Emergency crews are working on and keeping a close eye on a 52-mile levee along the Mississippi River near Quincy.
Officials with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency say National Guardsmen, prison inmates and others continue to sandbag the Sny levee. They say workers are also using a bulldozer to push the base of the levee to make it higher.
IEMA spokeswoman Patti Thompson says the levee is expected to crest Monday or Tuesday. She says crews will remain at the levee after it crests to make sure it holds.
“These floods are causing extensive economic and physical damage to areas of our state,” said spokeswoman Kelley Quinn. “Now, more than ever, it’s important to pass a capital bill — a comprehensive plan that would not only put people to work, but fix our roads and bridges.”
* Same article, very next paragraph, …
The state might end up helping individual communities back on their feet financially but those dollars probably won’t be added to the capital program, said Marcelyn Love, spokeswoman for the Department of Natural Resources.
* The AP points out the obvious political advantages to “Flood Week”…
The floods that have devastated the Midwest couldn’t have come at a politically better time for Blagojevich. After months of staying mostly out of public view, the governor has spent the week touring flood-ravaged areas and lobbying for relief for homeowners, businesses and communities.
* Aaron Chambers asks, “Will the great flood of 2008 save Rod Blagojevich’s political career?” No…
It’s doubtful, given the Illinois governor’s extreme unpopularity (his popularity rating neared 13 percent in recent months) and his ongoing troubles (continuing federal probe of his administration, talk about possible impeachment and his fundamental difficulty with managing state government).
Kristen Williams doesn’t normally make a habit of breaking the law.
But the 17-year-old admits she hasn’t been following the statewide teen curfew.
“I guess if (police) were to really start cracking down and ticketing, I would have to start following the law,” said Williams, a Limestone Community High School student. “But as of right now, being home before 10 or 11 (p.m.) really just isn’t appealing to me.”
Illinois’ new curfew law, which went into effect about six months ago, says teens 17 and younger can’t be driving past 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and past 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. During the school year, the curfew is easier for teens to follow. But now that summer has arrived and weekdays blend into weekends, Williams isn’t making any plans to start following curfew.
* The question: Is this a sound statewide law? Explain.
Marlon Pendleton walked out of an Illinois prison a hopeful man after more than a decade locked up for a rape he did not commit.
Cleared by DNA evidence, he sought a pardon from the governor and about $140,000 in automatic state compensation. Two years later, he’s still waiting, his optimism frayed by poverty that has him sleeping on his sister’s couch in Indiana.
“They say once you pay your debt to society, it’s over,” said Pendleton, his voice bristling with anger. “But I didn’t even owe a debt to society, and I paid it, and it’s not over.”
* It’s indeed odd that the governor seems to be procrastinating so much on pardons and clemencies, particularly when he can expedite a politically expedient pardon for Rev. Jesse Jackson.
However, after reading 952 words of the Trib’s story, we get this nugget…
But Pendleton’s case isn’t clear-cut. In addition to the 1992 rape for which he was exonerated, he was convicted in 1994 in a separate sexual assault. Pendleton was convicted after the victim identified him as the attacker in a police lineup.
Pendleton claims he’s innocent on that one, too, but there’s no DNA evidence so it’s fairly easy to see why Blagojevich has been reluctant to use his pardoning powers with this particular case.
The state’s All Kids insurance program for children now has more than 1,200 new applicants.
On Saturday, hundreds of volunteers at locations throughout the city and suburbs processed 1,217 applications for All Kids, exceeding the goal of the 1,000 Healthy Kids & Families campaign sponsored by Resurrection Health Care and the Chicago Sun-Times.
No mention of the well-known defects in the All Kids program (difficulty signing up specialists, for instance), and no mention of the political firestorm surrounding the governor’s numerous health care expansion plans. Just pure PR.
Resurrection Health Care’s PR firm is the Haymarket Group. The firm’s principals meet often with Sun-Times honchos to pitch ideas during notoriously long lunches at Gene & Giorgetti’s. This looks like a Haymarket special.
* They even had a gimmick to promote the plan, duly noted in the Sun-Times…
Gov. Blagojevich is promising a free $50 gas card for the first 1,000 families that enroll at least one child in the state’s All Kids insurance program today as part of the “1,000 Healthy Kids and Families” campaign.
Any bets on if the cards have Rod’s name on them? Looking forward to what other state programs will give you incentives for participating.
If nothing else what does this say about us as a society when we have to offer a gas card to get people to sign their kids up for a state child health program or what does this say about our governor?
The Huffington Post is planning to expand into local news across the US, founder Arianna Huffington said last night, beginning with a site edited for the community of Chicago.
Huffington said the Chicago site would aggregate news, sports, crime, arts and business news from different local sources as well as contributions from bloggers in what will be the first of a series of projects in “dozens of US cities”. The Chicago site will initially be curated by just one editor.
“We are aspiring to be a newspaper in that we want to covering all news, not just the political blogging the way we began,” said Huffington, speaking at Guardian News & Media’s internal Future of Journalism conference.
Competition is good, but Chicago is a very tough market. Chicagoans prefer the familiar, which is why we’ve seen the same old faces on our teevees for decades.
“I just think it’s the same old kind of politics that he’s been playing,” Blagojevich said. “It’s unfortunate that he wants to hide behind impeachment memos where he is directing his candidates to essentially lie to the public about their role in things when we have so many big issues that we need to take care of, especially getting the jobs bill, the capital bill, passed…. That’s where the focus ought to be.” […]
“He can do as many impeachment memos as he wants, and if he wants to spend his time doing that, that’s his choice,” Blagojevich said. “But we sure would like him to start coming to some meetings, which he has not done, so we can pass this jobs bill that passed the Senate with bipartisan support. You know, it’s really unfortunate, we want him back.” […]
“We have a $2 billion budget deficit that Speaker Madigan is largely responsible for, because unlike the state Senate, which increased spending (but) also has revenue to pay for it, the House failed to provide the revenue for the spending,” the governor said.
“No good can come out of hitting the red button that launches the nuclear warheads,” said Sen. Jeff Schoenberg (D-Evanston). “Any hint of last year’s conflict would definitely be the tripwire for a far more explosive situation.”
* Even so, House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie tried to throw some cold water on the whole idea…
“Though some might not like his style of governing, I don’t think what we’ve seen, in my mind, rises to the level of an impeachable offense,” said House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago), a frequent Blagojevich critic.
* Springfield Republican state Senator Larry Bomke backs impeachment, but somehow manages to trust him on the capital plan…
My differences with the governor don’t mean I don’t support a capital plan,” said Bomke, who voted for the plan in the Senate.
* The SouthtownStar’s Tom Houlihan thinks impeachment might backfire, despite a recent poll showing a majority want the process to begin…
Personally, I think impeachment might accomplish the impossible. It could turn Blagojevich into a sympathetic figure. With his approval ratings hovering about 25 percent, many Illinois residents want this governor to just go away, which is why that unsuccessful recall initiative sounded like a such good idea. In the aftermath of super-insider Tony Rezko’s federal conviction - and criminal proceedings against other Blagojevich cronies - it’s entirely possible the governor is under investigation. But we don’t know that for sure. Without criminal charges, I’m not sure what an impeachment attempt would accomplish.
* Buried way down deep in this budget article is a key item that’s been missing from most reportage about the two revenue streams (pension obligation bond and special funds sweeps) that the Senate has passed and the House has not yet voted on…
Madigan isn’t the only dissenter. Rep. Raymond Poe, R-Springfield, said he opposes both ideas and Rep. David Leitch, R-Peoria, said he doubts the bills have a chance in the House even if Madigan allows a vote on them.
“I don’t think those revenue measures would pass if they called them,” Leitch said.
Leitch is correct. The two revenue bills will require extraordinary majorities now that we’re in June. The Republicans don’t have any votes for either of them, yet nobody seems to want to report this.
* From the same story…
A total veto, though, would also leave the state without a budget, and that could threaten a shutdown of state services if there is a protracted stalemate. It could also alienate Jones, one of the few consistent allies Blagojevich has in the General Assembly.
“We’re trying to encourage the governor not to veto the spending plan,” Davidsmeyer said.
A total veto also could put Senate Democrats in a politically embarrassing situation over pay raises. If the Senate meets four more times, scheduled pay raises will automatically take effect unless the Senate votes to reject them. A total budget veto could force the Senate to be in session for those days, with public pressure mounting on the chamber to reject the raises.
Those are both things that I’ve been stressing to subscribers for weeks. Jones doesn’t want to come back to town for any length of time, and neither do his members. The lack of a Sente backstop has been frustrating for the governor.
* As I think I’ve mentioned before, Doug Finke’s Sunday column is a good window on the Statehouse press room groupthink…
For a couple of weeks now, the Blagojevich administration has been organizing dog and pony shows around the state to pump up support for the capital bill. They generally star Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Collinsville, Blagojevich’s floor leader in the House, and a bunch of local lawmakers from both parties to show that there is bipartisan support for the plan. Toss in some local labor leaders and some local mayors or other elected officials for good measure. Then dangle in front of the cameras a long list of projects that could (repeat, could) be done in the area if a capital bill passes, and let the show begin.
It was the Springfield area’s turn last week. The site was Breckenridge, a tiny community along Illinois Route 29 between Springfield and Taylorville. Why there? Because that’s where the highway is still only two lanes, and the capital plan, naturally, promises to make it four lanes. Well, at least the news release promised that, and as you may be aware, a news release from the governor’s office is pretty much an iron-clad legal document.
These stunts are a continuation of the tactics used by Blagojevich before. Run around the state promoting some program or other and expect that to make Madigan and other lawmakers cave into the pressure. Hasn’t worked before, and there’s no reason to think it will now.
If Finke is once again reflective of the press room conventional wisdom, then that general attitude among Statehouse reporters about these publicity stunts will eventually work their way up to editorial boards and to local reporters who are covering these events. We’ll see.
* Related…
* Spin, frustration, talk … just another day for Gov. Blagojevich
Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago) was one of just a tiny handful of Illinois Democratic state legislators who backed Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid instead of local favorite Barack Obama.
Sandoval’s district and most of the Chicago area’s Latino precincts went for Clinton in the February primary, so it probably was a smart move. Plus, Sandoval has been engaged in a full-blown Statehouse war with Senate President Emil Jones for well more than a year, so backing Clinton against Jones’ political Godson had its “stick in the eye” advantages.
Unsurprisingly, Clinton’s defeat hasn’t automatically put Sandoval in the Obama camp.
Sandoval met privately with Republican presidential candidate John McCain last week, and he told The Associated Press the next day he was leaving open the possibility of endorsing the man.
Sandoval told me last week the meeting went well and said McCain promised to be an advocate for Latino issues. McCain, Sandoval said, did not ask him for an endorsement, but did ask that they continue to meet, which Sandoval agreed to do.
McCain also apparently was aware Sandoval was on the outs with many of his Senate Democratic colleagues because of the fight with Jones, and McCain used that division to his advantage during the meeting.
Immigration reform has been a political problem for McCain. His push last year for a bipartisan solution to the situation earned him heaps of scorn from the right wing of his party and just about killed off his candidacy. He started to gain ground about the time he flipped a bit on the issue.
McCain reminded Sandoval that the last president to do anything major about immigration reform was a Republican, Ronald Reagan. Sandoval claimed McCain told him that the immigration issue would be “one of the hallmarks of my presidency.” Reagan’s immigration policy included an amnesty program for those here illegally, but McCain never uttered the “A” word.
“I’m a Democrat, but I’m not wedded to any political party,” Sandoval told me. “You need to reach out to us, meet with us, make us part of the strategy. If that’s not there, then I’m not with them,” he said of Obama’s campaign.
Sandoval dismissed a recent poll of 800 Latino voters in 21 states that showed Obama with a huge 60-23 lead over McCain, claiming the numbers would be a lot closer once Latino voters were in the privacy of the voting booth.
Sandoval also dismissed Obama’s recent hiring of Chicago Latina leader Patti Solis Doyle, who was forced out of the Clinton campaign after several missteps.
If hiring Doyle, the sister of a Chicago alderman, is Obama’s “gesture to the community,” Sandoval said, that won’t be nearly enough. Obama, he said, “needs to reach out to Latino community leaders, people like myself, and have a dialogue.”
Doyle’s brother, 25th Ward Alderman Danny Solis, teamed up with Ald. Manny Flores a couple of years ago to back a primary candidate against Sandoval, which probably explains Sandoval’s harsh attitude toward Doyle (Clinton’s personal touch likely overcame this problem for Sandoval). Sandoval has been a longtime supporter of the now largely invisible but still existent Hispanic Democratic Organization, and Solis has been at war with the HDO for the past few years.
There’s little doubt McCain would love to have a Democratic legislator from Obama’s home state on his campaign team. The propaganda advantages would be enormous, regardless of the reasons for Sandoval’s defection.
Right now though, Sandoval still is hesitant to make the big move, while blatantly telegraphing his message to Obama that his needs ought to be considered.
Sandoval’s flirtation with McCain while his hand is stretched outward (palms up) toward Obama isn’t a particularly new thing in politics. It’s as old as politics.
But it’s a marvelous confluence of opportunities for Sandoval. He can help himself either way he chooses. He can be the shining star of McCain’s Latino outreach effort or secure some influence within the Obama campaign, while sticking it to his nemesis Jones yet again no matter what he does.
Cynical? Yep. Opportunistic? Oh, yeah. But that’s hardball politics, my friends.
Come to think of it, there is one downside. The Obama campaign could dirty Sandoval up in an effort to make him too radioactive for McCain. That would be the “Chicago Way.”
* Analysis: McCain hampered by campaign missteps: The following day, he met with a group of Hispanics in Chicago. Aides who had kept word of the event secret were placed on the defensive within hours after one participant criticized some of McCain’s comments.
However, Szyska, along with the Illinois Department of Public Health, warn that climbing temperatures combined with stagnant water left behind by flooding and heavy rains create ideal mosquito breeding conditions, particularly for the Culex species that’s the most common West Nile carrier.
But Cook County residents who want this tax hike repealed, and who want a government more efficient than the mess that Stroger’s Friends and Family Plan of nepotism and patronage tolerates, ought to spend more time plotting their election strategy for 2010 and less time imagining secession.
Newly hired employees would shift to the 401(k) plans favored by private industry — instead of the “defined benefits” enjoyed by their older co-workers — under a plan being pushed by the head of Mayor Daley’s pension reform commission.
Members of the Illinois congressional delegation — including two who announced their retirement — have reported nearly $157,000 in travel expenses picked up by taxpayers or private sponsors since last year, according to an Associated Press review.
I know everyone is in amazement when they see flooding waters but the real story is what is left behind (after the media leaves)
This is the damage caused by one of our local levee breaks. This was a level corn field the day before the break.
Wow.
* The governor was in the Metro East today, and just had to do some politicking…
llinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was in Alton Friday, announcing he wanted federal aid for 2,000 Illinoisans displaced by the flood and was seeking state relief.
Blagojevich said the state’s capital bill should be passed, and it could be a vehicle for $29 million in flood relief. He did not specify where the relief would go.
Raging floods usually leave devastation in their wake, but for Governor Rod Blagojevich the rising water in Illinois couldn’t have come at a politically better time.
After mostly staying out of public view, the embattled Blagojevich has been out and about touring water-ravaged areas.
The water, at least for now, seems to have washed away some of the attention usually riveted on Blagojevich’s troubles.
* Things are getting better in Quincy. Here’s an article entitled: “Crest predictions continue to drop, but nobody breathing easy”…
It’s wait-and-see time for the Mississippi River communities battling the flood of 2008 as crest predictions get pushed back, but the fight is far from over.
Crests are predicted for Quincy and surrounding areas Sunday instead of today, as originally forecast by the National Weather Service. The Quincy crest is expected to be 28.8 feet Saturday — more than three feel below earlier forecasts of 31.9 feet — according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Web site.
The Illinois State Board of Education on Thursday delayed action on a proposal that would restrict the kind of cafeteria food sold to students in public elementary and middle schools.
The idea behind the new rules is to curb the problem of childhood obesity and encourage healthy eating habits among young people, supporters say. Critics, though, say the rules are too restrictive and that local school districts should be allowed to decide for themselves how to help kids eat in a healthy way.
The rules cover numerous aspects of nutrition. Whole milk, for instance, would no longer be served to students in eighth grade or below. Instead, they could opt for skim, low-fat or reduced-fat milk.
The rules are stricter for students in fifth grade and below than for students in sixth through eighth grades. The older students would be allowed larger portion sizes and more calories, and they would have a wider range of choices.
For example, those students would be able to buy fruit smoothies made with low-fat yogurt or another low-fat dairy alternative, as long as the serving size doesn’t exceed 200 calories. But students in fifth grade or below couldn’t have the same beverage.
* The question: Should the State Board of Education take action on this, or should the decision be left to local school boards? Explain.
* The Fix is not the most credible pundit ranker, mainly because the author is a political journalist and not a “real” analyst. But it may be worth noting that the Halvorson vs. Ozinga congressional race has been moved down slighty from 6th most likely district to flip parties to 8th…
8. Illinois’s 11th (Open seat, R): The rocky road for state Sen. Debbie Halvorson (D) continues, as in recent week she has come under fire from some fellow Democrats — including Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. — for a bill she introduced that would give Will County officials operating control over a proposed airport south of Chicago. Democrats insist the fight is actually good news for Halvorson, since it shows voters in the sprawling 11th District that she is standing up for them and not caving to Chicago’s political power brokers. Maybe, but a public, internecine feud is almost never good for business. Republicans acknowledge that concrete magnate Martin Ozinga got a very late start but insist he is a surprisingly strong candidate. (Previous ranking: 6)
* The Republicans, meanwhile, have posted some raw audio of Halvorson reacting last year to Gov. Blagojevich’s gross receipts tax proposal…
…Adding… I should’ve been more clear with the setup to that video. Halvorson ended up voting for the GRT in Senate Executive Committee after Sen. Lou Viverito unexpectedly voted “No,” leaving her little choice.
It’s going to get ugly. Getting spin-free truth out of these camps will be downright exhausting.
So it was refreshing Wednesday to meet Jason Wallace, of Normal, the Green Party candidate in the 11th District. From Heritage Park in Crete - Halvorson’s hometown - Wallace met with reporters and made a few points worth repeating.
Oberweis said gas prices are the result of a supply problem that could be solved with increased offshore drilling in the U.S. and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He also supports exploration of alternative energy sources like nuclear, coal and wind energy - but noted that the government shouldn’t continuously subsidize those energy industries.
At a similar appearance in Elgin last month, Democrat Foster said he was “mystified” at why fuel companies are reporting record profits at a time when crude oil is so high.
“I think the Democrats making that argument don’t understand how business works,” he said. “It’s the same as saying farmers receiving $7.50 for a bushel of corn and making a profit are doing something bad. I would expect farmers to have record profits when prices are high and lower profits when prices are low, and I would expect oil companies to have high profits when prices are high and low profits when prices are low.”
Except because of the high fuel prices and the floods, I doubt farmers will have “record” profits this year. This is not even close to an accurate comparison.
* Progress Illinois has been taking Congresscritter Mark Kirk to task. Here’s the latest…
Another day, another instance of Rep. Mark Kirk twisting the facts.
Last week, we noted his falsehoods about the uninsured population in America. Yesterday, we thoroughly debunked his bogus claim that the federal unemployment insurance benefit extension he voted against would lead people to cash in after two weeks of work.
Then, during an appearance on WLS’ Don Wade & Roma Morning Show today, Kirk falsely asserted that the Chinese are drilling for oil off the coast of Cuba.
Embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich likely will not be among the 15 to 20 governors talking about the economy with presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama Friday morning in Chicago.
An Obama spokesman confirmed Thursday afternoon that Blagojevich was invited along with all Democratic governors to the Friday event. A Blagojevich spokeswoman, however, said the governor likely will be heading to the downstate Metro East area to monitor rising flood waters.
Blagojevich did attend a dinner function on Thursday night with Obama and the governors, the spokeswoman said.
*********************
*** UPDATE 1 *** The Democratic governors met with Obama earlier this morning. Blagojevich wasn’t there. The Tribsters took note of the governor’s schedule…
One Democratic governor not present was Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Obama’s campaign said Blagojevich had been invited to the event, but the governor’s staff said he needed to monitor Downstate flooding.
A public schedule released by Blagojevich’s office showed his first public event of the day to be at 11:45 a.m. Central Time in Alton, Ill. Blagojevich’s approval ratings continue to sag in Illinois and he and Obama have not appeared together in public for months.
*********************
* Our quote of the week goes to Cindi Canary, regarding that poll I told you about yesterday which had the governor’s approval rating at 13 percent, and the General Assembly’s approval numbers at 17 percent…
“If any of us only had a 17 percent approval rating, we’d lose our jobs,” said Cynthia Canary, director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform and a spokeswoman for Midwest Democracy Network.
State transportation officials and a handful of Illinois lawmakers continued their push Thursday to get a statewide construction plan in place.
But without any new talks on the $34 billion measure, it appears that press conferences being held around the state in recent days are having no effect on breaking the stalemate.
* More from the article, which was about yet another press conference to boost the capital plan…
State Rep. Jay Hoffman, a Collinsville Democrat who is a key ally of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, said Madigan is playing “petty politics” with the measure by blocking it from coming up for a vote.
“He needs to put aside his personal vindictiveness,” Hoffman said. “Let’s stop this inter-party bickering.”
At the press conference, however, Hoffman offered up no alternatives that would address Madigan’s concerns.
“If the bill is called for a vote … I’m convinced we’ll be able to pass that bill,” Hoffman said.
But the bill is flawed for numerous reasons. And since it’s a House bill amended in the Senate, it cannot be amended again in the House.
* Yesterday, we took a playful little shot at Mother Tribune because one of the company’s vendors was hawking free Obama t-shirts in exchange for buying a subscription. Eric Zorn posted this in comments…
…without even checking with anyone I can pretty well assure you that if this story is true (unless I’m missing something there is one source, one witness, “Leo” and a partial image of a shirt that looks like it might spell out “Obama”) it was not a company authorized promotion. There is no history or tradition at the Tribune or any American newspaper that I’m aware of of using partisan political souvenirs as subscription incentives, and if you thought about it for five seconds you’d realize why.
But even if somehow I’m wrong about that and this WAS an official promotion, sanctioned from on high, that wouldn’t have anything to do with the reporters, editors and columnists who are writing about the campaign. Nor would it influence the Tribune’s editorial positions or endorsements which, as some have noted, tend to run Republican.
[Gov Blagojevich said] “I am proud of All Kids, a program that has covered more than 200,000 uninsured children since we started it in 2006. I would like to thank the Sun-Times and Resurrection Health Care for helping us get the word out about All Kids. I hope they far surpass their goal of signing up more than 1,000 children on Saturday.”
* Righter’s no friend of Blagojevich, but he opposes impeachment
*** UPDATE 2 *** Statement by Michael Dizon, communications manager, Chicago Tribune…
“Recently, several websites have reported that a Chicago Tribune contractor had been offering Obama and McCain T-Shirts as an incentive to purchase a newspaper subscription. This was not a company-authorized promotion and was inappropriate. All subscription premiums must be approved by the Tribune in advance, and these weren’t. The newspaper maintains a non-partisan position in its reporting as well as promotions. Chicago Tribune have reprimanded the contractors and regrets any confusion this might have caused for readers.”
* I just couldn’t decide, so I’m posting them both…
Winner for each pic gets a free classified ad or calendar posting at the newly revamped InsiderzExchange.
Please, try to keep it clean. Thanks.
…Adding… Hynes finished first in Round 2 of our “whom should Blagojevich appoint to Obama’s seat” poll, so I figured we had to have a little fun with him today…
A major national crackdown on mortgage fraud includes charges against 67 people in Chicago-area real estate businesses who allegedly engaged in elaborate schemes that drained $40 million from area banks and lending institutions.
