I was looking forward to heading to Chicago on Sunday to spend a few days checking out the local elections there, but that’s now a no-go. The House has called a meeting of the Committee of the Whole for Tuesday afternoon to discuss electric rates. Bummer for me.
Anyway, have a great weekend and if you haven’t collectively burned yourselves out from posting hundreds of comments this week, head on over to Illinoize, where the party never ends.
The coverage and analysis in the national media of how Obama’s support is supposedly shaping up in the black community has irked me for weeks. So, I decided to literally send the pundits a memo via my Sun-Times column…
Memo to all national political journalists, columnists, pundits, etc.: Please, get a clue.
Perhaps because I live in and cover the politics of a state which has elected two African-American U.S. senators, a black mayor of our largest city and a black secretary of state who four years ago carried all 102 counties, I find your coverage of the ‘’race issue'’ in the presidential contest to be utterly devoid of insight and context. I’ll try to fill you in.
First, just because a prominent African-American leader endorses Hillary Clinton, that doesn’t mean Barack Obama’s campaign has suffered a mortal wound. It may seem unusual to you that some black leaders aren’t supporting a black candidate, but, take it from me, this happens all the time. […]
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.
Go read the whole thing for plenty of examples, context and more analysis, then come back here and discuss.
*** UPDATE *** Not all the national coverage is mindless. The Wall Street Journal has a pretty good article on Obama’s time at the Statehouse.
…a lawmaker of lofty, liberal rhetoric who nonetheless pragmatically accepted bipartisan compromises that won over foes — and sometimes left supporters dissatisfied. […]
As for sharp elbows, the scraps for which Mr. Obama is remembered — including near-fisticuffs once on the Senate floor — were with fellow black Democrats, some of whom were resentful of his ambitions and his successes. […]
When the legislature revisited the ethics issue in 2003, Mr. Jones was among those who resisted changes Mr. Obama promoted. “He wouldn’t buck Emil Jones,” Ms. Canary said. The Senate and House agreed to a weaker bill.
*** UPDATE 2 *** By the way, I was there during that fight with Hendon. I thought this incident looked familiar, but I couldn’t remember the details. It all came back to me when a former PAR intern sent me an e-mail this afternoon reminding me that he was there in the press box with me.
As he remembers it (and I’m pretty sure he’s right), Obama had voted against one of Hendon’s amendments for the South Side. Then Obama spoke in favor of a different amendment for the region. Hendon rose to complain during debate.
Afterwards, the two talked, and Obama wagged his finger in Hendon’s face. Well, Hendon didn’t like that much so he swatted Obama’s hand away. There was a throwdown and then they were separated.
(S)upporters of a proposed statewide indoor smoking ban say that aside from the health benefits of clearing second-hand smoke from the air, it can quell competition issues among smoking and smoke-free establishments.
The plan took its first step toward becoming law Wednesday when a legislative committee approved it by an 8-0 vote.
But, Wednesday’s committee vote doesn’t guarantee success when the full House or Senate debates the idea.
In the committee, for example, state Rep. Mike Boland voted ‘’yes.'’ But, he said he may not support the measure when it reaches the full House. […]
Among the coalition of health groups lined up to support the measure was Barb Nation, a Springfield resident who says second-hand smoke gave her a tumor. A part of her lung was removed.
As I noted below, just because a bill passes a committee doesn’t mean it will pass (the often-goofy Boland is a perfect example here).
With that in mind, here’s the question: Would you prefer a statewide smoking ban to allowing individual localities to impose their own bans?
Just how tough do we really want to get on teenagers? One legislator wants them to display the equivalent of a scarlet letter on their cars when driving.
Getting a driver’s permit or a license is big news for a teenager - and one Peoria lawmaker wants to make sure everyone hears about it.
Under legislation introduced by Republican state Rep. David Leitch, R-Peoria, any Illinois driver younger than 18 who has a learner’s permit or graduated driver’s license would have to attach a sign to their vehicle indicating that they’re a new driver.
The sign would have to be up every time a minor takes the wheel until he or she gets an unrestricted license at age 18.
The proposal, approved by a House committee Thursday, originated with one of Leitch’s constituents, Metamora resident Amy DeFreitas.
According to the article, some other countries have similar laws.
And for those of you unfamiliar with Statehouse ways, just because a bill passes a House committee doesn’t mean it will pass the full House. It’s pretty easy to get a bill out of committee in that chamber. But reporters have to do something with their time, so we get lots of stories (and blog posts) this time of year about unusual legislation like this one.
A battle of the titans is looming at the Statehouse, with AT&T (through its front group which advertises here) and the big cable companies squaring off.
A bipartisan group of state lawmakers on Thursday touted a proposal they say would save money for Illinois’ cable television subscribers.
But opponents of House Bill 1500 do not believe those claims. Gary Mack, a spokesman for the Cable Television and Communications Association, called the plan “a Trojan horse†and “absolutely terrible legislation.â€
The debate figures to shape up as a showdown between traditional telecommunications businesses, specifically AT&T, and cable TV companies. Because of technology advances in recent years, the two industries overlap in some areas, such as high-speed Internet service. […]
At a state Capitol news conference, Brosnahan said that cable rates have increased by 93 percent nationwide in the past 10 years. In Illinois, he added, they rise by about 7 percent a year. […]
Mack rejected that assertion, saying: “We already have competition. They are able to get into any market that they choose.â€
I haven’t written much about this yet, but I plan to soon. Also, there’s more to the story than the above article reports, and I’ll try to post some stuff in the subscriber-only section.
I’m not sure what sort of debate we’ll have on this, but I suppose you could talk about your cable bills and the benefits of competition. Remember, though, it’s not as simple as it looks. If it was, AT&T wouldn’t be ready to spend a fortune to pass it.
* No board vote means Chief is still U. of I. symbol: says trustee
* Neil Steinberg: U of I made mess with Chief Illiiniwek
* Stroger wins $3 billion budget battle: it appeared Stroger had locked up 10 of the 17 votes necessary, including winning the support of Republicans Peter Silvestri, Gregg Goslin and Liz Gorman, along with surprise support from Mike Quigley.
* Illinois’ campaign finance laws are nation’s worst says national advocacy group
“Illinois is one of the only places in America where literally anyone can walk in the door and spend whatever they want to influence the outcome of an election. The system is almost an open invitation to corruption,” said Suzanne Novak, lead author of the report.
* Forum to discuss possible gender bias at state agencies
* Campaign worker calls Gorecki voice mails a “shock”
* Audit report call for overhaul of Chicago Regional Transportation Authority
But as the General Assembly prepares to address what the RTA and the three transit agencies portray strictly as a funding crisis, the audit said more money alone would not remedy many core problems.
* Alderman Ted Matlak’s 32nd Ward opponent has gone negative…
* Ald. Burt Natarus has also gone negative…
* But SEIU has gone negative in a big way on Natarus…
* And more from SEIU on Natarus…
* I’m told that Natarus had five mailers hit on the same day. Probably not a smart move. I have many of the mailers, but I’m too busy today to upload them. Hopefully I’ll post them tomorrow.
* 50th Ward candidate Naisy Dolar talks about her campaign…
Under the proposed legislation sponsored by 27th District state Sen. Matt Murphy, all public libraries and schools in Illinois would have to prohibit access to sites such as My Space, Facebook and personal blogs from computers.
The proposal, which Murphy’s office says is the only one in the nation that calls for a complete ban on these sites, has been a hot topic since it was introduced Feb. 9. It has since been referred to the rules committee.
Murphy’s live online discussion will be held 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday at his blog, senmattmurphy.blogspot.com. The freshman senator will answer questions people have on his bill.
Be there or be square.
* Environmentalists are near a meltdown over plans to recycle nuclear fuel an hour southwest of Chicago
* ArchPundit thinks the story on Daley paying $100 to students for election day work was seriously flawed.
* “Today, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law released a new report finding that Illinois’s campaign finance system is broken and badly in need of reform.” [From a press release]
* Alone among major Midwestern states, Illinois places no restrictions on campaign contributions, allowing unlimited donations from any source.
* Disclosure laws, supposedly the bulwark against corruption instead of contribution limits, are easily evaded.
* The State Board of Elections has been hamstrung by partisan gridlock and has failed to enforce the law. Wary of conducting investigations and resolving cases that could have political ramifications, the Board has signaled that campaign finance laws can be evaded without repercussion.
* The report also finds that Illinois is the only state in the Midwest that has no public campaign finance system of any kind. Under a public financing system candidates agree to limit campaign spending in exchange for campaign financing provided by the state – either through matching funds or an outright grant.
A Chicago Democrat wants Illinois to be the second state to legalize gay marriages.
State Rep. Greg Harris plans to introduce legislation today that will permit same-sex couples to get married. Although four states recognize civil unions among gays, only Massachusetts provides for gay marriages.
“It would extend the same rights and obligations of marriage to same-sex couples in Illinois as are previously enjoyed, or not enjoyed, by heterosexual couples,” Harris said. “If you look at recent polls … people of Illinois very thoroughly understand that same-sex couples deserve the same rights and benefits” as heterosexual couples.
David Smith, executive director of the Illinois Family Institute, disagreed.
Smith’s group collected over 300,000 signatures to put an anti gay marriage question on the November ballot. The group didn’t have enough valid signatures, however.
Anyway, to the question: Could you support this idea? Could you support a variation on this proposal, like civil unions? Why or why not?
And, please, keep it civil. Over the top stuff will be dealt with harshly.
I’ve been telling subscribers lately that Ameren’s gigantic electric rate increase last month is causing political heartburn all over downstate Illinois.
After paying an average bill of $223 a month for the past two years, Huckelberry still is having a hard time believing his latest Ameren electric bill after the rate freeze was lifted was for $870 - a hike of nearly 300 percent.
Convinced that Illinois is in the midst of an “electric rate crisis,” a group of Republican state lawmakers on Wednesday said Gov. Rod Blagojevich ought to schedule a summit to help consumers with their dramatically higher power bills.
Some electricity bills - especially for all-electric households - have more than doubled since a 10-year rate freeze expired at the beginning of 2007.
At a state Capitol news conference with more than a dozen fellow Republicans, Rep. Bill Black of Danville accused the Democratic governor of failing to show leadership on the electricity issue.
Black said the proposed “electric rate relief summit” should include Blagojevich, the four legislative leaders and the chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission, which is the state’s utility regulator.
That’s the usual Springfield game. Punt the hot potato to someone else.
Meanwhile, down in Carbondale, the Southern Illinoisan has been hot and heavy on the rate hike beat, with columnist Jim Muir penning three columns in the past ten days or so about the issue. His latest takes Senate President Emil Jones to task…
A few days after the Nov. 7, 2006, election the Illinois House passed a measure to extend the rate freeze but Senate President Emil Jones refused to call the legislation for a vote. The Senate then passed some bogus legislation calling for a 42 percent rate hike scattered over three years. The legislation passed by the Senate looked like it was written by Ameren and ComEd and it was never called for a vote in the House. In the end, as we all found out when we received our electric bill this month, the General Assembly did nothing and the freeze was lifted.
As I was poring over the various campaign contributions I found it interesting that during a three-week period before Senate President Jones sat on his hands and did nothing to help Illinois residents, Ameren contributed $25,000 to “Citizens for Emil Jones” and another $10,000 to the “Illinois Senate Democrat Fund.”
Am I saying that Jones took a kickback? Certainly not. But, I am saying that those contributions combined with a do-nothing General Assembly created an appearance of impropriety. I challenge anybody, including Sen. Jones, to debate me that it didn’t. In my view this single issue has exposed Illinois politics for what it is - a land where “pay-to-play” has taken precedence over common sense, logic, decency and simply doing the right thing.
[Emphasis added]
One of the hottest spots of opposition to Ameren’s rate hikes is the St. Louis Metro East area. Ameren is beginning to respond to the crisis by hiring a longtime St. Louis TV anchor as its VP for public relations. That won’t be enough, however.
As if being hit with skyrocketing utility prices was not enough, more than 20,000 Illinois residents may also become unemployed due to electric rate hikes by Ameren and ComEd, says a study released Monday by the Citizens Utility Board.
But individual households aren’t the only ones suffering electric bill sticker shock. Illinois’ 93rd District Rep. Jil Tracy says that a number of communities in her district got big bills.
“Likewise I’ve heard from many municipalities–towns, very small towns, which have very small budgets. And they certainly did not anticipate these kinds of increases,'’ said Tracy. “I mean, some of them are looking at more than 300 percent increases for the streets lights and the like. And it’s an ongoing expense that’s vital to public safety.”
Right now, this is the biggest story in Downstate, and it’s political dynamite for all state legislators.
In light of the 2000 electoral debacle, some state lawmakers want Illinois and Missouri to join a movement in which states would agree to give all their electoral votes to the nation’s popular vote-getter in the presidential race.
The idea is to make sure the candidate who gets the most popular votes nationally also wins the election. […]
“It’s one man, one vote,” [the IL House sponsor of a similar bill last year Rep. Tom Holbrook said.] “You can muddy the water all you want. If you think every voter is equal, then you support this.”
Supporters of popular-vote measures point to the 2000 presidential victory of George W. Bush over popular-vote winner Al Gore. After a messy election dispute in Florida that went to the Supreme Court, Bush won a majority in the U.S. Electoral College. That group of electors, set up by the Constitution, cast ballots based on the popular vote within individual states. Their vote trumps the popular vote, and in 2000 it gave the election to Bush.
However, the new system being proposed would come with its own potential pitfall: A state could be forced to give all its electoral votes to a candidate who lost in that state.
Today one of Alderman Berny Stone’s supporters called and told me that he was going to “firebomb” our office. When I asked him if he was threatening us, he said that he’ll “do whatever it takes to keep Bernard Stone in office” and reiterated his intention to “firebomb” the office. I hung up and called the police.
The bomb squad came and checked out the place and took a police report. While it was probably just some idiot running his mouth with no intention to do much more than that, I was not about to take any chances.
This is the same person who called on Feb. 16th after repeatedly sending us emails saying that Greg Brewer “had a lot of nerve to run against Bernard Stone”.
Arenda Troutman (20th) and Howard Brookins (21st) are believed to be the only aldermen taking sides against Daley, the favorite in Tuesday’s election. The fact that Troutman and Brookins chose Walls over Dorothy Brown makes the endorsement even more surprising.
* Alderman complains of spliced youtube video showing drinking & driving
* Daley to pay college students $100 for election day help
* Ex Daley foe, Del Valle, now an integral part of mayor’s ticket:
“Given the changing political dynamics in the city, this was a good time for the mayor to reach out to me,” del Valle said. “I’ve evolved too. I’m more of a policy person than when I started. One thing you need to learn is to be a consensus builder.”
* No fines issued against Villa Park president’s party
* Pradel And Krause Endorsed By Daily Herald In Naperville Mayoral Primary
[I’ll post Mayor Daley’s newest TV ad later this morning.]
On the eve of his biggest day as Cook County Board president, Todd Stroger took to name-calling of elected officials he says have whined too much about having to cut their budgets. State’s Attorney Richard Devine and Sheriff Tom Dart are “prima donnas” who have complained about cuts on “just about every talk show,” Stroger said Wednesday.
* Daley’s Crosstown Expressway vision includes only trucks and a CTS lane: One day after House Speaker Michael J. Madigan (D-Chicago) put the Crosstown chip on the table in the game of legislative poker, Daley piled on with a more costly and elaborate proposal.
