [if he voted for the capital bill].
Gov. Rod Blagojevich Friday found a new person to blame for the legislature’s failure to approve a public works construction program and what he believes is an effort to raise income taxes.
Rep. Gary Hannig, D-Litchfield. [Emphasis added]
Did the governor single out Rep. Hannig for harsh criticism on Friday because he spoke to me on the record? Good question.
* Now, for the meat of this post we must go back to the Sun-Times column…
[Gov. Blagojevich said] “They fear their leader, Mr. Madigan, and if Mike Madigan tells them to vote a certain way, they will tell you privately, and I’ve had these discussions with a couple of state reps, one of whom said, ‘I’m afraid if I vote for the jobs bill I’ll be fired from my job at Streets and Sanitations [sic]. I’m afraid I’ll lose my job.’ ” […]
D’Amico said he told the governor that he has been in the union for 26 years and there’s no way he could be fired over a legislative issue unless they first canned a whole bunch of people with less seniority to get at him. Rep. D’Amico said he told the governor he opposed the capital plan because Mayor Daley was against it. D’Amico told me he informed the governor that he didn’t fear losing his job over the capital bill. […]
A source close to [Congressman Rahm Emanuel] confirmed everything D’Amico said.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Friday blamed 10 “double dipping” Chicago lawmakers for “killing” his statewide construction plan, two days after he called on Mayor Richard Daley to pressure them into reversing their positions. […]
“We’ve just got to keep pushing those Chicago Democrats who have city jobs, who work for the Cook County government in Chicago to . . . stop killing jobs,” Blagojevich said while opening the Illinois State Fair.
It’s fascinating how those Chicago legislators were so easily and instantly transformed in Blagojevich’s mind from pitiful victims of Madigan’s power to obstructionist bad guys.
* It’s also instructive that Blagojevich now wants Mayor Daley to put pressure on these 10 legislators to switch their positions. How would Daley do that? By threatening their jobs?…
“In a democracy, we don’t usually use the political bosses to make you do something. That is the old way of doing things.” [said Rep. Monique Davis, who retired from her public job a few years ago, but is still on the governor’s list of obstructionists]
That was a very good pivot by Rep. Davis.
The governor has now done an Olympics-level flip-flop. Blagojevich falsely accused Madigan of threatening legislators with the loss of their city jobs, then called on Daley to do essentially the same thing.
* From comments on Friday’s blog post of my column…
The Governor thinks this is so, because it is what he would (and does) do. He routinely threatens and fires the friends and relatives of those legislators & staffers who do not do as he likes.
Yep.
* Ironically enough, that long list of Blagojevich’s retaliatory firings includes the wife of Speaker Madigan’s chief of staff, Rep. D’Amico’s uncle and Rep. Hannig’s brother. On Friday, the governor’s list of obstructionist Chicago Democrats also included Rep. Eddie Acevedo, who has been on unpaid leave from the police department since last year. Keep that in mind while reading this column from last October…
In a move that has probably fatally poisoned an already supertoxic Illinois Statehouse atmosphere, the wife of House Speaker Michael Madigan’s chief of staff, Tim Mapes, was fired from her state job. […]
This isn’t the first time that Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, have gone after a House Democrat’s relative. They fired the uncle of Rep. John D’Amico from his state job after D’Amico strayed from the Blagojevich playbook. The brother of the House Democrats’ “budgeteer,” Rep. Gary Hannig, was let go after his contract expired. Rep. Eddie Acevedo’s brother was dismissed and the brother of Rep. Careen Gordon was recently demoted.
Do you understand a bit better now why it’s so darned difficult to deal with this governor?
When you hear people like Mayor Daley say that there’s a “trust issue” with Blagojevich, it’s because nothing he says can be believed — not even his favorite story about how Mike Madigan’s members fear losing their city jobs.
* The final word goes to Rep. Susana Mendoza, who tried hard to work with the governor and was considered a somewhat “Blagojevich friendly” legislator until early 2007, when she was manhandled by the governor’s top staff…
“It is an obvious example that the governor is a pathological liar.”
The genesis for this week’s legislative special session on education funding is Rev. Sen. James Meeks’ call for a boycott of the Chicago Public School system’s first day of fall classes. But a campaign threat is what really seemed to motivate Gov. Rod Blagojevich to take some action.
Meeks’ boycott idea was widely dismissed at first as a potentially harmful stunt. Reinforcing the notion among students that their schools are so lousy that attending classes is a waste of time is probably not a great message to send, no matter how bad the schools are.
Even so, Sen. Meeks (D-Chicago) has been able to sign up a growing number of fellow African-American ministers to his boycott idea.
African-American ministers represent one of the last bastions of support for the breathtakingly unpopular Blagojevich. So, if some of them are ready to revolt, he’s gotta be ready to listen.
The most interesting part, though, was when Meeks appeared on Fox Chicago Sunday, one of those “newsmaker” interview shows.
Meeks announced that he would run against Blagojevich if the governor ran for reelection in 2010.
“If he runs again, I’ll definitely run against him,” Meeks told the show’s hosts.
Meeks blasted Blagojevich during the program for not keeping his campaign promise to put $2 billion into education funding.
“He has failed in the area of education,” Meeks said.
Blagojevich always seems to respond best to threats like this. Meeks’ threats to run against Blagojevich in 2006 prompted the governor to pledge that aforementioned $2 billion for schools, which never materialized.
So when Meeks made yet another campaign threat, the governor didn’t wait to ask “How high?”. He jumped.
Blagojevich quickly called a one-day special session and then said he was considering bringing lawmakers back in September until they came up with a plan to fund education, even if the special sessions lasted until the November elections.
That’s pretty extreme, but the governor apparently wanted to head Meeks off at the pass. Right now, Meeks is the only potential black gubernatorial candidate in the 2010 Democratic primary. Keeping Meeks out would give Blagojevich a shot at the African-American vote, which could prove decisive in a multi-candidate race against a bunch of white Democrats.
Whatever happens, the special sessions will certainly provide a more constructive and positive outlet for the growing protest. Meeks and other members of the Black Caucus plan to showcase legislation that would “sunset” (the legislative term for allowing a law to die on its own by a certain date) local property taxes for schools by 2010.
The idea, based on the state of Michigan’s experience, is to create a “doomsday” deadline to spur some sort of action. Michigan sunsetted its own property tax several years ago and eventually settled on the sales tax as a replacement.
The obvious question is whether, and for how long, the governor will remain focused on this issue. He’s infamous for bouncing around from one bright, shiny ball to another without any serious follow-through. And Meeks is right that school funding reform has never been much of a Blagojevich priority.
Indeed, when the governor was asked last week about Meeks’ property tax sunset idea, he said he opposed it. When asked repeatedly by reporters if he had any funding reform ideas of his own, he dodged the questions.
The property tax sunset idea was opposed by just about every school group and union when it was introduced in the House earlier this year. But the Illinois Federation of Teachers is taking a second look at the plan in the wake of the latest developments. That doesn’t mean it will actually pass, but the proposal may have a little more life in it than some of us may have initially expected.
And if nothing happens? Well, the governor is off the hook because he called the special sessions. Blagojevich can revert to his favorite game of blaming House Speaker Michael Madigan for all the troubles in the world.
And Meeks will have demonstrated to his allies and the community at large that he has the influence to drive the state’s agenda. He might even be able to use this as an eventual springboard to higher office.
In other words, like always, education funding reform could turn out to be a “win-win” for politicians, and a “lose-lose” for students and parents.
* Towards An Equitable School Funding System: The system is broken and it must be fixed. We should therefore abolish it, by a date certain, so that the General Assembly and governor will be forced to develop an alternative, equitable, and just school funding system.
* State report: Special tax districts too secret: Quigley and others think that when school districts are not allowed to capture natural tax growth, they are forced to hold referendums to increase their tax base, taking the dirty job of asking for a tax increase away from municipalities.
* Maureen Murphy, the Illinois Republican Party State Central Committee Member for Congressional District 1 and the Worth Township GOP Chairman, has passed away
That history remains threatened by the state’s budget crisis as Gov. Rod Blagojevich recently vetoed $2.7 million from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency’s fiscal year 2009 budget.
“We must end pay-to-play politics,” Hynes said while in Morris Wednesday. “It was dramatized in the (George) Ryan trial. A contractor can receive a $5 million contract and the next day write a $100,000 (campaign) check to a state office holder.
The truly interesting thing about the John Edwards love child scandal is not that it happened — men are human beings, alas — but how, having been broken by the National Enquirer, the story percolated for weeks in the online world before exploding Friday into what is called with increasing derision “the mainstream media.”
Cook County leads the nation as the county with the highest number of whites — meaning those not Hispanic, black, Asian, American Indian or Native Hawaiian — moving out, according to recently released U.S. Census figures.
In the summer of 1980, Dad ordered one of my brothers to record the Rolling Stones song “Emotional Rescue” on a 90-minute cassette tape, back to back, over and over again. He drove us all crazy with that tape, but it’s a funny memory (now)…
* Summer is flying by, so a bit of boat and State Fair time is in order I think. Have a wonderful weekend.
More people are buying classified ads and calendar posts over at InsiderzExchange, and you should too. The site even has a big new sponsor this week. Go check it out.
* You may have seen this story in today’s Morning Shorts…
Sam Carter lost consciousness after contracting severe anaemia but was brought back to life when “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” was blared into his ears.
The anthem was the first single the retired baker from Stoke in Staffordshire ever bought, released in 1965 when he was just 17.
Despite only being given a 30 per cent chance of survival, he woke from his coma after his wife Eva, 65, took the doctor’s advice and played him his favourite tunes through a set of earphones.
Pretty darned cool. If I’m ever in a coma and you want to attempt to revive me with a Stones tune, try this one, but turn it way up first…
Well I never kept a dollar past sunset,
It always burned a hole in my pants.
* And if that doesn’t work…
Ain’t flinging tears out on the dusty ground
For all my friends out on the burial ground
Can’t stand the feeling getting so brought down
* 4:10 pm - The governor just vetoed HB 4189, which would put community college districts under the local ethics law umbrella…
Amends the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act. Classifies community college districts as units of local government that must adopt resolutions regulating the political activities and the solicitation and acceptance of gifts by their officials and employees (now, classified as State agencies subject to the entire Act’s regulation and enforcement by the Executive Ethics Commission and the Governor’s Executive Inspector General). Effective immediately.
The bill passed the Senate on a unanimous vote and received 91 votes in the House. There was no opposition to the bill by community colleges, according to Sen. Christine Radogno, a hyphenated co-sponsor. Radogno said the governor’s veto might be a “game he’s playing with all the ethics bills.”
This is a total veto, not an AV.
* 4:25 pm - It’s always all about Madigan…
Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Friday he doesn’t want to close Pontiac Correctional Center. “That’s not something I want to do,” Blagojevich told reporters after cutting the ribbon to open the Illinois State Fair. “We don’t want to. I don’t want to.”
Blagojevich, who controls the fate of the 137-year-old maximum-security lock-up, for the first time linked its future to the on-going political battle he is having with House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago.
Rather than arguing the prison is too old to keep open, Blagojevich suggested the prison could remain open if lawmakers approve more money to keep it operating.
“We need those Democrats in the House to do the responsible thing and provide funding so that decisions like that don’t have to be made,” Blagojevich said.
That’s a switch from the administration’s earlier statements about Pontiac. In May, top officials at the Illinois Department of Corrections argued that closing Pontiac and moving its inmates to the mostly unused prison in Thomson would save taxpayers $4 million.
In documents filed in connection with the proposed closing, the agency never mentions the budget battle as a reason for shuttering the nation’s eighth oldest prison.
* 4:42 pm - After getting called out this morning on his “city worker/state rep. afraid to lose his job” crud, the governor is now singing another tune…
Blagojevich again lashed out at Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and his Democratic caucus for blocking action on a statewide construction program. He aimed much of his anger at 10 House members who, according to him, collect state paychecks but also have jobs in Chicago or Cook County government.
But one of those members fired back…
Rep. Susana Mendoza said she worked for the Chicago Department of Planning and Development before running for state representative and has never hidden that fact. She said she does not get paid by the city for days she spends in Springfield.
Mendoza said she works hard at both her jobs but Blagojevich cannot say the same.
“How often does he go to the state Capitol or the State of Illinois Building?” she said. “I am not about to get criticized by a ghost payroller.” [Emphasis added]
On the unbalanced state budget lawmakers sent him …
“It’s not only wrong, it’s dishonest.”
On abolishing property taxes as key funding source for schools [the top priority of Sen. James Meeks during the upcoming special sessions] …
“No, I don’t support that.”
On his ability to compromise …
“I don’t support an expansion of gambling.”
The governor said his supporting of gambling expansion to pay for construction shows he’s willing to negotiate. […]
On those who’ve criticized how he cut the budget …
“You know, you ought to walk a mile in my shoes.”
On his public perception …
“I don’t want to shock you, but once in a while I get negative feedback.”
On why residents of Springfield don’t like him …
“They’re mostly angry at the way things are,” (as opposed to him)
On House Democrats …
“They frustrate me. All they’re interested in is playing stupid games.”
On public dissatisfaction with state government …
“Are people angry? Sure. But so am I.”
[Gov. Blagojevich] hit on several issues brought up by reporters including moving the Illinois Department of Transportation’s traffic safety division from Springfield to Harrisburg in southern Illinois.
He called it a “done deal,” despite the fact a state facilities panel still has to vote on the issue next week, and repeated that Springfield-based workers who don’t want to relocate will be able to get another state job for the same pay and benefits.
When asked what Springfield officials could do to restore operation hours at state historic sites here, he said they need to get on the backs of House Democrats, who he says are holding up passage of funds to allow that to happen.
Governor Rod Blagojevich says the Illinois State Fair is the best place to be in August… The governor says the fairgrounds in Springfield are one of the wonders of Illinois and a beautiful place.
Congressional candidate Debbie Halvorson’s stepson, a special operations solider stationed in Afghanistan, was injured while serving, her campaign verified Thursday.
Capt. Jay Bush is in the U.S. Army Special Forces out of Fort Bragg, N.C. Following his injury, he was flown to a military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.
“Debbie, her husband Jim Bush, and the entire family are very concerned as they learn more about his condition, prognosis and what happened,” her campaign manager Brian Doory said. “They ask for your prayers and support during this difficult family matter.”
“He’s alive, but he’s going to face a long rehab and a lot of pain,” his father, Jim Bush, said Thursday.
Family members were unclear about the exact circumstances of how he was injured.
They were told he was on a night mission and fell about 20 feet.
“He’s a sharp guy, and he’s in supreme condition. He’s 185 pounds and benches about 450 pounds,” his father said. […]
“Debbie, her husband Jim Bush, and the entire family are very concerned as they learn more about his condition, prognosis and what happened,” said her campaign manager, Brian Doory.
“They ask for your prayers and support during this difficult family matter,” he said.
* Think of the state government issue that you support the most. It doesn’t have to be a law. Maybe it’s just a proposed law. It could be your stance on guns, or illegal drugs, death penalty, the bureaucracy, taxes or whatever. It’s your pet position, so you know what it is. Everybody has one. But let’s stay away from political figures. This is about issues, not politicians.
* Now, first briefly state your position, then argue strongly against your own position with as much detail as possible.
This has the potential to be a fascinating read, so no snark, please.
* My Sun-Times column today demonstrates that absolutely nothing the governor says can be taken at face value. Nothing….
One of the biggest challenges reporters have covering Gov. Blagojevich is they have to fact-check every word that comes out of his mouth.
Way too often, Blagojevich ventures beyond the generally accepted boundaries of political spin into out-and-out lies and complete fabrications.
The man just makes stuff up.
For instance, Blagojevich has claimed over and over that a Democratic House member confided that he feared losing his job with the City of Chicago if he voted for the governor’s proposed multibillion-dollar construction bill. Blagojevich says House Speaker Michael Madigan, who opposes the governor’s bill, had used his awesome powers to put the heat on this unnamed legislator.
Blagojevich repeated this claim during a Wednesday press conference.
“They fear their leader, Mr. Madigan, and if Mike Madigan tells them to vote a certain way, they will tell you privately, and I’ve had these discussions with a couple of state reps, one of whom said, ‘I’m afraid if I vote for the jobs bill I’ll be fired from my job at Streets and Sanitations [sic]. I’m afraid I’ll lose my job.’ ”
This was the first time the governor had revealed where that mystery lawmaker worked.
A check showed only one House Democrat works at Streets and San: state Rep. Rich Bradley (D-Chicago).
Trouble is, Rep. Bradley told me he hasn’t spoken with the governor in about two years. Bradley claims he is opposed to the capital plan as written because the House Latino Caucus opposes it.
I had heard from numerous sources, including Deputy House Majority Leader Gary Hannig, that the governor announced during a legislative leaders meeting that Rep. John D’Amico (D-Chicago) was the state representative who feared losing his city job. D’Amico works for the Chicago Department of Water, not Streets and San, but I guess I could see how the governor might be confused.
So, I called Rep. D’Amico.
Turns out, D’Amico did talk to Blagojevich.
As D’Amico tells the story, Gov. Blagojevich asked D’Amico if he was voting against the capital plan because he was afraid of losing his job.
D’Amico said he told the governor that he has been in the union for 26 years and there’s no way he could be fired over a legislative issue unless they first canned a whole bunch of people with less seniority to get at him. Rep. D’Amico said he told the governor he opposed the capital plan because Mayor Daley was against it. D’Amico told me he informed the governor that he didn’t fear losing his job over the capital bill.
Blagojevich also repeated a claim this week that he had asked U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel to call the legislator and assure him he wouldn’t lose his city gig.
D’Amico said he did receive a phone call from Emanuel, but he said Emanuel never mentioned the threat stuff. Instead, Emanuel just lobbied D’Amico to vote for the capital bill.
D’Amico asked Emanuel if he knew that Daley was against the capital bill, and Emanuel immediately “backed off.” Emanuel is a Blagojevich ally, but he is a Daley creation.
No way would he want to work against the mayor’s interests.
A source close to Emanuel confirmed everything D’Amico said. Blagojevich’s press office did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Do you understand a bit better now why it’s so darned difficult to deal with this governor?
When you hear people like Mayor Daley say that there’s a “trust issue” with Blagojevich, it’s because nothing he says can be believed — not even his favorite story about how Mike Madigan’s members fear losing their city jobs.
* Stories about the governor’s press conference yesterday represent a study in truly stark contrasts. It’s days like this when I’m reminded how lucky we are to live in the Internet Age, not back in the days when most of us were confined to one newspaper and the local TV and radio.
State troopers have quietly started helping Chicago Police fight crime. That follows a noisy war of words in recent weeks between Governor Rod Blagojevich and Mayor Richard Daley about the possibility of cooperation. State police made several arrests yesterday in the city and tracked the movements of a handful of gang members.
Illinois State Police Director Larry Trent says he’s worked closely with Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis to develop a plan of cooperation. Weis says he is “very happy” to have the help.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich produced his plan Thursday for state troopers to give Chicago police a hand, but the city’s top cop said it’s not going to free up any more officers to patrol the streets. […]
Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis said most additional Illinois State Police efforts will be focused along the Dan Ryan and Eisenhower Expressways that the state long has patrolled: “It’s going to help overall law enforcement in Chicago, but it really won’t free up any more Chicago police officers,” Weis said. […]
The administration plans to use Chicago-area troopers rather than shift officers from Downstate, according to State Police Sgt. Brian Ley.
* And how does one define “Chicago-area troopers”? The Daily Herald explains…
Gov. Rod Blagojevich is siphoning state police out of the suburbs to concentrate on crime in Chicago.
Under his plan to beef up Windy City security following a rash of violence, Blagojevich has moved one “team” of state troopers from the Elgin-based second district to Chicago. The troopers make up one of two teams that normally roam the suburban area targeting gang problems and roads with high fatality rates.
In addition, two similar teams that roam the Chicago and Cook County suburban region will now be confined to city limits, said state police Lt. Luis Gutierrez.
* The press conference was about the governor’s new idea to put cameras on expressways and interstates to pay for more state police officers. CLTV takes the traffic angle…
A traffic nightmare on the Kennedy Expressway this afternoon, much earlier than rush hour. The reason? Well, there was a press conference. […]
Gov. Rod Blagojevich was there to tout a new plan to install state highways to get drivers to slow down. Well, seems it worked. Traffic was delayed an hour in each direction on the Kennedy Expressway because everyone slowed down to see what was going on there.
Cameras, cameras and more cameras…Big Brother is not only watching on Chicago street corners and highway work zones, but if Governor Blagojevich gets his way, the interstates will be camera ready to snap speeders.
* The only House member to show up for the press conference had her say on NBC 5…
State Rep. Elga Jefferies, a Democrat from Chicago, also threw her support behind the idea.
“This program is going to kill two birds with one stone. It’s going to curb the crime and help save lives on our highways,” she said.
Jefferies lost her primary race in February and is likely in need of employment. Rep. Ken Dunkin, the governor’s usual Chicago House guy, must’ve been otherwise occupied.
Don’t expect to see cameras catching speeders on Illinois interstates any time soon.
Although Gov. Rod Blagojevich called Thursday for installing cameras in high-accident corridors across the state as a way to improve traffic safety, Illinois lawmakers have shown an aversion to similar programs in recent years.
In May, the latest effort to allow a handful of downstate communities to install cameras at intersections was defeated in the Senate after it had narrowly been approved in the House.
First, Blagojevich has openly stated that the cameras would be a source of revenue – up to $50 million a year. The goal of such enforcement should be improved safety, not a way to cash in.
Second, we doubt that the cameras will be used appropriately and fairly. The governor’s office said that the cameras only would be used to catch speeders going at least 80 mph. Would that be written into the legislation? Would that pledge hold 10 years from now?
Remember that seat-belt violations were to be ticketed only if violators were pulled over for another offense. Now motorists actually get pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt. Give an inch, government tends to take a mile.
* As I told subscribers today, this appearance by Rev. Sen. James Meeks on Fox Chicago Sunday may explain a whole lot about the special session for education funding next week and the governor’s announcement yesterday that he may call special sessions up to four days a week, every week starting after Labor Day until the General Assembly comes up with an education funding reform package and passes a capital bill.
“If he runs again, I’ll definitely run against him,” Meeks said of Gov. Blagojevich, adding that Blagojevich “has failed in the area of education.”
Click the pic to watch the segment…
The only “base” the governor has left is the African-American community (and that’s not solid any longer), and particularly African-American ministers. If he has any hopes at all of winning a multi-candidate primary in 2010, he has to make sure that no viable black candidate runs, particularly a black minister.
Thanks to commenters and readers for the tip about the Meeks interview. And thanks to Fox for posting the video on the Intertubes late yesterday.
* Meanwhile, Meeks’ rally in the Loop yesterday drew about 2,500 people. Meeks is organizing a boycott of the first day of school and led the crowd in a chant of “No way first day!” CLTV has more…
* On boycott day, several children will travel north in an attempt to enroll CPS students in New Trier. There’s another step after that…
Then, from Sept. 3-5, Meeks plans to have kids descend on corporate offices. The idea is to force big business to back equal education funding, they way they’ve backed a Chicago Olympics.
“It became an idea, and the entire business community got behind it,” Meeks said of the city’s Olympic bid. “School funding is a problem and everyone’s ignored it.”
Downtown workers agree the tactic will draw attention.
“It would be very disruptive but they’d make a point. They’d make a point,” Hallie Page said.
Suzanne Hamilton said it was, “Real life, in your face awareness. It’s important to do things like that. It has an impact.”
There are supposedly seven steps in this thing. Stay tuned.
* You can listen to an excerpt of the governor’s comments about the autumn spcial sessions at Chicago Public Radio…
“I am, in fact, thinking about the possibility of whether or not we discuss with the legislative leaders after Labor Day scheduling maybe 2, 3, 4 days a week throughout the fall for education funding and job creation.”
Blagojevich said Thursday he’s considering ordering lawmakers back to the Capitol in September and keeping them there until they fix education funding - a move that most believe would require some kind of tax increase.
The catch is Blagojevich would then veto any such increase.
“If it increases income taxes, yeah,” said spokesman Lucio Guerrero. “Any kind of taxes.”
During an unrelated appearance Thursday, the governor mentioned the September special sessions. Afterward, Guerrero said they remain only an option.
A year after submitting a blueprint to clean up its scandal-plagued hiring system, the city has “failed to comply” with parts of its own plan, city hiring monitor Noelle Brennan said in a report filed in federal court.
“I just don’t think he’d have been well-accepted at all,” Poe said. “… When you treat a county like he has treated Sangamon County, it’s pretty hard to get any respect.”
“People down here need to know they can count on their elected representative to stand up for them against tax-and-spend Democrat policies,” said Cavaletto. “As your State Representative, I will vote against any income tax, sales tax or other tax increase on families and area businesses.”
“… We cannot pretend to reform the health-care planning process in Illinois without replacing the executive secretary who steered it during a time when we now know its activities reeked of corruption.”
According to a study by university economists Craig Garthwaite and Tim Moore, it added about 1,000,000 votes to Obama’s column in the contested primary battle.
