* No more for me. Still a little sore from the wreck, so I’m hoping for a decent night’s rest. Haven’t had one in a week. Illinoize, as always, is in charge until Monday…
* And now, your moment of Zen. Watch that Illinois River flow with Bob Dylan…
What’s the matter with me,
I don’t have much to say,
Daylight sneakin’ through the window
And I’m still in this all-night cafe.
Walkin’ to and fro beneath the moon
Out to where the trucks are rollin’ slow,
To sit down on this bank of sand
And watch the river flow.
*** 1:14 pm *** The last time I talked to the guy he sounded pretty fired up, even though he just had a parting of ways with his campaign manager. Strange days, these…
Dick Versace, the Democratic candidate for the 18th Congressional District, told the Journal Star in an exclusive interview today he is withdrawing from the race for personal reasons.
“I thank all who offered their support to me and respectfully ask for their understanding,” he said.
* 1:18 pm - Illinois GOP Chairman Andy McKenna responds to Versace’s announcement…
“Dick Durbin failed to recruit their first choice and celebrity power failed to work with their second choice. With a solid Republican district and strong Republican candidates, it will be difficult for any Democrat to win while Rod Blagojevich and his pals in Springfield are failing the people of Illinois at every turn.”
* 2:47 pm - The Politico weighs in with a good report, picking up on an important aspect that the Peoria paper missed in its scoop…
[Versace’s] withdrawal raises the possibility that Democrats will be unable to field a candidate on the ballot, as the filing deadline in Illinois already passed (on November 5). Yesterday was the last day candidates could file to be a write-in candidate. [for the primary]
“We’re going to see what the rules are,” said one Democratic staffer.
Pointing to Bill Lipinski’s underhanded move of retiring from the ballot after the primary and installing his son into the race, the Republicans had this to say…
“This could be Chicago-ward politics taking place in Central Illinois,” said an Illinois-based GOP operative. “Whoever comes in will have a cloud on their head hanging over them.”
And the national Repubs claimed victory…
“After all of their grandiose claims, it appears that Dick Versace has rejected the Democrats in Washington and is taking his and going home,” said Spain. Apparently, Dick Versace’s ride on the ‘Common Sense Express’ has led him to realize that the Democrats’ liberal policies and sagging approval rating don’t play well in Peoria.”
[Emphasis added]
*** 4:07 pm *** The Illinois Planned Parenthood Council endorses Bill Foster in the 14th CD Dem primary. John Laesch Kossack supporter enraged. Commenters confused.
…Adding… More hilarity as enraged confusion ensues in the above-mentioned comment section when several Kossacks can’t tell the difference between Illinois PP and the national group, and therefore bombard the wrong office with calls. The “machine” is blamed, as is Daley. Take a look at those links and you’ll see why I’m so proud of my commenters.
…Funniest Update Yet… Despite all the online screaming by some pretty kooky John Laesch supporters at DKos over Planned Parenthood’s endorsement of Bill Foster, Larry helpfully reminds us that just last year Laesch refused contributions from abortion rights groups…
Even though Laesch says he is pro-abortion rights, he refuses to accept donations from pro-abortion rights political action committees.
“It’s too divisive,” he said.
LOL.
*** 7:00 pm *** Dick Versace’s statement…
“Due to unforeseen personal circumstances, I am announcing my withdrawal as a Democratic candidate for the congressional seat in this district.
“Over the course of this campaign it is clear to me that Illinois families are hungry for change and that Democrats, Republicans, and Independents are fed up with President Bush and his failed policies. While I’m disappointed it’s not going to be me, this community deserves a leader that will stand up to Washington Republicans that are out of step with the real needs of this wonderful community.
“I thank everyone for their support and encouragement in this race, and I ask that you please respect my privacy and that of my family as we face this difficult personal issue.”
*** SATURDAY *** Former state Rep. Bill Edley says he’d consider being the replacement, according to Billy Dennis…
spoke by phone to former State Rep. Bill Edley a few moments ago. He was just as shocked as everyone else by Dick Versace’s decision to drop out of the race for Congress. In fact, he had sent a campaign donation to Versace’s campaign a week or so ealier.
But the former state representative might consider asking the county chairs of the Democratic Party in the 18th District to place his name on the ballot for the general election.
“I would think the Democrats would find many people Interested in running,” Edley said. “”If they don’t, I would consider it.”
I met Dave Kohn back when he flacked for Lt. Gov. Corinne Wood. Before that, Kohn was Congressman John Porter’s press secretary. He’s been around forever.
I’ve gotten to know Dave much better since he took a big job with the Union League Club, which has become my favorite spot in Chicago to stay and entertain pals. We try to get together whenever I overnight there during the week and last month was no exception.
Dave stopped by the club’s fantastic bar after work when I was there last and dropped off his band’s latest CD (Voodoo Pilot - “Good Luck Charm“). He asked me to give it a listen.
Now, I really like Dave, but he’s a Republican nearing middle age so I wasn’t exactly sure that I was gonna like his music. I looked at the CD jacket and saw that his entire band is filled with people you wouldn’t ever call “spring chickens.” But, what the heck, he’s a friend and I was in for a long drive, so I popped the CD into the player and headed down the road.
Wow.
I mean, wow.
OK, maybe it was my low expectations, but I was really blown away by “Good Luck Charm.” The thing is, even after several listens, I’m still hooked.
Go to the band’s MySpace page and listen to the first track, “Sandman Blues.” Actually, listen to them all. They’ve got an Allman Brothers/Grateful Dead feel in some of their tunes, with a Midwestern twist. The band describes their sound as “electric roots rock blues,” and that’s pretty accurate.
The homemade video of this Voodoo Pilot performance of “Blue Sky” doesn’t have the greatest production standards, but the jamming is mesmerizing and Kohn rocks on the drums…
Click the RealPlayer button to listen to “Dots Connected,” which, if there is justice in the world, ought to be getting some WXRT airplay…
Voodoo Pilot is not for teenagers. No headbanging here. The kiddies might not get into the laidback nature of many of Voodoo Pilot’s songs, but count me as a big fan. Here’s “Fortune Teller Blues”…
The band’s next gig is at Montrose Saloon (2933 W. Montrose) on Saturday, December 15th. Coincidentally, that’s the night before our holiday party, so I’ll be in town. If you can’t make it to the Sunday event, then just meet me at the Voodoo Pilot show Saturday night. I’ll buy you a beer or two. The show starts at 9.
They’re also looking at coming to Springfield soon. Any help with booking them would be appreciated. We’ll have another party for Springfield people if this ever gets worked out. I’ll keep you informed.
I’m thinking we should do an end of the year award thingy.
Believe it or not, I don’t want to make it snarky or negative. And I’d like to make this an annual thing, so the categories have to be broad. I’ll have certificates made up and somehow present them to the winners.
So, for instance, “Most independent state legislator” might be a category, or “Most effective rank and file state legislator” could also be an idea. “Least partisan US Congressman” could be something to ponder.
What I’d like you to do today is start brainstorming on categories. No snark. No negativity. Put some thought into it. We’ll start the voting next week.
* The St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial board has probably been the least critical of Gov. Blagojevich et al than any other paper with wide readership in Illinois. The reason? Their Missouri governor and legislature are dominated by conservatives and the predicament drives them batty. Today, the ed board offered up this interesting bit of perspective on the mass transit mess…
Missouri citizens can only gawk with amazement, and perhaps envy, at all of this. In St. Louis, the perpetually strapped Metro transit system also faces service cutbacks next year. But Missouri’s rural-dominated legislature would sooner see St. Louis residents walk to work in the snow than part with an extra dime for Metro.
* Speaking of transit, former CTA president Frank Kruesi has been hired as Mayor Daley’s top lobbyist in Washington, DC. If he does as “well” in DC as he did in Springfield, Chicago will be bankrupt in two years. The man is not exactly a coalition builder.
* The Pantagraph editorialized today on how it wants to see a final legislative deal done. But two of their suggestions, listed one right after the other, tend to cancel each other out…
– Inclusion of projects in the statewide construction plan should be based on the need for the project, not the need for votes.
– Rank-and-file lawmakers should outline their suggestions and pressure their leaders to reach an agreement.
* Meanwhile, the governor held a press conference with a group of women with breast cancer to illustrate why he was trying to get around the General Assembly…
Cynthia Irvin and other women battling breast cancer came to the news conference to thank Blagojevich for ordering that Illinois tax dollars pay for their treatment.
“I want to thank the governor and the state of Illinois, ’cause I don’t know what would have happened to me if it wasn’t for them,” Irvin said.
The governor was showcasing the women’s plight as an example of why he’s ignoring the general assembly, which failed all year to approve his multi-billion dollar expansion of state-subsidized health insurance.
* He also lashed out at those who would try to stop him…
The governor is calling business leader Gidwitz, whose family owned a cosmetics company, a Scrooge for filing a lawsuit in the Christmas season to deprive women of health care when he has never had to worry about medical coverage.
“It’s mind boggling that the heir of a shampoo fortune would go out of his way to take health care away through the courts. And, yeah, it is Scrooge-like in many ways,” said Blagojevich.
“When you don’t have the facts on your side you resort to name calling. That’s what the governor is doing. It is not about health care. This is about the governor overstepping his authority,” said Gidwitz.
Ho Ho Ho: It must have been a bad case of “Bah, humbug!” that caused House Speaker Mike Madigan to hastily return the red holiday poinsettias sent by Gov. Blago to Madigan’s office.
• • The mistletoe trio: However, Xmas posies dispatched by Blago to the three tops — GOP Senate Leader Frank Watson, GOP House leader Tom Cross and Senate President Emil Jones — were readily accepted.
The trouble with that analysis is that Madigan no longer accepts gifts of any kind. That ended with the Gift Ban Act. He won’t even allow lobbyists to pick up a dinner tab. The Madigan people have asked for a retraction.
* During that bus trip I took with Gov. Blagojevich and his crew last spring, I had a long chat with Patti Blagojevich about her real estate business. She had a pretty good explanation for some of the deals we talked about, but it was clear to me - and I said so - that this business absolutely had to end. I was told later that she had wound down her real estate business and we wouldn’t be seeing any stories about recent deals.
Today’s Tribune story is about a 2004 deal. Hopefully, there won’t be too many more of these. Still, what’s done is done and the feds (like all humans, including reporters and blog commenters) often take their prejudices into a case…
In an interview this week with the Tribune, real estate agent Mary Bennett said FBI agents contacted her firm’s attorneys requesting she sit down with them. She said agents wanted her to explain why she agreed to add Patricia Blagojevich as a second agent in the 2004 sale of a home in the 1200 block of North Astor Street.
Bennett said she included Patricia Blagojevich at the request of the owner, John H. Simpson, an investment banker who has donated $97,000 to Gov. Blagojevich’s campaign fund since 2002. […]
Simpson, reached by telephone at his California office, declined to comment. Before moving, he worked at a Chicago investment firm that also used to employ U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), a close ally of Gov. Blagojevich’s and the man who succeeded the governor in his seat in Congress. A check of state records indicates that neither Simpson nor his firm has any state contracts. […]
But the Tribune’s investigation into Patricia Blagojevich’s real estate dealings has documented a steady income — more than $200,000 — to the Blagojevich household from key political supporters, campaign fundraisers and state contractors since he was elected.
The problem for Mrs. Blagojevich in this particular instance is that she was belatedly added as a second agent. It just looks fishy.
Real estate is more about “who you know” than anything else. And who does Mrs. Blagojevich know? Well, she’s the daughter of a longtime and powerful alderman and the wife of a governor. That means she knows a ton of politicos. Unfortunately, some of those people may have used her to get to her husband, and then, of course, there’s the idle chatter around the campfire that the Blagojevich family was using the real estate business to take financial advantage of the governor’s position.
$200,000 over five years may seem like a lot of cash, but if they were selling out for that little I’d be surprised (although people have sold out for much less). Those commissions won’t even cover the legal bills.
Here’s the response from the governor’s office…
“No one — and I mean no one — has told us that she is under investigation, and there’s no reason she would be,” said Abby Ottenhoff in an e-mailed response to questions Thursday. “She has done nothing wrong.
Try to refrain from angry little “drive-by” blurts in comments. They annoy me and don’t move the discussion along. Thanks.
Obama’s showing [in South Carolina] has improved significantly among black voters. He now attracts 51% of the African-American vote in South Carolina while Clinton picks up just 27%. A month ago, the candidates were even in this important constituency […]
In the South Carolina survey, African-Americans constitute 49% of Likely Democratic Primary voters.
Let’s see… Could that February sage have been… Ummm… Me?
Next, you “experts” assume that just because viable, credible black candidates end up winning overwhelming majorities of black votes that polls currently showing Hillary Clinton leading Obama among African Americans are somehow important.
Wrong again.
In Illinois, at least, large numbers of black voters tend to take their time making up their minds. In political parlance, they ‘’break late.'’
Ten months before the March 2004 U.S. Senate primary (about where we are now before the Iowa caucuses), Obama’s own polls showed him winning just 34 percent of the black vote. About a month before the primary, African-American voters began ‘’breaking'’ in large numbers to his candidacy. As they began focusing on the campaign, black voters saw he was viable, liked his message and a significant percentage finally realized he was African American. He ended up winning just about all their votes.
This same pattern has been repeated time and time again during the past 25 years here. Harold Washington didn’t start off his campaign with the majority of black support against a white female with a huge war chest and the powers of patronage and incumbency, but he certainly ended that way.
Like Byrne, Hillary Clinton is almost universally known and has a strong record of backing issues important to many Democratic African-American voters. Obama is far less known. It’s perfectly natural that, right now, many black voters are siding with Clinton. But, if Obama’s candidacy remains viable through early next year, I’d bet that the vast majority of African-American voters will end up with him.
* Pretty much right on schedule, African-American voters are now breaking away from Clinton in a big way and are inching towards Obama in South Carolina - and it’s showing in the overall head-to-heads…
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of the race shows Clinton with 36% of the vote while Obama is the top choice for 34% of the state’s Likely Primary Voters. A month ago, Clinton had a ten-point advantage. In September, the former First Lady was up by thirteen points.
If Obama remains viable (that is, if he doesn’t get blown out by voters, the media or strange turns of events in Iowa and/or New Hampshire) you can expect this trend among black voters to accelerate as the Jan. 26th primary approaches. South Carolina is where the campaign changes. No longer will the focus be on self-important, lily white rural/suburban enclaves. Minority voters will will play a much larger role
Critique this assessment and share your thoughts on Obama’s candidacy to date.
* President’s mortgage plan leaving families in the cold
* Press Release: AG Madigan responds to what the federal interest rate freeze means to Illinois homeowners
The President’s plan would exclude homeowners who have fallen behind in their monthly payments – estimated to be about 22 percent of all subprime borrowers – and homeowners whose loans’ low introductory teaser rates are scheduled to reset to higher rates before Jan.1, 2008.
“The President’s plan seems to be premised on the faulty belief that America’s homeowners are primarily to blame for this epic crisis,” said Madigan. “In reality, our investigations have revealed that subprime lenders widely engaged in reckless lending practices that pushed borrowers into unaffordable loans. By excluding homeowners who have fallen behind on their payments, the resident’s plan gives the subprime mortgage industry a free pass for engaging in irresponsible conduct, leading to this crisis.”
* ACLU jumps into suit over moment of silence law for schools
“The law is unconstitutional,” ACLU Legal Director Harvey Grossman said after receiving permission from U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman to become a so-called friend of the court in the lawsuit.
Grossman said the ACLU would file “an exhaustive brief” with Gettleman providing the reasons why the law violates the Constitution.
A survey of several public universities found fewer than 300 students are taking advantage of the benefit this year, which is less than the more than 2,200 students who had been projected to qualify…
Illinois is among 10 states that have laws on the books allowing for cheaper, in-state tuition rates for students who are the children of undocumented immigrants.
In signing the measure into law in 2003, Gov. Rod Blagojevich said giving undocumented students equal footing in the education process will help more young people go on to “achieve their full potential.”
It appears Illinois is following a national trend when it comes to teens having babies. In what has been described as a “troubling reversal,” the nation’s teen birthrate rose 3 percent between 2005 and 2006. Preliminary figures from the Centers for Disease Control show the percentage of Illinois teens giving birth rose to 10 percent last year, up from 9.7 percent in 2005.
Both figures are a switch from recent years, in which the percentage has been steadily dropping.
* Mysterious candidate survives challenge to replace Hastert, will stay on ballot
The board offered no discussion before voting 6-0 to follow a hearing officer’s recommendation to strike the objections filed by two men in November.
Neither Dilger nor objectors Jon Zahm and Jeff Davis appeared during the brief hearing at the Thompson Center. Dilger did not respond to e-mails seeking comment on Thursday.
“There’s not much to say about it. I wasn’t going to take another trip to Chicago for it,” said Zahm, a Maple Park-based political consultant.
Davis, a paid consultant with Aurora dairy owner Jim Oberweis’ campaign, could not be reached for comment.
*** IMPORTANT UPDATE *** As I said twice below, don’t jump to too many conclusions here. I just spent some time on the phone with someone close to Joe Cari, and this AP story may seem groundbreaking at first, but maybe it ain’t.
Remember, Cari has already pled guilty and he’ll be testifying for the feds in Tony Rezko’s trial under oath. So, when I hear that there was nothing untowards about that meeting with Blagojevich (although there was, indeed, plenty that seems untowards about the alleged stuff that the governor and his pals did), then we should probably walk this AP story back a bit.
“Joe does not have a memory of whether he set the meting up. He thinks one of his law partners set it up. The meeting had to do with hospitals in Illinois. One of his partners represented a number of hospitals across the state, and he represented a handful of hospitals. The meeting was related to hospitals in the state. It had nothing to do with anything.”
I may have more in a bit. Just take a deep breath and watch the show as it plays out.
*** ANOTHER IMPORTANT UPDATE *** This is from Joe Cari’s spokesman. It’s quite the quote…
“There was a heavy interest in a period of time by the Blagojevich people to get Joe on the team to raise money. That recruitment effort - late 2003 and 2004 - was led by Tony Rezko, Chris Kelly, Stu Levine and Gov. Blagojevich. Joe politely declined every request, saying he had retired from politics.”
Interesting.
Although he is a Democrat, Cari had helped Jim Ryan’s 2002 campaign against Blagojevich. Levine, a close Jim Ryan pal, was probably instrumental in pointing Cari out as someone the Blagojevich crowd should bring into the fold.
———————————————-
*** 12:27 pm *** Obviously, this doesn’t look good, but let’s not jump to too many conclusions today…
Records show a Democratic fundraiser who pleaded guilty in a state pension scandal met with Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich just weeks before he attempted to shake down a firm seeking state business.
Blagojevich’s appointment calendar was reviewed by The Associated Press. It shows Joseph Cari met with the governor at his state office in Chicago on March 16th, 2004.
Cari admitted he attempted to pressure a firm in May of 2004 to pay a sham consulting fee before it could get state pension business. It was part of a scheme to raise campaign cash for a high-level officeholder.
Fifty-two-year-old Joe Cari was a behind-the-scenes political player who raised big bucks for democrats.
In a seventeen-page plea agreement, Cari admitted telling an investment firm that it had to hire a politically-connected consultant or else it would not get a multi-million dollar deal with the State Teachers Retirement System.
Cari told the feds he did that for his law firm’s client, the now-disgraced Stuart Levine. Then a pension board member, Levine’s now facing trial on two separate indictments, allegedly having stolen millions of dollars.
Cari said Levine told him: “A high-ranking Illinois public official/Public Official A” acting through two close associates was selecting consultants for the investment firms that appeared before the Teachers Pension Fund. Levine said this was part of a fundraising strategy by Public Official A and that Public Official A and his associates were going to pick law firms, investment banking firms, and consultants that would help Public Official A with campaign contributions.
Sources tell CBS 2 News they believe Public Official A is Governor Rod Blagojevich and the two associates are Blagojevich fundraisers Chris Kelly and Antoin Tony Rezko.
Right after the governor’s election, he assigned Kelly and Rezko to recruit and screen candidates for his cabinet, as well as hundreds of policy-making positions.
*** UPDATE 2 *** More background on Cari’s connections to Stu Levine, Chris Kelly and Rod Blagojevich from a column I wrote a while back…
Blagojevich’s role in all of these allegations - and they are still allegations - is still not totally clear. We do know that Levine paid to fly Blagojevich and his top people out to New York on two separate occasions for fundraising events. Also on the trip were admitted felon Joe Cari and Chris Kelly, who flatly denies he has ever done anything wrong, as has Cellini, as has Rezko.
The governor raised about $120,000 in campaign contributions on the first trip and a few weeks later the contributors got some big state contracts. The governor says this was all a coincidence.
There are a lot of coincidences in this administration. For instance, the governor initially claimed it was just a coincidence that two friends of Tony Rezko each ponied up $25,000 to Blagojevich’s campaign fund right around the time the governor appointed them to a state board that governs hospitals. Turns out, that board was more crooked than anything George Ryan was ever accused of. Stu Levine was reappointed to the board by the governor and then proceeded to cut all sorts of corrupt deals. Tony Rezko was also allegedly in on the scam at that board.
*** UPDATE 3 *** Also, you may recall, the alleged pension fund scheme wasn’t the only shadey bidness in which Cari claims he was involved with Blagojevich. Here’s another one of my newspaper columns…
Cari told prosecutors and Firm 4 that he had been through this sort of thing before with Public Official A [whom sources say is Blagojevich].
“Cari said that his private equity firm had agreed to hire a consultant in order to get funding from another State board.”
*** UPDATE 4 *** Cari was also an issue in a California campaign involving Democratic Comptroller Steve Westly. Here’s part of a script from a TV ad run by Westley’s opponent last year…
“This is Joe Cari,” the narrator intones. “He’s a corrupt Chicago businessman who gave Steve Westly thousands in campaign contributions.”
Westly’s picture appears, and the narrator continues: “Westly then steered public pension funds to Joe Cari’s investment company….
UPDATE - One of Cari’s advisors just told me that Westley’s opponent was eventually embarrassed by the ads because it turned out that he, himself, had hounded Cari for contributions and fundraising help for months.
Obviously, having a record of a meeting with this figure is not something that seems all that favorable to Gov. Blagojevich. But, again, let’s not jump to too many conclusions today. Thanks.
*** UPDATE 5 *** One other thing to remember here. Cari has promised to cooperate with the feds, so it’s highly likely that he’ll be testifying in Tony Rezko’s upcoming federal trial. We could find out a lot more then about what went on in that alleged meeting with Blagojevich. [See the update at the top for more on this point.]
* Purchase tickets here for the December 16th performance of “No-El, Or How the Blagojegrinch Stole Christmas” - Our Capitol Fax holiday party
* Also, thanks for all your kind words in yesterday’s QOTD. It’s good to know that you’re concerned.
* And another thing as long as we’re talking about reminders.
I’ve been updating my YouTube site a lot lately, so go check it out. Two of the videos added today are about the upcoming statewide smoking ban and whether Illinois should hold a Constitutional Convention.
I also have indivdual playlists on various topics…
Sneed hears Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart will announce a crackdown on illegal gambling today stemming from raids Wednesday on suburban taverns.
To wit: The raids were on taverns that allegedly made illegal payouts to patrons gambling on video poker machines. The probe is in part the result of a desperate family who claims a loved one lost $60,000 on illegal video poker this year alone.
Upshot: Watch for Dart to urge the General Assembly to oppose casino expansion in Illinois.
* Question: Have you ever played video poker at a tavern? And, do you think such gambling should be legalized? Explain.
Blagojevich, who was roundly criticized last week for attending a hockey game in Chicago while the Illinois House was defeating a transit bill in Springfield, points out that Daley is traveling to Italy this week instead of joining the fight for a transit bill.
“It would be very helpful to have the mayor help us during crunch time to get the legislature to pass a solution for the Chicago Transit Authority,” the governor said.
While a good point, it’s probably not the best idea Blagojevich has ever had. Daley said he’d be back soon and didn’t expect anything to happen between now and then.
* Blagojevich went on to criticize Speaker Madigan…
Daley’s trip and Madigan’s refusal to attend high-level summit meetings is infuriating the governor, who launched into an expletive-filled tirade against the mayor and the speaker after ABC7’s taped interview. Blagojevich said he is wondering why everybody criticizes every move he makes while the other leaders seemingly get a pass.
Again, another good point, but it looks awful whiney. [Emphasis added]
* After tossing hizzoner to the wolves, the governor hopes to get his cooperation…
“I intend to call Mayor Daley (Thursday) and ask him to go with me to Springfield early next week to lobby the legislature and get this done,” Blagojevich said. “I hope to have a long conversation with him (Thursday) about this.”
* Apparently, the guv did interviews with three of the four “major” network affiliates. No such luck for Channel 2, which did the big expose on him last week that’s gotten Blagojevich into so much trouble. Fox News Chicago also scored an interview. Watch their story here.
In that story, Daley clearly states that transit funding should not be linked to gaming expansion. But he did say during his press conference yesterday that capital projects are very important. You can listen at WBEZ or below…
[audio:cityroom_20071205_newsintern_Chic.mp3]
* More stories, compiled by Paul…
* Daley demands stop to CTA doomsday merry-go-round
* Daley, union pushing for a transit fix by year’s end
Illinois Senate President Emil Jones assured a Chicago civic group that lawmakers want to bail out the Chicago Transit Authority.
But Jones says lawmakers shouldn’t be blamed for the CTA’s financial crisis, which he says was caused by years of mismanagement.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From an IL GOP press release…
In light of yesterday’s news report that Rod Blagojevich launched into an “expletive filled tirade” against Mayor Daley and Speaker Madigan over the never-ending transit crisis, the Illinois Republican Party today is launching a statewide soap drive to help clean up the Governor’s language — and the mess in Springfield. […]
All Illinoisans are invited to send as much soap as they choose to the Illinois Republican Party offices in Springfield or Chicago. At the end of the drive, the soap will be donated to local homeless shelters. The soap drive will run through December 20
The governor’s recent raiding of funds has emptied the state’s Coal Development Fund and Southern Illinois legislators believe the money won’t be seen again this year.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich used $10.2 million from the coal fund as part of a $27 million bailout of the Chicago Transit Authority and the Regional Transit Authority in the Chicago area last month. Susan Hofer, spokeswoman for the governor’s office of management and budget, said the movement of funds would not impact any current projects or programs. […]
The state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity has distributed more than $5 million in grants from the coal fund in each of the past two fiscal years, and Blagojevich set aside $17 million from the fund in June 2006 as part of an incentive program to attract the FutureGen project, a zero-emissions power plant. Two central Illinois cities, Mattoon and Tuscola, are among four finalists for the plant’s construction site against two Texas sites.
* And here’s another problem. The state collects a host of local taxes and then distributes them back to local governments (after taking a cut in most cases). But some of those checks haven’t been cut lately and that’s causing discomfort…
[The city of Bloomington] is waiting to receive more than $1 million in payments from the state for its portion of the income tax, but the checks have not been sent by Comptroller Dan Hynes’ office.
With the city’s cash reserves already strapped, city Finance Director Brian Barnes said the city will have a hard time paying its bills.
“We could run into a major cash flow problem if this keeps up,” Barnes said.
The City Council already has been struggling to cut a $3 million deficit from its $75 million proposed budget for next year.
The reason for the delay? There’s usually a cash-flow pinch in December, but it’s much worse this year, so the state is passing down its problems to the locals. Wonderful.
* You may recall that one of the items that Gov. Blagojevich vetoed from the state budget was operating cash for public television and radio. While not the sole source of WTVP Peoria’s current crisis, that veto didn’t help matters much. Bank of America is threatening to foreclose on a big loan next month and sell the station off in pieces…
Starting tonight, Peoria’s public television station wants your support like never before.
WTVP-TV Channel 47 needs $6.9 million - or enough, they hope, to satisfy Bank of America - by Jan. 15.
“They’ve indicated to us unless they’re paid they will put everything up for sale in one fell swoop or sell it in pieces, whichever is to their advantage,” WTVP president and CEO Chet Tomczyk said. “In which case, we go dark.”
*** UPDATE 1 *** From Comptroller Dan Hynes’ website comes this dire warning…
All state agencies, employees, state vendors and payees should be advised that the current delays affecting payments out of the state’s General Revenue Fund (GRF) are expected to continue and likely lengthen throughout the remainder of calendar year 2007 and into calendar year 2008.
Under optimal revenue conditions, or for payments from non-GRF funds, the Office of the Comptroller (IOC) can issue a warrant within 2-4 days after a proper voucher is presented to our office. However currently, substantially more GRF bills or vouchers have been submitted to the IOC than incoming revenues or cash on hand permits to be processed on a timely basis We do not anticipate that there will be sufficient GRF revenues to significantly reduce current payment backlogs for the near future.
Please note that while agency payrolls should not be impacted by these conditions, the majority of other payments out of the General Revenue Fund will continue to be delayed due to the lack of sufficient and/or timely revenues. At this time, these delays are in excess of 30 business days and are expected to increase over the next several months.
The state of Illinois is $1.6 million behind in paying the city of Springfield its cut of state income taxes, a problem that is growing statewide, according to Alan Henry, a spokesman for state Comptroller Dan Hynes.
“It’s about insufficient receipts to meet the state’s obligations,” Henry said. “Historically around now, the volume of bills exceeds revenue. That’s exacerbated by what appears to be a slowing of receipts.
* Democrats have been paranoid for weeks that Cindy Ardis-Jenkins was merely a placeholder in the race to replace state Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Perioa). Schock is running for Congress and is therefore abandoning his House seat. Ardis-Jenkins is the sister of Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis. Local Dems have been convinced that if Schock loses the congressional primary race then Ardis-Jenkins would bow out of the state Rep. race. That may paranoia may be unfounded considering this very interesting development…
[Peoria] Mayor Jim Ardis pledged his support for 18th Congressional District candidate and Heartland Partnership CEO Jim McConoughey on Wednesday, labeling him as the “most experienced and proven leader” to fill the vacancy.
Ardis, who serves as mayor for the largest city in the district, is asking those who voted for him to vote for McConoughey in the Feb. 5 primary.
“Jim McConoughey is by far the best choice among the three and understands what role our congressman needs to have in this community,” Ardis said in a news release.
Despite all his early missteps and the fact that retiring Congressman Ray LaHood has so far not endorsed him, plus the mayor of the district’s largest city backing one of his two opponents, and the fact that such a young candidate doesn’t even appear to have a campaign website yet, Schock should probably still be considered the frontrunner. He’s been on the air in a big way with well-produced TV ads, for instance, and he seems by far to be the candidate who will do whatever it takes to win when crunch time comes.
* Meanwhile, Fako & Associates (an Illinois polling firm) has a must-read post over at Illinoize…
Around this time of year you’ll start to notice newspapers reporting “re-elect” numbers in their headlines and press releases and fundraising memos from candidates stating Congressman XX has a re-elect number of only XX% (Always way below 50%). […]
Beware of these numbers when reported on their own, without other supporting information.
“Re-elect” questions, in our experience, usually reflect suppressed levels of support for candidates and don’t show a true status of an incumbent’s re-election standing. For example, in 2006 we polled in a Midwestern congressional district for a prospective challenger. The incumbent had a very low (26%) re-elect number, but that same official had nearly a 50% positive job approval rating and a personal favorability rating that was twenty points higher than the re-elect assessment. We’ve seen similar discrepancies between re-elect questions and other incumbent assessment items in our surveys and other polls throughout the years.
The “Re-Elect” question, in its various forms, should never be interpreted on its own as the tell-tale sign of an incumbent’s prospects. It should only be factored in the evaluation when it is accompanied by related questions whose data also support its conclusion.
Keep that in mind when you read upcoming poll stories. Go read the whole thing. It’s worth a minute of your time.
* This isn’t exactly a congressional story, but it involves a congressman….
Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. teamed up with organized labor earlier this year to help send his wife and several other newcomers to the City Council. But he resisted union pressure to drop support for longtime ally Howard Brookins Jr., even though Brookins, the 21st Ward alderman, was a labor target for opposing the big-box minimum-wage ordinance.
“I’ve known Howard Brookins all my life,” Jackson said before aldermanic runoff elections in April. “I’m not going to lose my friendship with him over a political issue.”
But Brookins has just found out that friendship doesn’t always translate into political support.
The alderman is now fighting five others for the Democratic nomination for Cook County state’s attorney, but he’ll have to campaign without the endorsement of Jackson. Brookins says his old friend told him recently that he’ll be supporting another candidate, most likely Cook County commissioner Larry Suffredin, because the congressman refuses to back anyone allied with Cook County Board president Todd Stroger or commissioner William Beavers. Beavers is now running against Jackson’s wife, alderman Sandi Jackson, for Democratic committeeman of the Seventh Ward.
* More endorsements for Congressman Lipinski’s opponents…
Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool endorsed Mark Pera, an assistant county prosecutor from Western Springs. Claypool, who has positioned himself as a reformer, said Pera would be “an independent leader.”
In the southwest suburbs, Palos Hills Mayor Jerry Bennett claimed that several dozen of his suburban mayoral colleagues were backing him. The list included Ed Zabrocki of Tinley Park, who confirmed he’s backing Bennett. A couple others didn’t call back today.
* More congressional stories….
* Double election, double the work - New petitions needed to replace Hastert
* Huckabee gets last spot on ballot for Illinois GOP primary
* FCC chair gets Congressional scold - Martin takes heat for rushing ownership vote
* Chicago Public Radio: Green party looking to gain credibility through Illinois primary
*** UPDATE 1 *** I somehow missed Bernie’s column today. As I told you above, Aaron Schock is already running TV ads. One of the claims in the ad I’ve seen is that he “Passed 13 bills.” This isn’t an accurate count on several levels. First, Bernie found, Schock actually passed 22 bills out of the House, but ony 13 of those made it to the governor’s desk. And then there’s this…
Five of the bills that ultimately were sent to the governor were originally introduced by Schock. The other eight were Senate bills that were sponsored by Schock when they arrived in the House. […]
“When I say I passed a bill, that means carrying it through the House,” he said. “What I can control as a state rep in the House chamber is to get my colleagues” to approve the legislation. “Those are the terms we’ve used in the last four years” to describe how many bills he’s passed.
That spin may be open to interpretation, but it’s definitely not completely honest. And there’s more…
Of the 13 Schock bills that passed both houses, the votes on all but one were unanimous or nearly unanimous, indicating they were not the kind of emotion-filled issues that make for long debates
I’m positive that the Peoria Journal-Star will mention these discrepancies.
“It’s probably one of the most reformed child welfare systems in the nation,” said Erwin McEwen, who was officially appointed to the agency’s top job Wednesday, after more than a year as acting director.
Now, McEwen said, it is time to look hard at how the reforms are playing out, and find the weak links in the system. He has spent much of the last year investigating child deaths, poring through records to figure out who allowed it to happen, and look for patterns of breakdown
* Durbin pushes plan to help foreclosure crisis in Illinois
* Editorial: Officials need to put I-80 widening on the front burner
By 2030, New Lenox’s population will grow fivefold and top 100,000, according to figures from Chicago-area urban planners. Frankfort’s population will increase more than sixfold to 67,000. Mokena’s will double to 27,000. Orland Park and Tinley Park combined will have more than 130,000 residents. And Homer Glen, a town that didn’t exist the last time the United States took an official census, will have more than 40,000 people, according to projections.
* Clout Corner: Trucking magnate who swore off city business gets $57 million snow removal deal
Three years ago, when the Sun-Times revealed that Bridgeport trucking magnate Michael Tadin’s companies took in the most money from the scandal-plagued Hired Truck Program, Tadin said he was done working for the city.
But now Tadin’s M.A.T. Leasing has won a city contract for “emergency rental of heavy-duty snow removal equipment” — $57.3 million over five years.
