* I hope everybody has a safe, fun and happy Independence Day weekend. We’re shutting down until Monday, but Illinoize will still be up and running, and so will the recently revamped InsiderzExchange. Go buy an ad.
* If you want to see some fireworks, click here. Heh.
* And now your patriotic moment of Zen…
As I was walkin’ I saw a sign there
And that sign said No Trespassin’
But on the other side it didn’t say nothin’
Now that side was made for you and me
* As noted below, the governor claimed today that he wasn’t under federal investigation and engaged in a contentious back and forth with reporters. Chicago Public Radio has the audio. You must listen to this. Here’s the station’s intro to the raw audio…
Illinois Governor Blagojevich’s press conference on gas pump inspections disintegrated into a contentious confrontation with reporters asking about the on-going federal investigation of state government. The governor denied being a target.
* The fun stuff begins at about the 16 minute mark. The first question out of the box was about how Speaker Madigan’s spokesman suggested the governor was a sociopath.
* It really gets fun at the 21 minute mark. “Your questions are ridiculous!” he said. He called the Tribune “dishonest.”
He was asked if he was a target at least a couple dozen times. “I’m probably a target of Mike Madigan’s desire to keep us from passing a jobs bill and having a budget that’s balanced that helps people. If I’m a target, that’s it.”
“I’m not going to reward dishonest reporters who ask dishonest questions.”
* The same governor who vetoed all CeaseFire funding out of the state budget last year said this to reporters today: “I’m a strong supporter of CeaseFire and I believe in CeaseFire.” Oy.
* The governor claimed that two House members with city jobs told him they were worried they would lose their jobs if they voted for the capital budget.
* Phil Rogers asked: Why is it dishonest to ask you if you have been told you are a target of this investigation?
Gov. Blagojevich: “The answer is I am not, and it’s a ridiculous question and you know it’s a ridiculous question because if you carefully look at the things that have happened and you’re not just interested in sensationalizing something so you can do your big news story you wouldn’t even bother asking a question like that.”
Carlos Hernandez Gomez pointed out right afterwards: “But governor, a subject is different, a subject is anybody that is not a target.”
* Afterwards, I’m told, the governor took a TV reporter aside and berated him for not reporting on the corruption allegations about Mayor Daley and Speaker Madigan. That’ll go over well.
The governor also reportedly poked the reporter’s chest quite often during the exchange. Dignified.
* Quote of the week:“Let me tell you something, I know the truth of things and I have nothing to fear but the truth, OK?” - Rod Blagojevich at the 22:09 mark. [Thanks to a commenter.]
* Chicago Public Radio now has a story up. Go check it out. ABC7 will have raw video on its site after 5 o’clock today. Watch for Ben Bradley’s story on that site as well. He was the one confronted and poked in the chest by Blagojevich after the press bang.
* Carlos Hernandez Gomez has a blog entry on the subject entitled “I’m not a crook.”
* 12:13 pm - The House has scheduled a Committee of the Whole for next Wednesday. In other words, another “fair trial before the hanging”…
The Illinois House will schedule a Committee of the Whole on Wednesday, July 9 in order to have a full discussion on all elements of the FY09 budget. The budget is the subject of the two day special session. set to begin at 1 p.m. on Wednesday. The committee will start about 1:30 p. m. The panels could run into Thursday.
A series of panels will be convened to review each issue.
The panels will be:
Capital Appropriations I – Proponents
Capital Appropriations II - Opponents
Gaming I – Proponents
Gaming II – Opponents
Lease of the Lottery I – Proponents
Lease of the Lottery II – Opponents
Pension Obligation Bonds I – Proponents
Pension Obligation Bonds II – Opponents
Fund Sweeps I – Proponents
Fund Sweeps II - Opponents
The list of bills to be reviewed can be found at this link.
* 12:46 pm - Gov. Blagojevich was on the Don & Roma show again this morning. Listen at this link. Kevin worked up a partial transcript…
Don: Governor there was the recent shakedown conviction of Tony Rezko, a friend of yours, and I know that we couldn’t discuss all of those things while the trial was under way. Now what I would like to get from you is some kind of assurance, not only to me, but to the voters of Illinois, that you’re not going to get indicted before the next election.
Governor: Well, I always try to do things the right way, and when you’re the Governor of Illinois or the Mayor of Chicago, there are going to be people who either work for you or people who are supporters of yours that may not always do things the right way.
And when it comes to Tony for example, who has been very helpful to me, he is a friend. He has been helpful to Barack Obama, he has been helpful to Lisa Madigan, he has been helpful to Mike Madigan, he’s been helpful to Pat Quinn.
You know we all assume that, you know, what his activities are when it comes to his own business and personal relationships are honest and legitimate.
In this particular case it was found that he did some things wrong, in his personal activities. Anything related to any fundraising with regard to me were not guilties. And he did send a letter to the judge where he was very specific and clear, and said that he was never involved in any wrong doing with me or with Barack Obama. And I don’t know what more I can say other than I do things right, and I’m very sad for him personally, and that I pray for him and his family and his children. But sometimes people do things that aren’t right, and they have to meet their responsibilities.
But speaking for me, knowing what I do, I do things right and honest. So I just get up every day and keep trying to do the best I can for people, and let the pundits and all theseothers keep trying to spin things and twist things much bigger than they really are.
Notice he didn’t answer the indictment question. More…
Don: Well I want to thank you Governor. Mike Madigan hasn’t had the guts to come on the show and explain what he’s about. We really appreciate you joining us.
Governor: Well let me just say this, if you ever get him on the show, make him pledge to you that he is not going to raise your income taxes after the election or after January 1st.
*** 12:56 pm *** You can bet these people are gonna run some scaaaarrryyyy and memorable TV ads designed to stampede the herd…
A pair of media consultants that helped the Chicago Children’s Museum win City Council permission to move to Grant Park is being hired by a business group to lead its public efforts against a proposed state constitutional convention.
ASK Public Strategies, a firm headed by Obama campaign senior consultant David Axelrod, and the Chicago office of Hill & Knowlton will head a projected $2-million to $3-million media and advertising campaign planned by the Alliance to Protect the Illinois Constitution.
“We haven’t signed the contract, but they’re going to be the choice,” said Gregory W. Baise, a principal in the alliance and the head of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Assn.
Axelrod, apparently, only believes in “Change” when it comes to the Obama slogan. When it comes to Illinois, the motto is: “There will be no change.”
The biz groups don’t raise a huge amount of money in Illinois, so some might be coming from out of state. Not sure if the union dough is included in this total.
* Every now and then, our lovable but supremely pro-Blagojevich commenter known as “Bill” overdoses on the Kool-Aid and goes off message. Like today, for instance…
OK, Rod, its not funny anymore so just knock it off.
Sabotaging House candidates in YOUR OWN PARTY is going too far. Do whatever you want with the budget and talk bad about Madigan all you want but keep your nose out of the House elections, not that you could make any difference anyway.
I called Bill last night and teased him that he should come up with a new screen name for those moments when he leaves the reservation. I suggested, perhaps, a Prince-like “The commenter formerly known as ‘Bill’” name. My intern, Kevin, thought we could even give him a Princeian symbol. Perhaps a backwards “B”?
* The question: What screen name should Bill use on days when he’s fed up with our governor? Any ideas for a symbol? Explain. Have fun. And try to be nice to the guy.
* Kristen McQueary talked to former Gov. Jim Edgar about what would happen if AG Lisa Madigan was elected governor and Mike Madigan stayed on as House Speaker…
“There certainly are no legal problems. From a governor’s point of view, it would be nice to have the speaker always on your side,” former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar said Wednesday from his home in Colorado. “It could be a huge advantage. If they disagreed with each other, they could work it out privately, and it might work well. You wouldn’t have a standoff between the speaker and the governor”. […]
Unless the speaker got favorable treatment - such as a state building erected in his district and named for him - the two roles don’t create an inherent conflict, Edgar said. And how would the Madigans’ relationship differ from the pact between Blagojevich and Senate President Emil Jones, whose pet projects have gotten every green light?
That was a question Edgar asked. I didn’t have an answer.
The public may or may not go for it. We had pretty much the same debate in 2002 and none of those horror stories ever materialized. Still, the governor is a much higher office than attorney general, so one family controlling the executive and half the legislative branch will certainly cause consternation.
Even so, if I was speaker and my kid wanted to be governor, I’d never step aside unless I knew for sure that it would cause her to lose the election. Why leave her to the wolves?
At a time when Blagojevich is beset by almost-daily revelations of mendacity, incompetence, and corruption, Bill Daley is the perfect anti-Blagojevich: He doesn’t need the job, as he is making millions in the private sector; he’ll work with his brother, Chicago Mayor Rich Daley, to make sure that city problems get solved; he won’t pick fights with Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan; and he won’t govern by “triangulation,” like Blagojevich, grandstanding and finding a Clintonesque “third way,” so as to differentiate himself from Madigan.
He’s positioning himself as a talented manager with no higher ambitions. It’s not a bad argument.
Once the most powerful and feared patronage army in Mayor Richard Daley’s political organization, the scandal-plagued Hispanic Democratic Organization is now officially extinct.
The group, known in political circles as HDO, filed paperwork Tuesday closing its campaign committee, state records show.
* If you want to know how the rest of the year is going to go, just check out this Gov. Blagojevich quote that John Patterson pulled from yesterday’s press conference…
“I think there’s great cause to be concerned. If Speaker Madigan and the House leadership pick up a veto-proof majority … then they’ll be in a position to easily override a veto.”
As Patterson notes, “That sounds an awful lot like the Democratic governor is urging voters to shun Democrats this fall so his intraparty rival – Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan — doesn’t get any stronger.”
The House GOP has positioned itself much closer to Blagojevich lately, and the governor has returned the favor by bashing Madigan at every opportunity. Yesterday was the first time, however, that Blagojevich openly fretted that House Republican Leader Tom Cross might wind up in a veto-proof minority.
* The Bond Buyer was one of the only “mainstream” media sources which caught this huge budget story, albeit buried down in the piece…
Yesterday, the governor backed off his push for the pension bond issue and did not provide another idea for how to replace the $400 million it would have saved in the fiscal 2009 budget.
Why did he do that? One reason is that the House Republicans don’t want to vote for it.
An after-Halloween trick could be up Mike Madigan’s sleeve. Governor Blagojevich is suggesting the speaker of the Illinois House is secretly pushing for an increase in the income tax, sales tax, or both after the November election.
The problem with this logic, of course, is that Senate President Emil Jones has said openly this year that he, too, supports an income tax hike and a post-election vote on that topic is already planned for the Senate. But this is about Madigan, not the issue. It’s never about the issue.
* Next week’s special session isn’t about the budget. It’s about blaming Madigan…
“The Senate took the hard votes in order to fund the budget,” said Senate President Emil Jones, D-Chicago, in a statement. “The House should follow through and pass these measures. This can all be handled in a day.”
That’s true. The Senate did take some tough votes. But the Senate also refused to pass two other House-approved alternative budgets that didn’t have such gaping holes. And they won’t next week, either. Why? Because this isn’t about the budget. It’s about Madigan. It’s a concept that the State Journal-Register completely fails to grasp in today’s editorial.
On Wednesday, Madigan spokesman Steve Brown responded to the governor’s call for a special session by suggesting reporters look up the definition of “sociopath.”
Blagojevich spokeswoman Katie Ridgway offered a quick response.
“He’s not a sociopath,” she said of her boss.
Nixon said he wasn’t a crook. Blagojevich says he’s not a sociopath. Wonderful.
But the Blagojevich administration responded with a 2003 memo that Franks sent to a personnel official listing a dozen people he’d like to see get state jobs or be appointed to state boards and commissions.
The list includes family and key players within the McHenry County Democratic Party.
“This memo shows, two months into the administration, he (Franks) was playing the politics of insider baseball - the hypocrisy to go out and talk about impeachment,” said Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero.
* The governor’s office was requesting hiring lists from Democrats back then. Franks sent in his list. Pretty simple. And how did it go for him?
Franks said three of the 12 were appointed to posts or got a job, including his father, who was named to an unpaid post on the Illinois Courts Commission. Franks’ father is the former president of the Illinois State Bar Association and Rep. Franks said he’s “eminently qualified.”
* Guerrero was right on top of that Jack Franks investigation. Too bad the administration has such trouble managing non-payback items such as following the law….
The Illinois Department of Corrections missed a deadline Wednesday to outline its plan to close Pontiac Correctional Center.
The agency, which has threatened to close the maximum-security facility and move 1,600 inmates to a new, unused prison in Thomson, asked a legislative panel for a two-week extension to compile the report.
It wasn’t clear Wednesday whether lawmakers would go along with the delay, which the department blamed on the state’s lingering budget impasse.
Let’s see, they have enough staff to pull Franks’ files, but not enough to outline a plan to close a prison that was announced months ago? Priorities, people. Priorities.
The Blagojevich administration, not known for straight answers, is at it again.
It seemed like a simple question — if the Illinois Department of Transportation’s division of traffic safety moves to Harrisburg as proposed, how many division employees will still be based in Springfield?
But a couple of people who speak for the state gave what seemed to be less-than-complete answers Wednesday.
Bernie asked whether management would be transferred with the staff. We were told weeks ago that management would stay in Springfield, but now nobody’s all that sure.
* Union League Club of Chicago/ University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs to Sponsor Debate on “Whether an Illinois Constitutional Convention Should Be Called?”
But Hardiman says state budget cuts have hurt CeaseFire’s ability to do its work. A spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Human Services says the state is putting $150 million into anti-violence programs. She says the state wants to spread that money out to give other anti-violence groups a chance.
Twice, Rezko violated the home-confinement terms of his bail, formerly sealed court files show, by making “social calls” — including last September to the home of former top Cook County official Orlando Jones after Jones committed suicide.
*** 3:57 pm *** Just in time for a special session, constant Blagojevich critic Rep. Jack Franks has sent out a brand new press release…
Statement from Rep. Franks, “The Legislature Should Consider Convening a Committee to Investigate Evidence for Articles of Impeachment against the Governor”
For decades, Illinois governors have been making hard choices when it comes to the state budget. The difference between our current governor and his predecessors is his attitude toward the process. This is all a game to Blagojevich. He refuses to do his job and has now opened the door for impeachment.
Today, the Governor called for a July 9th special session for the General Assembly to return to Springfield to vote for initiatives that have already failed in the Legislature. He made no changes to his proposals which failed so miserably last year but now expects the General Assembly to come back for another overtime session, where a much larger three-fifth’s majority is required, to vote on the same exact measures.
The Governor’s proposal to sell or lease the Illinois lottery failed by a whopping 7 to 97 vote in the Illinois House last year. The bill failed because it is not sound public policy to lease a $30 billion revenue generating asset for a one-time $7 billion dollar payout. We must question the Governor’s motives for pushing the lottery leasing scheme so adamantly. He continues to advocate for the privatization of the state lottery but refuses to sign pay-to-play legislation that would bar his cronies from enriching themselves from the sale or lease of state assets.
Blagojevich also continues to pressure legislators to pass a capital bill but has made no effort to make any serious proposal. The Governor changed his estimate for the cost of a capital bill from $27 billion to $34 billion in the span of one week. He refuses to give a line-itemed account of what the $34 billion would be spent on. Essentially, the Governor is asking the state to write him a $34 billion blank check. With his long history of using state money to line the pockets of his supporters, can we really trust Blagojevich to administer a capital program without any accountability?
Instead of working on a compromise that will create real solutions for Illinois citizens, the Governor is instead trying to scare Illinois families and state workers. He has repeatedly threatened shut downs and halted some important projects that provide thousands of Illinoisans with jobs. The Governor is using front-line workers who provide vital services throughout the state as a human shield to guard him from compromise. The projected budget shortfall for this year is only about 2.5% of the total budget. Governors before him have made tough choices when it came to the budget. This Governor is squandering a perfect opportunity to cut wasteful spending.
During these hard economic times, the Governor has threatened to put at risk Illinois front-line workers, the disabled, our schools and social service providers. The Governor makes so many threats because he cannot lead. Blagojevich is incapable of doing his job. These special sessions are a game to the Governor. I will ask Speaker Madigan today to create a committee to investigate whether there is enough evidence to proceed with articles of impeachment against Governor Blagojevich.
* 10:52 am - As of yesterday, the governor was planning to call the General Assembly back next week for a special session. Plans often change up there on the 16th Floor, so this is not a sure thing yet, but that’s the word handed down from on-high as of now.
Kevin will be at the governor’s noon press conference, so we’ll know more then.
* 12:09 pm - Reporters were led into a conference room a few minutes ago, so the presser should be starting within the half hour.
*** 12:17 pm *** From the press release…
On July 9th, the governor will convene a special session of the General Assembly to address the revenue bills necessary to balance the budget, including the Illinois Works capital plan which will put 600,000 Illinoisans to work, and to pass a fund transfer legisltion that would free up $530 million…
*** 12:21 pm *** More from the release…
If the House does not act on July 9th, the governor will issue a second proclamation for July 10 to take action on any budget balancing steps he must take…
*** 12:26 pm *** No mention was made of the pension obligation bond. Interesting.
*** 12:29 pm *** Quotes from governor during presser…
“I want to reiterate my call to the House Democratic leadership to be straight with the public on a tax increase…
“The House shouldn’t do what the Cook County Board did - get elected and then sock it to the public with a tax increase…
“I call on Speaker Madigan to pledge to the public that he won’t raise income taxes.”
*** 12:40 pm *** Press conference is over. More info in a bit.
*** 12:42 pm *** The full press release can be viewed by clicking here.
*** 12:47 pm *** The reason given for not including the pension obligation bond was that the governor’s office called a couple of dozen House members who said they could support the capital bill and the fund transfers, but not the pension proposal. But that was worth a big bunch of money, so this is quite a bit of grandstanding because his “new” budget has an even bigger hole.
*** 2:57 pm *** The governor told reporters that he will keep Amtrak funding level with last fiscal year’s funding instead of slashing its entire appropriation, which was originally threatened.
Instead, he said, elected officials’ budgets (he hinted at the Secretary of State’s budget) would be cut.
“We’ll be in Springfield next week. But the defects in the revenue bills are still the defects. I don’t know there’s any more support for this stuff than there was,” Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said.
Blagojevich also warned voters that Madigan might be setting up the passage of a statewide income-tax increase after the November election or early next year. […]
Brown, Madigan’s spokesman, responded that House Democrats ruled out an income-tax hike “a long time ago.”
The governor also wants the House and Senate to address a “drafting error” in one of the budget bills awaiting his approval that caused the administration to idle 39 ongoing projects throughout the state.
Brown disputed that the language was inserted in error and actually was intended “to prevent the administration from spending out of lump sums for projects that hadn’t been authorized.”
The Blagojevich administration has halted work on 39 construction projects across the state, saying the newly passed budget for the fiscal year that began Tuesday contains language prohibiting them from moving forward.
Rep. Gary Hannig, the Litchfield Democrat who helped draft the budget, said the administration is misreading the bill.
“I think they are trying to create a crisis again where none exists,” Hannig said.
On Tuesday, the Capital Development Board, which oversees Illinois’ non-road construction, began issuing stop-work orders on projects that were undertaken after Aug. 31, 2007. The agency said language contained in a 475-page budget bill passed by the Legislature at the end of May prohibits the projects from proceeding and prohibits the state from spending money on them.
“It would be unfair for us to ask contractors to continue working if we cannot guarantee if or when they are going to be paid,” said CDB spokesman Dave Blanchette. “Our legal experts have reviewed the language and have determined that it is fairly cut and dried.”
Blanchette said the work will stay on hold until the General Assembly changes the language. He said lawyers have reviewed the bill and determined that Gov. Rod Blagojevich doesn’t have the authority to change it on his own using his amendatory veto powers.
What we get from that piece is a classic “He said, she said” argument devoid of actual facts.
No monies may be expended from any appropriation or reappropriation under any section of this Article 48 unless a grant or contractual agreement for the expenditure was agreed to in writing prior to August 31, 2007. The Comptroller shall not approve the expenditure until he or she receives a copy of that signed grant or contractual agreement.
* The projects that the Capital Development Board says have to be halted can be found at this link. The CDB claims that the budget bill removes their spending authority on those projects. That is correct.
If you check the language of the appropriations and reappropriations for Fiscal Year ‘08, which just ended, you’ll see that CDB was given lump-sum authority to spend reappropriated money. You can find the authorization to spend the cash on page 887 section 240, page 888 sections 247 & 250, page 889 sections 255 & 260 and page 890 section 265.
* However, this year the House Democrats decided that they wanted to force the administration to spend money only on projects that appear on a previous budget’s appropriations list and were never begun. So, they clamped down on all spending from lump-sum appropriations that weren’t previously agreed.
The CDB’s projects that were just suspended weren’t negotiated with the General Assembly, and as a high-level House Dem just told me, “that’s the chance they took.”
* The Senate Democrats now apparently support giving the Capital Development Board the authority to spend money on those halted projects, but the House Dems are opposed.
After quoting from the dissent of retired Illinois Supreme Court Justice Moses Harrison, newly-installed ISBA president Jack C. Carey of Belleville, said, “The application of the death penalty in Illinois has been demonstrated to be flawed beyond any doubt. Our position is that the death penalty is not fixable and should be discontinued. To do otherwise would invite the grossest miscarriage of justice imaginable, the death of an innocent person.”
* Question: Should Illinois abolish the death penalty? Explain fully, please. Thanks.
There is every indication that Todd Stroger, miraculously installed by ward bosses following his father’s illness, will run for a second term in 2010.
There is every reason to believe that Mayor Daley and House Speaker Michael Madigan are already helping him lay the groundwork, raise the cash and turn out the vote. After all, didn’t Madigan engineer moving the Illinois primary to Feb. 2? That wasn’t to help Barack Obama in this year’s presidential contests. C’mon. That was to make sure that the snow, sleet and blizzard season could ensure a depressed turnout in future elections leaving the outcome in the hands of the regulars (read patronage workers) who always turn out. Their jobs depend on it. And Madigan, the mayor and the mayor’s county commissioner brother, John, all know that. Todd Stroger is a wholly owned subsidiary of their interests.
* Carol Marin has a valid point about the February primary. But the 2010 election is still a long way away, and Stroger’s numbers are so horrible in Cook County, including among Democrats, that the powers that be may very well pull the plug. In fact, John Daley is already helping to kick-start the process…
In a surprisingly lopsided vote, the Cook County Board voted Tuesday to curtail President Todd Stroger’s discretionary spending ability, restoring his unsupervised contracting ability to the previous level of $25,000 for professional service contracts.
That had been the limit for years before commissioners agreed to raise it to $100,000 last year in exchange for a quarterly report detailing where the money was going.
John Daley moved for the proposal’s passage. The only “No” vote was Commissioner Bill Beavers, who represents Stroger’s home district. We can probably expect more of this sort of thing.
The tax hikes, the blatant patronage hiring and the enormous amount of mistakes by Stroger himself and his press staff have destroyed his credibility. The Machine always knows how to save itself, and that could very well mean dumping Stroger next time around for somebody else.
* The Sun-Times editorial today suggests passing four federal gun control laws in response to the recent US Supreme Court ruling…
• • The gun show loophole: Congress needs to close a legal loophole in many states that allows people at gun shows or flea markets to peddle their weapons without conducting background checks on potential buyers. Illinois has closed the loophole partly, but not entirely. In this state, gun show vendors must do background checks, but a person who simply sells a gun to a guy in the neighborhood or to someone answering an ad does not have to do a background check. […]
• • Gun store employee background checks: Of course, felons can’t have guns. But right now, there’s no federal requirement that gun dealers perform felony background checks on their employees — a step that even a gun industry association endorses. […]
• • One gun a month: Illinois lawmakers repeatedly have rejected proposals to limit gun sales to one a month per person. Putting aside fears of creeping over-regulation, there’s just no excuse for rejecting such a limit. The proposed limit is aimed at gun traffickers who buy multiple weapons and resell them to criminals.
• • Lower the volume: State lawmakers also have refused to ban the sale of high-capacity magazines — ones that hold more than 10 rounds.
Such a ban would do nothing to prohibit a homeowner from defending himself against a burglar.
* The full appellate bench voted 8-2 yesterday to deny Robert Sorich another shot at hearing Robert Sorich’s appeall…
Mayor Richard M. Daley’s former patronage chief and two other former city officials lost their bid Tuesday for an unusual hearing by all of Chicago’s actively sitting federal appeals judges.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a majority of the judges voting on whether to hold a so-called en banc hearing had been against the idea. It would have involved all the court’s judges except those on senior status.
Robert Sorich, 43, once known as the mayor’s patronage chief, was sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted in July 2006 of using fraud to cover up the role of political patronage in city hiring. […]
A three-judge panel of the appeals court denied their request for a new trial on April 15, saying they had been “key players in a corrupt and far reaching scheme - that doled out thousands of city civil service jobs based on political patronage and nepotism.”
The defense will seize in part on a sharply worded dissent written by Judge Michael S. Kanne and joined by Judge Richard A. Posner, one of the nation’s most influential judges.
McCarthy’s lawyer, Patrick Deady, said Kanne grasped the argument the defendants have made all along: The federal government has criminalized what were violations of the Shakman civil court decree that forbids political influence in most City Hall hiring decisions. The defendants also argued they should not have been convicted of criminal fraud because they never took a dime in bribes or kickbacks.
“Without explicitly saying so, we have left the impression that the use of political patronage in personnel hiring by the city of Chicago is a crime,” Kanne wrote.
“Although no legislatively defined criminal offense outlaws patronage hiring by government entities in Illinois, such hiring is now seen as a crime because it violates the Shakman decrees—never mind that Shakman is simply a series of civil consent decrees subject only to civil penalties, and imposition of contempt if willfully violated,” the dissent said.
* The ruling went overwhelmingly against Sorich and his co-defendants, but I suppose there’s always a tiny ray of sunshine when you see such a strongly-worded dissent.
Sorich and his cohorts did do some really stupid things, like changing test scores and marking down people as having been interviewed when they weren’t. But the dissent - which you can read in full at this link - makes some valid points about the overreaching nature of these convictions.
* Voting ends tonight for the All Star teams. Jermaine Dye has been playing like a dream, but he really needs your votes. Yes, I said “votes.” You can vote up to 25 times, so head over there now and get on with it. It’s legal ballot box stuffing, so Illinoisans ought to shine at this. If that link doesn’t work, try this one.
Tell us who you picked and why in comments. Also, did you write anybody in? Just for fun, I wrote in Alexei Ramirez, the Cuban Missile. The kid can play, and the pitchers can’t figure him out yet.
Illinois is one of six states that has been given some leeway under the No Child Left Behind Act. A new pilot program will allow schools in Illinois to offer tutoring to students sooner when it looks like they need help.
Four Illinois casinos are asking the state’s Supreme Court to reconsider its June ruling that they pay about $76 million to the state’s struggling horse racing industry.
* Illinois Atty. Genl. withdraws claim on electric plants
Two weeks ago Madigan identified plants she said looked like Edison’s that were continuing “high offer” shenanigans. She asked federal regulators to reopen the Edison case and look into it. Now, based on information from PJM Interconnection, which manages the grid from here to Illinois, she has withdrawn the allegation that the identified plants have continued the strategy. But she still contends that Edision still may be withholding power from the grid in some other fashion in an effort to influence prices.
Similar legislation, co-sponsored by Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Evanston, already has been passed by a 398-21 margin in the House. We’re pleased that every member of the suburban delegation, Republicans and Democrats alike, voted in favor of that bill.
