Our server was down while my site hosting company moved to a new office. I forgot about it, so I didn’t warn you. Oops.
As a consolation prize, here’s some of the cast of “Animal House” talking about the 30-year anniversary of the movie on WGN’s morning news program. It’s a hoot…
What one political/legislative reform proposal would you like to see enacted this year? I’m not talking about a bill, here, I’m talking about one specific reform. Explain.
* This story, albeit slightly “comical” (ahem), illustrates again the growing divide between the public and the General Assembly. As before with Gov. Blagojevich’s declaration that senior citizens ride free on all mass transit systems, his new “economic stimulus” plan will likely be viewed with far more favor out there in Voter Land than it will be in Insider Land…
Governor Rod Blagojevich’s budget address has many small businesses hopeful. The governor is proposing a 20 percent tax break. We visited some businesses to see what the tax break could mean. […]
At Acme Comics, owner Jim Schifeling says a 20 percent cut in taxes is great news.
“That’s wonderful, every dollar in my pocket feels wonderful,” said Schifeling.
And he says it could add up to about $500 at the end of the year, meaning he may be able to pass some of those savings on to his customers.
Lawmakers already are expressing skepticism in the idea. Some say the same struggling economy Blagojevich is trying to help could also cripple the state budget, making the $300 tough to come by.
“I think it’s a questionable deal,” said state Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg.
Phelps has been a pretty reliable Blagojevich vote for the past several months, so that statement is very bad news for the governor and strongly indicates just how unpopular the proposal is in the General Assembly.
* It appears that the Chicagoland Chamber may recognize the danger of flat-out opposing the stimulus plan. President and CEO Jerry Roper was quoted yesterday in the governor’s press release…
“We strongly agree with the Governor that stimulating our economy needs to be the top priority for our state because many small businesses are struggling. The business tax cut, household rebates and capital bill will provide an important boost to bolster business investment and job creation as our country lies on the brink of recession. We can replicate the stimulus package being used at a national level to help keep our economy moving forward,”
* But more Republican and Statehouse-oriented business groups were quick to pan the iidea. Doug Whitley, president and chief executive of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, had this to say…
“The governor’s rhetoric was gentler toward business in this speech than in the past, but offering a tax cut that only a handful of businesses would qualify for in exchange for a payroll tax increase that every business would have to pay is not going to create jobs or build prosperity in Illinois,”
A University of Illinois economist figures, even if every dollar of the governor’s proposed $900 million economic stimulus is spent in Illinois, it won’t do much to jump-start the state’s $528 billion economy. […]
Jeffrey Brown, a professor of finance at the U of I’s Champaign-Urbana campus, says $300 per kid for families earning between $3,000 and $75,000 a year ‘’will barely register as a blip,'’ if the plan is ultimately approved as part of the new state budget.
In other words, the plan was likely drafted as a political boost instead of an economic boost. Typical, but what do you expect?
* More budget stories, compiled by myself and Kevin…
* Is Blagojevich Leaving Transit Money on the Table?
* Considering my own experience with unjustly showing up on a “clout list,” I always take these breathless revelations with a grain of salt. People sometimes wind up on these lists without reason. The authors of the lists are not always reliable.
“Clout lists” that tracked politically backed job seekers to Gov. Blagojevich’s administration have surfaced in the case of indicted businessman Tony Rezko, with Rezko’s lawyers arguing the documents shouldn’t be allowed as evidence in his upcoming corruption trial.
The lists, which total 26 pages, offer yet another glimpse into the administration’s hiring practices shortly after the governor took office in 2003. They include dozens of recommendations made by Rezko, other Blagojevich fund-raisers, members of the General Assembly and lobbyists for full-time jobs and seats on unpaid state boards and commissions.
* Political types make recommendations to governors. That practice is as old as the Republic itself. Older…
The appointment list indicates that dozens of Democrats, including presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, Illinois Senate President Emil Jones and even eventual Blagojevich adversaries House Speaker Michael Madigan and Rep. Jack Franks (D- Woodstock), made recommendations for posts.
But powerful Republicans also show up as patrons, including House Minority Leader Tom Cross and former Kendall County GOP Chairman Dallas Ingemunson.
David Blanchette, a spokesman for the capital board, said: “Executive Director Jan Grimes knew nothing of this list and was surprised to find out that she was on it.”
Andrew Sosnowski, an Elgin attorney who worked at the Department of Children and Family Services from 2001 until 2004 said he has had no relationship with Rezko.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” he said. “I have never met him, don’t know him, have never talked to him, haven’t spoken with him. I have never heard of him.”
* And while this may also be misleading, it’s quite interesting [fixed link]…
“They might have put my name down there because I’m a woman who takes in children with disabilities,” Jackson said. “I sold Tony Rezko his first condo, when he moved to Hyde Park. I’ve known him for years and years. He’s known about my work with disabled children.'’
The Wondisfords hired Jackson’s company, MetroPro Realty, to sell their mansion and the adjacent lot [to Barack Obama and Tony Reko’s wife]. Several people wanted to buy the lot without the house, but Jackson said the Wondisfords “insisted these two properties close on the same day.'’
* And, finally, here is an excerpt from that column I wrote years ago after I appeared on one of George Ryan’s clout lists, which were written by Scott Fawell…
I remember another conversation with Fawell, from a year or so before. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley was pushing the Illinois General Assembly to let him build a humungous land-based casino. A huge team of lobbyists was working on the project, and some of them put together a list of legislators with comments about how each legislator could be “convinced” to support the casino. The list was leaked and much embarrassment ensued.
Fawell ridiculed the “idiot” lobbyists for putting their thoughts on paper. ”The first rule in this business is ‘Never write anything down,’”Fawell said at the time.
And the same thing goes for the Blagojevich administration and whomever wrote and kept that clout list. Rules don’t apply to them. They thought they’d never get caught. And the tragic lessons of Ryan’s administration were never learned.
The Republican nominee for retiring Rep. Jerry Weller’s (R-Ill.) seat will be withdrawing from the hotly-contested Congressional campaign Saturday morning, according to two GOP operatives in Illinois.
“It’s pretty much a done deal,” said one Illinois GOP operative.
New Lenox mayor Tim Baldermann, whose campaign was dogged by fundraising woes, never was able to garner much momentum in his campaign to succeed Weller in the GOP-leaning exurban Chicago district.
* The Politico thinks this might be good for the Republicans…
Baldermann’s withdrawal from the race could possibly play to the GOP’s advantage. Since the primary has already taken place, the county GOP committees in the district appear like they will be able to appoint a replacement to take Baldermann’s spot on the November general election ballot.
* But it’s far from clear who the GOPs would go with. There wasn’t exactly a big line of well-known, capable Republicans begging to run in that district. And with the national Dems pushing hard for Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson, recruitment could be pretty darned tough.
Baldermann, 41, said that until the primary was finished, he was unaware of how time consuming his campaign would be.
He said when he ran for mayor he had no trouble fulfilling his duties as police chief, despite critics who said it could not be done. But campaigning in a large congressional district and raising the money to run a legitimate campaign would require all of his time and attention over the next nine months.
“That wouldn’t be fair to the people of Chicago Ridge, New Lenox, or my wife and children,” Baldermann said.
He said he was not withdrawing due to an illness or fearing any threat of a smear campaign during the election.
“This is the best thing for me and the Republican Party right now,” Baldermann said. “The party leaders can select the best person to represent the district in the upcoming election.”
*** UPDATE 4 *** Statement from Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna…
“Running for Congress is a difficult job that requires the full commitment from a candidate and his family.
“I respect Tim’s decision to step aside from this race and wish him all the best in his future endeavors.
“The 11th District is representative of the mainstream values Illinois families share and I’m confident a Republican candidate will emerge who brings the type of change for Illinois we’ve failed to get from Blagojevich Democrats in Springfield.”
*** UPDATE 5 *** One name being floated right now as a possible replacement is Martin Ozinga, III, who owns Ozinga Bros. Inc. in Mokena. Ozinga is reportedly considering a candidacy and would likely be at least a partial self-funder.
* There’s something important missing from this story…
[A]n Illinois House committee mustered just enough votes Thursday to advance a measure that would make the state’s moment of silence law optional for schools.
House Bill 4180 would largely rewrite a law passed last year that requires schools to start the day with a moment of silence. The law is the subject of a lawsuit filed in October by talk show host and atheist Rob Sherman and his teen-age daughter, who say it is an effort to inject religion into public schools. […]
If moments of silence were made optional, “we would certainly get the superintendent’s and the community’s input” before deciding how to proceed, Conley said.
Rep. David Reis, R-Willow Hill, opposed the bill sponsored by Rep. John Fritchey, D-Chicago, saying that 14 states have a mandatory moment of silence in schools.
A bill which would “allow” rather than “mandate” a moment of silence in Illinois public schools passed its first hurdle Thursday in the Illinois House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee.
In each public school classroom the teacher in charge may observe a brief period of silence with the participation of all the pupils therein assembled at the opening of every school day.
* And this is what last year’s change looked like…
In each public school classroom the teacher in charge shall observe a brief period of silence with the participation of all the pupils therein assembled at the opening of every school day.
In each public school classroom, the teacher in charge may conduct a brief period of silence with the participation of all the pupils therein assembled at the opening of every school day.
This bill is clearly a flat-out repeal of last year’s law. I’m not sure why that hasn’t been made more clear in most of the coverage. The only other significant change is that the title of the statute has been altered, from…
But now, the RTA can veto big-ticket capital projects. It’s added a five-step process before new train track gets laid or major bus terminals get built.
To make this work, the RTA can also wield another new power; it can now demand strategic planning budgets from the CTA, Metra and PACE.
That ruling — by the California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, San Diego, in Lexin vs. Superior Court — found that trustees, who often are participants in the retirement systems on whose boards they serve, can be criminally liable if they approve a contract that tangentially provides them a personal benefit.
Last week the Chicago Reporter’s Kimbriell Kelly reported on Chicago’s “gray drain”, a mass exodus of elderly residents who simply cannot beat back the developers any longer. According to the Reporter piece, between 1990 and 2006, the City lost 15% of its elderly residents, a shocking decrease.
* Gov. Blagojevich sends letter to President Bush appealing denial of disaster aid to flooded counties
* Drug-possession charge filed against Cook County prosecutor
Charges have been filed against a Cook County assistant state’s attorney who was arrested while possessing what police say they believe were packets of heroin.
* As you know, last month Sangamon County Circuit Judge Patrick Kelley ruled that there was no evidence to support Gov. Blagojevich’s assertion that releasing federal subpoenas via the Freedom of Information Act to the Better Government Association would endanger ongoing federal investigations. Judge Kelley did give the governor time to rebut, and the governor’s office claimed earlier this month that they had new, “secret” evidence that backed up their claim that they couldn’t release the subpoenas….
Lawyers for the Democrat filed court papers Feb. 8 asking a judge to reverse his ruling of a month ago to release subpoenas from the U.S. attorney. “Newly discovered evidence” makes it important to keep the documents secret, they said.
But they also requested to file the documents in secrecy and no information about them was included in the filing.
* Well, yesterday, Judge Kelley again ruled against the governor when he refused to allow the “secret evidence” to be filed under seal, although Kelley did consent to two important redactions.
You can read that “secret evidence” at this link, which is a February 5th letter from US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald to the governor’s office…
In response to your inquiry, the US Attorney’s Office has served various grand jury subpoenas on the Office of the Governor of the State of Illinois, seeking records pursuant to an official criminal investigation of a suspected felony being conducted by a federal grand jury. With two exceptions, noted below, the US Attorney’s Office continues to request that you not disclose the fact that the subpoenas have been served. Any such disclosure could impede the investigation and thereby interfere with the enforcement of the law. If you do not believe that you can comply with this request, I request that you contact me before making any decisions.
So, the US Attorney did, in fact, ask the guv’s office not to disclose the existence of the subpoenas.
Notice, however, that there was no absolute demand or order. Also, the disclosure of the letter by Judge Kelley now essentially moots Fitzgerald’s request.
Judge Kelley redacted the description of the two subpoenas that Fitzgerald claimed were OK to acknowledge to the public, which seems a bit ironic.
Lawyers for Antoin “Tony” Rezko on Thursday made public nearly 40 names of people he allegedly recommended for state jobs, arguing that prosecutors should be barred from presenting the evidence at Rezko’s coming trial.
Rezko’s lawyers contended the government plans to offer the list at trial as evidence of Rezko’s involvement in state hiring, but the defense sought to block its introduction because the indictment doesn’t allege he influenced state hiring. […]
Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Thursday that he didn’t know anything about the “clout list” and hadn’t seen it.
* The alleged clout list is here. The Rezko defense motion is here.
* I’d just like to express my most sincere condolences to Steve Brown and his family. Steve’s father-in-law passed away last weekend. His mother-in-law died less than two months ago. Steve’s wife Marilyn is pretty well known and beloved in Springfield, so I’m sure I speak for many when I say how terrible I feel for her and her loved ones right now.
* Also, I inadvertently ommitted a condolence note earlier this month to Rep. Bob Molaro, whose mother recently passed away. Bob, you’ve been in my thoughts. Hang in there.
* On a far happier note, Jake Miller (no relation) has finally made the move to the private sector. Jake’s going away party last night was a major event and we all had a blast toasting his future, which we all hope will be more fruitful than his past.
“Last year, there was a compete lack of leadership,” Giannoulias said outside the House chamber after the speech. “We see (U.S. Sen.) BARACK OBAMA, who’s traveling the country and he’s uniting people regardless of background and party. And here, we have a guy who is dividing his own party. … He’s the anti-Obama.” […]
“He caused conflicts, even within his own party. He didn’t get along with people. Nothing got done. There’s a poisonous atmosphere here in Illinois, and I’m hoping that that changes this year, but I haven’t seen anything yet to show that that’s going to happen.” […]
“You’re the leader, the buck stops here,” the treasurer said. “He’s not fully to blame for all this, but at the end of the day, you have to be an example-setter. Being governor is not easy.”
* Asked if he was running for something, Giannoulias replied…
“Nah … It’s just frustrating to see our own Illinois senator out there making people feel so good about themselves, and here in Illinois, we have someone who has shown no leadership.
* Question: What do you think are the odds that Giannoulias might run for governor in 2010? Could he win? Explain.
* This piece accurately sums up the general consensus at the Statehouse…
Gov. Rod Blagojevich, in his sixth combination State of the State and budget address, used a rehash of old ideas — leasing the lottery, imposing a payroll tax on some businesses, selling future revenues for a lump-sum payment — to make it all work.
But by doing that, he may already have doomed many of his proposals.
“I think it could be a tough year,” Rep. Gary Hannig of Litchfield, the House Democrats’ top budget negotiator, said afterward. “Many of the proposals the governor talked about are things we rejected in the past. I think those are things that are going to be difficult to resurrect.”
“If today was a conciliatory speech, then I applaud that,” said House Minority Leader Rep. Tom Cross, R-Oswego. But “it’s going to take a while to rebuild that trust. And it’s going to take some action, not just words.”
Senate President Emil Jones (D-Chicago) said he would support the governor’s lottery [lease] proposal. But he seemed frustrated by the administration’s resistance to raising income taxes.
“We could put more money into education, we could do property-tax relief, we could do a [construction] bill with that income-tax increase,” Jones said.
Keep your eye on that issue.
* One of Jones’ top lieutenants wasn’t thrilled with the Lottery lease, either…
Leasing the state’s lottery didn’t bode well with some lawmakers including state Sen. Terry Link, a Waukegan Democrat.
“I think that what this will do is cause us to look more closely to what we were doing on the riverboats last year — the expansion,” said Link, who’s backing a new casino for Waukegan.
“We’re always willing to work with the governor, but I don’t know if any of those plans that he outlined today will go anywhere,” said Sen. James Meeks, D-Chicago.
He mentioned the governor’s idea of privatizing the state lottery as an example of a doomed proposal.
He said privatizing the state lottery to pay for the construction program is a “fiscally sound idea.”
* Business groups weren’t overly impressed with the governor’s proposed, one-time 20 percent tax break…
Chamber president and chief executive officer Doug Whitley summed it up this way: “I’m glad that he’s finally recognizing that he needs to pay a little bit of attention to business, but as far as I’m concerned, he can keep that business tax credit, which is a one-time proposal. While on the other hand, he’s trying to raise over $1 billion annually from employers. That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.”
The tax increase Whitley referenced is the 3 percent payroll tax for employers that don’t offer health insurance to their workers.
* Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson, a top tier congressional candidate, was even skeptical about the governor’s plan to rebate taxes to some families, which is based on the bipartisan “stimulus” plan just adopted in Washington, DC…
Unlike Washington, however, the state’s chief executive doesn’t appear to have many members of the legislature on board.
“We’re not like the federal government. We cannot print more money,” said Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson, D-Crete.
* The governor’s emphasis on rebating taxes to some families also drew fire from people who are upset at his refusal to increase funding for higher education, which will likely drive up tuition costs next fall…
State Rep. David Miller, D-Lynwood, who leads a House higher education committee, said Blagojevich’s support for working families should extend to keeping tuition costs reasonable. “When you look at an overall package for the middle class that he talked about, they weren’t included in this budget,” Miller said.
* AP: Blagojevich wants across-the-board cuts of 3% at many state agencies, although some would take even bigger hits. The Department of Natural Resources, for instance, would see a 40% cut in state funds and lose about 200 employees.
Complete final counts were not available Tuesday — the last day for absentee and provisional votes to be counted — to officially decide the primary election in the 14th Congressional District.
It appears the small number of both kinds of votes is unlikely to change the outcome of the election, but Democrat John Laesch is waiting until every vote is counted.
Laesch trailed Democratic rival Bill Foster by 355 votes after the ballots were counted in the Feb. 5 primary. […]
If Kane County is any indication, the numbers might not change enough to offset the 355-vote margin between Laesch and Foster.
Final tallies in Kane County showed 13,491 votes for Laesch — 11 more than on Feb. 5 — and 15,971 for Foster — 18 more than on election day.
* Meanwhile, Foster continued his attempt to make Iraq the focus of next month’s special election against Jim Oberweis…
As Republican presidential frontrunner John McCain arrived in the area for a Jim Oberweis fundraiser, Foster and about a dozen of his supporters braved subzero wind chills outside an Oberweis-McCain press briefing to denounce their view on Iraq.
Foster is already running ads blasting Oberweis’ support of the president’s Iraq policy, and Oberweis has fought back, claiming that Foster is essentially advocating surrender.
* As noted above, John McCain was in town yesterday and raised some big bucks for Oberweis…
Republican presidential frontrunner John McCain stopped in Sugar Grove tonight to raise more than $250,000 for congressional candidate Jim Oberweis—but it was Oberweis who used the occasion to reassure conservative voters that the Arizona senator was on their side.
Oberweis’ fundraiser, held at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, commanded $1,000 a plate to $2,300, the maximum allowable donation to a candidate for federal office, for a picture with McCain. Oberweis spokesman Bill Pascoe said that by early this morning, the fundraising effort had exceeded the goal set for it.
The final tally, Pascoe said, was 151 paying customers, bringing in a grand total of $257,000.
Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. was subpoenaed by attorneys general from several states for information about the sales and marketing of its caffeinated alcoholic drinks Tilt and Bud Extra, the company confirmed Wednesday.
Two pieces of legislation aimed at allowing veterans to be able to light up in private clubs such as VFW posts and American Legion halls went up in smoke Wednesday.
The House Environmental Health Committee struck down House bills 4333 and 4104 that would have created exemptions to Illinois’ new law banning indoor smoking.
* Durbin urges law giving FDA power over tobacco industry
* The straight dope on CTA pension and retiree health care reform
* 36 Illinois groups on ‘pet’ list for after-school grants
* Cook County Board chief takes aim at critics; more here
The first-term leader accused three Democrats critical of his administration of playing games with the vital public health-care services as the board met nine days before a deadline to pass this year’s budget.
* Bolingbrook to get new library and Romeoville to get renovated one with $48.6 million approved by voters
“I think allocating public resources to install a shower in a city office would be totally inappropriate, especially given the budget challenges that this City Council has had to struggle with,” said Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd), who was among those who voted against the spending plan. “However, if Mr. Johnson is willing to pay that tab out of his own pocket … I don’t have a problem with that.”
