Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Thursday, Dec 1, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

I have one big quibble with this piece from the Hotline Blog, which I’ll discuss after the excerpt:

Two campaign sources tell the Hotline that it looks very likely that Tammy Duckworth (D), a triple amputee who sustained critical injuries as a Black Hawk pilot in the war in Iraq, will be running in the IL-06 race against state Sen. Peter Roskam (R). […]

The district borders Emanuel’s — and he views this race as a key chance to pick up a seat that GOPer Henry Hyde has held since 1974. It also borders Speaker Dennis Hastert’s (R) district, as well. Assuming Duckworth enters, this could easily be one of the most competitive and compelling House matchups — a talented, aspiring Republican state senator against a genuine war hero — with members of both parties’ leadership right next door.

The district leans Republican, but it’s clearly a swing district that Dems can pick up. Obama won easily here, and Bush only won with 53% of the vote in ‘04. Duckworth’s policy views are largely a mystery. But she is likely to take a more favorable view of the war in Iraq than some of the current Dem leadership in the House.

As a guest of Sen. Dick Durbin for President Bush’s 2005 State of the Union Address, she said: “Getting to see this ritual of democracy in person tonight is not only a fantastic experience, it really brings home what we were over in Iraq fighting for — this country and the freedoms that go with it.”

Duckworth can’t talk about the war because she hasn’t been released yet, but I don’t think anyone should read too much into this yet. We’ll know soon.

21 Comments

Trouble for Mike Jacobs?

Thursday, Dec 1, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Bernie Schoenburg writes that the Senate Repubs are looking for a candidate against state Sen. Mike Jacobs.

The three GOP candidates for U.S. House from the 17th Congressional District have been approached by Illinois Senate Republican leaders to consider switching gears and running against state Sen. MIKE JACOBS, D-East Moline.

Jacobs was named to the seat to replace his father, former Sen. DENNY JACOBS, in February. […]

â€œHeâ€™s in an appointed position,â€ said PATTY SCHUH, spokeswoman for Senate GOP Leader FRANK WATSON of Greenville. â€œAnd we do not have a shortage of candidates willing to take on Democrats across the state because no one likes the direction this state is going.â€

23 Comments

Today at Illinoize…

Thursday, Dec 1, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Grand Old Partisan on the upcoming GOP primary.

David Morrison (of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform), writes about a new Connecticut law.

Jill Stanek is disappointed with Aaron Schock.

The Dude writes about JBT & GHR.

The Illinois Shadow (one of my faves) is back and posting at Illinoize!

And a whole lot more. Get yourselves over there.

Comments Off

Question of the day

Thursday, Dec 1, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

How much benefit do you think there will be from Jim Edgar’s chairmanship of Judy Baar Topinka’s gubernatorial campaign? Explain.

UPDATE: Comments closed. Today has made me realize that I need to get my new website up and running. That way, I’ll be able to ban certain words and phrases as well as ban certain idiots from posting and/or even accessing the site, as well as track them down much more easily so I can deal with them on a face-to-face basis.

Thanks for making me work after hours you handful of clowns. Very much appreciated and I’m soooo sure I will be much more amenable to your side of the argument now.

Not.

Also, if you don’t like the way this site is edited, please, by all means, go somewhere else.

76 Comments

A front group?

Thursday, Dec 1, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Last week, I saw a long comment thread over at IlliniPundit’s blog that made me curious.

It seems that the website for SaveOurPensions.org was designed by one Edward Marshall, which also happens to be the name of a Senate Republican staffer. Was there a connection, a commenter wanted to know.

Save Our Pensions describes itself as “a growing coalition of pension system members, taxpayers and concerned legislators â€“ legislators who voted against the pension raid â€“ who are working for real and meaningful changes to protect future benefits and assure that future generations will not be driven into bankruptcy to pay for todayâ€™s excesses.”

Among other things, the group has a petition demanding that the second year of the pension skim be halted.

The organization has sent out a ton of e-mails to university employees in the Champaign area, according to some of IlliniPundit’s commenters.

A commenter claiming to be from Save Our Pensions wrote in IP”s comment section, “To date, over 1,000 individuals have taken the time to sign and return our petitions. We appreciate the many individuals who have gone to the trouble to do so.” The commenter also admitted to sending thousands of unsolicited e-mails “to those who we feel will be interested.” The commenter did not divulge where or how the organization obtained the e-mail addresses or its funding.

As it turns out, Save Our Pensions’ Ed Marshall is also the Senate Republicans’ Ed Marshall, according to a spokesperson for Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson. The spokesperson also confirmed that the SGOPs had given Save Our Pensions a little startup money, “maybe less than $100 for PO Box rental” out of campaign funds. The spokesperson denied that the organization was a “front group.” The pension skim was passed without a single Republican vote in either chamber and the House and Senate Repubs have been complaining about it ever since.

Marshall also runs his own web consulting firm. I haven’t been able to reach him yet, but maybe he’ll see this and contact me to explain exactly how Save our Pensions is being funded and how its money is being spent and whether any of its culled lists are being shared or sold.

Stay tuned.

41 Comments

Another gas tax holiday proposal

Friday, Apr 29, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

WBBM NewsRadio has been all over the gas price story, even adding a brief feature that encourages motorists to call in and report which stations have the lowest prices.

So, this looks almost like a tie-in story to their promotional feature.

Will the Illinois legislature pull through with relief from high gas prices? […]

Lawmakers in the Illinois House and Senate are eyeing ways to try to give motorists relief from high gas prices.

State Sen. Steve Rauschenberger (R-Elgin) says heâ€™s eying either a gas sales tax holiday, capping the tax, or rolling the tax back, and working one of these ideas into the Fiscal Year 2006 budget.

Both Rauschenberger and State Rep. David Reis (RICE) (R-Willow Hill) say the state is making more money off the gasoline sales tax than originally budgeted because prices are higher than expected. […]

State Rep. Mike Boland (D-East Moline) says heâ€™d make a push for a gas sales tax holiday, but he doesnâ€™t think the governor would support it.

If the state eliminated the tax now it would cost $45 million a month. That reason alone is why a spokeswoman for the governorâ€™s office says it wonâ€™t happen this legislative session.

32 Comments

Question of the day

Friday, Apr 29, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Very busy day ahead of me today. Need to change my drivers license, have phone and cable installed in the new house, check my storage locker, pick up the moving truck and drive north. So, I doubt I’ll be posting anything.

I’ve been getting this question a lot this week, so I’ll post it here. Should I require that people choose a nom de plume when they post comments to eliminate all of the posts from “anonymous”? People could still keep their true identities secret, but requiring user names would allow us to more easily follow a conversation thread.

I’d especially like to hear from the people who post as “anonynmous.”

UPDATE: SBC showed up early, but I’m still waiting on the cable guy. So, I killed a little time by reading your comments on this post.

The debate has already produced one result. I’ve added timestamps to the comments, so people can now refer to, for instance, “anonymous 8:30am.” The change should make it easier to follow the thread. I’m still undecided about requiring user names, however.

UPDATE 2: I’ve decided to continue to allow anonymous posting for now. But I strongly encourage everyone to pick a screen name. It’s no big deal and very easy to do.

64 Comments

Maybe not

Thursday, Apr 28, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

All the hooplah about the Third Chicago Airport progress may be premature.

State Senate Majority Leader Debbie Halvorson and Will County Executive Larry Walsh have both told 1340 WJOL News that what was widely reported in media outlets earlier this week about Congressman Jesse Jackson Junior perhaps winning his Peotone airport battle with Will County is extremely misleading. This was after the Illinois Departmnet of Transportation forwarded a tenative plan to the Federal Aviation Administration. […]

Both say that all that was agreed upon was the “technical plan,” concerning the length of a single runway and the number of gates.

Walsh, in fact, says that most of the ideas agreed upon actually came from the IDOT, rather than Congressman Jackson. Halvorson and Walsh both say that the major issue still up for grabs is “Who will have control of the Peotone Airport if it is ever built?”

Halvorson says she has received word from Governor Blagojevich and State Senate President Emil Jones that this “Governance Issue” will not be solved until Halvorson herself is happy with what she sees. And she says, Will County will have control.

There’s more fighting on the way.

7 Comments

Mixed signals?

Thursday, Apr 28, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Two different media takes on CMS’s intentions.

From the AP:

The Blagojevich administration is still doing business with a politically connected firm that billed the state for parties, candy and other improper expenses.

Executives at the Illinois Department of Central Management Services say they are “outraged” that the state paid for those items. But they have not cut ties with the company that submitted them, Illinois Property Asset Management.

C-M-S official Paul Campbell says the company has helped the state save money, so firing it without further investigation would be a mistake.

Copley’s version:

A politically connected company criticized in a state audit for seeking payment for questionable expenses could lose its $25 million contract, a Department of Central Management Services official said Wednesday. […]

CMS is reviewing the expenses questioned by Holland and also is trying to determine why CMS employees monitoring the IPAM contract didn’t stop the payments, CMS general counsel Ed Wynn said.

Depending on the outcome of that review, - expected to be completed in a few weeks - CMS could decide to cancel the $29 million contract, Wynn said.

I think the two men basically said the same thing. But their tone must have been different for the two reporters to come away with such different perspectives.

16 Comments

It’s all coming back to me now

Thursday, Apr 28, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Many years ago, a Quad Cities newspaper used a photo of me in a story about a local murderer who was captured in Texas. So, I guess I can relate a little to this story:

Two men claim photographs in the Chicago Tribune misidentified them as high-ranking mobsters, prompting one of the men Wednesday to sue the newspaper.

Retired businessman Frank Calabrese is suing the Tribune Co. for more than $1 million in damages, claiming defamation.

His picture ran Tuesday as part of a package about the indictment of several mobsters — including one named Frank Calabrese Sr. — on charges of plotting at least 18 murders. […]

Meanwhile, the Tribune also is investigating the accuracy of a photograph that ran in Wednesday’s editions, Wetli said.

That photograph, which the newspaper said in another story was taken by a college student, identified a man as Joseph “The Clown” Lombardo, a 76-year-old reputed mob boss who is on the lam after being indicted Monday along with Frank Calabrese Sr.

But a man identified as Stanley Swieton told Chicago reporters he was the person in the picture.

I didn’t sue when this happened to me, but I didn’t tell the editors my intentions right away and they were more than a little freaked out when I mentioned that my mother lived in their circulation area. Actually, Mom thought the whole thing was hilarious, and one of the paper’s columnists ended up writing a great little story about her, so it all worked out OK as far as I was concerned.

6 Comments

Question of the day

Thursday, Apr 28, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

As I noted in today’s Capitol Fax, the biennial “Taste of Chicago in Springfield” is next week and Mayor Daley will be in town for the festivities.

What do you think of the job that Daley has done so far? Is he one of the nation’s greatest mayors, as Time Magazine claimed, or is he something else? Be specific.

(PS: I’m closing on my house today, and will be busy as heck with many related tasks, plus dealing with the session, so blogging may be light after mid-morning. Comment Posse, please keep a close eye on things.)

21 Comments

Redfield on the audit

Thursday, Apr 28, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

Kent Redfield’s take on the CMS audit fallout.

An auditor general’s report that is critical of financial mismanagement in Illinois government could lead to stronger campaign finance laws for the state, according to political studies professor Kent Redfield. […]

“The fallout is going to be primarily political. It is going to make it much more difficult for the governor to talk about reform and renewal and a new way to do business,” said Redfield, associate director of the Illinois Legislative Studies Center at the University of Illinois in Springfield. […]

“… (E)mbarrassment and scandal have helped us get lots of our campaign finance reforms in Illinois,” Redfield said.

If they’re buzzing about an auditor general’s report in Quincy, this thing is getting noticed a lot more than the governor’s office may have expected. Then again, the Herald-Whig is an excellent small-town paper that takes its politics seriously.

14 Comments

The gang that couldn’t shoot straight

Thursday, Apr 28, 2005 - Posted by Rich Miller

The Blagojevich administration is caught in another prevarication.

State prison officials backed away from claims that they need $18 million in emergency funds because of a costly union contract Wednesday as lawmakers grilled them about the budget.

Corrections Department officials and the governor’s budget office instead acknowledged they needed the extra money because they miscalculated the number of employees who would be leaving through attrition. […]

Corrections officials first blamed the need for emergency funds on a renegotiated contract with the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. The department said it increased costs by $35 million.

AFSCME disputed that characterization of the contract, saying it gave employees a raise but also required them to pay more into the state pension system. Executive Director Henry Bayer called the department’s budget explanation a “fantasy.”

At a time when the administration desperately needs to be seen as credible so it can back up its claims that it was shafted in the CMS audit, the geniuses pull something like this. Not a good thing.

15 Comments

« NEWER POSTS