* Up until yesterday, Gov. Pat Quinn has been hedging on whether he’d support a gay marriage bill. From the AP…
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn says he doesn’t know if he would support legislation that would give same sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples.
The Democrat supported same sex civil unions, which became legal in Illinois last summer. However, he said [Tuesday] he wants to study issues surrounding same-sex marriage before he makes a decision.
The governor said Tuesday that he hadn’t yet looked at a proposal for gay marriage, but said he would. He talked about how he helped pass and then signed the civil unions bill into law. Quinn said it was “important to monitor that, and study” the new law’s impact and said he wanted to let the legislative process work. Listen…
* Before the 2010 election, Quinn said he wasn’t opposed to a gay marriage bill…
Quinn said wasn’t opposed to legalizing gay marriage in Illinois. He said he wouldn’t “stand in the way, if “the voters of Illinois want to have it come to pass.
The governor has since been on the receiving end of tons of criticism by his Catholic Church for using his religion to justify his position on civil unions. So, it was easy to see why he was hedging.
* But, yesterday Quinn was finally pinned down by WBEZ’s Steve Edwards. After mentioning that Mayor Rahm Emanuel supports same sex marriage and would “push for it,” Quinn started rambling about how he’d helped pass the civil unions bill and how the legislative process had to work, but Edwards kept gently pressing and Quinn finally said this…
“I look forward to working with the advocates on this issue to build a majority.”
Edwards followed up by saying that it sounded like Quinn would help pass a same sex marriage bill. Quinn’s response…
“I think I just said that without me the last bill, civil unions, wouldn’t have passed. You gotta work with members from all parts of Illinois, every part of our state, some parts are more liberal than others, and ultimately we’ll get to Heaven.”
…Adding… I mentioned this in comments, but it probably bears repeating here as well. Quinn uses the “get to Heaven” phrase all the time on a myriad of things. He wasn’t equating gay marriage with Heaven. It’s just one of his quirks.
Listen…
* If I haven’t said it before, I’ll say it now: Steve Edwards is a great interviewer. He clearly listens to his subjects and isn’t just thinking about the next question. Frankly, it’s a bit off-putting that the rest of Illinois’ media hasn’t yet caught on to the two significant stories he broke with this one Quinn interview. Good job, Steve.
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Trib paper goes all Larry Flynt on us
Thursday, Feb 16, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The Tribune itself played this story kind of straight, although the usual problems with over-blowing a bill which was just introduced and has no co-sponors are clearly evident…
Illinois already charges so-called sin taxes on smokes, booze and casino gambling. Now state lawmakers are thinking about imposing a $5 skin tax to get into strip clubs.
Club owners are in an uproar, arguing that the tax might put smaller strip joints out of business and throw dancers, bartenders, bouncers and valet attendants out of work. They worry that some customers already are fed up with admission fees, let alone taxes on top.
You have to read way down for this…
The legislation is in an early form and could change
As noted above, the bill has just one sponsor. It hasn’t even been assigned to a committee yet.
* But check out the RedEye’s front page today. Click for a larger pic if you dare…
I won’t even get in to the two “columns” the Tribune Co. paper published on the topic.
Stay classy, Mother Tribune.
And let’s just hope Politico doesn’t see that front page and stupidly assume that there is a real bill to tax, um, posteriors.
Keep it clean in comments, people. This ain’t TribCo. Thanks.
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Question of the day
Thursday, Feb 16, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* The underlying data used in this study was never released, so we have to take their word for it that all the numbers are accurate and complete…
A new study lists Illinois as the third most corrupt area in the nation, and Chicago as the most corrupt city, and experts in the state say Illinois has earned those titles.
The report, released at a Wednesday statehouse news conference, details a study from the University of Illinois in Chicago, or UIC, and University of Illinois’ Institute of Government and Public Affairs in Champaign.
Only Louisiana and the District of Columbia have more corruption convictions per capita than Illinois. Chicago leads all cities in the United States in corruption convictions, where defendants are either elected officials or public money is involved, according to the report. […]
Only two other states have seen more of these convictions than Illinois in the past 36 years. California reported 2,345 convictions and New York had 2,522. Because the study makes the comparisons on a per-person basis and these two states have larger populations than Illinois, California and New York received lower rankings.
Illinois has around 12.8 million residents and averages 1.42 convictions per 10,000 residents.
* The Question: Our new state slogan?
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It goes deeper than Flider
Thursday, Feb 16, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* We’ll get to more on the Bob Flider controversy in a second, but the end of today’s SJ-R editorial needs to be talked about first…
Contrast the support Flider now is receiving from the administration to that of Chicago Ald. Joe Moore, Quinn’s prospective nominee to head the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. Moore has not even been announced as a nominee, but has been lobbying state senators on his own to drum up support for a potential nomination. A coalition of business groups, meanwhile, has organized an effort in opposition to Moore’s appointment — all this before he’s even been nominated. In the meantime, the IEPA is working its way through its second interim director. The same story applied at the Department of Insurance until a recent permanent appointment was made.
And then there was Jonathon Monken, who was 29 and had no previous police experience when Quinn chose him in 2009 to head the Illinois State Police. Monken had no chance of confirmation by the Senate and finally resigned — when it appeared the state no longer had legal authority to continue paying him — to take the helm of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency last year.
From our perspective, all this adds up to a rather haphazard pattern of assembling leadership in some of the most important jobs in state government. It doesn’t inspire confidence in this administration’s overall management, and it certainly doesn’t help those, like Flider, who are tossed into it.
The vast majority of the governor’s appointments have been non-controversial. But the SJ-R is right that Quinn’s process is just too haphazard. I happen to like Bob Flider. If he surrounds himself with decent people, he’ll probably do OK. But agriculture is such a hugely important industry in Illinois that appointing somebody with a lot more direct ag and/or export experience would’ve been preferable here, despite what the governor’s office claims…
Brooke Anderson, Quinn spokeswoman, called Flider extremely well-versed in exports, rural broadband development and farming. “The governor makes his decisions based on an individual’s records in public service,” Anderson said.
* On to the controversy. As expected, the appointment has given Republicans a chance to bring up the tax hike again and given reporters a reason to write more stories about said tax hike. Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady was the most outspoken…
“This is just another ‘Quinn Pro Quo,’” said Brady. “Governor Quinn and his Democratic pals thought they could wait a year for no one to remember Bob Flider’s lame duck, late night flip-flop on Pat Quinn’s 66% tax hike but our state’s economy is still suffering the consequences of Flip Flop Flider’s ‘Quinncidence.’”
“Agriculture is one of our state’s most important industries. It’s an insult to every Illinois farmer who has to pay taxes that the Governor would appoint an Agriculture Director who would oppose a proposed tax hike when he was running for re-election but then cast the deciding vote for an even larger tax hike just a few months later,” said Brady. “What key agriculture issues will Flider flip-flop on for political expediency?”
* Rep. Adam Brown (R-Decatur) defeated Flider in 2010 and also weighed in…
“It’s a slap in the face to my background because I am a fifth-generation family farmer, somebody that truly prides himself on advancing agriculture across the state” Brown said. “But to take a look at former Rep. Flider’s background in agriculture, I think it leaves something to be desired.”
Rep. Brown doesn’t list any income from that family farm on his Statement of Economic Interest.
* Flider defended himself…
In an interview Wednesday, Flider said his experience representing farming communities and large agricultural businesses like Archer Daniels Midland and Tate & Lyle give him the ability to carry out Quinn’s mission of boosting exports, expanding broadband and developing rural Illinois.
“I hope he looked at my track record of working hard,” Flider said. “I trust the governor knew my work ethic.”
Flider, 54, said he never talked to Quinn about getting a job based on his vote on the tax hike.
“It was never part of the discussion,” Flider said.
* Expect some, but not all, Senate Republicans to make loud noises…
Republicans on the Senate Executive Appointments Committee said they will be looking into whether the appointment is payback for Flider’s support of the tax hike.
“It is certainly going to come up,” said Sen. Tim Bivins of Dixon, the ranking Republican on the committee. “The governor is creating an appearance by repeatedly doing this.”
“It certainly has an appearance that doesn’t look good,” said Sen. Dave Luechtefeld, R-Okawville. “I really don’t know what kind of background he has in agriculture.”
Sen. Larry Bomke, R-Springfield, doesn’t serve on the committee, but said he might be able to support Flider if the nomination goes to the full Senate.
“There’s always the concern of quid pro quo, but we don’t know if that is the case here, and we hope that it isn’t,” Bomke said. “The only question I have is his experience or lack of experience. I think he will probably be OK as ag director. I think he will be professional.”
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Perception and reality
Thursday, Feb 16, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* I’m not sure what these things are called, but there are a ton of them on every different topic imaginable and they’re making the rounds. I posted one about lobbyists in the subscriber section this morning and then a political type sent me this. Click the pic for a larger image…
Discuss.
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* Gov. Pat Quinn told WBEZ’s Steve Edwards yesterday that he will propose closing “quite a few” state facilities in his upcoming budget address, including some youth prisons.
Quinn didn’t say how many state facilities would be closed, but he did say “a couple” of youth prisons are on the chopping block.
* The governor also got in some digs at legislators who demand budget cuts, but don’t want their districts’ facilities closed.
“Now, legislators in those particular areas, you know, they don’t like that, Democrat and Republican,” Quinn said. “The bottom line is you can’t have legislators saying ‘Cut spending, cut the budget,’ and then when a facility that’s obsolete…” and then he trailed off without finishing his thought. But then he got himself back on track.
“You have to make some sound decisions,” Quinn said. “I have the courage to back them up and this budget year will go forward with facility closures in a variety of places.”
Listen…
All those Republicans who bitterly complained about a lack of specificity in Quinn’s State of the State address may wind up bitterly complaining next week about the specifics of facility closures in their districts.
Discuss.
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*** UPDATED x1 *** Who’s smearing whom?
Thursday, Feb 16, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Yesterday, I received a call from a Republican operative [Doug Ibendahl - see update below] who said he’d seen a Tom Swiss campaign billboard on Chicago’s West Side. Swiss is a former Cook County Republican Party executive director who is running in a Democratic primary in a majority black district. Swiss is white. Click the pic to see a larger version of Swiss’ billboard…
* My initial, humorous reaction in reply to the operative’s subsequent e-mail with the billboard pic was that this looked like the John Stroger “fisherman” ad in reverse. Stroger’s TV ad for Cook County Board President featured a white fisherman and the joke was back then that lots of voters thought the old white man fishing with his grandson was actually Stroger. Here’s the e-mail I sent…
It’s like the old John Stroger fisherman ad in reverse. lol
Notice the “lol.”
After I sent that e-mail, I scrolled down and realized there was a pic of a second billboard…
* So far, Swiss has managed to fly almost completely under the Chicago media’s radar screen despite the obvious news potential of his campaign - a white Republican operative running as a Democrat in a black majority House district. Chicago media is notorious for ignoring state legislative races, which is one reason I’ve been able to establish my niche. I wrote about Swiss in the subscriber version way back on December 2nd…
(T)he longtime Republican Swiss has filed to run in the Democratic primary against appointed incumbent Derrick Smith, who got the seat when Annazette Collins was appointed to the Senate. A recent blast e-mail from the Illinois Log Cabin Republicans stated that Democrats often insert Republican plants into Chicago races and went on to claim: “It’s time to turn the tables and use their same tricks against them! This year we have a lifelong Republican supporter running as a Democrat.”
In his own e-mail, which was date-stamped May 24th, Swiss dismissed the majority African-American district’s residents as “extremely low information voters,” and said he had three paths to victory. Branding and get-out-the-vote were his first two goals.
His third goal, however, may raise some eyebrows. Swiss wrote that he planned on “hiring people’s yards to place a yard sign for $5.”
Swiss would neither confirm nor deny last night that he wrote the e-mail, saying only that he was “running as a Democrat to serve the public and bring sound judgment to Springfield. I don’t believe that patriotism is a party label. William Lipinski, Dan Lipinski, Richard M. Daley and even Speaker Madigan can each be fairly described as Conservative Democrats. I look forward to the race.” Swiss also did not answer a question about the ethics of paying for yard sign placements.
Swiss promised to run an “extremely aggressive” campaign in the e-mail, adding that the race “could possibly be the least expensive State Rep. seat pick up for conservatives.”
* I had planned to reach out to Swiss again today about the billboards and to see how he was doing with his paid yard sign placements, but at 12:21 this morning several reporters including myself received this blast e-mail from the Swiss campaign…
DEMOCRAT MACHINE PLANS SMEAR CAMPAIGN ON REFORMER TOM “JOBS NOW” SWISS
Tom Swiss, reform candidate for the Democratic Nomination for State Senator in the 10th District, announced today that multiple sources have warned him of a coming Democrat Machine racist smear campaign against him to be unleashed to incite Black voters. It is to be run through press and blog sites friendly to the Machine, such as Rich Miller’s “Capitol Fax”.
“I don’t care if someone is black or white. I care that families are suffering and people are going hungry from a lack of jobs stemming from the fiscal catastrophe that is Illinois,” stated Swiss. “The current regime cares a whole lot more about votes than jobs.”
Swiss stated that he had been tipped off that the campaign would start almost immediately, and accuse Swiss of trying to misrepresent himself as African American. “I’ve never hidden who or what I am,” said Swiss. “I’ve also never waivered from my deep concern that we need to restart economies in Black neighborhoods before they are overcome by poverty and gangs. It is not a race issue. It is a people issue, and the only long-term answer is business development, starting right here in the 10th District.”
He sent out a correction 21 minutes later noting that he was running for the House, not the Senate.
If the Republican who sent me the billboard photos consents, I’ll post his name later in the day. I wanted to get this post up, however, because I am the one clearly being smeared by a candidate who has already apparently boasted about planning to pay for yard sign placements in a district populated with “extremely low information voters” and whose ally has all but admitted that the candidate is a GOP plant.
* Also, just for snicks, you may remember this Tom Swiss story from 2010…
Visitors to ChicagoGOP.com may have gotten a bit of a surprise today — for much of the afternoon, the lead item on the site featured a provocative picture of a bare-chested woman wrapped in a bed sheet. […]
A phone call and email to Tom Swiss, who Blessing said runs the unofficial site, were not immediately returned.
*** UPDATE *** The Republican who called me about the billboard yesterday was Doug Ibendahl. He sent me this statement…
Anyone who knows me knows I’m completely against these dishonest games. As a Republican I know this nonsense hurts the Republican Party. We don’t win over Democratic voters by lying to them right out of the box. I don’t know what Tom Swiss is, but he’s not a Democrat as his signs claim. This goof has been embarrassing the GOP for years. The good news is Swiss is officially out of the Republican Party now.
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Here we go again
Wednesday, Feb 15, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* You may remember this from last year…
The House Agriculture Committee might seem like a proper venue to debate the state’s approach toward crossbow-hunting, soybean rust or farmers markets, but it became a battleground Tuesday over abortion.
By a 13-0 vote, before a standing-room-only room of angry abortion-rights supporters clad in “Women are not livestock” T-shirts and buttons emblazoned with a cow, the panel advanced legislation putting new financial burdens on abortion clinics.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Darlene Senger (R-Naperville), would require abortion clinics to be retrofitted to resemble outpatient surgery centers, meaning equipment such as defibrillators and ventilators would be required for the first time while hallway and parking-lot dimensions would have to change. […]
The House Agriculture Committee, stocked mainly by socially conservative Democrats and Republicans from Downstate, has been the conduit to get guns-rights and anti-abortion legislation to the House floor for years — a fact critics of Senger’s bill zeroed in on.
The clinic bill didn’t survive a vote by the full chamber and it died. But nothing ever dies for long.
* House Bill 4117 is basically the same bill as last year’s bill. It was originally assigned to the House Human Services Committee on February 7th and then moved to House Ag on February 8th. The reason is that the House Speaker has tried to balance interests by accommodating both sides. So, for instance, pro-gun bills go to Ag, anti-gun bills go to wherever they can pass. The idea is to allow members to get their social issue hot-button bills to the floor and let them have their debates, or find out that their bills have not nearly enough support.
Anyway, as with last year, the ACLU of Illinois is not pleased with allowing Agriculture Committee members deal with abortion clinic regulations. From a press release…
“No one should be fooled by this effort to play politics with women’s health care,” said Colleen K. Connell, executive director of the ACLU of Illinois. “If the politicians and ideologues behind this effort have their way, the effect will be to shut down many clinics in Illinois that provide abortion and contraceptive care.” […]
“We heard the debate in the Agricultural Committee last year,” added Connell. “Those legislators know a lot about livestock, crops and salt licks. They do not know women’s health.”
“This is simple – women are not livestock and our health care should not be treated as politics.”
Discuss.
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Question of the day
Wednesday, Feb 15, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* For whatever reason, I’m having a difficult time coming up with a question today, so let’s go with this press release…
Governor Pat Quinn today was joined by the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association (SSMMA) and city of Harvey officials to announce the start of the clean-up and demolition of the old Dixie Square Mall in Harvey. Today’s announcement marks the first phase of the broader economic development of the site, which was the site of the famous car chase scene in “The Blues Brothers” movie 30 years ago. The clean-up and demolition project will support a total of 42 jobs, which include 18 newly-created full-time jobs.
“The demolition of the Dixie Square Mall will help revitalize the local economy and create much needed jobs,” Governor Quinn said. “Although we will always remember the Dixie Mall as the location for one of the most iconic scenes in ‘The Blues Brothers’ movie, it is time for this now vacant building to be torn down to make way for more economic development for the Harvey community.”
* The Question: What’s your favorite “Blues Brothers” movie scene?
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* Sun-Times…
Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich will serve his prison sentence for corruption at a low-security federal prison for male prisoners near Denver, as he had requested and a judge had recommended, sources said.
The Federal Correctional Institution Englewood — about 15 miles southwest of Denver near the suburb of Littleton, Colo. — is the same prison where Larry Warner, a co-defendant in the earlier corruption case that sent former Gov. George Ryan to prison, served two years after being convicted of conspiring with Ryan to steer state contracts his way. Blagojevich’s family isn’t expected to move to be closer to him, according to one of his lawyers, Carolyn Gurland, who said Wednesday the Blagojeviches had hoped to keep the prison assignment private.
* Meanwhile, Blagojevich’s judge, James Zagel, was sharply criticized for his behavior in another case by two appellate justices this week…
Appellate Court Justice Diane Wood ripped Zagel for his handling of juror issues that arose during the lengthy racketeering trial, calling his approach “a real problem.”
Wood, who has been considered a leading candidate for the United States Supreme Court during recent vacancies, was relentless in her criticism of Judge Zagel. The justice ridiculed Zagel’s “private chats” with an alternate juror who had expressed concerns about her own safety. Wood called the chats between Zagel and the juror “very foolish” and noted that there was no written record of the meetings anywhere.
More…
U.S. Appellate Judge Diane Wood told Monday’s hearing she was troubled by accounts that trial Judge James Zagel occasionally wandered into the jury room during the 2007 trial outside the presence of attorneys.
“There’s a real problem here with how the trial judge approached it … having all these private chats with people,” she said. Wood said it meant a vital court record of just who said what to whom was “woefully” lacking.
* More…
“Don’t you find it a little remarkable that the judge was wandering in and out of the jury room?” Wood asked. “This seems to be an invitation to trouble.”
“Judge Zagel’s approach was a little foolish,” she said. Fellow judge Diane Sykes likewise wondered aloud if the juror’s “reasons for needing to be excused spilled over to the remainder of the jury.”
He’s unique, that one.
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Will J3 never learn?
Wednesday, Feb 15, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. is already under investigation for using government resources, including his congressional e-mail account, to campaign for an appointment to the US Senate in 2010. You’d think he and his staff would learn. You’d be wrong. From WBEZ…
As [Jackson’s Democratic primary opponent Debbie Halvorson] moved toward launching her campaign in September and early October of 2011, WBEZ asked for comment from Jackson’s staff. In two instances, the aides sent statements from their government e-mail accounts, once with the subject line “Jesse Jr. statement in response to Halvorson” and another titled “Halverson statement” [sic].
In February, an unsolicited press release was sent noting the congressman’s opposition to a proposed immigrant detention center in south suburban Crete, Halvorson’s hometown. Deep in that document is a reference to Jackson’s “congressional opponent, Debbie Halvorson,” and a statement from the congressman noting that Halvorson did not speak out on the issue when she was in Congress. The release was sent from a government email account on government letterhead and remains posted on Jackson’s government website.
This past Monday, an unsolicited email, from a Jackson staff member’s government email account, contained nothing but a news clip about how a Super PAC is targeting Jackson in the upcoming election.
This is just insane. It’s like Jackson is all but begging for an expansion of the current investigation. Sheesh.
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A newly revived Pat Quinn?
Wednesday, Feb 15, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Last week, Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration announced it wasn’t going to wait for federal government approval to implement Medicaid fraud rules. The feds wanted yet another study before agreeing to allow Illinois to check residency and income status before adding people to the Medicaid rolls…
[Federal] officials wanted another study of the Illinois proposals, but [Julie Hamos, director of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services] said she feared that six months from now “we would still be tearing our hair out and saying, ‘Where is the approval?’”
Medicaid is Illinois’ single biggest operating expense, a $14 billion program with 2.7 million people on the rolls. That’s 1 in 5 Illinois residents.
It is a lifeline for many poor people. But there’s good reason to think that many people are getting Medicaid from Illinois who don’t qualify for it — who don’t even live in Illinois. In a letter to federal authorities, Hamos revealed that about 6 percent of Medicaid identification cards sent to Illinois households in November bounced back as “undeliverable with out-of-state addresses.”
* And, now, Quinn is looking to at least temporarily bypass the General Assembly on setting up a new health insurance exchange…
Gov. Pat Quinn is weighing whether to use an executive order to jump-start planning for Illinois’ health insurance exchange, a move that could rankle both state legislators and business groups.
In an apparent sign of impatience with the slow-moving Illinois General Assembly, a spokeswoman for the governor said the administration may use the order to create the “skeleton” of an exchange, which would allow staff to push forward with planning efforts.
That option immediately drew criticism.
“We would not favor that approach,” said Laura Minzer, executive director of the Health Care Council of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce. […]
Jim Duffett, executive director of the Champaign-based campaign, called creating the exchange via an order “a very viable thing” that would “move the process forward.”
Duffet has been arguing that business interests have too tightly controlled the legislative process to create the exchange. which is required under the federal health insurance reform law.
* What do you think? Do these actions show that Pat Quinn is acting more like a governor, or is it just my imagination?
* Related. and a Statehouse roundup…
* ADDED: Illinois could divert tax refunds of city debtors
* Cellini’s wife off preservation agency board: Without fanfare, Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn filed a notice with the secretary of state that he was making a new appointment to the spot held by Julie Cellini, whose term had expired.
* Illinois chamber joins lawsuit over ‘Obamacare’
* Business group wants quick decision on health care
* Editorial: Citizens deserve power to enact ethics reforms
* Constitutionality of Illinois eavesdropping law challenged in court - Attorney argues statute ‘not designed to protect police conduct that is open and in public,’ should not prohibit audio recording
* Lawmaker proposes new solution to distracted driving in Illinois
* High-tech car gadgets distracting, experts say
* Another plan floated to ground state’s air fleet
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* Dear top-level Pat Quinn administration official,
I contacted you last week to ask about rumors that former Rep. Bob Flider would be named as the state’s Agriculture Director. You waved me off the story.
Bite me…
Former state Rep. Bob Flider, D-Mount Zion, will be named Wednesday director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture, an official in the administration of Gov. Pat Quinn said.
Flider has apparently been sitting in cold storage over at Connected Illinois while waiting for the heat to die down over his vote to raise the income tax in the 2011 lame duck session. Flider lost his reelection bid in 2010 after campaigning against a tax hike…
Speaking in October [of 20100, Flider called the income tax hike proposed by Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn “the absolute last thing we need to be doing” and urged the state to “eliminate waste” and make “hard choices.”
Flider might have been given the Ag spot or another top job after he left office, but Quinn stirred up a huge media controversy by appointing former Rep. Careen Gordon to the llinois Prisoner Review Board. Gordon also lost her 2010 race and then voted for the tax hike. Her appointment came three days after that vote. Quinn then waited six months before appointing former Rep Mike Smith to the Educational Labor Relations Board. Smith was another lame duck who voted “Yes” to raise the income tax.
* All told, 12 lame duck House members voted for the tax increase. Counting Flider, five have now received public payroll jobs (Gordon, Smith, John O’Sullivan, Michael Carberry). The husband of former Rep. Betsy Hannig is now Quinn’s legislative director, but that’s not exactly connected. Quinn needed Hannig a whole lot more than Hannig needed Quinn.
*** UPDATE 1 *** I missed one, so it’s six of the twelve, not five. Thanks to a commenter for pointing out that former Rep. David Miller was hired by IDPH.
*** UPDATE 2 *** The governor’s office asked if I would pretty please post these nice things people are saying about Flider. Here you go…
“Bob Flider worked well in the agricultural arena when he served in the General Assembly and on the House Agriculture committee. Bob’s door was always open and we look forward to working with him in his new role as Director of the Department of Agriculture,” said Philip Nelson, President of the Illinois Farm Bureau. “We look forward to sitting down and addressing the many needs of agriculture with him.”
“The Illinois Soybean Association is pleased to support the appointment of a new director of agriculture who comes from the heart of Illinois soybean production and processing. It’s important for Illinois soybean producers to have a strong leader to help grow animal agriculture, improve crucial transportation infrastructure and lead the industry. We look forward to working with Director Flider on issues that promote a healthy food production system in Illinois.” –Matt Hughes, Illinois Soybean Association chairman from Shirley, Illinois
“Bob has a thorough understanding of the issues facing agriculture and agri-business, and he will be a strong advocate for all the state’s agricultural sectors as Director,” said Chris Olsen, Vice President of Community and Government Affairs at Tate & Lyle.
“Bob has lived most of his life in a rural area and represented a rural district as a state legislator, which makes him very familiar with issues important to farmers,” President and CEO of the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives Duane Noland said. “He has also been in public service for a long time. He knows his way around the Capitol as well as the rural areas, so he will be very effective in his new role.”
“Bob was always someone that was supportive and understanding of issues impacting agriculture when he was a member of the General Assembly,” said Jim Kaitschuk, Executive Director of the Illinois Pork Producers Association. “He certainly has the knowledge and understanding of the legislative dynamics, as well as how important agriculture is to the viability of Illinois. These tools will be essential in helping him continue his positive relationship with agriculture and working with the many dedicated people in the industry and within the Department.”
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Chicago Mag’s top 100
Wednesday, Feb 15, 2012 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Chicago Magazine has published a list of what it claims to be the city’s most powerful 100 people. Here’s the top five…
1. Rahm Emanuel - Mayor, City of Chicago
2. Patrick Fitzgerald - U.S. attorney, Northern District of Illinois
3. Jim Skinner - CEO, McDonald’s
4. Mike Madigan - Speaker, Illinois House
5. Rocky Wirtz - Chairman, Chicago Blackhawks
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle was listed as 13th and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf was 14th. Bill Daley was 99th and 100th was Marc Weissbluth, the founder of the Sleep Medicine Center at Children’s Memorial Hospital.
Go have a look. Reasoning behind the rankings is here.
Who did they leave off? Where do you disagree?
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