Governor calls General Assembly into Special Session to address capital plan and education funding - General Assembly can take action on Governor’s new Illinois Works compromise and address enhanced school funding
CHICAGO – Governor Rod R. Blagojevich today called on the General Assembly to return to work on August 12 and August 13 to address increasing Illinois’ education funding and to pass a slimmed down $25 billion Illinois Works capital plan to invest in revitalizing our state’s roads, bridges, classrooms and communities.
After weeks of working with the legislative leaders to negotiate a capital plan that eliminates expanding gaming as a revenue source, last week the Governor announced the new plan with former US Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-IL).
“Last week former US Speaker Dennis Hastert and I sat with leaders from the four caucuses to present a compromise that addresses many of the concerns that legislators had posed with the previous capital plan. Now that they have had time to review our proposal, I will convene a special session so that they can pass a plan this summer that will repair and rebuild our states infrastructure and put Illinoisans to work,” said Governor Blagojevich.
On August 12, the Governor will convene a special session of the General Assembly to address education funding. The Governor is committed to increasing state funding for education and has invested more money in education than any other administration in history, including millions more in FY09.
Even with this year’s tight budget constraints where he had to make $1.4 billion in reductions, the Governor was able to increase funding for education by $360 million for a total investment of $8.4 billion more since 2003. Since he entered office, he increased per pupil spending by more than 30 percent.
The Governor has said that he would veto any income tax increase and has called on legislators to make their intentions known before the November elections as to whether or not they would support an increase in the income tax.
“When people are paying more at the pump, paying more at the grocery store and paying more in property taxes it would be financially crippling to make them pay more in taxes,” Blagojevich said. “If the House Democrats plan on raising the income tax on working families, they need to make their intentions known now and not wait until after the election.”
On August 13, the Governor will convene a special session of the General Assembly to pass the new $25 billion Illinois Works capital plan which includes the following:
• Investment of more than $14.4 billion in roads projects, $4.1 billion in education facilities, $3.4 billion in public transit and rail, $800 million environment and water, $310 million in state facilities, $100 million in healthcare facilities, $425 million in economic development, and more than $1.4 billion in other critical infrastructure and quality of life needs for the citizens of Illinois.
• Provides a capital improvement plan clearly identifying timelines, priorities and funding sources for projects within each of these investment categories.
• Funds education construction projects and mass transportation investments with $7 billion partial concession of the Illinois Lottery.
• Creates capital and educational trust funds with “lockbox” accountability guarantees for capital investments and continuation of the current level of Lottery proceeds for P-12 education.
• Uses $150 million in excess motor fuel taxes to support $1.6 billion in additional road projects
• Uses $100 million in excess state sales taxes on motor fuels to support $1.3 billion in additional projects
According to a study by Southern Illinois University, a comprehensive capital plan would have tremendous economic benefits for the state. The study found a $25 billion capital plan would create 443,000 new full-time jobs, lead to $32 billion in economic activity and more than $2.3 billion in state and local tax revenues. [Emphasis added]
*** 4:53 pm *** From the SJ-R, which apparently received a slight advanced warning…
Blagojevich does not intend for lawmakers to take up state budget cuts during the session, Guerrero said.
“Unless they find the funding, there’s nothing much more to do with the budget,” Guerrero said.
Guerrero said the governor decided to call the special session on education funding after being urged to do so by some black lawmakers who have complained about inequities in school funding.
Blagojevich wants lawmakers to consider a plan to significantly increase school funding backed by state Sen. James Meeks, which calls for an income tax increase to provide billions of extra dollars for schools and other needs.
But the governor opposes the income tax increase and wants lawmakers to look at other ways to pay for the increased spending, Guerrero said. He has supported selling or leasing the state Lottery and expanding gambling in the past to accomplish that goal. [Emphasis added]
*** 4:59 pm *** To answer some questions in comments, the legislative and statewide pay raise automatically kicks in during the second day of the scheduled special session.
State Rep. Gary Hannig, D-Litchfield, a top House official, questioned the necessity of the session, since there is no agreement on the infrastructure plan and no specific proposal for education funding.
With the Illinois State Fair underway, some members of the Legislature are concerned there will be few hotel rooms available.
Although a quick check of three on-line hotel booking sites found ample rooms as of Tuesday evening, the fair doesn’t get into full swing until this coming weekend. […]
State Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion, said it is a long shot to think lawmakers will be able to resolve their long-standing differences over a statewide construction plan in just one day.
He said it’s tough to analyze the latest changes to the plan because it remains more a conceptual plan, rather than an actual piece of legislation.
‘’They need to put the proposals on paper,'’ Bradley said.
State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, said attempting to address a major issue like school funding reform in one day is foolhardy.
‘’It’s just wishful thinking,'’ Brady said. ‘’Without a plan, we’re not going to get anything accomplished.'’
* If you have an iPhone, do not download the latest 2.0.1 update. It just doesn’t work right. Wait a couple of days, which is what I should’ve done. None of the new apps I’ve installed - several of which I paid for - work since this morning’s update. Wonderful.
Spokesmen for Gov. Rod Blagojevich say it’s not decided yet whether he’ll show up for the twilight parade in downtown Springfield or what his other plans for the fair will be.
The governor has made the fair a staple of his first five years in office. He usually walks the parade route, stopping regularly to talk with onlookers. In 2003, his first year in office, he even decided to run the parade path, winding up near the Grandstand soaked with sweat on a muggy evening.
But that changed last year. Tied up in an ugly budget mess with state lawmakers, Blagojevich skipped the parade and made only a brief appearance at the ribbon-cutting the following day.
He could have good reason to do the same this time.
Blagojevich’s popularity is low, and his feuding with lawmakers continues. Plus, this time he has to face employees and Springfield residents upset with him for trying to move the Department of Transportation’s traffic safety division to southern Illinois.
* The question: If you were Gov. Blagojevich, would you march in this week’s Twilight Parade through Springfield?
Be honest with yourself and with us. Explain fully and do your best to stay on topic. Thanks.
* Get ready for more drama from the state’s Drama Queen in Chief.
This was pretty much ignored or buried in the coverage of Gov. Blagojevich’s press conference yesterday. As I told subscribers, it likely amounts to a new front against House Speaker Michael Madigan…
Blagojevich said he wants to talk to Michael Bischof about strengthening other laws to help domestic violence victims. Blagojevich said he could do that as part of a “Rewrite to Do Right'’ campaign he plans launch later this week.
Blagojevich said he intends to rewrite bills passed by the Legislature “to make them better for the people of our state.'’ Lawmakers would have to approve the changes.
Depending on what bills Blagojevich rewrites, it could further inflame tensions with lawmakers he has feuded with and who are balking at a statewide construction program he wants them to pass.
Blagojevich said one of the bills he is interested in “taking positive action'’ on is a campaign finance reform measure. Lawmakers have voted to impose the state’s first major restriction on money politicians can accept but Blagojevich has yet to sign it. [Emphasis added]
“Rewrite to Do Right.” Catchy slogan. I wonder if this new initiative will have its own website?
* Meanwhile, Eric Zorn thinks he has a “solution” to the budgetary “doomsday”…
Let’s look at a promising quick fix, the so-called funds sweep.
It seems that the state comptroller’s office oversees somewhere around 700 special-purpose accounts—the Industrial Hygiene Regulatory and Enforcement Fund, for example—that are supported by licensing fees and fines. These funds often run a surplus, and it has become common practice for the state to “sweep” that extra money toward unrelated budget items.
Simple solutions are usually neither. And Zorn admits at the bottom of his column that sweeping these funds won’t be as easy as it looks…
[Sen Jeff Schoenberg] is busily hammering out a more detailed and more modest sweep proposal with Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago), and both lawmakers hope the General Assembly will hold a special session and consider it this month.
“If we can create greater accountability and transparency concerning these funds, that’ll be a good thing,” Schoenberg said.
Q: So since this is the fastest, least painful way to silence the drumbeats of doom, the Republicans and the governor will go along with it, right?
A: I’ll let Feigenholtz answer: “Please,” she said darkly. “Don’t try to apply logic to this situation.”
Not mentioned is that Senate President Emil Jones dismissed the last attempted funds sweep compromise as a “drop in the bucket.” Also, considering the depth of the stated budget problem (over $2 billion in the red), a $300-500 million sweep won’t solve all problems. Also not mentioned is the legit suspicion that the governor has allowed many of these funds to accumulate artificial surpluses to make it appear that more money is available than there really is.
* SJ-R: Capital bill should include list of projects
*** UPDATE 1 *** It seems, at times, that the governor’s people believe that their troubles with Speaker Madigan are somehow new and unique. As I’ve tried to point out time and time again, this is not new behavior. John Patterson points the Way-Back Machine to the summer of 1988…
Gov. Jim Thompson wants an income tax increase. The media is behind it, as are most interest groups. Everyone thinks higher taxes are a great idea.
Everyone, that is, except Madigan, who refuses to go along and is eviscerated as an obstructionist in daily news stories.
In a June 1988 story, Thompson told the Chicago Tribune that Madigan’s opposition reflects “a narrow little world” in which Madigan lives.
Madigan’s response to the paper was that Thompson “does not live in a neighborhood as I live in a neighborhood,” but spends most of his time in a state-financed mansion in Springfield far away from the mood of the people. [Emphasis in original]
*** UPDATE 2 *** CLTV quotes Blagojevich enemy state Rep. John Fritchey as saying that the governor was using children as “human shields” during yesterday’s press conference. The report also highlights the governor’s “Rewrite to Do Right” plan and it’s probable impact on Fritchey’s ethics bll…
* Thanks to a reader for sending this direct mail piece from Republican congressional hopeful Marty Ozinga. I strongly encourage all readers to do the same.
You can click the pics for larger images…
Thoughts?
* The Illinois Republican Party has a new Internet video bashing Democratic congressional candidate Dan Seals. The Repubs have been attempting for several days to make some hay out of fundraising for Seals done by powerful Congresscritter Charlie Rangel, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. You can find more background on the story here, here, here, here and here. It’s a mostly inside the beltway “scandal” that isn’t exactly earth-shattering. Rangel is accused of using a rent-controlled apartment for his campaign headquarters, in apparent violation of NY law. He’s since closed that office.
Anyway, the IL GOP vid ends with this tag line: “Dan Seals. He’ll do anything to buy your vote.” That’s quite the charge.
And here it is…
* The Rangel thing is also an issue in Democrat Debbie Halvorson’s campaign versus Marty Ozinga…
[Halvorson[ also has set up a joint fundraising committee with Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, for a future fundraising event. The Ozinga campaign has sought to portray the relationship negatively following a story in the New York Times alleging that Rangel, whose home and office in Harlem are in a rent-controlled building, is getting favorable treatment from his landlord. The office is the address listed for the joint fundraising committee with Halvorson.
Rangel responded Friday to the article, telling reporters at a news conference he is paying the maximum rent allowed by law and he is not getting special treatment. […]
Regarding Halvorson’s fundraising, Sere said Halvorson’s affiliation with Rangel shows she has a pattern of “forming close alliances with fellow career politicians who just so happen to have this scandal or that scandal attached to their names,” a reference to efforts by the Ozinga campaign to tie her to unpopular Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Ozinga issued a press release Wednesday calling attention to the committee titled “Halvorson Fundraising Committee Based out of Rangel’s Sweetheart Apartment.” […]
[Halvorson campaign manager Brian Doory] declined to respond to the Ozinga criticism of her joint committee with Rangel.
* Meanwhile, Bobby Rush announced yesterday that he’s cancer free…
Rush returned to Congress last Wednesday. His doctors said they are not discouraging him from jumping back into politics as he continues his recovery.
“I don’t know that asking Congressman Rush to sit down and relax would be good for him,” said Dr. Elizabeth Blair, the surgeon who removed a tumor the size of a large plum from his jaw earlier this year.
* Congressional hearing today on CN, EJ&E purchase
* For lawyers who choose public service over private enrichment, new financial hope - Legislation to unburden some of up to $60,000 in law school debt is awaiting president’s signature
One part of the Illinois Constitution is clearly broken (even Dawn Clark Netsch agrees) and that’s the provision that governs redistricting.
The General Assembly gets to draw the map. And if they can’t, then a Commission is set up to do the job, 4 Dems and 4 Republicans. And if they can’t do the job, then guess how the ninth member of the Commission is chosen, pursuant to the Illinois Constitution?
That leaves a state Constitutional Convention. Truly, I’d be glad if we didn’t have to resort to opening up the entire constitution to alteration as the price of straightening out this state. But what else is there?
So, to the well-funded special interests that oppose a Con Con, as the convention is informally known, I again ask this question: What is your solution?
In the past three decades, Chicago has undergone changes that are routinely described as gentrification, but are in fact more complicated and more profound than the process that term suggests. A better description would be “demographic inversion.” Chicago is gradually coming to resemble a traditional European city–Vienna or Paris in the nineteenth century, or, for that matter, Paris today. The poor and the newcomers are living on the outskirts. The people who live near the center–some of them black or Hispanic but most of them white–are those who can afford to do so.
White, who fancies himself an amateur historian and idolizes Lincoln, said he’s been trying to think of a way to send a message to Blagojevich and state lawmakers.
“What better way than to send pennies down to Springfield?” White said. “Lincolns for Lincoln.
Faced with a gaping budget deficit, Mayor Daley is making it clear he wants union workers to share some of the pain.
Last week, he set the tone with non-union city employees. He ordered them to take two or three unpaid furlough days and canceled the next two rounds of pay raises. He also offered buyouts.
The state’s main evidence against Dugan is his DNA that was allegedly found on the victim. Dugan’s team of attorneys contend that the case against Dugan is based primarily on DNA evidence, and that they want to leave no stone unturned in the 25-year-old case.
There’s a good but depressing article in the Wall Street Journal about how newspapers are continuing to fall behind in the local online advertising derby–even as their print ad revenues are ebbing away. According to Borrell statistics cited in the story, newspaper share of the local online ad market has fallen to 27.4 percent from 35.9 percent two years ago. Things aren’t going in the right direction. That’s not good–especially when the overall local online advertising market is growing, ahem, at a 57 percent annual clip.
* The Web of Wanton Cruelty As ‘Trolling’ Turns More Vicious, What, If Anything, Can Stop It?
* Photo appears to show McCartney at Clear Lake Circle K
* The one revelation that has always stuck with me from that statewide gubernatorial bus trip I took last year was my respect for First Lady Patti Blagojevich. She’s smart and down to earth, which is a pleasant contrast with her husband’s personality. She’s also a very good mother to their two daughters, who, by the way, are a couple of great kids. (The biggest fear I had about that trip was spending three days on a bus with a couple of brats. It turned out they were one of the highlights of my little adventure.)
Mrs. Blagojevich was interviewed today by the Southern Illinoisan and the audio is posted here. The first half is mostly about the DuQuoin State Fair, but the second half is more about her own thoughts on the current imbroglio.
Robert Novak has announced his immediate retirement following the diagnosis of a brain tumor, a prognosis the Sun-Times’ political columnist describes as “dire.”
“The details are being worked out with the doctors this week, but the tentative plan is for radiation and chemotherapy,” Novak said.
Whatever you feel about Novak (and there’s a lot of negativity about the guy out there), you have to admit that he has driven the news for decades. I don’t know if he knows this or not, but years ago I modeled the Capitol Fax off of the Evans & Novak Report, without the overt partisanship, of course.
In many ways, Bob Novak has been a hero of mine, even though we’ve never met, or even communicated. I certainly hope I get the opportunity to visit with him and tell him what he’s meant to me over the years.
* This may sound counter-intuitive, but I’m also a fan of Sam Zell. Hey, I don’t like a lot of his ideas and I dumped all over that goofy plan to have the state buy Wrigley Field, but it is indisputable that he is bringing an energy and innovation to Mother Tribune that hasn’t been seen there in decades, if ever. So, I mostly agree with this post over at Recovering Journalist…
Tribune’s employees would be a lot better off trying to understand what’s really happening to their industry and papers and redirecting their energy toward improving their newspapers and Web sites to make them more interesting and attractive to readers and advertisers. That’s how to save jobs. Whining–and worse–about Sam Zell isn’t going to change a… thing. It’s just childish behavior.
* And in the spirit of good feelings and personal revelations, here’s a photo of three of my nieces with my grandma…
…Adding… It turns out that Paul McCartney is a pretty cool guy.
* The “revolt” by congressional Republicans over energy prices is getting some media play…
Continuing with their guerilla tactics from last week, House Republicans will be back on the floor Monday to talk gas prices, even though Congress is in recess, and they may stay there all week. […]
“In an urgent memo sent to GOP Members and staff Saturday (“A Call to Action on American Energy”), Republican Leader John Boehner (R-) and Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) hailed Friday’s action, and encouraged House Republicans to return to the Capitol beginning Monday morning to help keep the historic effort going,” said a press release just released by Minority Leader Boehner’s office. […]
Republicans felt they got a lot of good press out of Friday’s “revolt,” so they will be back at it again, and younger GOP lawmakers were clearly energized by the tactic, something not evident among Republicans for most of the 110th Congress
* And, right on schedule, here’s a recent news release from Congresscritter Peter Roskam…
Congressman Peter J. Roskam (R-IL) will return to the floor of the United States House of Representatives today to seek an emergency session of Congress to address the impact rising gas prices have on American families. Congress adjourned Friday for five weeks without a vote on solutions to lower gas prices. […]
The unscheduled Monday return to Congress comes on the heels of more than 48 Members of Congress staying past adjournment on Friday. […]
More than 30 Illinois 6th District constituents will have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sit on the House floor and witness Congress in action.
Roskam will then host a round table discussion with his constituents to discuss how rising energy prices have impacted their family.
A record 1.6 million barrels a day in U.S. refined petroleum products were exported during the first four months of this year, up 33 percent from 1.2 million barrels a day over the same period in 2007. Shipments this February topped 1.8 million barrels a day for the first time during any month, according to final numbers from the Energy Department. […]
The 1.6 million barrels a day in record petroleum exports represented 9 percent of total U.S. refining capacity of 17.6 million barrels a day.
However, with refiners operating at 85 percent of capacity during the January-April period, the shipments represented a much a larger share of total U.S. oil products produced.
The exports were also equal to half the 3.2 million barrels of gasoline, diesel fuel and other petroleum products the United States imported each day over the 4-month period. […]
U.S. gasoline shipments in April averaged 202,000 barrels a day, the most for the month since 1945, when America was sending fuel overseas to ease supply shortages in other countries during World War II. Gasoline exports in April 2007 were almost half at 116,000 barrels per day.
According to the article, the largest share of our exports went to Mexico, Canada, Chile, Singapore and Brazil.
In the last four years, the Bureau of Land Management has issued 28,776 permits to drill on public land; yet, in that same time, 18,954 wells were actually drilled. That means that companies have stockpiled nearly 10,000 extra permits to drill that they are not using to increase domestic production.
Further, despite the federal government=s willingness to make public lands and waters available to energy developers, of the 47.5 million acres of on-shore federal lands that are currently being leased by oil and gas companies, only about 13 million acres are actually “in production,” or producing oil and gas. Similar trends are evident offshore as well, where only 10.5 million of the 44 million leased acres are currently producing oil or gas.
Combined, oil and gas companies hold leases to nearly 68 million acres of federal land and waters that they are not producing oil and gas. Oil and gas companies would not buy leases to this land without believing oil and gas can be produced there, yet these same companies are not producing oil or gas from these areas already under their control. […]
Proponents of opening additional lands to oil and gas leasing assert that vast quantities of oil and gas are closed to energy development. In fact, according to the Minerals Management Service, of all the oil and gas believed to exist on the Outer Continental Shelf, 82% of the natural gas and 79% of the oil is located in areas that are currently open for leasing.
None of this stuff is being debated in the media or by the Republicans. Just the “Drill here, drill now” slogan.
* Related…
* ‘Major discovery’ from MIT primed to unleash solar revolution - Scientists mimic essence of plants’ energy storage system
Most states have some form of law when it comes to helmets and motorcycles. For example, although Wisconsin does not have a mandatory helmet law for all riders, it does when it comes to motorcycle riders 17 and younger. The only two states in the country with absolutely no helmet laws are Illinois and Iowa.
We realize that the subject of helmet laws is a touchy one. Motorcycle enthusiasts have in the past vehemently opposed mandatory helmet laws. However, we believe that juvenile passengers on motorcycles should be required to wear helmets. Adults can make their own decisions and deal with the consequences. But juveniles are another matter entirely.
The facts support the notion that helmets do help prevent serious injury and death in motorcycle crashes. According to the Illinois Secretary of State’s office, helmets saved the lives of 1,658 motorcyclists nationally in 2006. If all motorcyclists had worn helmets, an additional 752 lives could have been saved. Motorcycle helmets are estimated to be 37 percent effective in preventing fatal injuries.
Juvenile passengers on motorcycles should be required to wear helmets. We would urge the Illinois Legislature to address this issue.
* The question: Should Illinois law require all motorcycle riders and passengers under 18 to wear helmets? Explain.
* Rev. Sen. James Meeks is tired of waiting for “some day” to come…
State Sen. James Meeks took to the pulpit Sunday to reiterate his plea for Chicago Public Schools parents to keep their children out of city schools the first day of class and instead go to the New Trier district.
Meeks, pastor of Salem Baptist Church, and other minority clergy are seeking to highlight the inequalities between rich, white and poor, minority school districts in the state. On WLS-Channel 7, Meeks said if the state can draw the Olympics here, it can also come up with a fair funding solution.
* Without a doubt, if you are poor and a minority in Chicago, the school your child attends just plain sucks…
Some parents support the boycott, as they witness first-hand the disparities in school funding.
“I grew up in the CPS system, and as a father, it’s really disgusting to send a child to a school that doesn’t even have toilet paper [or has] 20-year-old books. It’s despicable,” parent Lewis Roy said.
* Kadner doesn’t think Meeks’ boycott plan goes far enough…
Some people will accuse Meeks of grandstanding.
I don’t think he’s going far enough.
In order to launch a protest that would really have an impact, children from every poor school district would probably have to block the entrances to the school houses in every wealthy school district in the state - not for a day but for weeks.
I believe the education crisis in this nation is worse than the terrorist threat.
Money won’t solve the problem, but it’s the only way to start.
The current system works for children who come from good communities and have good parents.
It does not work for those who don’t.
You can keep on punishing them for their misfortune, generation after generation, or improve the schools in an effort to make life better for everyone.
Reduce class sizes. Make the schools safe. Update technology. Invest in the future.
Declare war on ignorance.
You don’t need to fly an airplane loaded with explosive into a tower to destroy thousands of lives.
We’ve been doing it here in Illinois for 20 years.
Read the whole thing. Kadner destroys a whole lot of arguments against doing something to address this crisis.
This week, Meeks says a major organization will file a federal civil rights lawsuit against the State of Illinois regarding the funding issue.
And this week, members of the Illinois Black Caucus will introduce legislation stating Illinois students should be able to attend the schools of their choice.
An analysis of audit reports covering the last three Illinois governors shows that Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration has been plagued by substantially more reports of mismanagement and waste than his two predecessors.
A comparison of audits for 22 major state agencies dating to 1997 found Blagojevich has had nearly as many problems running state government as former governors George Ryan and Jim Edgar combined.
The survey looked at yearly audit findings for agencies that are under the governor’s control at similar points in each of their administrations.
For Blagojevich, the survey determined that auditors raised questions about the proper use of taxpayer dollars in 326 instances. Ryan’s administration had 137 findings in the second half of his one term, while auditors found 203 problems within agencies overseen by Edgar during the second half of his second term.
Analysts say the problems uncovered by Auditor General William Holland’s office may indicate how serious a governor is about managing the state’s resources.
That’s an understatement.
* Meanwhile, the SJ-R looks at the governor’s touted job creation numbers for his capital construction package, which the governor has claimed would create hundreds of thousands of jobs….
“There would be an increase of manhours in construction, no doubt,” Illinois Manufacturers’ Association President Greg Baise said. “I’m not buying that all of a sudden we’re going to have full employment.”
Baise opposes the current capital bill, which isn’t mentioned in the piece. But he did make a good point.
* Drill down further in the piece and you get this…
If a $35 billion capital plan would create 611,000 jobs, only about 254,000 of them would be direct jobs. Another 68,000 would be indirect. The remaining 289,000 would be induced.
* “Induced” jobs are those allegedly created by construction workers and company owners spending the money they make…
[Southern Illinois University economics professor Subhash Sharma] agreed that “induced” jobs are tied to people’s spending habits, which can change depending on the economy. Right now, for example, people are spending more on gasoline, less on other things. Others may be inclined to save money instead of spend it.
* And then there’s this…
The numbers also measure jobs created, not people working. A person could work on a road project in Peoria, move to Rockford when the Peoria job is completed and get a job in Rockford working on a new project. That is two jobs created by the capital plan, but only one person employed. [emphasis added]
That’s an important thing to note.
In other words, don’t be like so many editorial writers in this state. Take all the capital numbers with a grain of salt.
Want to buy a newspaper company? No? You’re in good company.
The Chicago Sun-Times is the kind of trophy that once appealed to deep-pocketed buyers. It has a big audience in a big market, a storied name, and stars like Roger Ebert and Robert Novak. The Sun-Times Media Group, owner of the flagship paper and dozens of smaller suburban papers, said in February that it wanted to sell assets or maybe the entire company. The chief executive, Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr., said May 8 that “a large number of parties” had asked to see the books, and that the company expected to field offers by the end of that month.
Since then, silence.
This is no isolated case. While all publicly traded newspaper companies have seen their share prices fall in the last year — drops of 50 to 70 percent are commonplace — some have tumbled so far that any number of bargain hunters could snap up a controlling interest, despite the credit squeeze. But they haven’t.
* Remember a few years back when Yusef Jackson put together a group that offered to pay $850 million for the Sun-Times? Back then, the paper and its properties were only worth about $440 million. Now, the company is worth less than ten percent of that. The stock has been de-listed from the NYSE, it has closed several papers, laid off a ton of employees and the flagship paper is a bit on the, um, thin side.
GateHouse Media is likely to default under its credit agreement unless it can negotiate an amendment to its covenants or get a cash injection from its largest stakeholder, Moody’s Investor Service says in a report downgrading the community newspaper publisher’s credit and probability of default ratings.
* Billy Dennis notes that one of the ways out is for the conglomerate to sell off papers. But as the top story here shows, nobody wants to buy newspapers right now. This was reinforced by an interview BD did of former Merrill Lynch analyst Lauren Rich Fine…
There are no named buyers for papers right now. Landmark properties have been on the block since the beginning of the year. Big papers like Newsday attract big money buyers who can afford to lose a few bucks. If there are wealthy philanthropic people in Peoria or some corporation with a heart or passion for democracy, they are the likely buyers. No way to value the paper due both to lack of data and no sense of how close we are to the buyer. Being unionized isn’t necessarily an issue as a buyer can buy the assets, close the doors, de-unionize and tell folks to reapply for their job.
* GateHouse is likely on the verge of being delisted from the NYSE, but you’d never know it by reading one of the company’s papers. It’s a virtual blackout, which is one reason why so many people are so worried about the negative impact of media consolidation. If you rely solely on a GateHouse paper for your news, you have no idea that the company is in the toilet. Thank goodness for people like Dennis.
Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. would accept an appointment to the Senate if Barack Obama wins the presidency and leaves Gov. Rod Blagojevich with a vacancy to fill.
“I wouldn’t say no if asked,” said the Illinois Democrat, who serves as a national co-chairman for Obama’s campaign. In the past, he has declined to speculate on Obama Senate succession scenarios.
Gov. Blagojevich is not a huge fan of the congressman, so I’m not sure if this’ll happen.
* Stu Rothenberg reports on a new poll. Republican freshman incumbent Peter Roskam is way ahead of Jill Morgenthaler in the 6th District race….
According to a July 20-22 survey by Public Opinion Strategies for the congressman’s campaign, Roskam leads Democrat Jill Morgenthaler 59 percent to 29 percent in a general election match up. Roskam also appears to be well-liked, enjoying 59 percent favorable to 20 percent unfavorable personal ratings in the survey.
Obama is expected to do very well in the 6th District at the top of the ticket, and is winning it by 8 points, 49 percent to 41 percent, over Sen. John McCain (R). In 2004, President Bush won the district with 53 percent over Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry.
Last cycle, Roskam won the open seat 51 percent to 49 percent over Iraq War veteran Tammy Duckworth, in one of the most competitive and most expensive House races in the country. Roskam was an obvious target this cycle because of the closeness of his 2006 race. But Morgenthaler’s candidacy has disappointed. She finished June with $278,000 in the bank, compared to $1.2 million for Roskam.
Very little advertising has been done there, so this isn’t hugely surprising. Roskam’s 59 percent, however, is somewhat surprising considering how tight the race was in ‘06.
And the money is less of a problem if the national Dems jump in with both feet. The lack of any apparent Obama coattails right now also isn’t hugely surprising. If that happens, we’ll see it later.
But, obviously, the best time to win this seat for the Democrats was two years ago, when it was open.
“He just has this confidence that—I don’t know where it comes from or how he maintains it—goes beyond confidence, just outright knowledge that he can make a difference,” says his daughter Trish Oberweis, an associate professor of criminal justice at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.
“I don’t believe I would be a normal, average individual legislator,” says Oberweis, who is tall and lumbering, with a slight paunch and a tendency to rap his hand against the table when making a point. “I have a history of making some things happen where people said it was impossible.” […]
It’s unclear whether Oberweis gets discouraged. Patrick Joyce, the executive vice president of Oberweis’s investment firm since 1994, who referred to his former boss as a “visionary,” says, “Maybe a lesser person would’ve stopped . . . but I think his inner desire is so strong that he continues to move forward.” Each of Oberweis’s five children spoke of their father’s unshakable faith in himself, and Oberweis often referenced his entrepreneur’s resilience in bouncing back from blows personal and professional. “Every human being has their breaking point, and I don’t know where that would be for my dad,” Trish Oberweis tells me. “He’s human, so I’m sure it’s out there, but I don’t see it at this point.”
Oberweis resists saying where his breaking point is. The mounting losses and the public sneers do hurt him, Trish Oberweis says, but he seems to view them less as signs than as additional obstacles on his path to inevitable political office. “There was a guy about 130 or 150 years ago who had several losses before he won,” he says. “I can’t quite remember his name, but he went on to become the president of the United States. His first name was Abraham. What was his last name again?”
That’s a bit much.
* I’m really not sure why the Steve Sauerberg US Senate campaign decided to put this video online, but you should definitely take a look anyway, just for snicks…
* Manzullo, GOP Friends, to Keep Talking to Themselves?
* LA Times: In study, evidence of liberal-bias bias - Cable talking heads accuse broadcast networks of liberal bias — but a think tank finds that ABC, NBC and CBS were tougher on Barack Obama than on John McCain in recent weeks.
* DCCC Money Could Tip the Balance in Races at the Wire
As I write this, Governor Rod Blagojevich is contemplating yet another special legislative session to take up a newly revised $25 billion infrastructure repair proposal for transportation, schools and economic development.
Whatever happens, it certainly appears that any special session would be an exercise in futility. House Speaker Michael Madigan is not budging off his opposition to the governor’s capital construction plan, even in its newly revised and scaled-back form.
House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, who attended last week’s legislative leaders meeting on Madigan’s behalf, dumped all over the proposal’s remaining funding stream - leasing the Illinois Lottery to a private company. She wasn’t impressed with the fact that the governor had taken gaming expansion off the table as a funding mechanism, and she said Blagojevich ought to sign the “pay to play” bill to ban contractor contributions before anyone should even consider talking about a capital bill that will award tens of billions of dollars to many of those same contractors.
The governor, for his part, kept up his public attacks on Madigan for refusing to cooperate. After the leaders meeting, the governor’s staff leaked a harsh letter that Madigan allegedly sent to a Teamsters Union official: “I regret that you bought into the bull____ of the Blagojevich people.”
Yep. Another banner day in Illinois government.
The only conceivable reason for bringing legislators back to town would be to continue the Madigan bashing festivities, because it doesn’t look like he’s ready to cave any time soon.
Lots of people wonder why Madigan is refusing to cooperate on a concept that just about everyone agrees is vital to the state’s interests. They also wonder when, or even if, he’ll get off the dime and advance a proposal of his own.
I’ve pointed this out before, but it’s worth repeating. Last year, Madigan slow-walked several big legislative proposals, refusing to close any deal until it was done his way, on his timeline and was completely unconnected to other issues.
The mass transit bailout is a case in point.
Madigan stubbornly pushed the bailout plan, which was hammered out by the Chicago-area transit systems and their unions, when others wanted big changes. He refused demands to connect it to the governor’s health care dreams, or the capital bill and whatever else was brought up. The speaker persevered through a couple of dramatic “doomsday” shutdown deadlines and waited until the last possible moment before finally advancing his proposal. The governor used his amendatory veto powers on the bill to allow seniors to ride free, but other than that Madigan got his way.
Expect the same on the capital projects bill. When Madigan decides it’s time, he’ll do something. The trouble is, nobody knows when he’ll make that decision.
Meanwhile, Madigan is way out on a limb with this thing. He’s more isolated now than he’s ever been on any issue in his entire career. All the other legislative leaders, most of his political allies, and quite a few of his members oppose his current posture. That letter released by the governor’s office is a good example of just how rough he can be on anyone who takes a side other than his, and a whole lot of people have taken sides against him on this capital plan.
Yet, nothing seems to move Madigan. The governor’s evisceration of his daughter Lisa’s attorney general budget provoked ‘nary a peep. Traditional allies are pushed aside, the dire needs of a state slipping into recession are downplayed, editorials are ripped up, critics are scorned, and the end result is always the same: No movement.
Madigan has his reasons for refusing to work with Blagojevich and Jones. Many, many, many of them are sound. He’s been burned repeatedly by both men, and he simply doesn’t trust their word on anything.
“I got taken to school last year,” Madigan told Senate Republican Leader Watson about 2007’s disastrous, record-breaking overtime session. “So I figured while I was at school I might as well learn something.”
That “something” appears to be to refuse to cooperate until he’s ready to push his own plan.
But the bottom line is nobody really has a clue about what he’ll do and when he’ll do it. Madigan likes it that way, of course, but it can drive an observer absolutely crazy.
Illinois voters have a right to expect proactive enforcement of campaign disclosure laws, but the Board of Elections functions more like a repository for whatever bogus paperwork the candidates choose to submit. That’s inexcusable.
The proposal was drafted by members of the Illinois congressional delegation, in response to the potential purchase by the Canadian National Railway of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern rail line.
With gas around $4 a gallon, fair officials hope the $3 daily admission and a list of free activities draw visitors from across the state to the fair, which begins Thursday night in Springfield.
According to a study by the Pew Center on the States, one out of every 100 adults in the U.S. is in prison or jail. And because of the racism of the American “justice” system, the numbers are much higher for people of color–if you are an African American man between the ages of 20 and 34, your likelihood of being behind bars today is one in nine.
* The county that does not learn from history is doomed to repeat it, and taxpayers are doomed to repeat payment
So let’s review: The courts find a strip-search policy unconstitutional, the county pays a settlement, then keeps right on strip searching, imagining — hoping — that the finding only applied to female inmates
Cook County State’s Attorney Dick Devine has reached an agreement with Bryan Cave LLP to head up the litigation department of its Chicago office when Devine leaves office in December, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.
Budget deficits are not described on the weekend. You don’t make a decision on the weekend on a budget deficit. You really believe that? On the weekend you’re going to solve the budget crisis? You’re going to solve it in two days or a week or a month? No.
trip I took last year was my respect for First Lady Patti Blagojevich. She’s smart and down to earth, which is a pleasant contrast with her husband’s personality. She’s also a very good mother to their two daughters, who, by the way, are a couple of great kids. (The biggest fear I had about that trip was spending three days on a bus with a couple of brats. It turned out they were one of the highlights of my little adventure.)
