* Rep. Roskam calls for legislation to block Canadian National’s proposed purchase of the EJ & E Railway…
Specifically, the Wheaton Republican’s legislation would designate a 36-mile stretch of the EJ&E railway through Chicago suburbs as a “Corridor for Inter-Suburban Commuter Rail.”
If enacted, Roskam said the initiative would promote the creation of the Suburban Transit Access Route, known as the STAR line, and halt CN’s attempted use of the EJ&E. The STAR line would provide for suburb-to-suburb train commuting by connecting nearly 100 towns from Joliet to O’Hare International Airport.
* Independent candidate Allan Stevo has entered the 10th Congressional District race against Republican Mark Kirk and Democratic challenger Dan Seals…
A University of Illinois graduate, Stevo said in his statement that he would base his decisions in Congress strictly on the Constitution:
“No undeclared wars, innocent until proven guilty, no searches without probable cause, everyone gets his or her day in court, small central government,” he said.
His campaign Web site touts personal choice on health care and a “more humble” foreign policy. Stevo also vows, on his Web site, that he never would vote to increase taxes, spending or national debt.
Carter did not fulfill the signature requirement for the office, so even if he does contest the objection, he likely will not win. He said earlier he had hoped to “fly under the radar” and get into the race.
“I can not withstand a challenge,” he said. He will be notified of the objection by certified mail this week and can still argue his case, but said that’s not likely.
He received “thousands” fewer signatures than the required number. “I’m still taking it under consideration, but the likelihood is I won’t,” Carter said.
U.S. Rep. Phil Hare assessed Mississippi River flood damage Monday in Gladstone and told constituents he is working to upgrade levees in the area.
“It’s incredibly sad. We’re having a 200-year flood every 10 or 12 years,” the Rock Island Democrat said. “After we get through this, we have to invest in the long term and build these levees up.”
[…]
“No one knows how much this will cost,” Hare said after watching the 20-minute presentation. “The supplemental appropriations bill the president signed is for $2.5 billion, but I’m guessing this could easily go as high as $4 billion. We are probably going to do another supplement appropriation for this flood.”
* Dr. Steve Sauerberg speaks at “election awareness candidate forum” sponsored by the La Salle County Republican Women…
Sauerberg’s concerns ranged from the open border and “taxes that support Springfield, who has never seen a big enough government. We have a government that just wants us to drive less without drilling for oil anywhere.
It’s hard to do anything if energy issues are not resolved. The Legislature has been dealing with this for 25 to 30 years and they have done nothing. We need to deal with our rising health costs. We need change and without all of our efforts, there will be no change.”
* If you’ve been receiving tons of spam from Illinois Congressional campaigns don’t worry because you’re not alone:
The first few I ignored, recognizing that as a former party chair in the state I was bound to be on some lists. But by winter I’d grown mildly curious: where were these guys getting my address? I’d keep making it clear I didn’t live in Illinois, I’d keep asking to be removed, and sometimes they’d acknowledge receipt (not often) and remove me. Too often my e-mail went unanswered, and I’d get the next randomly-timed e-mail blast from them, repeating the cycle.
If this were one or two campaigns I’d let it slide. But it’s growing – I estimate at least half of the Congressional races in Illinois have added me to their list. Where are they getting my name from? My blog is linked to from Rich Miller’s influential CapitolFaxBlog.com site – and they are apparently spamming everyone on that list. (Three of the campaigns have admitted this is where they got my name from; no clue if the others are following suit, but it sure fits the pattern.)
It’s pretty ridiculous to spam everyone on someone’s blogroll. Not only is it uncreative and impersonal, it just becomes increasingly annoying. I have personally seen my fair share of it, and can attest to the frustration.
It becomes aggravating when a list server perpetually ignores your request to be removed from it.
…If the stream of spam in my inbox is any indication, the state of online campaigning at the Congressional level in Illinois is stuck circa 1998.
Here’s some free advice, guys. Talk to your constituents. If you have some bloggers in your district (chances are you do), engage them. Meet them for coffee. Call them. Invite their feedback on what the candidate should be doing.
It’s a great point. Rich and I look at these blogs all of the time. They usually have very good coverage of local events, and add great insight into how many of the voters in that district feel.
For instance, I was looking at Team America’s 10th District Blog today, and saw this post regarding Congressman Mark Kirk and Dan Seal’s presence at a parade in Waukegan:
In yesterday’s parade in Waukegan, Mark Kirk had, by all accounts, somewhere between 200-250 supporters marching with him, many of whom were Latino, and who are turning out to be a huge base of support for Kirk. In fact, Kirk had so many marchers that, in the words of one Kirk observer, it “was actually kind of ridiculous.”
Dem challenger Dan Seals, on the other hand, apparently had about 15 folks marching with him. Seals had more people marching in Libertyville, so I have no idea why he’d have less in Waukegan, unless it simply shows that his base of support in what ought to be Dem territory is pathetically shallow.
* It would do these campaigns a world of good to heed some of the online advice.
* Well it’s officially July 1, and a budget has yet to be hammered out. It looks like the Governor is becoming less optimistic:
Gov. Rod Blagojevich says he’s hopeful but “cautiously less than optimistic” that lawmakers will come up with new revenues to make up the $2 billion hole in the proposed state budget before the July 9 deadline.
Blagojevich also praised Republican leaders for their support on a capital plan, while some Republicans were around the state complaining over their role in the process:
“We’re limited in what we can do,” said Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield. “The only thing we can do is vote on a budget, up or down, before the end of May. We can encourage that to occur every year, but it’s up to the governor to agree to a budget.”
“The first thing you’ve got to do is include us in the (negotiating) process,” said Rep. Raymond Poe, R-Springfield. “Republicans were totally left out of it.”
* Standing by the Governor’s side, Rep. Hamos had the following to say about a capital plan:
“It’s beginning to feel like maybe we don’t want to pass a capital bill. Maybe we want to stall a capital bill,” said Rep. Julie Hamos, D-Evanston. “Maybe we want to stall it until the year 2011 — how does that year sound? — or maybe the summer of 2010, when this governor can’t get any ribbon-cuttings.”
Hamos has been very critical of the Speaker on the issue lately, and one has to wonder how that will bode for her relationship with him.
* Meanwhile, Sen. Rutherford was speaking on the Governor’s penchant for prison closings, and dared to gaze into the budget’s crystal ball:
Rutherford said he expects the budget issue won’t be resolved until right around then.
“I think right now it is probably going to go all the way to the morning of when those checks need to be written to force the issue and to try to put as much pressure on (House Speaker Michael Madigan) as possible,” he said.
That’s a pretty fair assessment, especially since any crisis resulting from the lack of a budget deal appears to be at least a couple of weeks off:
Hynes is not scheduled to issue the next round of payroll checks for state workers until July 15, for instance.
The state has already disbursed July general state aid to schools, and it’s not expected to allocate another round until August.
* It looks like Governor Blagojevich is finally making good on a promise that was made over two years ago:
Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago has finally received the $1 million promised it by the Blagojevich administration to help rebuild the fire-damaged structure next to the destroyed sanctuary.
You may recall that a “bureaucratic mistake” caused money to go to the private, seemingly non-existent Loop Lab school that rents the space:
[A]t least 59 times in the roughly 90-minute hearing, Peters professed ignorance toward what Blagojevich has called a “bureaucratic mistake.”
“I would not have any idea who in the governor’s office would have the most answers,” Peters told members of the House State Government Administration Committee.
* It looks like everything finally worked out. But wait…
The Trib’s story doesn’t tell us what happened to the other $1 million and whether the school has reimbursed the state for the check it received by mistake.
That’s one little nugget left out of the story that has yet to be reported.
Where’s the ACLU protesting state funds going to a religious institution? The 1970 version of the Illinois Constitution clearly draws the money line between church and state…
I think that’s a bit of a stretch. It seems like the administration has that base covered:
That deal specifies the funds have to be used to rebuild a burnt-out building next to the church that would be used as a community center for legal fairs, health clinics and other “non-secular” purposes — a stipulation designed to fend off church-state legal challenges.
“This grant has a clear secular purpose — the construction of a community center that will house social programs open to the public regardless of religious affiliation or ability to pay,” DCEO spokeswoman Ashley Cross said.
* Discuss.
*** UPDATE ***
* I just spoke with Ashley Cross from DCEO. It appears that she was misquoted in the article and was on record as saying “that deal specifies the funds have to be used to rebuild a burnt-out building next to the church that would be used as a community center for legal fairs, health clinics and other “secular” purposes.
It has also been changed on the Sun Times website. I know that there were a few comments on that, and I just wanted to clear up any confusion.
Illinois has adopted a “hands-off” regulatory policy toward individual insurance, according to the report, which is based on a survey of insurance commissioners in all 50 states.
The Chicago Teachers Union executive board on Monday voted to try union vice president Ted Dallas on charges of spending money lavishly at high-end Chicago restaurants and on top-shelf liquor, among other purported misdeeds.
Asked Monday to what extent the investigation was having on his administration’s day-to-day governing, Blagojevich said: “Absolutely not. There’s no impact whatsoever.”
This year, however, maybe we will have a convention because things are so messed up in Springfield that we can’t get anything done on things we care about— such as health care and education funding and mass transit and immigrant rights and . . . (supply your own causes here).
* Democratic Leadership Council centrists say anything Obama does is fine by them
The sad news, Chicagoans, is that your town came in dead last. And it wasn’t even close.
Chicago reigns supreme when it comes to treating its citizens like children (Las Vegas topped our rankings as America’s freest city). Chicagoans pay the second-highest cigarette tax in the country, and the sixth-highest tax on alcohol.
Chicago has more traffic-light cameras than any city in America (despite studies questioning their effectiveness), restricts cell phone use while driving, and it’s quickly moving toward a creepy public surveillance system similar to London’s.
* If you could repeal any Chicago ordinance what would it be?
Federal investigators met with Gov. Rod Blagojevich “multiple” times as part of their Operation Board Games investigation, but the governor denied telling fundraisers he could reward them with government contracts, court documents unsealed this week revealed.
[…]
According to this week’s filing, a defense response to those allegations, Blagojevich sat down with prosecutors at least twice and denied ever saying any such thing.
“Governor Blagojevich was interviewed on multiple occasions and denies these conversations. Cari failed to recall his conversation with the governor until his fifth interview by government agents,” wrote Rezko attorney William P. Ziegelmueller in a Jan. 25 filing.
However, late last Friday Judge Amy St. Eve ordered those same documents to be sealed again without any specific explanation:
She acted on her own. No one requested that the document be sealed.
However, Natasha Korecki at the Sun Times speculates…
It might have been made public in error. The filing, authored by Rezko’s lawyers, also contained a brief reference to the private life of witness Stuart Levine. St. Eve previously ruled that details involving Levine’s “secret life” should not be made public. Levine testified he took part in multiple drug binges with other men at area hotels, including Lincolnwood’s Purple Hotel.
St. Eve was extremely cautious during the trial to keep parts of Levine’s life out of the record. It would make sense for her to re-seal the document if some of these references were mistakenly missed. Any other insights into why it could have been re-sealed on the same day?
* Another suburban Democratic challenger running in a traditionally safe Republican district got some significant press today.
Aurora Austriaco, who is running against Rep. Rosemary Mulligan in Illinois’ 65th Legislative District, was featured in a piece in the Sun-Times on the possibility of becoming the first Asian American elected to the Illinois General Assembly:
Aurora Austriaco is running to represent Illinois’ 65th Legislative District. She’s knocking on doors four days a week, aiming to become the first Asian American elected to the Illinois General Assembly.
To get there, she’ll need to knock off a 15-year incumbent–state Rep. Rosemary Mulligan, who represents voters in a district that includes portions of Des Plaines, Park Ridge, Niles, Rosemont and Chicago’s Northwest Side.
The article adds that:
Austriaco won 10,641 votes in the Democratic contest, compared with Mulligan’s 5,358. On election night, Mulligan shrugged it off by telling the Journal, a local community newspaper, that 2008 was “a very unusual year.” Many Republicans, she speculated, took Democratic ballots to weigh in on the epic battle between Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton.
It is no doubt that Mulligan will have a tough race. However she has been extremely careful on how she has been voting lately.
For instance, Mulligan was one 14 Republicans to break with her party and vote on a motion to table and effectively kill the gaming expansion component of the capital bill on the last night of session.
* The real crux of the story is how unusual it is that a democrat stands a chance in this district:
The district is a traditional Republican redoubt. That would appear to put Austriaco’s bid in Don Quixote territory, but the times, they are a-changin.’ The Illinois GOP is looking to the November election as a patient would prepare for a visit from Dr. Jack Kevorkian. A mercy killing might be the order of the day.
That, on top of exploding gas prices, a tanking economy, and the Barack Obama juggernaut, could make Austriaco a history maker.
Austriaco joins Democratic candidates like Dianne McGuire of Naperville who have been generating lots of buzz. If the Republican party can’t hold on to these two spots, then it is truly in a dire jam…
* Kristen McQueary had a very funny article yesterday about another Blagojevich…
At first, I couldn’t quite see the resemblance. The flowing mane, maybe. The brown eyes, a little. The flaring nostrils, a touch.
Then, the more I got to know Blagojevich, the more I appreciated how aptly named he was — this tall, dark and handsome creature born into a political family and groomed for great things but alas, disappointing to his keepers.
At least for Blagojevich, a standard bred harness-racing horse at Balmoral Park Racetrack in Crete, his struggles are behind him after successful throat surgery. The horse’s potential for greatness remains largely unrealized.
And continues…
Blagojevich’s grandmother was Would I Lie, an award-winning horse who produced another strong performer, Political Promise. When Political Promise gave birth in 2005, extending the political lineage only made sense.
“We breed a lot of horses in Illinois and generally try to come up with theme names. We didn’t do it to pick on the governor, but we try to come up with names that are fun. Aside from Blagojevich, we’ve never named one after a specific person. You never know, the governor might come through for the horse-racing industry,” Hunt said.
* Rich’s syndicated column for the Southtown Star takes a look at the budget, and some possible answers to the Governor’s reduction threats:
There are several important things to keep in mind when discussing the governor’s proposed budget cuts. The governor has threatened to slash $1.5 billion out of the state budget unless the House comes back to Springfield and passes some revenue-generating bills and approves a capital construction budget, all of which were approved by the Senate in May and blocked by House Speaker Michael Madigan.
We don’t really know what the governor actually is planning to do. Last week’s threat was just a media event to instill fear and loathing among the press and the various constituencies that would be impacted by his possible cuts. But there were no real details, just a broad brush.
Why would I ever doubt Blagojevich’s intentions? Well, the governor threatened deep cuts during the spring session to balance the supposedly out-of-whack budget and never followed through. Remember those draconian cuts to 4-H and other agricultural programs he threatened in April? The governor eventually released the money.
There is no doubt a budget hole exists, and cuts are inevitable. Let’s be very clear: There will be pain. We just don’t yet know what the governor will do when the budget bills are finally on his desk and he holds that reduction and line item veto pen in his hand.
The Senate Democrats insist the governor vastly inflated the size of fiscal year 2008’s deficit. So while everyone has focused on the governor’s claim of a $2 billion deficit for fiscal year 2009, which begins July 1, that figure could be inflated as well.
Quite a few of the announced cuts are not really “cuts” but reductions in proposed increases. Many may look horrible on paper, but they’re just expansions that won’t happen.
Education spending will actually increase by about $400 million in fiscal year 2009. The governor had little choice but to leave that increase intact because of threats of a revolt by the Senate Democrats, his only remaining allies.
If he loses them, he loses the war with Madigan. But giving education a relatively generous increase while threatening to cut back on some key social programs likely will create controversy before too long.
Quite a few of the cuts seemed designed specifically to generate media attention and threaten hardship. The entire $28 million state subsidy to Amtrak would apparently be eliminated, for instance, potentially killing off three of the five trains that run daily from Chicago to St. Louis. Two of the three trains between Chicago and Carbondale also would have to be eliminated.
The governor’s obvious intent was to shift the blame for these and other impending cuts to Madigan, which Madigan doesn’t appear too concerned about. It’s unlikely they’ll be coming back to Springfield to take any action, Madigan’s lieutenants told the media.
The House Republicans claimed they’d be willing to work out a deal but offered no solutions of their own. Their members oppose the two revenue-generating bills passed by the Senate Democrats and demanded by the governor (a huge pension obligation bond and some special fund sweeps), and now that May is over and legislative solutions require a three-fifths vote, the ball likely will be in their court to come up with an alternative if Madigan refuses to propose any of his own.
The Chicago Tribune demanded in an editorial last week that the governor veto the entire budget and bring back the General Assembly for a special session. That won’t happen because the all-important Senate Democrats oppose it. A Chicago Sun-Times editorial suggested a deal could be cut on the special funds sweeps, but there aren’t nearly enough House votes to pass it.
You’ll undoubtedly hear more “simple solutions” in the coming days, but the harsh political realities of Springfield make even the easiest solution close to impossible.
If the governor goes through with these draconian cuts, he certainly can make the case that Madigan is to blame. But in the end, the governor - any governor - always wears the jacket. It will be his veto pen doing the slashing. It is his administration.
Still, there’s no doubt the speaker has hurt the Madigan “name brand” with this horrific war. That could make any gubernatorial bid by his daughter, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, all the more difficult. Madigan doesn’t really care about what Blagojevich and the media does to him, but this mud will splash on his daughter.
“We have been forced into a legal vacuum,” said State’s Atty. Tom Finks of Christian County, one of many Downstate counties that have not prosecuted a single violator. “Legally, the legislature has not given us the proper tools of enforcement. Our job is not to fill in the blanks.”
“It was a politically motivated case from the get-go,” said McCulloch, 43, of Westmont, who had worked for at least one candidate opposing Birkett. “There should be some safeguards against going after political opponents.”
